Avatar: The Way of Water

There were a few sequences that reminded me of an expensive video game, and I can't decide how much I actually liked the 3D – on the one hand it's immersive, but on the other it leads your attention too much by refocusing and prevents you from enjoying large units with many action layers. Otherwise, no complaints. The first had more action, the second has more well-knit relationships between the characters and deepens the transcendent connection to a fictional world that blossoms before your eyes in splendour beyond the highest expectations. This is how you tell a story and dazzle with an image. I enjoy Pandora and its exploration tied to innocent childhood curiosity, I enjoy the altered eco-message and the technological megalomania that ensures a truly unprecedented immersion. This is where the future of cinema is being shaped, without forgetting the story, which I personally found quite different and more intimate than last time. And I can't wait to see where Quaritch's (again, the best character) blind conquest syndrome and personal vendetta will turn next. (12/15/2022)

I felt a bit as if I was watching the second episode of a series. The beginning feels somewhat rushed and hurried, and the human dimension disappears from the whole Water Journey, as all the important protagonists are already blue (and they call humans Ape). Everyone is family with everyone, and humans are a threat symbolized only by technology destroying Pandora's natural resources. Cameron keeps the pace and narrates with clarity, but the characters often behave illogically, which I rationalised by the fact that they are aliens and when they are not they are assholes. The digressions into nowhere stretch out the runtime, and while it's clear that is Kira script-armoured to support future episodes, it takes away from the main point, which is fooling around with the Pandora equivalent of Willy and diving and exploring the water world and stuff. Each Sully kid has a story to tell at the expense of Sully and Mrs. Sully. Ironically the most interesting character is the Colonel exploring new physical possibilities. There are some scenes that are breathtaking, like crushing one's own skull, the spearmen, even making friends with a whale, but overall it's terribly long and I see more naive nerds than cunning heroes in the leads. Let's hope they wise up and that it will be back to a full rating in the third one. P.S: Horner is very much missed, RIP. There’s no nice new musical theme, just a variation of the old one. (12/19/2022)

I tried to resist, but eventually, I gave in and watched the second Avatar movie. I had to break it into three sittings because of its length. As expected, it's visually stunning — leagues ahead of anything else in the film industry right now and probably for years to come. However, the visuals overshadow everything else. The acting feels almost nonexistent since it's essentially an animated film. Plus, it’s only truly impressive in a theater setting. Story-wise, the first hour is a slog, but things pick up once James introduces us to a new tribe on Pandora, adding some interest to the typical blockbuster narrative. If it weren't so long, I'd have fonder memories of it. Honestly, if James keeps churning out similar tales from Pandora, he might just end up boring the audience. We'll see. (09/30/2023)

Avatar: The Way of Water has the screenwriting of a mediocre television series that’s not in any hurry to get anywhere. Not only can the story again be summed up in a single short sentence, but it’s the same as the last time and it looks like the next one won’t be any different. The unnatural movement of the blue lizards on dry land hasn’t changed since the “pilot”, so the first half of the film comes across like a video-game demo. Transitioning to the world under water is thus a tremendous upgrade. The lizards swim much more elegantly than they walk and jump, and James Cameron breathes extraordinary life into the fictional undersea plants and animals. It is beautiful and enchanting.  Luc Besson will be pleased. The human characters are also given space on the water, thus giving the digital artifice a more physical sense of drive. All of those submarines, mecha crabs and wicked scenes of “whale” hunting are uber cool, reminiscent of the action treats in Waterworld. Overall, however, the Avatar phenomenon becomes rather more of an amusement-park attraction (with the promise of a VR future) than a cinematic work in the true sense of the word. It’s kind of like Cameron’s version of a Marvel flick, but with poor character development, which is a bit of a shame. (12/14/2022)

The technical execution is of course perfect, if not more, but I think the first film had a better story because the ecological message suits Avatar a bit better than family values. It's possible that it will work the second time around, because I had a similar experience with the first film, but now it really took me a while to get my bearings on the new characters after the initial rushed "It Happened", and before I accepted, for example, the somewhat B-movie way in which the villain Quaritch and co. return. It’s a shame. Still, Avatar: The Way of Water is definitely a proper big movie that deserves to be seen in the cinema. “Only” that it isn’t perfect. (12/16/2022)