Avatar: The Way of Water

The visual effects are amazing. But Cameron should be better than this.

I'm a big fan of Mr Cameron. Not only for his directing skills, but also for his screenwriting skills. But this time he seemed to have missed the goal. I know he rarely does sequels. But is this the best he could do? The story has not changed anything compared to the previous episode. Repeated crises, repeated enemies, repeated conflicts,and wait a minute,WHAT? Even repeated Titanic. Are you serious?

As a director, he also did not reach his previous level. For a long time, the pace of the film felt too slow. Yes, the underwater scenes are phenomenal. But this is not the Blue Planet, this is a sci-fi action movie. At least it's what most audiences expect from the film, isn't it?

He did it again. And I don't even really understand how. He has some kind of mysterious, special power that he secretly wields over us and we don't even notice. That's how he keeps tricking us into spending all our hard-earned money to see his movies, so much so that we've made him the most commercially successful director of all time. Because these are James Cameron's most typical trademarks, for pretty much all of his movies, which he has once again dutifully employed in Avatar 2:

~ The story is paper-thin.

~ The dialogue was written by a 16-year-old intern.

~ The soundtrack is unbelievably cheesy.

~ The lead actor has no discernable acting skills.

~ The bad guys are all 100% completely evil, and the good guys are all but entirely saintly.

~ The message and moral of the story are about as subtle and nuanced as a jackhammer.

And yet.....

IT'S SO DAMN COOL.

The world he and his visual design team have created is truly a work of art... It's stunningly beautiful, creative and inventive and it makes you want to be there so badly, it hurts. The action sequences are reliably awesome as always, and there are some truly heartfelt emotional passages. In all honesty, the story is awfully predictable, and an almost step-by-step rehash of the first movie. But it's damn near impossible to be bothered by this, because the magic is there, and it's real. And the whales... Oh my god, the whales. Or whale-like creatures, anyway. Absolutely spellbinding. The familiar characters are precisely the same as they were before, and it makes the past 13-year wait seem like nothing at all. It's like meeting with friends you haven't seen for a while. I especially love Zoe Saldaña, she was always the shining star of Avatar, and she's just as mesmerising here, even if her screentime is a bit shorter. The new characters are all good, strong additions to the whole. Cliff Curtis is very powerful as the Sea People's chief, and Kate Winslet is absolutely unrecognisable as his mate, which is as big a compliment as I can think of.

But the biggest, and most pleasant surprise, are Jake and Neytiri's children. All but one, played by young, virtually inexperienced actors who all understand their assignments perfectly. They are, without exception, lovely and engaging and very real. They each have to deal with their own respective troubles that come with their coming of age, and all these young performers were cast perfectly. I loved them. The "but one", however, is one of the most surprising character/performer pairings I've ever seen. Sigourney Weaver plays a 14-year-old. Yes you read that right. And it's amazing. She's amazing, it's all amazing...

Damn James Cameron. If he was a superhero, his name would be Magic Movie Man.

Movie exceeds all the CGI anyone can possibly expect, but the storyline fails to overwhelm the audience. Id say 70% of the film is about family bonding and descriptions of culture on Pandora. Had it been on Discovery or Nat Geo, itd have been awesome. But thats not what people going in to watch the movie would want to see in a 3 hr movie.

The action starts out at the beginning and in the end with detailsed description of the life of the Naavi comprising the major chunk of the film in the middle.

Personally I was unable to sit through the movie in one go. Finished it in 3 sittings while skipping through many scenes I felt were totally unnecessary.

I decided to rewatch the first Avatar last night before watching Avatar 2 and I am always in awe of how stunning the visuals are; it was a crowd-pleaser and more agreeable for the general audience. However, with the first Avatar, the story was basic and simple---it was rather forgettable. The thing is, the Avatar franchise has a simple story but it was told grandly. 'Avatar: The Way of Water' was a captivating visual feast, with every attempt beautifully framed via painstakingly flawless CGI, but the message about protecting your loved ones is not new to us, but it was ingenious. James Cameron's level of perfectionism translates to the audience; the details of every frame are precise and I can't help but wonder how on earth he has done that. It is the simple plot accompanied by such technical achievement that has always been the formula for almost all of Cameron's movies, not just Avatar. Simplicity is not a bad thing.

Just like in the first Avatar, characters are established a lot, and there is not much emotional attachment during the first half. However, the thrill and excitement peaked during the second act were worth it---This is the trick for most highly-budget films, they will entice you with visual and technical achievement, but the story is not that grand nor special for the audience to keep talking about it in the next 5 years. The Pandora world Cameron takes us to is excellent and magnificently conceptualized, but the story is missing the emotional draw that made this film a pretentious masterpiece. Though the visuals are still magnificent, it's difficult this time not to recognize the repetition of the story and the limited character arcs the movie presented. You will remember Avatar---aside from blue people---as a movie with impeccable and out-of-this-world visuals, but the story remains forgettable.

Some films are just pure escapism and sometimes that's what audiences need, and this is what Avatar 2 delivered. Avatar 2 doesn't necessarily check all those boxes to become a great film, but what it does right will offer viewers moments of astonishment, full-body immersion, and beauty. You can easily watch the movie and points out its mistakes and flaws, but it is hard to resist the fun and adventure the film delivers throughout its 192 minutes runtime. It is clear that James Cameron is making this movie for a general audience, and while imperfect, it certainly seems to serve its purpose.

First Avatar movie, I watched maybe half a dozen times, it was an enchanting flick. For A:TWoW, I waited until the DVD came out, didn't want to spend over 3 hours in theater. I'm sooooooo glad I bought the DVD and avoided the theater. This movie just wasn't worth the 3-hour time.

I watched at home, over 3 sessions, in comfort of my own recliner and awesome sound system. A:TWoW was a visual treat for the eyes, but that's about it. Everything else was pretty much awful, one of the worst sequels I've ever seen (story-wise).

Will I watch again?? Nope.... I'm one and done. If it wasn't for the visuals, I'd give this movie a rating of 2.