Avatar: The Way Of Water review: James Cameron returns to the seas with a celebratory theatrical event
Dazzling, epic, and yet surprisingly intimate, Cameron's Avatar sequel expands on this exquisite world in ways both passionate and futuristic
Film Reviews James Cameron
In order to seize the significance of the elongated wait for James Cameron’s sweet-natured, splendid, and dizzyingly futuristic Avatar: The Way Of Water, it’s tempting to reach for a well-known line from Titanic: “It’s been 84 years.”
Indeed, the sequel to the innovator extraordinaire’s smashing 2009 blockbuster—with all the jaw-dropping world-building that graced theater screens through 3D glasses—has been long coming. So long, in fact, that those who didn’t luxuriate in Pandora during Avatar’s recent theatrical re-release might have forgotten the distinct smell of its fresh paint. Luckily, with the new 3D installment, Cameron puts forth something so alive, so richly textured and immersive that what could one say other than, “it’s been worth the wait”?
This outcome, one that demands the biggest theater screen you can find, is surely not a surprise coming from the perennially forward-looking filmmaker of the sensational sequels Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. After all, Cameron always seemed at unusual ease with follow-ups, maybe because he’s always searching for ways to improve upon, even revolutionize, what’s already behind him. When it comes to James Cameron, no one can dare him to “hold my beer” better than Cameron himself.
Avatar: The Way Of Water not only delivers upon everything its predecessor established, but advances them in ways gleaming and ocean-deep, through the eyes and heart of a cinematic storyteller with a passionate and well-documented love of the sea. (Remember, Cameron once captured his own record-breaking solo dive to Earth’s lowest point.) Indeed, what is Titanic if not, among its other themes, a humbling plunge into the wonder, danger, and power of the ocean? What’s Abyss or the 2014 National Geographic film James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge if not the utmost proof of Cameron’s childlike awe of the planet’s bottomless depths?
When watching—or more accurately, experiencing—Avatar: The Way Of Water, the thing that will perhaps feel most awe-inspiring is the dignified beauty of the underwater ecosystems Cameron has created. It doesn’t matter that none of the glow-in-the-dark marine life and vibrantly gorgeous fluorescent fish you will see beneath the blue surfaces of Pandora actually exist. What matters is that you will instantly believe that they do, no doubt due to Cameron distantly and dreamily representing psychedelic versions of the countless finned creatures he knows well and has maybe even seen with his own eyes. In that, the world of The Way Of Water—chiefly occupied by reef people called the Metkayina Clan—feels safe, cozy and comforting when compared to the stunning rainforest renderings of the first Avatar, which at first glance were hostile and dangerous for outsiders. And that makes sense, since water is also where Cameron himself is most content, most undeniably at home.
However, his returning protagonist Jake Sully—a.k.a. chosen one Toruk Makto (Sam Worthington)—doesn’t share Cameron’s proficiency of deep seas at the start. Throughout the film’s sometimes dragging (but entirely necessary) first hour and act, screenwriters Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver remind audiences of the union of venerable ex-Marine Jake (here, fully living in his Na’vi body) and resourceful Na’vi Neytiri (the terrific Zoe Saldaña), now married with children. But the danger from Na’vi’s worst enemies—the greedy “Sky People”—persists. So the Sullys have no choice but to make the sacrifice of leaving the jungle to protect the Na’vi from becoming targets of ruinous humankind, men who heartlessly mine and destroy Pandora for its valuable minerals.
And so the second act of The Way Of Water picks up where the former installment’s Dances With Wolves-adjacent plot ends, with the Sullys traveling across picturesque mountains, isles, and high seas to foreign lands they haven’t known before. Amongst the unit are Jake and Neytiri’s children: the golden child Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), the sidelined Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), the feisty Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and the nature- and animal-loving adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), whose mom, Dr. Grace Augustine, was a major character in the first film. When Spider (Jack Champion), a goodhearted, Pandora-bound human kid that the Sully children love, unwittingly helps out returning antagonist Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephan Lang), the Sullys reach the above-mentioned (and aqua-green) Metkayina Clan and join the ranks of leaders Ronal (Kate Winslet, in her first Cameron collaboration since Titanic) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), who agree to take the refugees in and teach them, you know, the way of water.
Admittedly, this integration process while Sky People pursue the Sullys is a little more of the same, plotting-wise. But the aquatic world that surrounds them is so dazzling that you won’t mind a story that’s soothingly familiar, freshened up by the presence of the Sully kids who get their fair share of alienation, adventure, and youthful romance once amongst the Metkayina children Tsireya (Bailey Bass) and Aonung (Filip Geljo). While the impossibly adorable and underwater natural Kiri is the MVP, the bullied Lo’ak living under the shadow of Neteyam especially receives a lovely storyline here, befriending a spectacular and valuable whale-like sea beast that is just as much of an outcast as he is.
Still, it’s not entirely essential to fully memorize the machinations of this new Avatar with all its anti-colonization, anti-establishment, and pro-environment shades as mainstay preoccupations for Cameron. Just know that the filmmaker astoundingly wraps his time-honored good-vs-evil package inside the most relatable emotions that honor concepts such as loyalty, sacrifice, friendship, love, and family that has equal room for both mothers-daughters and fathers-sons. And that accessibility, alongside Cameron’s knack for lucid and consistent big-budget storytelling—a feature most studio blockbusters lack these days—is why The Way Of Water packs a punch throughout its mind-blowing set-pieces and sometimes distracting high-frame-rate segments. In simplest terms, Cameron invites the viewers back into his universe in the first act, dips their toes into a brand-new offshoot of it in the second, and rocks them there in the third, entertainingly feasting on plenty of Aliens, Terminator, and yes, Titanic references throughout.
It’s no fun to spoil all the Cameron mixtape nods here. But allow me to at least indicate that you will get a new mini-Titanic in the movie’s astonishing third act once the Pandora folk—brought to life by actual performances through Motion Capture technology—and Sky People eventually face off amid the moon’s reefs and beyond. There will be claustrophobic underwater perils (for which the cast apparently practiced free diving), over-flooded tunnels, and colossal metal structures splitting and sinking with a thud, all captured with epic elegance by director of photography Russell Carpenter (also of Titanic) and edited with uncompromising coherence by Cameron, Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, and John Refoua.
The whole package here is so ambitious, yet intimate and gently tempered in its quieter moments, that it feels heartening to be reminded of what a big-budget Hollywood movie can be when it refuses to get crushed under pointless piles of rubble and noise. Confessionally, this critic wishes that Cameron had room in his schedule to put out more than one film in over a decade and original movies in addition to the ones that belong to this big beautiful franchise. Still, it’s wonderful to have him back with a picture that feels like a theatrical event to be celebrated, nowadays a retro idea occasionally reminded by the likes of Nope and Top Gun: Maverick. These are Cameron’s own waters, and it’s significant to see him effortlessly swim in them again.
478 Comments
If this is your bag then by all means enjoy yourself. I personally have no interest in seeing a piece of especially dumb seventies van art turned into a 2 1/2 movie
So noted in the official record.
Wait, so this movie’s going to kidnap me as well??
Exactly. If we want to see 70s fan art movies I want to see awesome Metal Wizard and unicorns
Skimpy chain-mail beachwear (regardless of gender) or GTFO, is my policy on van art.
Would you accept a Steampunk Sandman?
I think you misunderstand Cameron’s style. It’s more 1980s Trapper-Keeper art than 1970s van art.
Been waiting all of December to find out how much you aren’t going to see this movie
3 hours and 12 minutes, thank you very much
Ahem, it’s a 3 hour 10 min movie.Get your facts straight.
Thx for the announcement!
Cool. Noted.
3hr and 10min movie, actually.
I wasn’t interested in the movie before but after reading your description I kind of am now.
I will also not see it. Who else can we tell? Even though I already told my mom, the mail lady, everyone here at the AV Club, and my dog, I feel like I need to get the word out to a wider audience.
It’s handled – your mail lady is an incorrigible gossip.
Oh good! I was worried she wasn’t interested in that particular goss.
Who else can we tell?You guessed it, Frank Stallone.
Ooh good idea. I’ll tweet at him once he’s finished defending Matt Gaetz.
Roger Dean would like a word.
I have some wonderful, absolutely real news for you: Edmonton, Alberta.
Not for nothing, but I would watch the eff out of that movie.
I didn’t like Avatar and am not interested in the sequel, BUT I’m genuinely happy that it is apparently good.
I remember the general sentiment around the original Avatar being awe at the technology and the world itself while complete indifference at the characters and story, so I’m a bit bummed to learn it focuses on the same heroes and villains instead of being an entirely new story within the Avatar universe.Also shaming myself for thinking the James Cameron solo dive was just a South Park joke and not a real thing he did.
I tried three or four times to watch the first Avatar. I found it to be a turgid and uninteresting mess with a glossy overlay of color. I finally managed to get all the way through a few years back and could not believe I had forced myself to watch something so vapid.
Is there any chance that I will like the new one better?
Why would you force yourself multiple times to try watching a movie you didn’t like? For “the lulz”?
I just thought “maybe if I can get through the turgid opening half hour, interesting things will start to happen.” I mean Titanic was pretty much a snooze fest until the iceberg.
If you crawl out of your own asshole for one minute, maybe.
Since this sounds from the review like more of the same, only this time it’s wet, probably not?I’ll probably see this eventually but everything in the review about the actual story / plot sounds like something done a thousand times before so I’m finding it very hard to care about*. And while it sounds like the visuals and effects are fantastic I don’t think it’s quite enough to get me into a theater to see it there. It almost sounds like it’s worth seeing with the sound off.
But that’s just me. If people love it, go for it.*Not to mention the eye-rollingly cornball stuff like the “the way of water connects all things” line in the trailer, or the term “Sky People”.
