Sci-Fi Avatar: The Way Of Water

[moviedoors]

I hadn't properly looked at the source yet. That's my bad. I guess I'm turning into an "I read it on Facebook" person.

It happens to the best of us!

 

[Comicbookguy339]

Haven't seen the movie yet but a lot has changed between 2009 and now. 2009 had like 3 big blockbusters - Avatar, Harry Potter 6 & Transformers 2. Nowadays we get 3 blockbusters a month it seems. Don't get me wrong, on a technical level Avatar 2 does look better than any of the current competitors but that's just not enough anymore.

I'm sure that over the past 13 years we've all taken part in the "was Avatar culturally relevant?" discussion at some point. Personally I don't see it as a question of cultural relevance. I think the problem with Avatar was always that it didn't establish a distinct enough fictional world. Sure, Pandora is full of wonders and all but the fictional universe overall feels kind of generic and not fleshed out. Plus, the first film told a complete story. There was never any real need to return to this world other than to make more money (the Terminator franchise post-T2 is a great example of this).

I think part of the reason why superhero movies have become as big as they have is that there is so much discussion and debate that can be had. Because they're adaptations there's always speculation on what they will adapt next and how. This endless speculation and discussion feeds into the hype machine that keeps the movies relevant. Avatar is very different in that for over a decade there was really nothing to discuss, debate or even predict.

In 2022 Avatar is just another franchise among many.

 

[MayaUser]

There was never any real need to return to this world other than to make more money (the Terminator franchise post-T2 is a great example of this).

Different directors from T3 , (just relying on the big name that james made) to make money with garbage script, acting,plots, cgi

In 2022 Avatar is just another franchise among many.

And Avatar 1 was just another movie among many
Nolan and James set the trend for the blockbusters that are today with Marvel having 2-3-4 per year
JC push the technology forward and thats a good thing

 

[DarkKnight88]

In 2022 Avatar is just another franchise among many.

Let’s circle back in 3 weeks and see. Like Titanic and Avatar before, this could very well display those same kind of legs.

“Just another franchise” opens big and drops hard. I don’t think that’s going to happen here.

 

[Iceman]

this franchise relies clearly on breathtaking landscapes.
So what could Avatar 3,4,5,6 offer, what we haven’t seen already? We‘ve seen beautiful rainforests and tropical islands with breathtaking underwater biospheres.
What else could take our breath away? Deserts, polar regions, volcanic landscapes?
If he doesn’t have a breathtaking new landscape, than he really needs to deliver on the story…which he wasn’t able in 2 movies.
I highly doubt, the franchise will make it to a 5th and 6th movie

On story he’s had 13 years to come up with a great one after all this time and the feedback from the first film. Not expecting it to get a whole lot better going forward.

I would watch these though even just as tech demos, as beautiful natural environments brought to life with cutting edge tech have the appeal that nature documentaries have to me. The story is a bit of fluff for me in that case while otherwise enjoying the visuals of this world a lot. Seems like the vast majority of other films aren’t even trying for technical excellence on visuals. A shame we can’t have it all.

 

[Pennywise]

Avatar: The Way Of Water Seeing $400M+ Global Bow – Deadline

 

[Weather Witch]

Just came back from watching it. The movie was OK if way too long. A lot of people in my audience were very negative. It helped that I kept my expectations low. Won't be going back for repeat viewings though.

 

[TheVileOne]

Haven't seen the movie yet but a lot has changed between 2009 and now. 2009 had like 3 big blockbusters - Avatar, Harry Potter 6 & Transformers 2. Nowadays we get 3 blockbusters a month it seems. Don't get me wrong, on a technical level Avatar 2 does look better than any of the current competitors but that's just not enough anymore.

I'm sure that over the past 13 years we've all taken part in the "was Avatar culturally relevant?" discussion at some point. Personally I don't see it as a question of cultural relevance. I think the problem with Avatar was always that it didn't establish a distinct enough fictional world. Sure, Pandora is full of wonders and all but the fictional universe overall feels kind of generic and not fleshed out. Plus, the first film told a complete story. There was never any real need to return to this world other than to make more money (the Terminator franchise post-T2 is a great example of this).

I think part of the reason why superhero movies have become as big as they have is that there is so much discussion and debate that can be had. Because they're adaptations there's always speculation on what they will adapt next and how. This endless speculation and discussion feeds into the hype machine that keeps the movies relevant. Avatar is very different in that for over a decade there was really nothing to discuss, debate or even predict.

In 2022 Avatar is just another franchise among many.

I beg to differ.

Not really. By 2009 you had tons of big movies coming out all year. There were more than three big blockbusters in 2009. 2009 also had JJ Abrams Star Trek, which was very well received, Twilight sequel, The Hangover (the first one which was a juggernaut), The Blindside, Inglorious Basterds, Gran Torino, and also freaking FAST & FURIOUS 4.

