Sci-Fi Avatar: The Way Of Water

[Closerframe]

Saw this yesterday in Dolby. Initially I was getting whiplash because the resolution was so high that I felt like I was watching something in 4k for the first time all over again. The movie itself was okay. Pretty bad first act, messy but pretty second, and a great third. I really think he could have used the time better because I could clearly see where he cut certain scenes and other characters would disappear for prolonged periods of time.

 

[Drizzle]

After seeing it last night in IMAX 3D (go big or go home), I have to say Cameron delivered. Those three hours flew by for me. The visual effects are the best I've seen in any film but anything less than that would have been a disappointment given how long this has been cooking. I thought the story was good but I did find it a bit more flawed than the first film.

Spoiler

It was great world building and the new characters for the most part added a lot to the film, especially Kiri, Lo'ak and Spider. The movie really felt like it was centered on the kids, which is fine, but I also felt that because of that most of the adult characters with the exceptions of Jake and Quaritch got the shaft. I would have liked to see more of Kate Winslet's character. Neytiri should have also gotten a bit more to do. Saldana killed it with what she had but I really would have liked a bit more of a discussion between her and Spider after that whole standoff moment with Quaritch at the end. Like, does she actually hate the kid or was she just using him as a means to free Kiri? It's just weird that even with a 3 hour+ runtime there were still things like that left unexplained.

I also thought that Jake and Neytiri's oldest son got shafted in the development department. When he died I felt basically nothing except sympathy for Neytiri thanks to Saldana's powerhouse acting because we barely got to know him compared to Kiri and Lo'ak. I honestly felt more devastated at the whale death which was sad enough on its own (also thanks to the reuse of James Horner's "taking down the tree" track from the first one) but then when the Na'vi discover its body along with its poor baby? That broke my heart into a million pieces. Too far, Cameron.

But the payoff to that moment with the scumbag Captain Ahab getting his arm torn off was sooooo satisfying that the entire theater broke out into applause. Those whales...sorry, "tulkuns", really stole the show.

It definitely felt a bit open-ended considering how Quaritch flew away to fight another day and there was never a follow up with General Carmela Soprano, who I also would have liked to see more of.

On a non-spoiler note, the HFR was a little jarring in certain scenes. I've never really been a fan of it.

I still don't know if I'd place it above the first film and I also don't know where I'd place it on the best of 2022 list yet. It's definitely up there though. It's not Cameron's best sequel as it doesn't touch T2 or Aliens but it's still pretty damn good. I'm down for more, I just think that expectations need to be kept in check as far as box office goes. I don't think this or any of the future sequels are going to surpass the original. Nothing's grossing more than $2.9 billion in this climate. As to whether this is going to pass Maverick to be the highest grossing film of 2022? I'm not brave enough to take that bet. This one definitely still gave me that "I want to see it again in theaters" feeling that I had after watching the first one.

 

[Slick]

My screening starts at 9:10 am pacific time seat D23 (heh) IMAX 3D. Can’t wait.

 

[moviedoors]

anyone know why the actor for lo'ak is missing from these promos/press junkets?

My understanding is Cameron did not contractually obligate any of the young cast members to the press part of the movie. He wanted them to have the option to abstain from it if they choose so.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Lily Adler]

Is there a pop song at the end?

Oh its The Weeknd...

 

[Kane52630]

Is there a pop song at the end?

Oh its The Weeknd...

 

[moviedoors]

 

[Dr.]

Actually, the world-wide opening total has been adjusted... up — from $434M to $441M.

 

[The Shape]

Produced by my boys, Swedish House Mafia.

 

[Slick]

Just got out of my screening and I freaking loved this movie. Slightly better than the first movie for me but not with out it flaws. The cgi is out of this world and I thought this story was as and even more so emotional then first. I grew to care for the new characters and liked that we got to see Jake and Neytiri mature more. Overall James Cameron did it again imo.

 

[Ctfxcwatcher]

I'll be watching this tomorrow...discount Tuesday. I'm pretty excited to see how this turns out.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[TheVileOne]

The movie made another $16 million Monday. It's doing fine. A lot of people being over-panicky about this movie. Either that or they are sharpening their claws so they can go in for their kill and give James Cameron their greatly longed-for schadenfreude.

I mean for years I recall people said no one is going to care about Avatar 2 and no one is going to go see it. Clearly that was wrong.

 

[phillyboy]

Just got back from seeing it. I was lucky enough to get free tickets from a family member, otherwise I was planning to see it on streaming. Glad it was free, because it was average at best & flat-out boring at times. Can't fault the visuals, they were flawless- but once you get beyond the spectacle, there wasn't much to it.