YES. Why would the Na’vi ever have used the term ‘sky people’? The Na’vi are themselves a group of people who fly around in the sky, they’d call the humans ‘space people’ or just learn the word ‘human’, or call us ‘tiny desaturated space gremlins.’ Also, once you’ve actually integrated with the humans, wouldn’t you retire the term ‘sky people’? Like, literally one of them is your pal now. That would be like me having a Parisian flatmate and still referring to the french as ‘Baguette Men.’
No.
no
Yeah, it’s a bit like the problem of the Star Wars movies — there’s a whole setting to explore — why not do it rather than focus on people who are either the same characters or closely related to them? Maybe there could be a movie about another tribe of Na’vi who are still suspicious of this Jake Sully person and think he’s still an Earthling spy or something.
And much like with Star Wars, you have the odd phenomenon of people complaining that the main characters are the main characters.
Some people are into incestuous space wizards, and some people are into blue cat people with boobs.
the duality of man
Star Wars wasn’t THAT incestuous, there’s just one kiss to make Han jealous.
Must be that some people just don’t like shitty writing, I guess.
Luke, whines and all, is a more engaging protagonist than Sully. Plus, he has characters like Obi-Wan, Han Solo, Princess Leia & Yoda to play off of.
That doesn’t really speak to the strangeness of that genre of complaint.
I’ve been scanning the reviews for The Way of Water as they came out, mildly interested in what they would look like. (Full disclosure: I watched half of Avatar on a date way back when, and fell asleep and never revisited it to finish it. I don’t plan on seeing The Way of Water but I don’t actively hate it, either). The reviews are shockingly consistent. Almost all of them give some variety of this, whether they’re ultimately good or bad reviews: The world building is so dazzling, the visuals stunning, that the story takes a back seat. Positive reviews say that the good stuff outweighs the weak story. Negative reviews say that it doesn’t. But they all sing a version of this tune. For me, a 3 hr. 12 minute movie where the story takes a backseat to the visuals is a hard sell.
The reviews so far have been WEIRD. All the positive ones (I’m sorry but this one in particular is just awful) have been so fawning over the world-building and the theatrical experience and the pseudo-spiritual bullshit (“water is also where Cameron himself is most content, most undeniably at home”) I feel like someone spiked the punch in the screening room.
I definitely noted that as well. When I read this one, I was mostly wondering if the editor was asleep at the wheel. So many adjectives. So, so many. Not enough writers had militant AP-trained editors early in their careers. This review from AV Club is a particularly jarring example. A lot of the writing sounds like the overwrought prose my college freshman submit because they think it’s what good writing “sounds” like.The writing above can be instantly improved by eliminating unnecessary descriptors and using stronger verbs. A sampling:It doesn’t matter that none of the glow-in-the-dark marine life and vibrantly gorgeous fluorescent fish you will see beneath the blue surfaces of Pandora actually exist. What matters is that you will instantly believe that they do, no doubt due to Cameron distantly and dreamily representing psychedelic versions of the countless finned creatures he knows well and has maybe even seen with his own eyes. In that, the world of The Way Of Water—chiefly occupied by reef people called the Metkayina Clan—feels safe, cozy and comforting when compared to the stunning rainforest renderings of the first Avatar, which at first glance were hostile and dangerous for outsiders. Under the hand of an editor, this passage becomes:It doesn’t matter that none of the vibrant marine life you will experience beneath the surface of Pandora actually exists. What matters is that you will believe that they do. The world of The Way of Water—populated by the reef-dwelling Metkayina Clan—projects safety and comfort when compared to the hostile reception outsiders received in the rainforest environs of the first Avatar. Instantly more readable. And it feels less fawning and therefore more objective and honest.
I LOL’d at “uncompromising coherence” – what does that even mean?
I’m loathe to shit-talk the writers at this site because it’s a living and I don’t envy freelancers. But boy are you right about this. Your edited version sounds so much more mature and critically sound.
Yup. Not that I was planning to see this movie anyway, but this review is so badly written that I don’t actually trust the fawning praise it heaps on. It feels like the writer had lines he wanted to shoehorn in (the “84 years” quote) and was going to do so come Hell or high water.
Yep. That’s the general feelings I can remember about it. Lots and lots of hype about the technology going in. People saw it, liked the effects but when it came to the movie, most we’re just “meh, it was fine I guess”. Then like many pieces of media, it became joke fodder while also having a dedicated fanbase that REALLY liked it. Ever since its just been people still making Avatar jokes arguing with the crowd that REALLY REALLY like it while the majority of the crowd is still like “Oh yeah, Avatar. It was ok I guess”
Cannot believe that thing sub was built in Sydney, of all fuckin’ places.
The Wall St Journal review seems to think this one is more of the same:“Worse, in a narrative sense almost nothing really happens in the movie. When it ends hardly anything is resolved. In the ratio of effort expended to measurable forward progress, it’s the Hollywood equivalent of the Battle of Verdun. Many have observed that the first “Avatar,” despite its outsize box-office, didn’t leave much of a cultural footprint. The second is more of the same. It may be a visual buffet, but the pickings are merely eye candy.”
My dad recently put two and two together after seeing a tonne of Avatar 2 commercials that this was a film by the James Cameron. My Dad was like “….wont this be embarrassing for him?”.
This good review doesn’t have my convinced with the recent best picture and best director nods from the Golden Globes I have to assume this is just the AV club continuing the trend of jacking of James Cameron. There’s no way in my mind this can be a good mature film. It’s about blue cat people. No sorry I refuse to believe there’s an A grade story in there. My dad was very matter of fact “adults want to see mature films with adult humans in them”. Everyone treating this film as though it’s a contemporary of films like The Fabelmans and Tar have climbed so far up the caverns of their own ass. Look at yourselves.
You really just hate being alive, don’t you?
Nah I just dont wanna pretend a bunch of blue people running around is the prestige film event of the year.
They’re blue cat people. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as blue people. That’s just silly nonsense.
They’re blue cat people. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as blue people. That’s just silly nonsense.Well, actually …https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-turned-blue-silver-dies-article-1.1466905
Humanity collectively sighs in relief that you’ve spared yourself that fiction.
Nobody is calling it that.
and if some people do, how will it alter your life?
“I just dont wanna pretend a bunch of blue people running around is the prestige film event of the year”If you did, you would be the first person to do so.
Meanwhile I’m consumed with thoughts about the nonexistent threat of my home being invaded by nargles.
Then… don’t? I guess you’re one of those people who never heard about such thing as an opinion, which is funny because you just shared one with the world.
What bothers you more — that they’re blue or they’re “running around”?
Yes I do I should kill myself thanks for that suggestion.
I thought ghost riders were already dead?
Look somone is projecting!
Or maybe he actually loves being alive and so loves to see films about real adults having real problems/loves/fears/joys in the real world and not escaping to the land of blue cat people and unobtanium. I’m 100% a believer in “let people enjoy things” – BUT I can’t swallow this spineless critical relativism of “any movie that makes someone happy is a good movie”. It destroys the notion of quality. If you prefer to eat SPAM more than filet mignon, more power to ya, but that does not mean that anyone who compares their quality is a joyless snob. (To be clear this is not about the quality of Avatar per se, which I have not seen, but your comment that someone who prefers adult dramas to PG fantasy-action movies must “hate being alive”)
I too love watching movies about white people being sad. Peak cinema, peak art, the movies where the white people are sad about stuff. It’s even more art if it’s also about Hollywood or writing.
I hear The Whale is the feel-good (about your choice of cinema) film of the year!
I’m 100% a believer in “let people enjoy things” – BUT I can’t swallow this spineless critical relativism of “any movie that makes someone happy is a good movie”. It destroys the notion of quality. I didn’t make that assertion. I don’t see anyone here making that assertion. This sounds like a straw man.but your comment that someone who prefers adult dramas to PG fantasy-action movies must “hate being alive”Fallacy of generalization much? I never said any such thing. That comment was about how cosmicghostrider in particular is a persistently negative nelly who constantly bitches about people liking things he doesn’t like. But sure, assume for no reason that I was making a blanket statement.
“BUT I can’t swallow this spineless critical relativism of ‘any movie that makes someone happy is a good movie’”I looked for a comment in this thread that said or even suggested that and I couldn’t find one.
Lol..what are movies supposed to do if not entertain the audience? Obviously there are different ways a movie can be good and that shouldn’t be the only metric for judging art. But you can’t deny that a movie that makes people happy has done something right.
You really just hate being alive, don’t you?Yes but that’s totally independent of this movie.
The previous avatar was the only movie I have ever walked out of. After the stolen jackie chan film line. I didnt like ferngully, and I thought avatar was honestly pathetic, not simply bad but bankrupt and souless. I have watched superbowl ads with more heart than the original avatar. No argument it was visually stunning, the best work of the time. Normally I agree with the AVclub, but I find this beyond belief.
I mean, have you seen what being alive is like these days?
Don’t even get me started on the cost of living!
“Everyone treating this film as though it’s a contemporary of films like The Fabelmans and Tar”Who is saying that? Do you think being a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am theatrical experience (this) is the same thing as being a piece of art that communicates truth about the human condition (those)?In the words of Grimace, I like both.
Agreed, but wham-bam theatrical experiences can also convey truths about the human condition, as Spielberg’s entire filmography shows. Also I thought of Some Like It Hot for some reason. The truth about the human condition there being “nobody’s perfect” I guess.
I haven’t met someone who like Tar.
“I like both” meaning formulaic movies that are awesome in the theater and *film* as an art form. E.g. I liked The Green Knight (recommended it to friends and lost my movie-picking privileges) but I also genuinely think the T-Rex fight at the end of Jurassic World was the best thing I’ve seen in a theater over the last decade.
I haven’t seen Tar, although I will at some point.
