Avatar 2 Movie Review
Avatar 2 The Way Of Water, a sequel to the highest-grossing film in the world, has hit the screens amidst sky-high expectations. Let’s see whether James Cameron’s directorial lives up to the hype or not.
Story :
Jake Sully aka Toruk Makto (Sam Worthington) and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) live happily on Pandora with their four children – Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Loak (Britain Dalton), Tuk (Trinity Bliss) and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver). They also have Spider (Jack Champion), an orphan human. During this time, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) comes back as a special Avatar to take revenge on Jake Sully and his people. He kidnaps Spider and takes him away. In order to protect his family, Jake decides to shift his home to a new place, where the Metkayina clan lives. But, Colonel and his Sky people are inbound to this new home too. How the forest and water people together save their families from the humans forms the rest of the story.
Plus Points :
James Cameron, the mastermind behind the epic story of Avatar and its sequel, already revealed the story in the trailers itself. Still, he makes the movie a great experience to watch with his outstanding characterizations and screenplay.
The way James connects both parts (movies) is quite good. He gives a neat explanation and makes things easier for people to understand the connections between the first and second parts. The way he connected some of the key characters from the first part made the film an emotional experience.
The beauty of Avatar 2 is not only the Navi people but also the creatures they love. James Cameron shows the emotional bond between the giant creatures called Tulkun and Navi clan in a beautiful manner.
Coming to performances, it’s the children who performed well. Their innocence, fighting spirit and zeal to learn new things have been showcased in a good manner. Kiri and Neteyam will leave a solid impression on us once we leave the theater. They give their best. Tonowari (the leader of the Metkayina clan) played by Cliff Curtis and his wife Ronal (Kate Winslet) justified their roles. Stephen Lang nails it again with his villainy behavior.
Minus Points :
As mentioned above, it’s the story. The plot is so simple and one can guess it by watching the trailers. However, James Cameron narrates it well. Moreover, the film has a runtime of over three hours which can make it hard to sit for a few. The slow narration gives you boredom and makes you think about why so much lag has been created.
Compared to the first part, James Cameron focused much on emotions, especially with the kids. Jake Sully and Neytiri don’t have much screen presence in the first half. Also, the character of the Colonel could have been written better. To be frank, he is less impressive than in the first part.
Technical Aspects :
James Cameron has once again proved that he is the master storyteller. He takes a simple story and narrates it well in a thrilling way. The screenplay is a bit slow but it is all to make the proceedings better. Coming to the camerawork, the background score, and sound design, the film has everything perfect to give viewers a spectacular experience. The VFX is just mindblowing and the 3D experience enhances things even better.
Having a few scenes trimmed off in both halves and thus making the film have less runtime could have made Avatar 2 an outstanding film. The underwater visuals are extremely stunning and the camera work is top-notch. The war scenes in the climax are amazing and the tactics Jack Sully and his team used to take down enemies are also great.
Verdict :
On the whole, Avatar: The Way Of Water is all about family and emotions. The film has breathtaking underwater visuals to make one dwell in the ocean world. The film runs at a slow pace and one needs to spend over 3 hours to enjoy the visual spectacle. If you are okay with lengthy runtime, give it a watch on the biggest screen possible to experience this crazy magnum opus.
