The last time I was this excited for a movie was for The Two Towers. December '02, after watching Fellowship on VHS over twenty times the previous twelve months. Usually falling asleep halfway the journey one night and finishing the rest on the next--- Middle Earth's dream rivering out of the screen into these strange otherworlds you couldn't stay awake for.

So much the wait for The Way of Water. Night before was like a new Christmas Eve. The reviews were good to mixed and roughly on par with the first. Good enough. Except Peter Bradshaw, whose measured consistency suggests he should probably go blow himself.

Spoiler Free:

The word "visually" is for the first time inadequate. Less than a minute into TWOW it's made pretty clear. Some technologies, simply, are not of this world, and our alien benefactors deemed certain directors more worthy than the rest, to appropriate them. The distance between the CG realism of Pandora and every other film---including the last time Cameron took us there---is so large it felt like an entirely new format.

Wasn't the best screen for 48fps, but, my god...when it worked. It was like looking through an open window. Zero uncanny valley save once or twice, water and terrain and saturations as crystal-precise as a national park documentary. Quite simply, the greatest technical achievement ever put to a screen, and I will fight anyone, slap them in the face, who dares consider otherwise.

And the beauty. Holy mother of angels. Like drinking tea your whole life and being given a triple-shot vodka redbull. Fantasy has never looked so much like the best of our own.

But like anything, there's a swift normalisation of things. All the opening needed for the awe factor was background---flyovers of the world, glide-throughs of the jungle---basic stuff. Small while later and you might remind yourself how incredible the smallest details are and how overwhelmingly advanced the general experience is. Let alone, of course, the sheer eye-bursting of the bigger set-pieces.

Jaw-dropping gets thrown around a fair bit. Here, I think, it's more of a violent dislocation.
I have a feeling most of that won't apply half as much in a 2D version.

Spoilers, potentially:

That adopted son, the human with dreads from birth or whatever---he made me miss Jar Jar Binks. Dialogue elsewhere had a couple dives, but nearly everything this guy said was so cringey it was funny. Nevermind whatever else was going on. Easily the worst aspect of everything, and I hope the casting director gets scurvy.

The story--- is like an overstuffed montage of half-baked drama tropes, just good enough to catch a slither of investment, that gets better by the end. I've a feeling I went in too optimistic to be fair or objective on a first viewing. Having slept on things, impression is the storytelling, i.e. the interlace of storylines and editing rhythm and basic narrative quality, is a step backwards. Felt like a lot of subplot stuff was cut out, and there's a shitload of them, so character developments took some pretty obvious shortcuts.

More obvious is that Cameron's goals go way beyond plot engagement. This ain't a regular movie. The gulf between how good Avatar 2009 was in 3D vs how it was on DVD is the same: The Way of Water is to the core an immersive dream-escape to inspire the widest-possible audience's inner-environmentalist. It's a fuck-you to Japanese whaling culture, to Australians for letting the Great Barrier Reef go to shit; to American's for their destructiveness and to the worldly entitlements of military power.

James Cameron means exactly what he says. The guy was an activist from college and spends a good chunk of his fortune, still, on environmental pursuits. Even holds the record for the deepest marine dive in history, if memory serves. But when in the GC interview he claimed he came back to the franchise to keep spreading the message, hard not to be sceptical. That lasted till about halfway through. From there, there is no doubting the passion and affection---nay, love---that he has, how good his intentions were when he wrote this.

So many artistic choices in this movie could've been cut for a better mainstream fit, but, there they are. Prolonged scenes of diving, exploring, open-mouth marvelling, a near-pornographic indulgence of forests and reefs and oceans. An entire sequence showing the brutality of a whale slaughter seen as a consumer product, done with such intensity it far outweighed any character loss; a fictional spirituality around nature's connection, just a thinly veiled representation of real-world biology.

Portrayed as beautifully as technology currently allows, vesselled by as broadly-appealing a story as possible to reach the biggest possible audience. Say what you will about plot, TWOW is undoubtedly the brightest and biggest and most blatant environmental clarion call since The Abyss.

And, thank god, because the dialogue takes some serious concession at times. That fucking dreadlocks kid. What, in the actual, were they thinking?