I will watch Tar next week, but I also want to watch something that will wow and entertain me. I enjoyed Top Gun Maverick in the cinema, but when I rewatched it (streaming) with my son it wasn’t as amazing the second time around. I hope the Avatar sequel delivers.
He;s not wrong though. Cameron has become some sort of god among reviewers – they’re willing to give a movie 4/5 stars or higher when their reviews say things like “the story is not great, characters are underwritten if written at all, but oh my the CG is amazing”. Since when is having great CG the only thing a film needs? Since when do we ignore having even an OK story?
Cameron himself isn’t doing any favours either. He has a hubris about himself that is maddening. He talks about Avatar and Avatar 2 as if they’re pinnacles of film – and that ONLY he could do this. “I’ll have to train someone if they wanted to make a sequel”, “Go ahead, use the bathroom. You’ll just see that scene when you come to the theatre a second time to see my 3+ hour film”. Like common, if we gave any director $250 million, an unlimited amount of time (13 years to make a sequel? Wasn’t this announced for a 2014 release? And filmed in 2017? When do we ever give a director 10 extra years to finish the film/ five years after shooting to release a film)? It has nothing to do with Cameron’s greatness as a director, it has to do with the leeway we give him because he happened to make Titanic, an okay movie that some people went nuts over and saw 83 times in theatres.
The obsession over this man and how amazing of a director he is is overblown. He’s nothing special as a director. He’s just given access to things that we would not, and do not, give to anyone else.
How familiar are you with his other work? It isn’t that he made Titanic, it’s that he made Titanic + Aliens + Terminator + Terminator II. Every single one of those takes a bunch of formulaic parts and turns them into a cohesive whole that is fucking awesome, often using some technical advance in an effective way for the first time. Aliens in particular, for me, is on a short list of perfect movies. The guy makes REALLY GOOD pulp, and he has, consistently, for like forty years. That earns you some runway regardless of what industry you’re in.
“Awesome” is subjective, and it’s different than “good.” John Steinbeck is a better author than Elmore Leonard (Cannery Row blows, idk, City Primeval out of the water), but Leonard is fucking great. Cameron is like Leonard.Your opinion is completely valid, all of this is subjective, but if you haven’t seen Aliens, do yourself a favor and watch it in a dark room on a big screen with some popcorn. Another metaphor: he isn’t an especially artful director in the same way that Stephen King isn’t a titan of the literary canon, but I think watching Aliens (like reading IT or The Shining) shows he’s especially good at what he does.
100% agree. Big Jim is arrogant and highly unlikable.
“My dad was very matter of fact “adults want to see mature films with adult humans in them”
I hate Avatar, but your dad sounds just awful.
And Cosmic Ghost Rider is an awful character.
AV club has become overrun by children, peace.
Adults put very little stock into other adults telling them what is appropriate entertainment for adults. I pay my mortage, I can watch exactly as many blue cat people movies as I want.
Children? You’re the one going on about what your daddy said, like he’s some authority that we should all listen to, that’s what children do. Yes, yes, I’m sure your dad can beat up my dad. I have no interest in Avatar, but not because anything your daddy said, he’s not the boss of me.
Lmao right who actually takes their fathers opinion as law as a grown ass man?
More than that, cosmicghostrider’s dad can beat up James Cameron’s dad!
“And I shall prove this by throwing a big, childish tantrum!”
Go cry to your dad about it
This is some tantrum you’re throwing.
I hate Avatar.I also think you sound insufferable. The indignation regarding adults watching blue cats run around on a movie screen coming from someone using a Marvel comics nickname is hilarious.
The world has…everyone enjoys and needs escapism, but when that becomes the PRIMARY entertainment……it indicates your world is either really shitty (and that may be true, I mean, look around) or you are pathetically shallow.
My dude, you’re the one who wrote a post about how your dad feels about stuff.
Well and also the massive box office successes of the marvel films and pretty much MANY MANY films that have come out with alien like creatures begs to differ. Sorry but just like everyone else, us adults want to disappear into a fantasy world. The real world sort of sucks…
lmfao
Do you think his dad is one of those guys who makes his kids call him “sir”?
It’s really amazing how much this review triggers you, having not seen the film, or having any intention of seeing the film
The only people who get that mad about positive reviews for art they haven’t seen are people who think their taste in art is a personality.
It’s really amazing how much this review triggers you, having not seen the film, or having any intention of seeing the filmThere are a lot of movie geeks out there who are VERY invested in Avatar 2 not being good, seeing as how they’ve been confidently predicting for years that it would be a critical and box office flop.
When it was announced that they were spending $1.5 billion on a bunch of Avatar sequels, I, like a lot of people, chuckled, thought, “well, that seems like a miscalculation,” made a few jokes, and went on with my day. But the number of people who seem weirdly, personally invested in its failure have become far more annoying, and I’m now low-key rooting for it. The world’s better off if we get one more great or even very good movie instead of a kinda funny flop.
Plus, isn’t it generally better if the ridiculously expensive movies were actually good, even if they’re really long (seriously, three plus hours is a lot of time to expect someone to remain in the theater. That’s a hundred percent going to get paused for bathroom breaks and drink refills at home)?Rather than being dour, boring, nonsensical or any of the other pithy criticisms of numerous movies that have cost north of 150MM and turned out to be not really worth it? Would that money have been better spent on yet another Marvel, DC or Star Wars movie? I think it probably would not.
While I don’t like the OP either, damn that’s some butthurt over a movie you haven’t seen yet either.
Your boomer dad’s opinion of a movie he hasn’t seen has prompted you to come here and be a condescending prick?You’re posting on a pop culture website about a science fiction fantasy movie, and being needlessly high-and-mighty about it.Look at yourself.
why would this movie be embarrassing for him?i mean, whether you give a shit or not it’s clear he does. this isn’t a paycheck movie, he’s been working on it for over a decade and he seems incredibly proud of it.
This is an embarrassing thing to post on the internet.
Ya know, it’s ok to like a movie your dad doesn’t like.
Oh yeah?! Well my dad can kick your dad’s ass!
I would be shocked if anyone considered this movie an adult drama, but in there are a lot of mediocre action movies that people really like. This one just doesn’t have “Marvel” in the credits.
Still owned by Disney since they bought it, though.
Does your dad own a dealership?
Admit it. You fell hard for the “who wants this” meme. And now you can’t seem to find your way out.
You’re literally ranting in an internet comment section under a comic book character’s name about how big and adult you are for thinking adults can only enjoy realism in art, all because daddy says so. Just… sit back and soak that in for a moment. Really roll that over in your mind for a bit.
I also like to hate cool stuff. It makes me look smart.
I don’t have any intention of seeing this film. Couldn’t be less interested.That said, I like a lot of “immature films” without “adult humans in them,” so this gripe can kind of stuff it.
Pretty much my thoughts exactly. However, I don’t think James Cameron will be at all embarrassed when this movie makes billions of dollars.I think a lot of “industry” people are needing this to be a smash hit so we can all say “see, going to the movies is BACK, baby!” Hence the non-stop barrage of propaganda despite Avatar being completely culturally irrelevant.
everyone needs to grow up and do a lot more “my Dad said!” approach to evaluating movies
I know where your dad is coming from. I know where you’re coming from. For me hearing the Chapo guys get converted to the James Cameron/Avatar religion by what seemed to be an ironic Felix Biederman bit was where I shook my head. No, it can’t be. The original movie can’t be what people say it is.But it’s an age thing. I actually had one of those twee and false “my child said the most wise and precious thing…” moments when I tried to stomach the original movie with my 6 year old. This is my wiseass kid who knows she can make dad laugh by saying the word “penis” in a song.Anyway I was barely tolerating the movie. She was transfixed. When they kill some particularly vivid beast in an early scene, she didn’t just get scared or cried. She hyperventilated. She was despondent for an hour and her mum and I had to lay down with her until she literally fell asleep from exhaustion. Since then it’s all been questions about life and death and also which animals can eat so many vegetables that it will explode. I had this moment too in my childhood, and it was terminator 2. I was 13 when I saw it, and that movie also has overwrought, contrived dialogue and fantastical monsters. Point is, if the theme of “there are creatures oppressing us that look like us but are not us, and they are relentless in their cruelty no matter what they say. They are cruel even to their own. We have to face them and in order to beat them, some of them will have to join us and become us” doesn’t mean something to you, then I dunno. Don’t worry about it.
“adults want to see mature films with adult humans in them”
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Maus-Art-Spiegelman/dp/0679406417
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm_(1999_film)First one is a graphic novel so I figured that qualified as something you “see”. Well written stories don’t need humans, they need relatability.
This reminds me of one of my favorite books, Watership Down, which I can’t explain the plot to anyone without sounding like a five-year-old (“It’s a story about rabbits looking for a new home, and there’s a rabbit war, but the real friends were the rabbits they met along the way.”), but it’s definitely not for five-year-olds and there are barely any humans in it at all.
Watership Down: A well-meaning friend of my dad’s gave me a copy when I was about eight. Oof. Mind you, then I read The Plague Dogs when I was twelve, which was probably even more age-inappropriate.
It’s pretty messed up in some places, but such a great story. Truly suspenseful and all the great things you want in a tale.
Do we even need to go down the list of great literature that is filled with the fantastic? Shakespeare wrote about witches, sorcerers and fairies. If you published ‘The Odyssey’ today, it would be on the shelves next to ‘Game of Thrones’. ‘Frankenstein’ is a deeply humanistic story of betrayal, yearning and inhumanity, and it’s a sci-fi story about a man who makes another man in a lab. Adults have always been willing to engage with stories of the wondrous.
They all came out in 2022. They are contemporaries.
Reviewer: “This movie is good!”Other Reviewers (around 83% at time of writing): “This movie is good!”Guillermo Del Fucking Toro: “This movie is good!”You: “I don’t know, I’m not entirely sure.”I know taste is subjective, but you haven’t even seen this fucking movie.