The "sky people are evil" shtick was so over the top & laughable- the only thing missing was some mustache twisting. The only interesting plot-points were dropped as soon as they were introduced.

Despite the amazing visuals in the trailers, I was only mildly interested in seeing this. Have no interest in seeing 3 & 4 after painstakingly sitting through 3 hours of this.

 

[Drizzle]

The movie made another $16 million Monday. It's doing fine. A lot of people being over-panicky about this movie. Either that or they are sharpening their claws so they can go in for their kill and give James Cameron their greatly longed-for schadenfreude.

I mean for years I recall people said no one is going to care about Avatar 2 and no one is going to go see it. Clearly that was wrong.

Months ago I got shot down for saying that this wouldn't outgross the first one and I'm still sticking to that. I didn't think this would fail and I had no doubt that this would be successful but surpassing $2.9 billion in a post-pandemic streaming era?

 

[Stark Bauer]

Looked at the largest IMAX theatres in my area. Seats are mostly sold out for all showings. I haven’t seen this kind of demand since Endgame. I think this will probably keep going with sold out IMAX theatres for another 7-10 weeks since it is a Cameron film.

I predict this will dethrone The Force Awakens and be the first domestic film to make a billion dollars (and possibly more).

This will make over $2 billion total worldwide.

Also I come from conservative circles, they are nitpicking at anything they can use to malign this film and its creator. It reeks of desperation. Even conservatives appreciate the heart of the story and it does not seem woke (in a bad way).

Cameron has been a proponent of strong female leads decades before it was in fashion. Difference is - he does it right and it feels justified not shoehorned in like a Mary Sue just to meet the status quo.

 

[FunkMiller]

The movie made another $16 million Monday. It's doing fine. A lot of people being over-panicky about this movie. Either that or they are sharpening their claws so they can go in for their kill and give James Cameron their greatly longed-for schadenfreude.

I mean for years I recall people said no one is going to care about Avatar 2 and no one is going to go see it. Clearly that was wrong.

16 million is pretty soft, to be honest. I think the expectations were more - if it's going to perform like the first one that is.

Personally, I think it'll probably come up short of Top Gun Maverick, but will still clear well over a billion.

Hilarious and awful that this would be considered a flop in Hollywood.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Pennywise]

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Sailing Past $500M Global Box Office – Deadline

 

[BatLobster]

I'd say it's well positioned keep its momentum over the holidays too, and will have a long run to go after that. I think this will definitely be a big hit even if it's not the phenomenon of the first movie recaptured.

Still haven't seen it yet myself, but just picked up tickets for Thursday. Theater looked decently crowded, not too many good seats left.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

At the end of the day this movie is far from perfect just like the first movie, but I still massively enjoyed it as a pure, spectacle driven experience despite its flaws and there are definitely more than a few.

Obviously, the writing and dialogue could have been much better in certain areas, but I was pretty surprised at how invested I was in the majority of the characters and in the worldbuilding.

It felt meandering at times but overall and I didn't have a problem with the pacing/running time although Cameron might want to work on that in future because it definitely hurts repeat viewings IMO.

I know it would be ridiculously expensive and will likely never happen, but I'd be do down for a Disney Plus Avatar show that just focused on all the cool, unique environmental aspects.

 

[TheVileOne]

At the end of the day this movie is far from perfect just like the first movie, but I still massively enjoyed it as a pure, spectacle driven experience despite its flaws and there are definitely more than a few.

Obviously, the writing and dialogue could have been much better in certain areas, but I was pretty surprised at how invested I was in the majority of the characters and in the worldbuilding.

It felt meandering at times but overall and I didn't have a problem with the pacing/running time although Cameron might want to work on that in future because it definitely hurts repeat viewings IMO.

I know it would be ridiculously expensive and will likely never happen, but I'd be do down for a Disney Plus Avatar show that just focused on all the cool, unique environmental aspects.

This very much falls in line with how I felt about the movie. I did become surprisingly invested in a lot of the characters, but I do think the story and writing fell weak in certain areas.

 

[TheVileOne]

I'd say it's well positioned keep its momentum over the holidays too, and will have a long run to go after that. I think this will definitely be a big hit even if it's not the phenomenon of the first movie recaptured.

Still haven't seen it yet myself, but just picked up tickets for Thursday. Theater looked decently crowded, not too many good seats left.

I think Puss in Boots will do OK with the family crowd, but I don't think Babylon is going to really take much of the adults away. It really has no competition.

 

[Stringer]

Lowered expectations helped a bunch with this, I enjoyed it, and the last hour was deserving of the hype I was seeing. It's not any better or worse than the first except I really think it was missing an experienced action composer. Much of the finale could have used something to get the heart racing even more considering the set up for the finale was well done.