2009 had many varying degrees of blockbusters.

 

[Lasirius]

The underwater scenes were breathtaking in the most literal sense.

 

[3rdstone]

A giant improvement which is expected.

The effects on the first one felt quite divisive to me. Lots of scenes highly impressed me in the efforts to feel realistic regarding effects/cgi, and got pretty close to stuff like this. Then again you suddenly got those (IMHO silly) glimmering Disney Fairy Tale-like forrest scenes which felt more like belonging in an animated movie. Which took me out of the movie at times. I hopefully assume we get less of that in this flick?

 

[3rdstone]

Saldaña have always felt like a quite cool and laid back person to me.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

I beg to differ.

Not really. By 2009 you had tons of big movies coming out all year. There were more than three big blockbusters in 2009. 2009 also had JJ Abrams Star Trek, which was very well received, Twilight sequel, The Hangover (the first one which was a juggernaut), The Blindside, Inglorious Basterds, Gran Torino, and also freaking FAST & FURIOUS 4.

2009 had many varying degrees of blockbusters.

With the exception of Twilight, none of those movies even managed to crack 500M worldwide. Star Trek didn't even make 400M.

 

[TheVileOne]

With the exception of Twilight, none of those movies even managed to crack 500M worldwide. Star Trek didn't even make 400M.

You can have blockbusters that don't make $500 million worldwide. For an r-rated comedy like The Hangover to make over $275 million domestic is pretty huge at the time. That movie was a phenomenon undeniably. Star Trek also making over $250 million domestically is unheard for its time.

Without Fast & Furious in 2009 you don't get everything that follows next.

Also, the Twilight example shows there was already more than just 3.

 

[Frodo]

I decided to skip this one.

I've gotten more and more crotchety about seeing films in theaters that are longer than 2 hours, so this one already falls into my " no go " category.

I've made some exceptions, but at this point, if the film is a super long one, I just prefer to stream it later and watch it at my own pace.

I liked the first Avatar a couple of decades ago, but in all honesty, I really haven't been all that excited to revisit that universe.

For me, it was a one and done story, so this one really didn't look all that appealing to me.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

Deadline now reporting that the budget for this film is 460 million before marketing, So if they spent around 150M on marketing (could be more though) then the movie needs around 1.2 billion to break even.

 

[Dave McFly]

the visuals in this thing were insane the CGI for even stuff like the human tech was amazing and I LOVED the score even tho it is not James Horner they channeled so much of him in this it was like he was still with us

 

[Iceman]

Deadline now reporting that the budget for this film is 460 million before marketing, So if they spent around 150M on marketing (could be more though) then the movie needs around 1.2 billion to break even.

Crazy! Shame it costs so much to get visuals of this quality.

 

[Iceman]

I decided to skip this one.

I've gotten more and more crotchety about seeing films in theaters that are longer than 2 hours, so this one already falls into my " no go " category.

I've made some exceptions, but at this point, if the film is a super long one, I just prefer to stream it later and watch it at my own pace.

I liked the first Avatar a couple of decades ago, but in all honesty, I really haven't been all that excited to revisit that universe.

For me, it was a one and done story, so this one really didn't look all that appealing to me.

I got hardly any sleep before seeing this at 6am (waking up at 5am after going to bed around 4am ), but usually I’m good when I’ve got to the cinema. Was struggling towards the end of this though.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

Crazy! Shame it costs so much to get visuals of this quality.

Money and time.

 

[Gee]

My legit IMAX only shows 3D HFR screenings...

 

[Kane52630]

It was interesting because my first viewing in IMAX 3D didn't have the HFR. When I saw it again on Friday night, it did.

I do agree it had the Christopher Nolan problem where it kept switching way too often. I would have loved it if it was 100% one of the either ways.

 

[Kane52630]

I think Gemini Man (and probably Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk even tho I didn't see it in 60fps) is probably the best when it comes to HFR.

 

[Comicbookguy339]

It was interesting because my first viewing in IMAX 3D didn't have the HFR. When I saw it again on Friday night, it did.

I do agree it had the Christopher Nolan problem where it kept switching way too often. I would have loved it if it was 100% one of the either ways.

I think Cameron got nervous about doing it all in HFR after the negative reception that the technology received when The Hobbit movies came out.

 

[Iceman]

I’m not sure if they had the variable frame rate at my showing. Didn’t particularly notice it if so.

 

[metaphysician]

That nine hours thing is prototypical clickbait horse****. There’s no way that rumor is true.

I mean, I'd certainly believe that the *assembly cut* is nine hours, given its Cameron and how long he's been filming. But the whole point of the assembly cut is that its *not* an edit, its a full assemblage of everything they've shot.

Which is another reason to disbelieve rumors, on top of the deliberate lying there's also honest mistakes from the game of telephone that is "anonymous industry discussion".