“There’s no way in my mind this can be a good mature film. It’s about blue cat people.”Exact same energy as people who think cartoons are stupid and only for kids.
You’re probably one of those people that think animated films aren’t as “mature” as live action.
A whole world of anime disagrees with you.
Are you twelve? Why is this entirely your dad’s opinion?
What? Hard to parse the wording there. At any rate, it is perfectly possible for this to be a lot of fun, and not as good as the Fabelmans (whatever that means since there are in no way the same genre of film).
Everyone treating this film as though it’s a contemporary of films like The Fabelmans and Ta
But — thing is, it IS a “contemporary” of those films. All released this year. What the holy fuck are you talking about?[For the record, I do not plan on seeing it, didn’t like the first one, have better things to do. But people will see it and love it and it will make money. Nothing any of us can or should do about it.]
The funny thing is that your comment is as far from being mature as possible.
so let’s sum it up: “my fictional little abstract light show better look like real people, i can’t stand it when my fake stories don’t look real!”do you realize how narrow minded you and your father are? you’re basically 90 year olds complaining about the Simpsons.
Won’t your dad be embarrassed when this makes a zillion dollars?
“adults want to see mature films with adult humans in them”
Do they? Because i’ve been waiting for a Transformers movie without a single human in it since Bay released his first pile of crap.
I agree with most of that, or at least the underlying sentiment.
But the film is literally a contemporary of The Fabelmans and Tar… they came out within a few months of one another.
LOL the _Fabelmans_? Lost me there, bud.
hahah who gives a shit what your dad thinks
I’m glad that you are basing your movie hot takes on your dad’s opinion. What does your mom think?
Please pass on to your dad that he’s earned the distinction of sounding even less fun at parties than you do.
I find it ironic that the basis of your criticism that this movie may not be mature enough for you is: “Nuh-uh, cuz my dad said.”
Can almost 100% guarantee that you have watched every Star Wars and MCU. Let me check your comment history. Oh yea looks like it.
Get a life. It’s a movie. Want something ‘mature’? Read a book
I also think this movie looks dreadful, but Jesus you are insufferable.
I’m not a fan of Avatar but I would never bet against Cameron.
“my dad says this isn’t cool” ok bro.
I’m gonna watch this on my cell phone in about three months and then decide if it’s a good movie.
Somewhere Cameron just inexplicably dry heaved – and I am here for it.Take your star.
Why not wait until someone’s made a bootleg Game Boy Advanced cartridge with a compressed version in glorious 240×160 resolution!
I want to watch the motion comic version which is just jpgs from the movie with text bubbles superimposed over it.
I want to read the novelization! Are those still a thing? They used to be big in the 1970s-1980s as often the only way to “see” a movie that wasn’t in theaters was to read the book based on the screenplay.
Today I learned that there are novelized versions of Valerian and the Something Something Planets and XXX: The Return of Vin Diesel guy, both from 2017.
I’m tempted to buy those just because of the novelty of 21st century novelizations even though I saw both those movies and was underwhelmed by both. To be fair, I just remembered that Tarantino wrote (himself) a novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but I think that was deliberately referencing the vintage setting of the movie, so there actually is at least one recent novelization of a movie that was pretty good.
It was good, though Tarantino isn’t a stellar writer of prose.
The novel has a very different approach to the movie – everything’s there, but it’s presented from a different perspective and in a different order.
Sure, its not the other way around? Valerian was based on a series of French comics.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val%C3%A9rian_and_Laureline
I checked and there actually is a real novelization (which is different from the comics). If you’re not familiar with the concept, a novelization is a novel (so all text) based on a movie, typically written by expanding the screenplay with more background.
Behold!
https://movienovelizations.com/movie_novel/valerian-and-the-city-of-a-thousand-planets-2017/
I had no idea that site existed. Now I’ll probably try to get novelizations (if they exist) of all my favorite movies.
I recently found a novelization of Snakes on a Plane that I handed out as a gag gift.
I once saw a CD of the audiobook of the novelization of the Beverly Hillbillies movie.
There was also an Emoji Movie Novelization
I have questions.
It’s 144 pages
I always enjoyed those too, and still have a couple of old favorites on my bookshelves (the original three Star Wars ones, and Aliens). I do often find myself wishing they’d do them for modern movies, but I suppose Alan Dean Foster only has so much time left.
I remember reading the ET novelization as a kid. A whole lot more of it was from the mother’s point of view, who was a sad and lonely person.
I loved those as a kid.
Somebody activate the Allen-Dean-Foster-signal!
Psssh needs to be in ASCII gif form, this is the way.
Feck it I’m just going to watch Dances with wolves again , but with a very blue screen tint.
If I can play Doom on my watch, I want to see this film there too, complete with popup notifications of new mail promising me a longer erection and Hilary’s secret emails.
Game Boy Advanced!!!I was gonna figure out a way to watch it an old portable black and white TV from the 70s
Make sure it has an FM radio built in.
…also I’ll be watching a camcorder bootleg of it with hardcoded chinese and Armenian subs AND a cringeworthy ad for a terrible Asian gambling site being superimposed over the action every 25 minutes.Do you think that’s enough to kill him yet?
I take your cellphone viewing and raise it to “edited in-flight movie viewing.”
First time I saw Wedding Crashers was on a plane and, to my surprise, it was completely unedited. Boobs!
I just watched the original on a laptop yesterday, which could have contributed to my low regard for it.
It was the first film I went to see at the pictures with the man I am now married to. It was OK, I think, nowt special though, given all the fuss that was made about it. Neither of us has ever watched it again, nor do we have any interest in the sequel.
Same. Or maybe on an airplane, which is how I saw the first one.
If it’s not on Quibi it’s not for me!!
I’m going watch the pirated version filmed by a guy who has a cold which causes him to shake and cough during the entire film.
MY FRIENDS, I HAVE FOUND OUR SCREEN:https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33957256/this-programmer-figured-out-how-to-play-doom-on-a-pregnancy-test/
Let us meet at the CVS with popcorn in four months.
Way ahead of you. I watched the first in theaters a while ago and decided this one isn’t worth it.
Man but a lot of people seem passionate about telling everyone they can how they hate Avatar 2 so much that they will never watch it.
I can’t say I hate it or its predecessor, I can only say I have zero interest in ever seeing any of it.That said, I only had marginal interest in seeing Titanic, but I did and was impressed enough to see it twice (mainly for Kate Winslet, but Cameron got my money either way).
I saw Titanic in theaters as an 8 year old boy and IMMEDIATELY begged my parents to see it a second time the following night. I also got the soundtrack on CD for Christmas. (yes I grew up to be a homosexual)
You were a real Wells for Boys kinda kid, huh? (The pot said to the kettle.)
I wouldn’t say it was an assumed given, a lot of heterosexual men went to see Titanic because they wanted to see that fucker sink!
“yes I grew up to be a homosexual”The AV Club
“Titanic Turned My Son Gay” is definitely the type of headline I expect to see from certain media channels.
That said, I only had marginal interest in seeing Titanic, but I did and was impressed enough to see it twice (mainly for Kate Winslet, but Cameron got my money either way).Draw me like one of your Na’avi girls.
My reaction to the original upon walking out of the theater was “Well, that was fine, I guess.”. I don’t think I ever really thought about it again. I am amused at Cameron announcing he is making seven or eight of these things without being certain anyone even wanted a second one. Dream big I suppose.
I’ll watch from the time they hit the iceberg to the end any time. The first half is a ridiculously shmaltzy romance between leads with no chemistry and the worst Italian accent I’ve ever seen, and the back half is a first-class disaster flick.
It’s presumably a kneejerk reaction to the delirious, second-person-voiced hyperbole of the review.Not that it isn’t dumb, but it’s hardly surprising.
Exactly. This is not a review but a bucket of paint gorgeously covering something. It’s a type of propoganda that inexperienced writers will employ to hide the lack of intellectual engagement that is the centerpiece of this article.
I mean its going to be shoved up in their face so much over the next few months I kind of understand wearing their hate like a shield,me? Honestly the first one looked nice in 3D , but was just ….meh , it’s honestly too underwhelming to really hate.
Now to see if it makes any money. Where’s Sam Worthington promoting it?
Where’s he been since the first Avatar, for that matter?
Inside that blue guy, duh.
He’s been having the career that aligns with his talent.
Since Avatar he’s been in three movies I’ve heard of (the two Titans films and Hacksaw Ridge, where he was actually pretty good) and, apparently Under the Banner of Heaven which I haven’t gotten to yet. Book was nutballs enough.
I think he’s boring as shit, but his most unforgivable sin was how he treated Bubo in Clash.F&%@ that guy.
I generally wait for movies on streaming, don’t mind watching on my phone, and HATE movies in 3D, but if there’s one movie I’m gonna see in the most immersive theater experience possible, you bet your ass it’s gonna be Avatar. I saw the first one on a whim, got stuck with a first row seat for a 3D showing. Kinda mind-blowing. At one point during some scene around a fire, I actually blew my breath at an ember coming towards me. That was and is embarrassing but i actually kind of love that a movie made me do that without even thinking. Any review short of “This is way worse than Black Adam” won’t stop me from seeing this in a theater. The biggest problem is that my last experience seeing a 3-hour James Cameron movie set on the water almost led to a complete explosion of my bladder.
I’d love to go and see this in a cinema but at 3 hrs 10m it needs an intermission for an old fogey like me. Or at least a signal somewhere in the movie so’s I know that I can nip off for a pee without missing anything important.
James Cameron said you can go to the bathroom anytime you want and come back to see what you missed a second time.
That’s how he makes his money back – make it so long that you’re bound to miss something.
I don’t know why more movies don’t have intermissions. If they’re gonna make every movie three hours now… Let people pee, check messages, and it’s a great way for theaters to sell more concessions. At least make a few showings a day the “small bladder” showings or something.