Oh, and the action is a full Superman-leap above anything from Star Wars, Marvel, or DC so far. Its CGI alone would be enough, but the expansiveness of Cameron's framing and style makes for the most jaw-dislocating action sequences since Fury Road.

In fact there's a very brief homage to Fury Road's spinning truck in the twister storm about halfway through. (Always wondered what Cameron thought of that movie!)

I really need to see this again without the expectation. So many moments where it felt about to take emotional flight were stripped by a quick-cut to something narratively shallow, so the general sweep felt kind of stilted. The opening act is the worst. Was like a victory-lap of the first film, and from the beginning you just know there won't be any creative risk taken. In the grander scope it's hard to fault for that alone, but there were many times I couldn't help imagine how mindblowingly awesome and exponentially impressive a more creative script could've made it.

Neckbeard-ish contrarians who watch some pirated CAM version will have a field day with this. Others who see it in 3D will be much the same, only slightly more measured, maybe. What they'll miss, is when it works--- as it does throughout the third act.

The last hour builds in quality and intensity like a climaxing geyser.

Benefits from a general evolution, and its immersion and beauty so coalesce with plot-driven emotional peaks to some seriously breathtaken exaltation. Were more boldness and love shown the script, more fleshing-out done of the drama, the whole film could've been that way, or more keeping in this kind of undulating emotional flow.

And it probably will be, for most who watch it, especially the less scrutinising who just want the escape. When the screening ended I heard one lady tell her partner she was busting for the bathroom but didn't want to miss anything. The clapping was standard for a pre-opener. Only a few stayed for the credits ocean montage, but to be fair there were 30 minutes of ads before our glasses went on. Long time in a comfy chair.

Worthington's performance is outstanding. Jake Sully is the rock and centre---it's his movie---and his every expression steals the screen. Weaver's voiceover, however, seems miscalculated. Kind of weird in places. Loved the water clan, who've some very good charisma.

RIP to James Horner, whose absence is sorely felt. This had one of the blandest soundtracks of any recent blockbuster. What is it about directors insisting on working with the same exact creative team--- why'd Cameron replace Horner with one of his assistants?

Box office wise--- less optimistic now, because I've suddenly no idea. It won't change many minds. But it's aggressively aiming for new ones. Focus is on masculinity and parenthood and none of the female characters are given much to work with, yet, inversely, I reckon it'll win more in female audiences for its sensitivity and the vulnerability of underlying intent. A film needn't be strictly feminist for female appeal. But I daresay feminists'll roll there eyes a few times.

Global BO will be bigger, domestic, not so sure.

Ultimately, after so many recycling superheroes and the depressive social landscape of the past few years, the world is a better place for having TWOW in it. Story is good enough, visuals suggesting a new kind of cinema experience entirely (especially in future VR), and the environmental elements are so well-done that they might---who knows---actually inspire a future activist or two.

Overall, three hours very well spent. Less inclined to repeat viewings than anticipated, but such is the nature of sequels looked forward to. I didn't like The Two Towers and thought the dialogue was shitty Shakespeare the first viewing, then dropped expectations and watched it another four times. Probably be the same for this.

B to B+ (subject to change)

Honestly I'm pretty underwhelmed. It felt like nothing was happening for the first 80% of the movie.

The final battle was cool though. I'm all for whales smacking people around.

A+

I enjoyed the first Avatar. Still do. The sequel is even better and proof that Cameron remains one of the best living directors. I was awed again by this franchise’s visuals. Literally had my mouth open at certain points. Thoroughly enjoyed the story as well.

I thought it rocked. Beautiful, hits the right emotional beats and I thought the new characters were mostly good. Better than the first one imo.

All of the teens were awful with the exception of Bailey Bass. The actor who plays Spider is Razzie worthy.

The film is mostly good though, I haven't seen the first in a while but I think that one was better. This one does get a bit tiresome by the end though the action sequences rock (loved the Titanic homages too). I could have done with one less "water is beautiful" montage since there were about 7000.

I saw it in 48fps which is a format I absolutely hate and I forgot how much I hated it and how laughable and cheap it made the first Hobbit movie look (I saw the others in another format). It makes everything look like a video game here and it distracted my from the experience.

