'Avatar: The Way of Water' Review Thread

Rotten Tomatoes: 83% (30 reviews) with 7.1 in average rating

Metacritic: 71/100 (28 critics)

As with other movies, the scores are set to change as time passes. Meanwhile, I'll post some short reviews on the movie. It's structured like this: quote first, source second.

Even more than its predecessor, this is a work that successfully marries technology with imagination and meticulous contributions from every craft department. But ultimately, it’s the sincerity of Cameron’s belief in this fantastical world he’s created that makes it memorable.

-David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

Does it matter if “The Way of Water” doesn’t elicit the same response when I watch it at home? Not really — I know that it won’t. Does it matter that Cameron is continuing to “save” the movies by rendering them almost unrecognizable from the rest of the medium? His latest sequel would suggest that even the most alien bodies can serve as proper vessels for the spirits we hold sacred. For now, the only thing that matters is that after 13 years of being a punchline, “going back to Pandora” just became the best deal on Earth for the price of a movie ticket.

-David Ehrlich, IndieWire: A-

By the time it crests, whatever the film’s many other flaws may be, we are invested, and we are ultimately rewarded with a truly spectacular, awe-inspiring finale. All’s well that ends well, I guess. Even if all was a pretty mixed bag beforehand.

-William Bibbiani, The Wrap

Avatar: The Way of Water is a thoughtful, sumptuous return to Pandora, one which fleshes out both the mythology established in the first film and the Sully family’s place therein. It may not be the best sequel James Cameron has ever made (which is a very high bar), but it’s easily the clearest improvement on the film that preceded it. The oceans of Pandora see lightning striking in the same place twice, expanding the visual language the franchise has to work with in beautiful fashion. The simple story may leave you crying “cliché,” but as a vehicle for transporting you to another world, it’s good enough to do the job. This is nothing short of a good old-fashioned Cameron blockbuster, full of filmmaking spectacle and heart, and an easy recommendation for anyone looking to escape to another world for a three-hour adventure.

-Tom Jorgensen, IGN: 8.0 "great"

While Cameron is a master of franchise sequels, “Way of Water” doesn’t measure up to his classics, “Aliens” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” But thanks to new personalities and vivid wildlife, on the whole, this latest trip does prove, perhaps surprisingly to some after such a long period between movies, that there’s still some gas in the “Avatar” tank after all.

-Brian Truitt, USA Today: 3/4

The movie's overt themes of familial love and loss, its impassioned indictments of military colonialism and climate destruction, are like a meaty hand grabbing your collar; it works because they work it.

-Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: A-

For all the genuine thrills provided by its pioneering pageantry, Way of Water ultimately leaves you with a soul-nagging query: What price entertainment?

-Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine: 3/4

His meticulous craftsmanship shows in every amazing sequence like that final battle at sea. If the story occasionally seems a bit all over the place, well, there are worse things in the world than a filmmaker throwing every last morsel of creativity into his work. You can’t say The Way of Water doesn’t give you your money’s worth, especially in the visual department. This thing’s got enough eye candy to give you ocular diabetes.

-Matt Singer, ScreenCrush: 7/10

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PLOT

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

DIRECTOR

James Cameron

SCREENPLAY

James Cameron, Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver

STORY

James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman & Shane Salerno

MUSIC

Simon Franglen

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Russell Carpenter

EDITING

Stephen E. Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua & James Cameron

BUDGET

$350-400 million

Release date:

December 16, 2022

STARRING

• Sam Worthington as Jake Sully

• Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri

• Sigourney Weaver as Kiri

• Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch

• Kate Winslet as Ronal

• Cliff Curtis as Tonowari

• Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge

• Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore

• Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby

• Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin

• CCH Pounder as Mo'at

Submitted December 14, 2022 at 12:23AM by SanderSo47 https://ift.tt/C1bgaWf