I’d love that. I have ulcerative colitis so there’s long stretches of time when unwell where you’ll find me nowhere near a three hour movie.
I do believe the last theater-released movie to have the intermission was Reds…in 1981
The 70mm Roadshow version of The Hateful Eight (2015) had an intermission and an opening overture IIRC.
I recall The Hateful 8 had one
Intermissions means less time for showings, and theaters need to squeeze at least 3 showings per screen a night to stand a chance of profiting. That’s why theaters hate movies longer than 2.5 hours, but they do the best they can with what they’re given. Intermissions simply aren’t financially feasible.
I guess scaling back the 30 minutes of commercials/trailers isn’t feesible either.
Especially these days when you don’t have to worry about losing your seat.
That’s what the runpee app is for.
That app values the opposite of what I do in a film.
“Go pee now! It’s just boring dialog in which two people express emotions and grow as characters.”
“Don’t go during this scene! You don’t want to miss a second of the CGI cartoons shooting beams of light at each other for 20 minutes!”
Considering the plot seems to be exactly the same as the first one, you could probably go piss any time you want and be fine. But yes, I agree, work intermissions into these super long movies. It was good enough for Kubrick!
Way of the water road, Pete.
One of my favorite theater going experiences was seeing Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk in IMAX 3D; there’s a scene where he drops the balancing pole from a high wire and I actually moved to dodge it in my seat. That flick was a great use of 3D for immersion without any bombastic action scenes. Hugo was another good one.
Yeah I wish only certain movies would be in 3D. Like, I didn’t need to see Black Panther in 3D, but it was the only showing i could make. 3D movies need to be shot with 3D in mind. Heck, even the Harold and Kumar 3D was kinda enjoyable.
“This is way worse than Black Adam.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Hurray! Now your aunt will have a new movie to not shut up about!
Way to just casually drop in that Quaritch is back. And given how lazy the first film’s script is, I am actually questioning if the movie bothers to explain how.
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology… Quaritch will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”
It’s been discussed how he (and others) are back in a few magazine articles already (with pictures). So yeah, the movie explains how. The Gizmodo review actually says it if you want to spoil yourself.
Somehow, Quatrich has returned.
The dead speak!
“Col. Quaritch?! I thought you were dead!”“Nope!”
I always like to imagine two of the ‘Rise of Skywalker’ scriptwriters talking after handing in their work, and one of them saying, “You remembered to go back and replace that ‘Somehow, Palpatine has returned’ line with something good, right?”
I saw the explanation in another review and it’s so straightforward I can’t believe I didn’t guess it ahead of time: The humans were able to save his brain and put him in an Avatar body. He’s a Na’vi now!
“I’m not Quaritch, I’m his brother/clone Pentrich.”
Germain Lussier’s review explained it.
I had seen that a while ago, and then I thought somebody mentioned he’s not only back…but a fuckin’ blue person now.
I’m going to get monumentally stoned and then go see this in imax. I hope I die from sensory overload
Finally! The theatrical experience that Cameron was yearning for someone to have.
Recurring Cameron wet dream:
Good luck sustaining that weed buzz for 3.5 hours!
Edibles can do wonders–I was pretty baked for the runtime of Dune.
Acid. You need acid.Aquaman on acid was great.
James Cameron is straight culture.
Aliens was pretty gay
oh shit you’re right
Okay, Avatar is straight culture.
Titanic is pretty gay
no
Kate Winslet emulating Now, Voyager Bette Davis with her wide-brimmed hat and twink Leo say yes
Literally the only thing that I’ll accept from this comment is Bette Davis’ hat. I have no rebuttal there.
But twink Leo, get out here, go to jail, awful. That’s not gay culture, that’s “I want something unthreatening” teen girl and wine mom culture. Twink Leo is the crush you move on to after you get over Disney’s Aladdin. (Cartoon, not live action.)
I thought there was an article a while back explaining that Jack was obviously a trans guy, and to be honest, that is now my favorite Titanic headcanon. It changes nothing about the film we saw but adds an interesting layer to the interactions.
He means merry.
Half the characters run around almost totally naked at all times, and on the other side Michelle Rodriguez runs around most of the time displaying pure-cut bicep, so it’s pan if anything.
They run around almost totally naked, but they also fuck with their hair. It’s a profoundly sexless movie.
And you don’t get to make a movie queer just because it has Michelle Rodriguez in it! I mean, it helps, but still.
“They run around almost totally naked, but they also fuck with their hair. It’s a profoundly sexless movie.”
Two of them literally have sex while intertwining their hair!
I dunno what to tell you, it’s a movie about trees and cat boobs and how we’re all connected by water and plants and shit. That’s some straight nonsense. I’m not connected to nature. I’m connected to extremely mid-tier shows on Apple TV.
I think they also have (improbably from the standpoint of evolution, but whatever) human-like private parts in their crotches — it sure looked like Jake was going down on his blue babe in the first one. I think the hair thing just lets you sense what the other person is feeling, similar to how they use it on their “horses” and “dragons”.
Avatar 3: Blue Cat Horse Fuck ET Hands
“Hey, coolmanguy! Anyone mistake you for a man?”
With all the diving he does, I thought he might be a bottom.
Then he’s making it cool.
Never in a million years, straighty.
It only took him 10 actually, non-straighty.
lol
See we can all Avatar in our own way even if it’s just the joy of shitting on it. Cameron has something for everybody!
James Cameron ends homophobia by making the perfect algorithm for CGI watersports.
Avatar 3: All the aliens are now yellow! I’ve got my ticket.
Avatar is florasexual. And actually faunasexual, now that I think of it. No wonder it’s called Pandora.
James Cameron was basically the closest thing to the lesbian gaze in blockbuster cinema for decades, lol
I refuse to surrender the lesbian gaze to a straight man just because he likes girls that can beat him up.
One profound sentence right there. Preach.
Because Kinja is bad, I can’t tell which comment this is in response to, but I’m choosing to believe it’s “Blue cat horse fuck ET hands” and I thank you.
“You said it all, man.”Actually I was referencing “I refuse to surrender the lesbian gaze to a straight man just because he likes girls that can beat him up.” because that’s definitely a male type.
.
I don’t know if it’s gay, straight or other, but there’s something sadistically psychosexual about all the penetrating the T-1000 does in ‘Terminator 2′.
Oh, I thought it was called ‘The Way of the Walter’, and I’m all like “who’s Walter!?”
“A guy opens the door to his hut and gets shot and you think of me? No. I am the one who knocks!”
So it was Walter White all along. Now the blue cat people make sense.
Gives “Baby Blue” a bit of a different meaning..
SHOMER FUCKING SHABBOS!
It’s actually ‘The Way of the Waiter’ and is a stealth ‘My Dinner With Andre’ remake.
I remember when the A-grade around here used to mean something! Which is to say, we never saw one.
Man, I remember when I started reading the AV Club back when they were The Onion AV Club, and the movie reviews were all so negative I honestly thought it was also parody
A film had to be made from organic raw babies and unicorn fur to earn an A from the AV Club. Now anything can get one.
The good ol’ days.
The site is so much more a shill shoveling industry PR spin than it ever was.
The fact that the “we may earn a commission from links on this page” disclaimer is now even showing up on movie reviews doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence.
Correct.
But by all means, keep coming back and commenting on it.
Suck it Marvel loving idiots. Filmmakers are back.
This is a movie i could see my young children being into the spectacle of, but i just know i could never take them to a 3+ hour movie.
Just tell your kids to stop being stupid little assholes and pay attention for once in their fucking lives.
Yeah, that always works.
It does with my kids because they respect me as a man and a provider. They see me bringing in the cash. They see me taking care of business. They see me out here shining. They hear what I do to their mother in the bedroom sexually. The entire package demands respect from all people. I doubt it will work with Womp Thing and you because you both seem unable to make children respect you. I bet your kids know you’ve never hit momma’s back walls.
Don’t mind that poster, it’s just Chalie Meadows, The AV Club’s #16 troll.
I’LL SHOW YOU THE LIFE OF THE HIND!
I think it’s more an issue of needing to take a shit and/or a piss than just attention span.
Wrong. You baby your children. Be a man. Stand up to them. I will make my children wet themselves before I submit to their request. It’s all about setting the rules.
Your underage and watersports kinks are your own business.
We live in a society.And part of the civic contract is not having to sit in a cinema next to people reeking of piss and/or shit!
That’s what city streets are for!
I’m reminded of a commenter who once said his parents took him to a drive-in showing of ‘Gone With the Wind’. When he was four. And he claimed to have watched and absorbed the whole thing.
You guys gotta stop formatting movie review titles like this, looks really lazy.
Never doubt Big Jim, baby!!!
Lots of people still loudly betting against James Cameron, historically not a great bet to make. Guess we’ll find out in a few days.
If it doesn’t sell a single ticket, it will be reported that it’s the highest grossing everything.
“Never bet against James Cameron!” “Beg pardon?”
“Never bet against James Cameron!”
“I wasn’t…in what sense do you mean ‘bet against’ him?”
“James Cameron?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t bet against him. Makes some pretty darn good movies. Take it from me!”
“I mean, sure, but…are you under the impression that I’m, like, a gambler or professional film box office speculator? Someone for whom the success or failure of a James Cameron movie represents a material loss or gain?”“Listen, buddy, I’m just saying that a lot of people have lost a lot of money underestimating Ol’ Jimmy C!” “Who? When? How? Like the people who own stock in his production company? Because, again, I’m just some guy who is in no way connected to the film industry.” “Mark my words, mac, it’s a sucker’s bet! A sucker’s bet!”
I am now going to investigate this show rather than going to see Avatar 2 (which in truth I was unlikely to see anyway). That clip is hilarious. Thank you good buddy.
