Avatar Way Of The Water: #DecentContact

I was not a huge fan of the original (https://alienmoviereviews.com/avatar-takemetoyourdealer-e35c8e79c303), and I went into the sequel with low expectations. Specifically the last story was a bad version of the typical contact genre, with a movie like The New World being the best example, let alone Pocahontas. The story was predictable, and in many instances the technology used got in the way more than it contributed to the story telling.

Way of the Water follows a similar trend, though I have to give James Cameron credit, this is a better film than the first in many ways, but still was incredibly frustrating to watch.

Let’s start with the positives. I will always remember the moment in the first film where they jump off the cliff and soar on birds. Magical moment and the technology to get all of that right was mind blowing. Way of the Water had dozens of these. There’s a quiet seen where they are just standing in the water and I couldn’t believe how realistic it was. It’s not their fault that the animation was so good I was taken out of the story. Additionally the action scenes were just a joy to experience, giggling in their creativity and direction.

That said, I also had a few issues.

First, every person I spoke with said it was way too long. 3h 12m (compared to 2h 41m for the original.) It’s Cameron, so I get it, he can do what he wants, but it really was too long.

Secondly, the technology. Sometimes your strengths, when over done, can be a weakness. I personally am not a fan of 3D and hope it goes away forever, banished to the attractions of amusement parks from which it came. I’m biased because it gives me headaches, but more than that I think it takes you out of the story, more than bringing you. Similarly they filmed certain action scenes in a high frame rate, which may be a common trend in video games, but it again took me out of the story and was a distraction.

Finally, and most importantly, the story. I try and avoid spoilers as much as I can, but I can’t leave this off. The entire message of the first movie was that Mother Nature, aka Eywa, could protect the planet when all of life acted together, taking on even the biggest military. And yet…the humans come back to Pandora and build this huge city and kill all sorts of ecosystems and Eywa doesn’t respond? Legit doesn’t make sense.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked it enough, and certain parts were jaw droppingly impressive, but I still can’t get past the downsides to give it more than a #DecentContact.