So I have finally seen Avatar The Way Of Water, and I'm happy to say that director James Cameron
has done it again.
I was floored by the visual immersion and elevation of this sequel,
and with Cameron being one of the best at bringing sequels to life, it's hard to understand
why anyone would doubt him to begin with.
Still, it's not a perfect sequel, and from a
writting and plot perspective there are issues here too, but as a fan of that original film,
I got beyond more than I was expecting.
Before I get into my spoiler review, discussing the
reasons why I loved the Avatar sequel, if you want to see much more videos on Avatar
2 during its release, then don't forget to support this video by giving it a like rating,
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But without further a do, lets dive into my review for Avatar The Way Of Water.
So it's been a long wait to see Avatar The Way Of Water finally come to the big screen,
and after much anticipation, James Cameron's film does not dissapoint.
The original film in 2009 blew some people away with it's technology
while leaving others dissapointed with the plot.
I wasn't one of those people and for me, the cinematic experience of that film delivered
in a big way, a way that only could exist on
the big screen.
But regardless of what you feel towards the original, in my opinion, Avatar: The Way of
Water is grander and ultimately better than that film on nearly every level.
It's of the largest scale when it comes to blockbuster cinema, polished with a heightened
sense of emotion and the reocurring romanticism and connective themes that Cameron loves to
thread throughout a lot of his sequels.
The plot, dialogue and teases for what's to come do hold this back from being a masterpiece
on every storytelling level, but what I will say is
that Avatar is a masterpiece of visual storytelling.
Following a quite rushed introduction, The Way Of Water starts to gather its footing
and make you invested in where things are heading
and what characters we will follow in the long run.
Jake Sully has gone full Na’vi alongside Neytiri, and it's clear that they remain
centrally important to the togetherness and family thematics at play.
But the screen time becomes directly involved with focusing on their children, whether it
be their biological kids in Neteyam, Lo’ak, Tuk, and Kiri, or
their adopted human son Spider.
We soon learn that they have to leave their home after Jake's old adversary, Quaritch,
is back from the dead and on a path of revenge.
There's more to this than meets the eye though and after escapinng their old home, the Sully
family thinks that staying with the Metkayina people, led by
Tonowari and Ronal, will work in their favour, but we soon learn that the both of them also
cross paths.
While this might sound similar in beats to the original from an early plot
perspective, it's easy to forget just how well Cameron takes his characters and themes,
and fills them with a high level of urgency and emotion.
The same is true with the way of water, and then when you add on that the most revolutionaly
digital filmmaking is supporting it, it's hard to look away.
The filmmaker knows how to build up to a massive conclusion and convey
the stakes on an unprecedented scele.
You feel for these characters when they are on the brink of death because you spend hours
with them, getting to know their edgy personalities and
true spirit.
The Way of Water also does just the right amount of sci-fi and it's through centrally
delivering a story about family, the environment and how they both connect that make's this
another fabulous sequel.
Cameron knows how to approach universal themes in a way that connects to a lot of people.
In particular, it's with Cameron's filmmaking execution that allows the scope
of this story to work as well as it does on the big screen.
The action for one has a cinematic fluidity to it and this is especially true with the
final hour of insane breathless sequences that lead into a quite average climax.
But that doesn't ruin it because for most of the runtime your suspended in the world
of Pandora.
The final hour takes me back to Top Gun Maverick in a weird way and how the conclusion
of that film completely satisfied viewers with it's high octane final act which followed
a sustaiend build up.
The final act of The Way Of Water is eye-popping to say the least
with Cameron displaying a full use of the film's massive budget in every frame.
But what Avatar 2 does so well is through the way it takes
this insane action and gives it all an emotional resonance.
As the film goes on we get increasingly attached to the Sullys, and this is especially true
with Sigourney Weaver's Kiri and new navi character Loak.
Most of the children provide a level of importance or urgency to plot even if it is thinner and
quite similar at times to the original film.
Sam Worthington's Jake is great again too, retaining
a similar presence to the 2009 film, but by the end of this outing, you realise that it's
actually Zoe Saldaña's Neytiri that delivers in a more striking way when it comes to the
two of them.
Again, while the dialogue is at a similar shabby level, the natural performances and
detail that goes into the character's mo-cap expressions help to carry this level
of emotion and rawness over the line.
Ultimately, James Cameron knows how to deliver a sequel, upping the ante not just in the
powerful storytelling, but in the visual filmmaking
that carries it.
Speaking of that visual filmmkaing, Avatar 2 is rightfully a display of jawdropping visual
effects, that were once again developed by Weta.