Who?Where?When?Lots of people loudly betting that the story will be forgettable bullshit that rips off better stories told by guys like Edgar Rice Burroughs. I don’t think anyone is “betting” that the movie won’t make money. Of fucking course it will.
It’s already on track to open with around $175 million domestic this weekend (and way more than that globally), which is odd because io9 commentators have explained for the last 10+ years that no one cares about Avatar because it left Zero Cultural Footprint(TM) and no one cosplays as them or something.
I’m not betting against Cameron in terms of commercial success. He knows how to make a commercially successful film, and this is an admirable skill. His neediness in terms of desiring respect for his artistry is nauseating. Good lord this man is needy. Just take our money and be happy.
Oh shut up. That line has been said a zillion times. Yeah, he’s a financially super successful filmmaker. But so what? Does not mean his films are works of genius or anything other than a giant shiny baubbel that is the cinematic cousing of any number of Jeff Koons’ big dumb shiny things that people can gawk at.
I don’t have much respect for the average movie goer given that this kind of drivel is what they wish to watch.
In the trailer they linked the film refers to itself as the motion picture event of a generation and it hasn’t been released yet. This type of fanfire feels so unearned.
Their marketing relies on “repeat a lie enough and it becomes true”
It’s not fanfare, it’s a warning that there’s going to be an entire new generation before the next one comes out.
But it’s evidently earned not one, not two, but three original posts from you in one comment section. And all negative before you’ve even seen the movie.
Such a shame you’ve undermined any argument you might have had by being so repetitively ignorant. You’ve earned all the ridicule you get.
In fairness, it may not be accurate to characterize his Daddy’s opinions in rant form as “an original post”.
It’s James Cameron. No one toots their own horn louder. This is the guy who mic-dropped “I’m the king of the world!” when he picked up his Oscar.
Hollywood’s been turning out some serious left-wing drivel lately. I miss the days of Stallone, Schwarzeneggar, Van Damme, Seagal… seems like movies for the last decade or more have to have some significant theme or life lesson that borders on liberal brainwashing. And if they can’t think of something at the moment, they reboot movies that have no business being rebooted (Footloose, Red Dawn, Point Break…). Hollywood and the music industry can FO.
No one cares what idiots like you think or want to watch. You are stupid and wrong. You have clown ass politics that only connects with stupid hateful assholes. The world will be a better place the exact second you die. You are a terrible person and no gives a fucking shit what you think. You are boring, stupid, and hateful. Fuck off and die. That is what culture is telling you. You should try listening for once in your life you absolute loser.
Have they obtained the unobtainium yet?
I mean, unobtanium isn’t something Cameron just made up, it has been used in engineering to represent a material that would perfectly meet certain conditions (or an existing material that would be too costly to get in the needed amounts). It is a little silly, but still.
If they did, they’d have to rename it.
I don’t want to see another Avatar movie. But I crave good movies. So I’m mad this appears to be genuinely good. I do not want to spend 3 fucking hours watching an Avatar movie. But I know I’ll probably like it. James fuckin’ Cameron, man.
It’s weird that people on here moan about the death of the auteur while simultaneously complaining that James Cameron has made a movie that’s really personal to him and his vision.
Cameron peaked with the original Terminator.
I’d say Aliens but The Terminator would be a very close second for me.
True Lies
Someday I’ll have to have La Totale to compare it.
Agreed.
I don’t think that’s what people are complaining about when it comes to Avatar.
Isn’t it? Most of the complaints seem to boil down to “Why is Cameron spending all this time making these dumb blue cat movies that no one wants to see!”
I think it’s more the very fair observation that as a story the first one was entirely forgettable. It was empty spectacle, and now a guy who has demonstrated he can make enduring movies that people go back to for decades has decided to go back to this same boring well. This thing will probably be the highest-grossing movie of all time, and in a year once again no one will remember the character’s names. Except Ike, people remember him. Too bad it’s from Tombstone.
I mean, I think we’re saying the same thing. The first movie was boring and dumb, and he’s gone to the same well. But, the well is obviously important and interesting to him, and these movies represent a very particular personal vision of his. That’s an auteur, as I understand it. The point is, auteur doesn’t always mean quality.
I’m not sure if he loves these characters and this story, or if the technical challenges keep him engaged. If the latter then I’d squabble that’s not an auteur pursuing his vision, but a tech geek playing with unlimited resources.
Yes, clearly this is a passion project for James Cameron, but I don’t think people are moaning about the death of “action/adventure movies that look like they were written by a 15-year-old, edited by committee, and given an inexplicably large budget” when they lament the death of auteur filmmaking.
Fair enough, I guess my overall point is “sometimes an auteur’s personal vision is shitty and dumb.”
Some people forget that Neil Breen and Tommy Wiseau and James Nguyen are also “auteurs”.
Are they the same people?
If the most anticipated film of the year for you is a fantasy about blue people, keeping in mind that what were watching is a reflection of society, I would assume anyone truly excited for this either wishes they were living in a fantasy world in their head or has lost touch with society. Not really a group I wanna associate with sounds like incels and school shooters. Enjoy your childrens film.
You’re big mad about this! Yes, I’m sure anyone who enjoys this film is either a virgin or a violent sociopath. This some profound insight on your part. Truly astounding intellect at play.
Hey, shut up!
His daddy told him it was for babies!
I wonder how they feel about the MCU?
I dunno, if I had to guess the school shooter, I’d go with ‘weirdass anti-avatar person who got particularly vicious after being denied a bad review to gloat over’ instead of ‘person with the capacity to appreciate fiction’
First responders should carry the Guardian’s 2/5 review for just such an eventuality: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/dec/13/avatar-the-way-of-water-review-james-cameron
sounds like incels and school shooters. Enjoy your childrens film.Calm down, son. It’s just a movie.
I can’t believe you’re doubling down, after the warm reception your previous comment in the same vein got.
I’m finding myself on a rollercoaster of bafflement at someone who is this wrapped up in the success of a movie, but in a negative way.It’s like the couple hundred people who were super mad at the movie Bros enough to review bomb it on IMDB, except they mostly had some sort of religious (or at least religion adjacent) ideological underpinning for their reflexive hate. I can’t really imagine what it is about Avatar that could inspire that kind of passion. It is, after all, not terribly deep. A piece of sci-fantasy fluff, as CGR points out themselves. What is there to get this worked up about?(It’s technically science fiction, since the ‘magic’ has explained underpinnings. Plus, that human production design is absolutely wonderful. It’s really a masterpiece of keeping futuristic technology and aesthetics grounded and believeable while still being impressively advanced. But the general ‘feel’ of the film’s structure, particularly when the plot starts spending more time with the Na’vi makes me think more of a fantasy story. Plus, Jake Sully rides a fuckin’ dragon, and that’s pretty darn fantasy.)
In my book, Avatar sucks nuts, but in a totally harmless way. I’m happy if people enjoyed it and enjoy this too. Hence why I’m just shitposting in this comment section, rather than going on a diatribe about how the success of the Avatar franchise is some sort of moral failing on the part of all of society.
This is the guy who posted five separate times about the avclub “spoiling” the reveal trailer for the movie Maxxxine. Not spoiling the contents of the trailer, mind you, spoiling the existence of a trailer for an upcoming movie.
You’re using the name of a space biker who takes care of baby Thanos.
This person sounds absolutely miserable.
But what does your dad think?
OK, “cosmicghostrider.”
lol i had the exact same comment.
OK, “cosmic ghost rider”
Are you ZMF’s kid?
Says someone who chose the username “cosmicghostrider”… a Marvel comic book character.
Evidently the kind of entertainment we can assume you enjoy.
It’s weird seeing someone who somehow doesn’t understand the human imagination. I’m not particularly excited for this (never saw the first one, won’t be seeing this one). But I can easily see the appeal of a beautifully-filmed adventure story.
Seriously this guy is turning me, a longtime Avatar cynic, into someone now rooting for its success.
Try harder, troll.
so you’d rather enjoy yet another war on terror/9/11 allegory with men in tights beating the shit out of eachother?
Or, furries.
lmao what’s going on, man? new medication?
You’re a wee lil’ prick, aren’t ya?
Did you come up with this thought yourself, or did your dad put it together for you?
I was with you until the incels and school shooters bit. Really? lol
Buddy, you are consistently a Marvel backer in these parts. How *on earth* can you justify this post knowing how hard you go in on MCU shit?
Saying that fans of one of the most successful films of all time must be mass murderers based on no evidence whatsoever makes you sound quite unhinged. Do you think D&D leads to Satanism and that the Rolling Stones have hidden messages in their music you can only hear when it’s played backwards?
Sweetie, nobody gives a shit, no matter how many threads you start. Accept it. If you’re so invested in reality vs. fantasy, get the fuck off the internet and go outside. I don’t give much of a fuck about this movie either, but you don’t see me repeatedly pulling my dress over my head about it..
Dude, if anyone around here sounds like an incel…
As I’ve said in other threads, never been a fan of Avatar but I would NEVER bet against Cameron
A reflection of society? Hardly. A reflection of Cameron’s twin fetishes: guns and the masculine theatricality inherent in their geometric flourishes and soundscape; and war. I have no intention of seeing this film, nor do I feel one way or another regarding reviews. I would have gladly read the one here, but it’s not compelling as a piece of writing.
Everybody’s still waiting for you to just shut up about it.
After talk of variable framerates I’m even more out
Cameron’s back and he’s still fucking got it. Beautiful.
I just wonder how much sense it’s going to make if I never saw the first one. It’s the only Cameron I’ve missed (Ghosts of the Abyss was great!) because I cannot handle 3D movies.
Good news! There’s a 2d version as well (and in fact a lot of theaters showed it!) It’s not going to be as impressive on a TV screen but it’s still a really good visual experience (though the story is simplistic, the dialogue is fairly workmanlike, and there aren’t many strongly-drawn characters, though the performances are mostly good.)I’d say if you love Cameron movies and value an extremely well-realized piece of worldbuilding and special effects then it’s probably going to be something you enjoy.