More thoughts in the morning.

I will say I groaned when

I liked Kiri. I just don't get why they dropped her story. Feels obvious that her "father" is Ehwa, who knocked up Sigourney Weaver when they tried to save her in the first film. Could have solved all that with one extra line in the ancestral plains sequence. Yet, instead, they have Norm come in and talk about epilepsy. Bro, she can do magic.

Yeah I liked the kids lol. The younger son's whole thing with the whale paid off in the last 3rd, even made me emotional.

The whale was the best part. The movie should have had more whales. They seek refuge among the whales. The whales teach them the way of water. The outcast whale is also the chief's daughters. All whales, all the time.

A+

James Cameron did it again and a lot better the 2nd time around.
I love this family and can’t for Avatar 3,4,5. #FuckHumans #SaveTheOceans

Random thoughts because I'm too tired to write a review:

- Oddly feels smaller scale than the first one, with most of the action contained to that one bay area
- Way too long, could've easily trimmed about 30-45min
- Despite the above flaws, there are moments of grandeur and gravitas; the dramatic tension and emotional weight of the "a son for a son" scene makes the Disney Star Wars movies seem as complex and resonant as a grocery shop trip to WalMart

This was fantastic. Not the best script/story ever, but a step up from the first IMO. I would watch the film without audio though. Would be like watching an alien ature doc. Was like looking through aquarium glass it looked so incredibly real. Going to catch it again with my parents hopefully in IMAX

kinda hoping JC/Disney surprises us with dropping Avatar 3 next christmas

BJs Grade:

A/A+

Much better than the first, will have to watch again soon.

This movie was everything, and it was nothing.

One note---it was absolutely overwhelming to watch in a theater. I was constantly having to take deep intentional breaths to combat visual / neurological overstimulation and subsequent nausea. I suppose in the interim between seeing the first one in 2009 and seeing this, I suffered a significant head injury that permanently affected my vision, so maybe that hindered my ability to relax into the 3-D world this time around. Regardless, a bit disappointing to report that the proceedings this time felt a bit stale. And it's way, way too self-indulgently long.

There is much here to hold with awe, and so very much to criticize (or more accurately, roll my eyes so exaggeratedly that they might've become briefly lodged backwards inside my skull). Some scenes are so gorgeous and inspiring I was grinning with joy; others are distractingly processed to the point I felt I was watching a video game.

James fucking Cameron, what the actual fuck, this is both an amazing cinematic experience and the stupidest fucking movie I've ever seen. This is the story you went with? It branches in no significant way from the original, and unfortunately, too much has changed on this planet in the meantime. This is not the same viewer, nor the same world into which the original breathed an inspiring breath of eco-wonder and magic. Thirteen years is ten too late for this to feel relevant or connected to the collective moment. But that's just me.

Random notes / thoughts:

-- Seriously bad decision "casting" Sigourney fucking Weaver as the teenage ingenue / spiritual conduit. It was 100% always very distractingly apparent who was voicing this "character" and who her face was modeled after... everyone's a made-up blue alien but Kiri had some serious uncanny valley going on, visually and with the voice acting.

-- A movie ostensibly about "ecological value" and "protecting mother earth and native tribes" is also undeniably, unabashedly macho, paternalistic, and militaristic. In somehow trying to "say something" it also just as loudly says the opposite thing, rendering the entire experience an exercise in meaningless four-quadrant spectacle and noise.

-- It fetishizes the male protector role to the diminishment of anything of value that was once passably represented by Netiri. In the sequel she is reduced almost exclusively to an inferior, wailing ninny, while Jake Sully is both the protector, the holder of wisdom, the representation of parental perspective, and the one that gets basically all the big moments of connection / love with their children.


I must've had about 1,000,000 other thoughts watching it but a man can only sustain / retain so much. This movie is objectively both a B+ / A- and also a Jupiter Ascending-level C.

Oh and the score was basically recycled bland garbage, the most boring score this side of the Marvel assembly line. Should have been scored by Thomas Newman or Hans Zimmer or literally anyone with the capacity to orchestrate something cinematic or magic. Boo.

Gets better on repeat viewings, a lot better the third time than the first two. After watching it again I think the visual intensity may even be a distraction.

