‘Avatar: Way of the Water (3D)’ Review #2
Stars: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Brian Dalton, Jemaine Clement, Edie Falco | Written by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver | Directed by James Cameron
“The way of water connects all things. Before your birth, and after your death.”
It seems James Cameron has always had an obsession, and connection with water. From his 1989 sci-fi movie The Abyss to his 1997 blockbuster Titanic, water has been everywhere. Now Cameron dives deeper into water than he has dared to do before, taking us back to Pandora and back into a cinematic experience that only he is capable of achieving.
13 years after the release of its predecessor, Avatar: The Way of Water takes us back to the planet of Pandora, a world that never fully captured me 13 years ago, (I did miss the first one on the big screen). On rewatches over time however, I found myself liking the film, but could never truly understand how it became the phenomenon that it did. Well after now seeing the newest instalment, I get it. I got it from the first frame and the opening scenes. I got it from the jungles and streams of Pandora. Avatar is a world that was made for the big screen, made for the 3D (that I’ve never liked), it’s a world that pulls you into that big screen and makes you feel more immersed in the frame than anything that’s come before it.
I do think the technology and the 3D needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, as I’d be interested to see how this plays on a smaller screen and in 2D. The technology gives life to the frame and draws you in like no experience I’ve had before. Within the first few scenes I was locked in this world and felt the jungle of Pandora surround me. There are moments within the film that feel hard to describe and define, a slow pace in the films second act will no doubt draw its critics, but I found it a breath of life, a moment that few modern blockbusters slow down and do. It took its time to show us the world, to show off the beauty and wonder of this landscape, and showcase the technology that made it possible. Not only was I left with my mouth wide open in wonder, but genuinely questioning what I was watching and how they achieved this. So many shots and moments in this second act show an achievement of cinematic passion and artistry that is hard to express in words. I don’t want to reduce this movie to just its technical aspects because I think the storytelling is genuinely great, but so often it was hard to fully grasp what I was seeing.
Avatar: The Way of Water‘s first and third act are great too, showing off James Cameron’s storytelling and his power as an action director. The first act perfectly brings us back to the world of Pandora, shows us where we were and where we are now. It does a wonderful job of showing us each new character and within moments of meeting each new addition we know exactly who that character is. It does a great job of blending the old with the new and setting us up for a grand new adventure. The film’s real highlights and brilliance however may be in the third act. It’s Cameron at his brilliant best, as he’s done so many times before with action spectacles like Aliens, Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and practically the entire last act of Titanic, and the first Avatar – no one shoots action as good as James Cameron does. Every shot is clear and precise. We get to see where everyone is and never get lost in the chaos of the action set pieces. So many big action movies today cut together scenes so fast and make the action so jarring, you lose sense of what’s happening. Here we always know where everyone is and the geography of the scene, which is key to any action sequence. James Cameron also does an excellent job of making sure the camera is always showing us the right perspective for the right moment and then giving us brilliant moments of shock. The action also builds like so many of his other great action scenes over many years, with our heroes always on the back foot and never having the advantage. They always have obstacles in their way that helps build tension and creates genuine fear for the safety of the characters.
For me, this pacing from all three acts worked perfectly and the over 3-hour runtime flew by. There was so much to love in each act, and throughout the film that I was never bored or taken away from the world. Even when I did find myself asking how the technical side of the film worked, it was always in a question of wonder and amazement and it only ever lasted a few seconds before I was swept away again by the next breathtaking image of the deep seas of Pandora.
Avatar: The Way of Water is a perfect showcase of universal entertainment on a scale impossible to process all at once. It’s truly one of the grandest cinematic experiences you can have at the big screen. Not only has it changed my entire opinion on 3D films but makes me question what I know about the art of filmmaking. Perhaps the motion picture event of a generation. And now we have 3 of these movies to look forward to. Give James Cameron whatever he wants and trust him all the way, he’s created one of the best and truly the most immersive cinema experience I’ve ever had.
***** 5/5
Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas now.
