Avatar: O Caminho da Água

First Avatar movie, I watched maybe half a dozen times, it was an enchanting flick. For A:TWoW, I waited until the DVD came out, didn't want to spend over 3 hours in theater. I'm sooooooo glad I bought the DVD and avoided the theater. This movie just wasn't worth the 3-hour time.

I watched at home, over 3 sessions, in comfort of my own recliner and awesome sound system. A:TWoW was a visual treat for the eyes, but that's about it. Everything else was pretty much awful, one of the worst sequels I've ever seen (story-wise).

Will I watch again?? Nope.... I'm one and done. If it wasn't for the visuals, I'd give this movie a rating of 2.

So, one of the most anticipated sequels has finally come out. To tell the truth, I expected a more interesting, multifaceted plot, but I got what I got ... Well, my personal expectations are my problems alone.

The plot is about the new adventures of Jake Sully and his large family. He is pursued by the same Colonel Quaritch, who was in the first part. In fact, the plot completely copies the first part, only with different scenery, there is even an analogue of the character Giovani Ribisi from the first part. Some scenes are almost an exact copy of the scenes from the first part. It was depressing and I already thought that my review would be negative, but first things first.

With such a long runtime, more than three hours, the viewer is not really told how the people have managed to return to Pandora, because we remember that in the first part they were expelled from the planet in disgrace. The plot includes a huge number of children and adolescents. Some of them turned out to be just useless and had no weight in the film. In addition, it is not clear where did the children of another leader disappear at the end of the film. The film, of course, is designed for a teenage audience and is already successful, but I still expected more from Cameron.

There is no point in evaluating the quality of acting, since there are mostly CGI avatars here.

The cinematography is actually quite good. Much attention is paid to the underwater world. This is not surprising, since James Cameron loves this subject and has made several documentaries about the oceans and their depths. But the script is very lackluster. The storyline seems fat-fetched, there is no feeling of grandiosity as it was in the first part, a lot of unnecessary characters, the dialogues are not worked out, the main antagonist is not impressive, etc. The scriptwriters did not even try to hide that the main goal of releasing the franchise is to make more money. When a film brazenly shouts to the viewer "we didn't even try to come up with something new, because you will eat the old one in the second round" this is very bad. However, 2022 was a sparse year for good films, so Avatar: The Way of Water is still a top contender.

As for the good things, there is the stunningly beautiful world of Pandora and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver's character), but this is not enough for the film to receive a highly-ratef review. By the way, Kiri turned out to be a rather bright character and there is a feeling that in the third part she will have way more screen time.

Usually, when I give a film a seven out of ten, then I have an overall very positive opinion of a movie, but since I compare it with the predecessor and generally expected much more, this time I have mixed feelings about this movie.

7 out of 10.

Without question, this has the best CG works I have seen in recent movies.. Visuals are outstanding.. Underwater sequences and the fight scenes felt very real.. And that's all to it.. Just because it's a visual masterpiece, I cannot spend continuous 12-15 minutes just watching the underwater animals.. It felt like watching some episode from National Geographic or Animal planet..

Overall, if you cut 30-40 mins of such parts, you will still not miss anything in the story line.. First half was mostly to setup the environment and was very lagging .. I was like ,"Okay.. I get it.. it's a great place with different creatures.. Now, please move on to the storyline..".. Climax fight portion was good but not as great as the Avatar 2009 climax fight.. After the fight we still get some 5-10 mins of lagging scenes.. "Come on ... Finish it already"...

A major plot hole that I would think of is the reason for the presence of humans on Pandora.. What happened to the reason from part 1?! And why all these unnecessary hunting of someone who already fled the fight?!

To watch this movie in cinemas and experience it is an one time opportunity in life, provided you can bear the portions which makes you feel like sitting inside a boring science class...

I decided to rewatch the first Avatar last night before watching Avatar 2 and I am always in awe of how stunning the visuals are; it was a crowd-pleaser and more agreeable for the general audience. However, with the first Avatar, the story was basic and simple---it was rather forgettable. The thing is, the Avatar franchise has a simple story but it was told grandly. 'Avatar: The Way of Water' was a captivating visual feast, with every attempt beautifully framed via painstakingly flawless CGI, but the message about protecting your loved ones is not new to us, but it was ingenious. James Cameron's level of perfectionism translates to the audience; the details of every frame are precise and I can't help but wonder how on earth he has done that. It is the simple plot accompanied by such technical achievement that has always been the formula for almost all of Cameron's movies, not just Avatar. Simplicity is not a bad thing.

Just like in the first Avatar, characters are established a lot, and there is not much emotional attachment during the first half. However, the thrill and excitement peaked during the second act were worth it---This is the trick for most highly-budget films, they will entice you with visual and technical achievement, but the story is not that grand nor special for the audience to keep talking about it in the next 5 years. The Pandora world Cameron takes us to is excellent and magnificently conceptualized, but the story is missing the emotional draw that made this film a pretentious masterpiece. Though the visuals are still magnificent, it's difficult this time not to recognize the repetition of the story and the limited character arcs the movie presented. You will remember Avatar---aside from blue people---as a movie with impeccable and out-of-this-world visuals, but the story remains forgettable.

Some films are just pure escapism and sometimes that's what audiences need, and this is what Avatar 2 delivered. Avatar 2 doesn't necessarily check all those boxes to become a great film, but what it does right will offer viewers moments of astonishment, full-body immersion, and beauty. You can easily watch the movie and points out its mistakes and flaws, but it is hard to resist the fun and adventure the film delivers throughout its 192 minutes runtime. It is clear that James Cameron is making this movie for a general audience, and while imperfect, it certainly seems to serve its purpose.

With over a decade of technology improvement, the movie provides even better visuals, more believable CGI(not that the first one didn't), it also continues the beautiful cinematography.

But, the script is far inferior to the last one. The movie tries to focus on "family", and with Jake and Neytiri already had a movie, this one focus heavily on the children. But most of the plot lines fall into the trap of being a set-up for sequels. A few plots left unanswer in the end and a few plots begin after the mid point and already wrap after just after being introduced. Some of the charcaters are downgraded into 1 dimensional and some do not learn anything meaningful throughout the story. And the focus of the movie shifts completely once entered the third act which diminishes all the set-up from before.

In conclusion, definitely a must watch, better visuals but slightly worst script.