Winner, Winner! TV Dinner! – Avatar, The Way of Water

It was a slow start but I guess that was to get everyone up to speed with the backstory – and there are quite a few characters (and their motives) to wrap your head around too. I guess with so many years between the first Avatar story and this one, there’s a need to recap in detail. The pace improved and the story unfolded. Things cranked up enormously during the last 45 minutes, where the climactic ‘good v evil’ showdown had us all on the edge of our seats. That aside, I think if there had been a camera on us four, it would have captured dropped jaws pretty much throughout. Why? The visuals were probably the best we’ve ever seen in a film! Rumour has it that James Cameron delayed the release of this one because he wanted to ensure that the technology used for creating the worlds was up to the job – seems it was worth the wait! Absolutely stunning! 👍👍👍👍

For that reason, even if Sci-Fi/Fantasy isn’t your thing, this is worth a watch for the sheer spectacle of it all. OK, the story/plot is quite predictable, but it’s all lifted by the totally convincing ‘other-worldliness’ of the production. The imagination used in creating the world of the Na’vi – the environment, the creatures and pretty much everything else was nothing like we’d ever seen before. Everything looked so ‘real’, where even the ‘human’ characters with their characteristic blue skins and pointy ears were totally convincing! 😁

Yes, as I’ve said, it was a long one, and they probably could have shaved off 30 minutes – for that reason alone, I’ve dropped ‘half a star’. Having said that, ultimately, it was all worth it simply because of the outstanding realisation of Cameron’s vision. In a word… WOW! 🤔

No surprise perhaps to learn afterwards that this is (at the time of writing) the third most-watched movie in the world (based on box-office takings). With James Cameron’s original Avatar at number 1, and Marvel’s ‘Avengers Endgame’ at number 2. It will be interesting to see how long these positions are maintained – especially as Marvel is on the cusp of rebooting the franchise and there are more Avatar stories to tell!

Details of the most successful films are HERE.