A belated sequel to 2009s Avatar, which if you can recall was lauded for its immersive effects creating a planet, Pandora, and a story that was effectively the Pocahontas story or even Dances With Wolves in space. Admittedly on first viewing I was unimpressed although over the years I've found myself enjoying it on the TV as a reasonably entertaining science fiction drama. The difficulty with this sequel is that director James Cameron seems to believe his own hype thus producing a self indulgent rehash of the original movie with large doses of his other films chucked in and squashed together for good measure. The end result is a 3 hour + runtime that tests the boredom levels to almost breaking point. The main problem being that Cameron seems to think that we are so totally in love with the world he has created that we want to watch what's going on there for ever and ever. In short the story picks up from the first film with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), now permanently a N'avi tribesman, having successfully led a war to rid the planet of humans, has raised a family but shock horror the humans come back, they've cloned his old nemesis Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who is determined to hunt Jake down. Jake and family decide to flee and join another tribe that lives by the sea and he and his children have to learn the 'way of water'. This is where the film becomes ponderous with teenage angst and in fighting, befriending of intelligent whale like creatures until eventually Quaritch shows up for the shooting to begin. All this 'learning new ways' bit is some similar to the first film it has no wow affect at all. In fact none of this is particularly exciting and the film feels and looks like a computer game rather than a film accepting that some of the set pieces are well executed. But Cameron can't seem to finish the film and some of the storylines are left unfinished probably to be concluded in the 50 sequels he's threatening! This is a lavish, over produced and at times lazy story that has come too late. The addition of the likes of Kate Winslet fail to offer anything memorable. A disappointment.
Those silly blue cgi people are back, with their flying around the forest on big birds and singing in the toilet (sorry, la’vi). Now they’re underwater as well! Those nasty humans are back too, with their nasty robots and their nasty clanking machines disturbing the peace and – worst of all – their nasty attitude. Tom and Jerry had more depth.
Why can’t they just drop a big bomb on the whole planet? Surely this is one place in the universe that would be improved by species extinction.
As if the first film wasn’t bad enough, this one doubles the pain by lasting for a posterior-numbing, brain-numbing three hours. If you sit through this you really need to get out more.
Went to see new Avatar in 3D in the cinema - it’s amazing, absolutely stunning!
I didn't have particular expectations for it (I didn't want to have high expectations due to loving the original), but they were more than surpassed.
I thought the 3D was excellent (and in the first Avatar too), so the viewing experience may be slightly diminished watching in 2D at home.
Main difference visually between the new one and the original, is that the Way of Water has a lot of footage underwater, which looks fantastic and beautiful.
Both me and my partner were so impressed by it.
It touched a chord so rarely in attained in movies, exactly what the cinema is designed for (while they still have them!).
James Cameron is one of the most impressive visual filmmakers to date. In 2009, he composed Avatar, one of the most groundbreaking CGI worlds ever created to interact with live-action and still look highly expressive and seamless. His bare-bones Dances With Wolves plot did little to sway audiences from going to the theater to witness his masterpiece of an IMAX presentation in 3D. Watching the film at home years later, it’s easy to scoff at Cameron’s scripting for this familiar narrative and gleam past the mesmerizing visuals. But, really, why would you? After all, Cameron was never known for the most robust of scripts. Even his best films still play on the fairly tried and true ground.
Avatar: The Way of Water delivers what you’d expect from Cameron biding his time for over a decade to deliver a stylish and unforgettable movie world. Pandora returns looking gorgeous and teeming with ambiance as in the first film, with more of the world to explore. It will no doubt be criticized to hell and back once the amazement of the visuals on the big screen has worn off. Honestly, though, Cameron still has that familiar magic for a visual medium.
The sequel jumps through a lot of hoops to present a similar scenario. It still takes place years after the first film when Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has sided with the Na’vi in his avatar body. He marries the fierce tribe warrior Ney'tiri (Zoe Saldana), and they have a slew of children. Some are their own, and some they adopt. These kids have their problems, but they’ll have to conquer them as they inherit the long-running war between humans and the Na’vi.
Yes, the humans, despite being driven off of Pandora, once more return, bigger and better than ever. And guess who else returns? Stephen Lang returns as Miles, now in the form of an Avatar with his recovered memories. If you think that’s a wild way to bring Lang back into Avatar, just wait until you hear the reasoning for why Sigourney Weaver is recast in the picture. It’s essentially the same plot as before. Humans are out for the Na’vi and Jake needs to take charge against them, engaging in another duel with Miles as their vendetta continues. Many battles of mecha and arrows are bound for the climax.
Before the film gets to that obligatory action set piece Cameron was known for, the middle of the film reserves plenty of time for getting used to a Na’vi water tribe. To protect his family, Jake and his clan seek refuge in a far-off water tribe residing in an island environment. Jake’s kids experience life underwater in several dazzling sequences of admiring the aquatic environment. Since James Cameron has a heavy love for the ocean, it’s no surprise the film spends so much time lavishing on this environment. Extended sequences of the Na’vi just marveling at fish or swimming alongside strange whales are beautiful moments, given enough room to breathe.
Of course, this ambiance does bloat the film too well over three hours. While that may be a hindrance for some, I kinda dug getting to spend so much time in this world just admiring the detail. It’s clear that Cameron put a lot of work into computer graphics and motion capture technology to make this world feel real. Even with the disorienting 60 frames per second and the IMAX 3D, the lingering nature makes you appreciate the craftsmanship all the more. A lesser film might’ve zoomed past these aspects or witnessed them briefly with a character remarking how beautiful it all is. Of course, it’s beautiful! We already know that. Cameron shows us this more than tells us.
Action fans can rest easy. Cameron hasn’t lost his touch and loads up the finale with plenty of disasters, explosions, and gunfire. In this movie, the villains are much easier to root for their demise, considering the Na’vi are facing off against poachers working alongside Miles. So while the climax still ties together the broad stories of family, it can also feature a comically dark amputation of one of the evil humans.
Avatar: The Way of Water is all spectacle, but, wow, what a spectacle it is. In the past ten years, we’ve seen plenty of alien worlds and fantastic creatures that challenge our eyeballs to send a signal to our brain and say, “whoa.” Cameron proves he can still do that with his technical focus. It is so good it nearly trumps his okay-whatever story ideas. It’s a solid sequel for still being a world worth getting lost within.