All you need to know about the first movie: Humans come to a planet called Pandora in search of the superconducting ore (called jokingly “unobtainium”) Earth needs. Unfortunately the planet is inhabited by a Native American inspired species called the Na’vi which look like 7-foot tall blue catpeople. Jake Sully, a disabled marine, is given the chance to take part in the “Avatar” project which means he will get to control an artificial Na’vi body with his mind. He is excited by not being trapped in his paraplegic human body, but the downside is that he is supposed to use it to infiltrate the Na’vi as a spy. Jake learns the Na’vi culture, impresses them by taming a giant dragon (which only 5 people before ever had done), falls in love with a Na’vi woman, and decides to side with them against the humans. There is a big battle in which the World Tree (which somehow absorbs the consciousness of dead Na’vi and is sort of a non-supernatural afterlife for them) is threatened by the humans. The Na’vi, with Jake’s help, defeat the humans (even though the humans have guns and aircraft while the Na’vi have just bows and arrows), and Jake’s mind is transferred into his avatar, making him a real Na’vi. Note: I haven’t seen the movie for years (I saw it in theaters when it was new and saw bits and pieces of it now and then when it was on cable). I only remember that the main character was named Jake Sully and that the aliens were called Na’vi because of these comments.
The real question is: Are they still using Papyrus?
At least one guy hopes not!
This SNL sketch is the best thing to come out of the first movie, as far as I am concerned.When I made my initial post, I was thinking of Kate McKinnon’s line delivery: “It looks…………similar.”
aqua-teen-hunger-force-frat-aliens.gif (498×370) (tenor.com)
Too many people seem to define themselves by what they hate, not what they love. I root for every movie to be good.
Dude. Seriously, fucking PROVE this. I get the idea that there are a whole bunch of cynics in the world, especially online. But just because a bunch of people are expecting this movie to be blah doesn’t mean they “define themselves by what they hate”. I fully expect to be underwhelmed by this movie IF I ever bother seeing it. And I certainly spend time talking mad shit on movies I don’t like. But I spend JUST as much time and effort talking about what I love. The idea that there’s just a bunch of “haters” who make “hating” their identity is a ridiculous defense mechanism of people who don’t want to or can’t take criticism of things they like. It can’t be that there are reasonable, rational critiques of some piece of art you enjoy or expect to enjoy. Nope, it’s gotta be Haters!Come on, man.
Is Cameron paying you guys or what?
Zero chance this all-CGI movie looks so good you will believe it’s “real” as this fawning propaganda piece will have us believe. No surprise since AV Club has been gaslighting us into believing everyone has been waiting on the edge of their seats for this sequel and that Avatar was a major cultural phenomenon that we all share (like Star Wars or LOTR, etc.). The hype machine has been something to behold. A lot of that must be generated by studios and movie theaters in their desperate attempt to get people back into their overpriced seats, during a period of inflation and economic uncertainty. With that said, I will happily pirate this movie when a decent version is available.Let’s be honest. Will this movie actually be good? Of course not. Will it make a buttload of cash? Of course. Will the FX team win awards? Probably. Who cares?
Still waiting to meet a single person IRL who is excited about this movie.
I hope the effects team from Everything Everywhere All at Once wins the VFX Oscar because that would be fucking hilarious!(Also deserved but still hilarious if they are victorious over a competitor who had the resources and money at hand of a small nation state!)
Everything Everywhere All at Once deserves all the awards. Nothing like it this year.
I also very much hope this happens, and it would be well deserved. Enter Avatar in the animated category, where I also suspect it is not worthy of winning (been a good year for animation).
Huh?
Zero chance this all-CGI movie looks so good you will believe it’s “real”
The first one already achieved that, and by all accounts the CGI is at a much higher level in this one.
If the first one was “real” how is this one “more real”
Double-Huh?The first one was pretty to look at but at no time did I think I was watching something photorealistic. It was great CGI, but no question I was watching computer animation.
I went through the review and pulled out all of the positive words describing the film and its creator. In alphabetical order:Accessibility. Advances. Adventure. Alive. Ambitious. Astonishing. Astoundingly. At home. Awe-inspiring. Beautiful. Big. Celebrated. Childlike awe. Cinematic. Comforting. Conor. Consistent. Content. Countless. Cozy. Dazzling. Dignified beauty. Dizzying. Dreamily. Effortlessly. Elegance. Entertainingly. Entirely necessary. Epic. Experiencing. Extraordinaire. Familiar. Family. Feasting. Forward-looking. Freshened-up. Friendship. Futuristic. Gently tempered. Gleaming. Gorgeous. Graced. Heartening. Humbling. Immersive. Impossibly adorable. Improve. Innovator. Intimate. Jaw-dropping. Love. Love. Lovely. Loyalty. Lucid. Luckily. Luxuriate. Mind-blowing. Ocean-deep. Packs a punch. Passionate. Picturesque. Proficiency. Psychedelic. Record-breaking. Relatable. Revolutionize. Richly. Romance. Sacrifice. Safe. Sensational. Significance. Significant. Smashing. Soothing. Spectacular. Splendid. Storyteller. Stunning. Sweet-natured. Textured. Time-honoured. Uncompromising coherence. Valuable. Vibrant. Wonderful. Youthful.The negative phrases:Sometimes dragging. Admittedly, a little more of the same, plotting-wise.
You might need to go get yourself a hobby, dude.
I’m watching it tomorrow, IMAX 3D, and again next Wednesday.
IMAX screens are squarish, aren’t they? Therefore widescreen movies are letterboxed on them, am I right?
“Who cares?”, they asked, at the end of the second paragraph of their comment about a movie they don’t care about.
“Who cares?”You do apparently.
A friend of mine who is a Pittsburgh-based movie critic was very impressed by the visual effects. He wrote pretty glowingly as well. I don’t think it’s propaganda. I think it’s genuinely impressive.That said, he also makes no bones about the story being secondary. Or even tertiary.
That’s not what “gaslighting” means.
Yeah, even my friends who loved the first one are pretty “meh” about this. I watched the first one, and I honestly hated it. I thought it had absolutely awful dialogue, and I actually thought it looked like crap. The art style just grated on my nerves. That said, if people enjoy it, more for them!
I’m resolutely on Team Last Airbender in the Avatar Copyright Wars, but I’d give Cameron positive troll points if the next two sequels manage to casually drop “Earth” and “Fire” into their titles.
In 3 months there will be an Honest Trailer on you tube calling it Waterworld.
I finally watched the original yesterday because the Unspooled podcast would be covering it this week, and I figured I could make it a trio following Dances with Wolves and Last Samurai. It might be better than the latter via sheer spectacle, but it’s obviously greatly inferior to the former. It occurred to me that a more relevant comparison might be the Ewok section of Return of the Jedi, because it must have been targeted at children, the only people who could believe that a modern military would be prevented from extracting resources by stone-age tribesmen with arrows.
“Why would they ever land??” is a perfectly valid response to the military tactics in that film.
Particularly funny since Cameron already had a scifi movie where “Nuke it from orbit” was the recommendation given to Marines. Of course, in Aliens they had been hoping to save the human colonists (like Newt’s parents) who were settling a place that turned out to be infested. But if you just want to blow up a mountain, you can do that from far away.
Did you ever watch Fern Gully? Same goddamn plot.
Yes, but I would have been a kid when I saw that.
Ok, but which of the Na’vi should be in the third season of White Lotus?
Loopsi, the really horny Na’vi.
An “A” review that spends multiple opening paragraphs gushing about how just gosh-darn awesome James Cameron is before quietly admitting “Well, okay, the first third of the movie is all drag-y exposition” is not what I would call confidence-inspiring.
The first third of a three-hour movie dragging is a gigantic red flag.
‘Tomris Laffley’ is a good science fiction name. I could see a Star Trek character named Tomris Laffley. Maybe they could be an episode’s guest scientist.
The epi where Geordi made out with Tomris Laffley on the holodeck was…something.
Same RT score as Wakanda Forever.
Cameron always seemed at unusual ease with follow-ups, maybe because
he’s always searching for ways to improve upon, even revolutionize,
what’s already behind him.
Did James Cameron write this?
“Cameron, who rocks 11 inches soft…”
I nearly died laughing. Thank you.
Even if this movie is good, this sycophantic review makes me nauseous. I’ll suck a dick for fun, probably not James Cameron’s, but the AV Club is doing it like it’s their job…
You know Jim Cameron probably takes really good care of his dick, though.
His sex tapes are very well directed.
Ooh fun, The Guardian hated it. Let battle commence!
Read that review. Loved it.
Another flop for Cameron. Now start making real movies. Different movies every 2 years, instead wasting your talent and life on these blue cat people movies.
I have never seen a website comment section be simultaneously so wrong and so unwilling to admit when they are wrong. I know there are different people here with different opinions, but it always seems that the top comments adhere to the previous statement.God, I love it here.
When are movie theaters going to bring back intermissions for these long ass movies like they did for gone with the wind back in the day?
Listen, I’m glad this film seems to be turning out well. But I don’t care if watching this movie cures cancer, I am not sitting through anything that’s 3 hours 12 minutes long without a pause button.Once this shows up on home media, I’ll give the Aqua Smurfs a looksee, but not before. I am but a mere mortal.
You didn’t see Return of the King in theaters? Or Satantango? 😛
The trick is to get the biggest soda you can, drink it fast, and then pee into the empty cup. That way you don’t miss anything.
Some cinema is going to make a fortune offering pre-screening catheter insertions.
I saw the restoration of Satantango in Philadelphia a few years ago. 7+ hours well-spent.
Satantango, yep. Still never seen any of the Hobbit movies.
