I have one question for the director of Avatar: The Way of Water: what have you done with the real James Cameron?
Cameron is one of the most reliably entertaining movie-makers in the business. He's a guy who knows how to build tension, to use reliable dramatic tropes and make them fresh again. He knows how to hook our emotions and take them to every extreme. Given an almost unlimited budget and total creative control, he should have created a masterpiece.
Instead, some alternate-universe 'Cameron' has apparently spent over a decade creating a dog's-breakfast of a sequel. This unknown person had multiple writers working for him, yet managed to barf up nothing better than a barely-entertaining mess. The real James Cameron had sole writing credit on the original Avatar, and his passion for the story was evident in every shot. The Way of Water lists four writers in the credits, including this 'Cameron' doppelganger. Yet despite its insanely long gestation, it feels rushed and poorly thought-out.
A few key comments (BEGIN SPOILERS):
* Bringing back Stephen Lang's character was a FUNDAMENTAL mistake. Characters who are killed should remain killed. Bringing them back destroys any real sense of drama. (Let us not even speak of what was done with Sigourney Weaver's character.)
* Worse, in reviving Lang, the antagonist was surreptitiously switched. In the first film, it was the nameless Earth corporation that's bent on destroying Pandora. It was the whole attitude of exploitation and colonization. It was intriguing and relevant. In the sequel it's just Jake vs Quaritch - two military morons, bashing away at each other for no clear reason. All other ramifications of the original Avatar conflict are given negligible screen time.
* Even with this feeble premise, The Way of Water fails to tell ANY story at all. The 'plot' boils down to Jake's kids getting stupidly captured - over and over and over again. By about the fourth time, I was ready to scream. A whole fantastic world of possibilities to explore, all we get is the same tedious cliffhanger, mindlessly repeated with no roots in character or situation.
* The feeble plot is brim-full of goofy logic. Jake's move to the sea kingdom is so CLEARLY going to endanger the people living there, and comes off as the ultimate act of arrogant self-preservation. There were so many other ways it could have been justified more plausibly. Similarly, the need for Jake's clan to learn "the way of water" is remarkably flimsy - especially compared to Jake's need to prove himself in the first movie. Meanwhile, Quaritch acts entirely on his own, despite the backing - and industrial might - of the Earth corporation. In the whole movie, almost nothing really smart ever happens.
* Along the way, there are endless missed opportunities. We learn nothing new about Jake, Neytiri, or any of the other original characters, and almost nothing about the new generation of generic bratty offspring. The most interesting new element, the intelligent cetaceans, are dropped in abruptly with little explanation and only a trivial role to play. Cameron could have cut numerous silly rescue sequences and spent more time with this interesting new element.
* Most obvious of all, the Way of Water is NOT REALLY A SEQUEL to the original, absolutely brilliant, Avatar. None of the key threads are followed up: the politics and morality of Earth invading a virgin planetary paradise; the insurgency of a low-tech indigenous population fighting for its home; the ramifications and possibilities of a single world-spanning intelligence; the depths of the Na'avi culture, as part of that intelligent ecosystem. The Way of Water does absolutely nothing to progress the grand Avatar saga.
(END SPOILERS)
While it does have quite a few enjoyable moments (hence my rating), The Way of Water comes off as just another cookie-cutter action/adventure. At times I felt as if I were watching a recent James Bond installment. Weird, mindlessly ultra-evil villain? Check. Endless poorly-justified chase sequences? Check. Arbitrary McGuffin? Double-check. Reduction of grand themes to a personal battle between two knuckleheads? Alas, also check.
The Way of Water does LOOK amazing. The technology, the staging, the performances, the environments - both above and below the waterline - are spectacular, even in a time when CG makes the most amazing conceptions seem banal. But seriously - would the real James Cameron truly spend $300 million (or so) and a 13 years making this sequel, and NOT get better writers - or, to be fair, give a stable of competent writers the appropriate requirements for a decent script?
Real James Cameron: if you happen to read this, please, PLEASE make Avatar III a true sequel, with the dramatic qualities that have made you such a huge success over the years. Pick up the narrative where you left off in your first Avatar movie, and admit to your fans that The Way of Water was a misconceived side-trip that should simply be ignored and forgotten.
