Skip to main content

A Review of “Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)”

 

image

In 2009, I watched Avatar, the $2 billion movie that used the papyrus font as its logo, in IMAX 3D. It was a wild experience as I have never seen such amazing CGI in a film. James Cameron, the director, then announced he was making 3-4 sequels to Avatar which was kind of baffling. 13 years later, we finally get a sequel. Was the sequel worth the wait?

image

Firstly, the visuals of this movie are somehow even more amazing than the first film. The forest of Pandora looks more stunning than it did 13 years ago; the advance in technology is very evident. The scenes in the water look gorgeous and so real that it’s hard to believe it is CGI at times. One thing with the first movie was that it felt like live-action people were in a green screen room. Avatar: The Way of Water is mostly CGI with live-action blended in. We see live-action characters move in the same scene as CGI characters and interact with one another like living beings. It didn’t give that green-screen feeling, which was awesome. I also love the world-building and design of the world. There are water-based Navi clans with looks and customs that are different from the forest Navi. You can see it in their skin colour and the design of their hands and tails. The sea creatures also have great designs with their own rules and how they operate. It was clear a lot of thought was put into everything.

image

The original 2 main characters, Jake and Neytiri, return from the 1st film but they are not the main focus this time. The main characters are their kids with Sigourney Weaver returning but playing as one of those kid characters instead. I was a little worried as kid characters tend to be annoying but I think the writer did a good job of making the kids not completely annoying. Sigourney is surprisingly convincing as a young kid and I was interested to see more of her character in the future. I think James succeeds in making us care more about these new characters than he did in Avatar 1. Jake, despite not being at the forefront this time, has his character arc. He is no longer the fearless leader he was in the 1st film as he now has 4 kids to take care of. His priority is different and he struggles with that. Stephen Lang also returns as the antagonist, Colonel Miles, again despite dying in the 1st film. He was very one-dimensional in the 1st Avatar but here they do try to give him some more depth which I appreciate.

image

However, Neytiri is unfortunately very sideline in this sequel. She is barely relevant until the end of the movie and even then, she doesn’t have any character arc. If anything, I feel like her character somehow feels worse here. One thing I struggled with in the 1st film was remembering names including that of the main characters. Unfortunately, I still have this issue in The Way of Water. This is thanks to the fact that a character’s name only ever seems to be mentioned once and never again which makes it difficult to remember anyone. For example, Kate Winslet of Titanic fame is in this movie but I wouldn’t be able to tell you what her character’s name was for the life of me.

image

In terms of the story, it’s very simple and by the book. It is about the kids learning the customs of a clan and struggling to fit in which sounds awfully similar to the 1st film or a high school drama. The plot works fine but it is very bland and predictable. Every cliché and trope you see from a coming-of-age story is here. The movie is also really long with a run time of 192 minutes. I’m not sure the plot justified that run time as there were many moments where a lot doesn’t happen and could’ve been cut to reduce the runtime. James Horner, the original composer of Avatar,  passed away and was thus replaced by Simon Franglen. Simon does a serviceable job but the music score is just not very memorable compared to Jame’s music score. The best soundtrack in The Way of Water is the ones that were reused.

image

Overall, Avatar: The Way of Water is a proper cinematic experience. Yes, the movie’s plot and characters aren’t that memorable but the visuals are truly amazing. In an era where it feels like we get a lot of poorly made CGI, it is a breath of fresh air to have a movie that has beautiful-looking CGI for what feels like the entire movie! Watching in it cinema with IMAX 3D was a terrific experience and it is the best way to watch Avatar: The Way of Water. I’m thoroughly looking forward to the sequels!


 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A “QUICK!” Review of “Boy Kills World (2024)”

  Bill Skarsgard in an action movie? Yes Please! The story is a generic revenge flick with an interesting concept of a mute and deaf protagonist. The main character has an inner voice which is voiced by H. Jon Benjamin of Archer and Bob’s Burger fame. This sounds interesting on paper but the problem is that the lines are so obnoxious and there are too many. It is always some kind of stupid quip or stating an obvious. It has a lot of comedy but most didn’t land for me. However, you are here for the action and it delivers on those. It has a lot of gore, gunplay, martial arts and over-the-top set pieces. It really shines in the 3rd act in both the story and the action. The final fight is a top-tier choreographed fight. In the end, Boy Kills World knows what it is and gives you exactly that. A bloody, fun action comedy!    
Post a Comment
Read more

A “QUICK!” Review of “Badland Hunters (2024)“

  Ma Dong-Seok is one of the coolest dudes in Korean cinema. I do think the film is a little disappointing as the post-apocalyptic setting isn’t used in an exciting way. The plot is also nothing special. It is incredibly dumb and predictable while also having minimal explanation about anything. The characters are also very bland. There is barely any exploration of any of the characters including the main character. Due to this, they all come off as one-dimensional and this makes it very difficult to care about anyone. However, it has some incredibly well-choreographed and fun action sequences. Who doesn’t want to see Ma Dong-seok kick ass!
Post a Comment
Read more

A “QUICK!” Review of “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)”

  When I found out after watching, that this was based on a Manhua (Chinese Comic book), it started to make sense. Characters that feel straightforward, the action scenes that defy physics in every way, the power of friendship, straight-up superpowered abilities, and countless flashbacks. The film suffers from juggling too many things. We have this fish out of water, self-discovery story with our main character. We have this gang conflict between those in the Walled City and the Triads. We have a revenge plot. We have a man dealing with his past—the growing of bonds. Unfortunately, the story is all incredibly predictable and lacks real depth. The constant talk about the past conflict sounded more interesting than the main plot. The ending is lacklustre and the final fight is so weird with the unexplained superpowers. However, if you like martial arts movies then there is certainly fun to be had here.
Post a Comment
Read more