From the superbly detailed Na’vi faces, showing much deeper expressions to the greater
depth in the many landscape frames, to the reefs of the Matkayina's camp, this is the
most immersive that digital vfx has ever been in
blockbuster.
A lot of blockbusters in recent memory such as the plethora of comic book movies, tend
to spend less time perfecting the vfx in given frames and the way they are
particularly shot is a big problem surrounding that outcome.
But Cameron's elevated motion capture techniques, especially in the film's outstanding underwater
sequences, make this a technical beast to behold.
The 13 years that have passed since the original have given Cameron and his team the time and
tools to surpass the original and make the CG seem almost real
here.
Heck there's scenes and shots where Na'vi and human characters are together and it looks
totally seemless.
It feels authentic with it's complete immersion on the alien world of
Pandora and makes you wonder if James Cameron actually took a camera and flew to Pandora
himself.
And speaking of the camera, the cinematography has to have a shoutout, as the fluidity
of the camera movement in certain sequences, especially in those in the final act, makes
this all the more a visual masterpiece.
It's then only helped even more when composer Simon
Franglen is able to deliver an emotive and sweeping score, that both harkens on beats
from James Horner and uses its own cues too.
And when it comes to the introduction of High Frame
Rate that was also pretty great in the scenes that it does switch between 24 and 48 frames
per second in.
While I've heard some people critique it, it seems like it all depends on what
screen you watch it on.
The Dolby screen I saw it on was fine, but with others it may be more jaring.
For me though, the HFR looked especially good underwater and I think with time and
even deeper experimentation on the sequels, this could be a great tool for future filmmakers
to consider, depending of course on the project they are making.
So visually and technically, Avatar The Way Of Water raises
the bar for heavy vfx blockbusters in the years to come and shows that yes, you can
do it right with more care put into it.
The Way of Water’s revolutionary vfx and technology
only strengthens the film's themes and discussions by truely immersing you in that world.
And it's a filmmaker like Cameron who can bring this
level of artistic control when it comes to delivering something greater than your typical
large scale blockbuster.
Overall, Avatar The Way Of Water is another excellent James Cameron sequel.
While it doesn't reach the sequel heights of Terminator 2: Judgement Day or Aliens,
it's still a fantastic expansion that builds upon the original in
so many ways, but primarily through its emotive storytelling and worldbuilding.
Of course it still suffers from problems that the original
faced, such as with the characters decision-making or with the use of bad dialogue to underplay
some of the greater scenes.
There's also questions to be answered and I would have liked
more of a complete feeling tale.
But we all know that Cameron is building this world out with multiple sequels in the years
to come and I'm sure that looking back, if he continues to
deliver, these problems will be ironed out or greatly improoved upon.
Having said that, Avatar 2 is still a monumental achivement from the filmmaker and one that
is Cameron at his most caring when it comes to environment and the
oceans.
A greater focus on family, parenting, and the connections to the outside world make
this story much harder to forget.
It's more personal and the visually staged action and
spectacle only elevates the intimacy to greater heights.
It's clear that Cameron has a universal pull when it comes to grabbing people with
themes, visuals and storytelling and Avatar The Way Of Water just reminds us of how big
that pull really is.
With Top Gun Maverick and The Batman, it's another great example of what
escapist blockbuster cinema once was, and what clearly, it still can accomplish.
But that was my spoiler free review for James Cameron's Avatar The Way Of Water.
While the narrative is messy at times and plot points will likely be expanded upon with
more movies, the spectacle of Avatar 2 drives its narrative
forward and it also guides a more emotive sequel that delivers just the right beats.
It's a movie you'll want to watch multiple times,
maybe once for the outstanding technological advancements and emotive storytelling, and
twice to revisit the characters and things you missed in a much deeper way.
I'm looking forward to that second screening to see if these things
do leave a larger impact, and I will of course address them in a video essay that I'll do
in a few days time.
But right now, Avatar 2 is the kind of blockbuster event to makes you
look back at other blockbusters over the past decade and wonder why more effort wasn't put
in there from a filmmaking perspective.
Many critise that it's taken too long for an Avatar
sequel and while I can understand that point to a certain degree, it's a film like the
Way Of Water that makes you understand why Cameron
took so long to make this just how he wanted to.
It's a visual masterpiece that improves upon a lot of the areas from the original film,
giving a much more connective and sweepng story
with a world that we've only just begun to explore.
I'm giving Avatar 2 a rating of 8.5 out of 10.
But to those who have already seen the film what do you think of James Cameron's
Avatar The Way Of Water, and do you agree that the filmmaker has crafted another great
sequel.
Again, it's all subjective and I appreciate a range of reactions and reviews, so let me
know down below in the comments section what you personally thought towards the film alongside
things that stood out with your first impressions.
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