You’ve made the correct choice.
I envy you.
When I went to Return of the King, the theater inserted an intermission.
I might see this movie. Or I might not. That is my opinion on Avatar 2.
In order to seize the significance of the elongated wait for James Cameron’s sweet-natured, splendid, and dizzyingly futuristic Avatar: The Way Of Water, it’s tempting to reach for a well-known line from Titanic: “It’s been 84 years.”Ah, yes, that oft-quoted gem of unforgettably iconic dialogue.
Remember, Kinja takes any hyperlinked text and strips the link out and then inexplicably shoves it to the front of whatever line it was in.
“But, wait,” you may wonder, “why not just strip out the link? And why not get rid of the link option so that people don’t assume that you can link in the first place?”Good question. You and I can speculate, but the one clear takeaway is that they don’t really give a shit.
Ok I’ll admit it; I’m excited to see this. Sure, the entire plot of the first one was dumb as fuck and I generally shit on movies for being pure spectacle with a paint by the numbers plot. But I saw the first Avatar in IMAX 3D and it was one of the most immersive movie experiences I’ve ever had (probably second to Gravity, which was fucking amazing IMO). I can’t wait to see what Cameron has done for a follow up after all this time and money; his track record suggests it will be worth $20 and three hours.Also I’m taking my son to it because he’s a Marvel fan and hates on Cameron for being shitty about Endgame… If Avatar turns out to be good I’m gonna gloat about it non-stop. I just can’t pass up that opportunity, even if it’s a long shot (and even accounting for the risk that it sucks and my son gets to do the gloating).
I predict 97.5% of the comments here will be people who are announcing they will not see this movie, of which 99.1% never saw the first one.
What percentage do you predict will be comments talking about the comments?METATEXT!
At least 5%.
And then there’s the 0.01% talking about how their Daddy doesn’t like it.
No, I saw it. Which is why I have no interest in seeing this one.
Truly, this is the movie “Don’t Worry Darling” could have been! #ReleasetheWildeCut, cowards!
I feel like we’ve reached peak internet surrealism when people start referring to Avatar 1 like some kind of triumph and as if this sequel is some mythically anticipated return to the world of Pandora. Avatar 1 is a truly awful film. It’s hilarious to hear that this film has “built upon” the supposed foundations it laid. There were no foundations. Nobody asked for a sequel, not even the furries.Cameron has done one thing right, which was to wait long enough for a new generation to grow up, who don’t realise how rubbish this IP was. Fertile ground for getting Zoomers swept up in the hype train.
I have never seen the first movie and I am not interested at all in this one but I hope it is not a flop and that we get more movies that are not Marvel/Disney or DC garbage.
So has he actually made a movie this time?
Doesn’t James Cameron treat actors worse than Joss Whedon?
Soooo… I’m a big James Cameron fan, but I hated the first Avatar (Dances With Wolves/Ferngully plot mixed with a technically superb rendering of the most tacky place in the galaxy outside of a Hard Rock Cafe). But generally, I also enjoy seeing big, dumb, fun blockbusters in the movie theater (I go to bat for lesser MCU movies). This one was just a miss for me.For folks who have seen this early – is there enough new material here that it’s worth going to see in IMAX or something, or am I going to kick myself for getting roped back in to the same thing with more expansive vistas and cutting-ier edge CGI?No hate for folks who enjoyed the first Avatar—I just wish I was one of them.
Some of the responses here are so weird.Did you know that you can watch Avatar AND Banshees of Inisherin and like both? For completely different reasons and everything!
Look, it might be a good film, maybe the best in years, but the way people have been talking about seems too good to be true.The tonal shift involved in reading any other review, and suddenly seeing one written without a hint of cynicism or callous is jarring, and even if it’s genuine, sounds suspicious.Its like that thing where you describe your favorite show to your significant other, and you say nothing but good things about it, and suddenly it’s the last thing they ever want to watch, and the more you tell them about it, the more they devolop a pavlovian reaction of “it can’t be that good, shut up about it”, and how eventually it’s such a toxic thing that they’ll never have a genuine reaction to the thing if they watch it.That’s how I feel.
“hat those who didn’t luxuriate in Pandora during Avatar’s recent theatrical re-release might have forgotten the distinct smell of its fresh paint.”what the hell is this sentence? “luxuriate in Pandora?” Nobody did that. Jesus.
At this point in the review I started to wonder if the writer was stroking out.
With all due respect, this review sounds like it was written by Cameron himself.Personally, I found Avatar derivative and boring. I believe it’s schtick was that it was the first all-animation film (?). But that doesn’t save if from being ho-hum, heavy-handed treacle. (despite its message(s) – which are valid and necessary). I couldn’t imagine sitting through another one of these. What’s this one – a riff on Waterworld?
Good god does Avatar really bring out the haters. Even if this had been a lukewarm review they’d be out in force saying “I told you so.” It’s honestly super interesting to see because it was the same when the first one came out. People just have to make it KNOWN how much they dislike Avatar and won’t be seeing it.
What? But I wanted this to be bad!!!!For, uh, some reason.
I think a lot of people’s intrinsically negative reaction to this sight unseen is a by-product of having been continually waterboarded by a corporate superhero machine for the past decade, which makes it easy to forget what ACTUAL blockbuster filmmaking looks like. For myself, I find it very easy to believe that the director of Terminator 2 and Aliens (and, yes, the action scenes in the first Avatar) has made a movie better than those MCU dorks.
This. Cameron shit on comic book movies, so now the fanboys, and especially AVClub commenters who are overwhelmingly MCU fanboys, have him on their shit list forever. He can go and make a masterpiece comparable to the first Aliens, and they’ll hate on it and him without even watching it.
He’d have to make a decent movie first, not just a bunch of cliched plots lifted from other movies, not even a masterpiece, before that happens.
“uncompromising coherence”?
Oh no! I actually did bet against Cameron! I had 75 grand on this movie being terrible!
They’re gonna send some big blue goons over to break your thumbs.
Just got back from seeing it. Absolutely loved it. Far and away better than the first one (which I also enjoyed).It’s my favourite cinema-going experience this year. Very highly recommended. I’ll be going to see it again.
It wasn’t my favorite movie or cinema experience this year, but while I was fairly noncommittal about sitting through a second showing of a 3 hour long movie before watching it, I’m also probably going to see it again at least once more. Which is more than I can say for Top Gun 2, another great in-theater movie.
Yeah, I didn’t think it was a perfect movie. In the end I’d rate this film about the same as the first (which I liked) for different reasons. But I want to see it again, and I haven’t wanted to see a movie again for a LONG time.
The initial chatter online is the surprise that the Barbie trailer is in front of Avatar. So yeah. Seems like this is going to follow the legacy of its predecessor.
This review is surprising because Fern Gully II: the Magical Rescue was not better than Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest and I was convinced that was the template we were following here.
Why doesn’t Sam Worthington, the biggest blue cat alien, not simply eat the other blue cat aliens?
3d movies suck for me, its just a waste of money that gives me a headache and barely works. I assume its because I wear glasses to see. If I’m right that means that 40% of the population is likely to have issues with 3d movies. Yes I know I could buy an expensive pair of 3d glasses that would fit over my glasses properly. Thats never going to happen.
This movie is exactly as boring as the first one. I don’t think there’s a single moment in this thing that made me smile or laugh. It looks absolutely phenomenal. I will not remember it in a week’s time.
I do think the 3+ hours is too long, and Zoe Saldana didn’t get enough to do. I also felt Pregnant Wife (Kate Winslet, you say?) seemed redundant to Neytiri, and not different enough of a character to be distinct.
However I more or less loved everything else. “Experience” is right, and as I become increasingly jaded with Hollywood blockbusters, this is they type of film, like Maverick, that reinforces my love of going to the cinema.
When watching—or more accurately, experiencing—Avatar: The Way Of Water, the thing that will perhaps feel most awe-inspiring is the dignified beauty of the underwater ecosystems Cameron has created. When reading – or more accurately experiencing – this sentence, the dangling modifier is just the tip of the Cameron-inspired iceberg. Did H.P. Lovecraft review this movie from beyond the pseudonymous fucking grave? Yeesh.
So, is the AV Club now like Twitter? You just pay $8 to get an “A” review?
People hate shit that everybody else loves. People suck. Facts. Done.
I walked out by the whale hunting scene. I hated this movie. No amount of visuals could distract from the terrible story, the gross reinforcement of gender stereotypes and the glorification of violence. And this is coming from someone who can eat steak while watching zombies eat people. A few examples: the female Na’vi are said to be fierce, brave and equal partners in marriage, but they are also presented as overly emotion, overly protective and when it comes time to make the big decisions they immediately roll over and go along with what the man says. Plus you certainly never see Sully cooking, but you do see Neytiri cooking. That is a conscious choice to reaffirm that women cook while men lead the war parties. Why does the family have to be called “The Sullys”? Even on another planet and in another language the family is patriarchal. The boys fight and make trouble while the girls are spiritual and peaceful. Neytiri may be gung ho to kill the sky people, but she has virtually no story of her own or even much dialogue. Repeatedly it is up to Sully to talk his woman down from her angry ledge. That was her story. Be angry and then agree with Sully. It was just gross.Another point is that whale hunting scene. It tries to play both sides of the story. While it is clearly meant to make us angry about the murder of a sentient species it is also designed as a thrilling chase that tries to catch you up in the excitement. It ostensibly condemns hunting while simultaneously glorifying it. The reality was that it was just gratuitous violence. While it did advance the plot the same thing could have been achieved without 8 minutes of slaughter. Don’t get me started on the whole white savior trope. It’s been pointed out many times but even with the opportunity to minimize what is deeply, deeply offense, Cameron just leans into it.I could go on and on but these points are really the worst of it. I’m done with Avatar and with James Cameron.