Cameron is one of the most reliably entertaining movie-makers in the business. He's a guy who knows how to build tension, to use reliable dramatic tropes and make them fresh again. He knows how to hook our emotions and take them to every extreme. Given an almost unlimited budget and total creative control, he should have created a masterpiece.
Instead, some alternate-universe 'Cameron' has apparently spent over a decade creating a dog's-breakfast of a sequel. This unknown person had multiple writers working for him, yet managed to barf up nothing better than a barely-entertaining mess. The real James Cameron had sole writing credit on the original Avatar, and his passion for the story was evident in every shot. The Way of Water lists four writers in the credits, including this 'Cameron' doppelganger. Yet despite its insanely long gestation, it feels rushed and poorly thought-out.
A few key comments (BEGIN SPOILERS):
* Bringing back Stephen Lang's character was a FUNDAMENTAL mistake. Characters who are killed should remain killed. Bringing them back destroys any real sense of drama. (Let us not even speak of what was done with Sigourney Weaver's character.)
* Worse, in reviving Lang, the antagonist was surreptitiously switched. In the first film, it was the nameless Earth corporation that's bent on destroying Pandora. It was the whole attitude of exploitation and colonization. It was intriguing and relevant. In the sequel it's just Jake vs Quaritch - two military morons, bashing away at each other for no clear reason. All other ramifications of the original Avatar conflict are given negligible screen time.
* Even with this feeble premise, The Way of Water fails to tell ANY story at all. The 'plot' boils down to Jake's kids getting stupidly captured - over and over and over again. By about the fourth time, I was ready to scream. A whole fantastic world of possibilities to explore, all we get is the same tedious cliffhanger, mindlessly repeated with no roots in character or situation.
* The feeble plot is brim-full of goofy logic. Jake's move to the sea kingdom is so CLEARLY going to endanger the people living there, and comes off as the ultimate act of arrogant self-preservation. There were so many other ways it could have been justified more plausibly. Similarly, the need for Jake's clan to learn "the way of water" is remarkably flimsy - especially compared to Jake's need to prove himself in the first movie. Meanwhile, Quaritch acts entirely on his own, despite the backing - and industrial might - of the Earth corporation. In the whole movie, almost nothing really smart ever happens.
* Along the way, there are endless missed opportunities. We learn nothing new about Jake, Neytiri, or any of the other original characters, and almost nothing about the new generation of generic bratty offspring. The most interesting new element, the intelligent cetaceans, are dropped in abruptly with little explanation and only a trivial role to play. Cameron could have cut numerous silly rescue sequences and spent more time with this interesting new element.
* Most obvious of all, the Way of Water is NOT REALLY A SEQUEL to the original, absolutely brilliant, Avatar. None of the key threads are followed up: the politics and morality of Earth invading a virgin planetary paradise; the insurgency of a low-tech indigenous population fighting for its home; the ramifications and possibilities of a single world-spanning intelligence; the depths of the Na'avi culture, as part of that intelligent ecosystem. The Way of Water does absolutely nothing to progress the grand Avatar saga.
(END SPOILERS)
While it does have quite a few enjoyable moments (hence my rating), The Way of Water comes off as just another cookie-cutter action/adventure. At times I felt as if I were watching a recent James Bond installment. Weird, mindlessly ultra-evil villain? Check. Endless poorly-justified chase sequences? Check. Arbitrary McGuffin? Double-check. Reduction of grand themes to a personal battle between two knuckleheads? Alas, also check.
The Way of Water does LOOK amazing. The technology, the staging, the performances, the environments - both above and below the waterline - are spectacular, even in a time when CG makes the most amazing conceptions seem banal. But seriously - would the real James Cameron truly spend $300 million (or so) and a 13 years making this sequel, and NOT get better writers - or, to be fair, give a stable of competent writers the appropriate requirements for a decent script?
Real James Cameron: if you happen to read this, please, PLEASE make Avatar III a true sequel, with the dramatic qualities that have made you such a huge success over the years. Pick up the narrative where you left off in your first Avatar movie, and admit to your fans that The Way of Water was a misconceived side-trip that should simply be ignored and forgotten.