Once the novelty is adjusted to, the story is pretty engrossing. As entertaining as most family movies, maybe a peg below something like Cobra Kai.

Well, it's happened ... Cameron has impressed me again. Not as much as in 2009, but it's still a top-up of goodwill I have for him. He keeps adding to it. It's a true action spectacle. What I really loved is how he managed to differentiate it from the first while keeping it part of the same cloth ... AFTER 13 YEARS! I mean, I'm not quite sure what needed that long to innovate (although the visual effects are amazing so I guess he had a point). It's not easy to do, either (differentiate sequels), as The Hunger Games or Harry Potter or Divergent series' proved. Show me a scene from any of those and I wouldn't know which film it's from. In the first there's a Hunger games, in the second there's a Hunger Games, in the third there's a Hunger Games, and so on. They're all the same. But here in The Way of Water it's so clearly different but still a seamless sequel to the first. If you didn't know you would think it came out in 2011. Props to Cameron for that, and I don't believe it's a minor feat either. I'm so glad he managed to accomplish that, unlike some other sequels separated by a decade or more (such as Rambo or Mad Max: Fury Road or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).

The action is spectacular. Too much to mention there. But the sequences devised are unique and exciting but at the same time fit into a nice blockbuster groove. The only part that stood out as weak is when Quaritch, right at the end, gives in to Neytiri killing Spider. I thought that was weak, especially when three seconds prior he said he didn't care. I really wish he had followed through on that. But it's a minor gripe. The rest was enthralling and beautiful. The underwater world is absolutely gorgeous, and the scenes with the whales I found fascinating; from the initial contact when Lo'ak removed the harpoon hook to the finale when one of the whales jumps onto the boat. Fantastic. Cameron also killed off a main character, so props for that. And the guy's arm gets ripped off by the cable. Coming up with these sequences deserves credit too. I also loved the world building here. There's lots of new things and [added to the first] you can really start to see the depth of this world. I much prefer Pandora as a fictional world to, for example, Middle Earth. Though the third one also seems to be set in water world, so I'm a little worried. Maybe they should move to the desert or space for that one, lol.

Luckily I was the only one in the cinema, but then I did go to a small cinema. I guess nobody wants to watch it on a small screen. But it felt massive to me as I was the only one in there and could decide the best place to get the best viewing experience.

Pretty wonderful experience, though the original has a stronger story and was more impressive at the time it came out, this sequel does a nice job of world building with good acting and just great visuals. It needn't be this long however, especially with more sequels on the horizon to continue the story, not that it was dull either, it flew by because it feels immersive but the plot could been tighter. Anyway, Pandora remains exciting for further exploration and I look forward to part 3.

A-

Within a few days I had the pleasure of seeing Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar 2. These two films are worlds apart, because unlike TG:M, James Cameron's second installment could not achieve a coherent, gripping and worthy depth in the storyline from such a massive budget. Any fan group, no matter how small, would have put together a more promising script within a few weeks - however, it seems that every penny went into the computer effects.

Technically, the film is a dream, but I doubt the average viewer will appreciate even a fraction of what has been created here. The level of detail and realism are at times frighteningly good.

As a huge Cameron fan, a criticism that noticeably hurts: JC's ego and his confidence in the film's success will probably be the deciding factor in the entire series failing to live up to its potential. I would have expected more with such a budget: D+

I wonder if Cameron (and the audience) has the staying power for all five sequels. He's apparently already filmed the third and fourth, but as they seem to be being made as standalone features, they could probably end at four and it wouldn't feel Divergent-esque as a series without its ending.

The leaked titles, plus a rumor here or there, suggest what will happen in the sequels.

These aren't real spoilers but I'll post them in tags anyways. They were 100% right about The Way of Water though...

I think they'll all have similiar runs as to what we're seeing from Way of Water, with slightly less money every time.

Hmm, I'm not sure I like those titles. They somehow feel instantly much smaller (like spinoffs), apart from the fifth one.

Agreed, they feel like spinoffs to me as well. I'm quite certain Cameron will be losing lots of audience for the next three installments. I highly doubt that I will watch Avatar 3 in theaters (unless it has a rotten tomatoes score of 90% or more).