Posts about Avatar (franchise)
Rotten Tomatoes: 84% (143 reviews) with 7.30 in average rating
Critics consensus: Narratively, it might be fairly standard stuff -- but visually speaking, Avatar: The Way of Water is a stunningly immersive experience.
Metacritic: 69/100 (47 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.
Evoking that movie (Titanic) is a tactical mistake, because it reminds you that “Titanic” was a jaw-dropping spectacle with characters who touched us to the core. I’m sorry, but as I watched “The Way of Water” the only part of me that was moved was my eyeballs.
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.
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"
James Cameron has surfaced with a cosmic marine epic that only he could make: eccentric, soulful, joyous, dark and very, very blue. Yes, he’s still leagues ahead of the pack.
-Nick De Semlyen, Empire: 5/5
The whole package here is so ambitious, yet intimate and gently tempered in its quieter moments, that it feels heartening to be reminded of what a big-budget Hollywood movie can be when it refuses to get crushed under pointless piles of rubble and noise. Confessionally, this critic wishes that Cameron had room in his schedule to put out more than one film in over a decade and original movies in addition to the ones that belong to this big beautiful franchise. Still, it’s significant to have him back with a picture that feels like a theatrical event to be celebrated, nowadays a retro idea occasionally reminded by the likes of Nope and Top Gun: Maverick. These are Cameron’s own waters, and it’s significant to see him effortlessly swim in them again.
-Tomris Laffly, The A.V. Club: A
Maintaining a sense of stakes will be necessary for the series going forward, especially if it plans on rolling out new entries at a quicker pace. But for The Way of Water, the decadence is more than enough—for cinemas that have been starved of authentic spectacle, finally, here’s a gorgeous three-course meal of it.
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
And what do we find aside from the high-tech visual superstructure? The floatingly bland plot is like a children’s story without the humour; a YA story without the emotional wound; an action thriller without the hard edge of real excitement.
-Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian: 2/5
Will it end up making $2 billion, as Cameron claims it must in order to inch into profit? With a Chinese release date secured, it may, though I suspect British audiences will find their patience tested. For all its world-building sprawl, The Way of Water is a horizon-narrowing experience – the sad sight of a great filmmaker reversing up a creative cul-de-sac.
-Robbie Collin, The Telegraph: 1/5
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
If I had two separate categories to judge James Cameron’s motion-capture epic “Avatar: The Way of Water,” I’d give it four stars for Visuals and two and a half for Story, and I’m in charge of the math here so I’m awarding three and a half stars to “TWAW” for some of the most dazzling, vibrant and gorgeous images I’ve ever seen on the big screen.
-Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times: 3.5/4
There is, really, no one else who does it like Cameron anymore, someone who so (perhaps recklessly) advances filmmaking technology to make manifest the spectacle in his head while staying ever-attentive of antiquated ideals like sentiment and idiosyncrasy. Watching The Way of Water, one rolls their eyes only to realize they’re welling with tears. One stretches and shifts in their seat before accepting, with a resigned and happy plop, that they could watch yet another hour of Cameron’s preservationist epic. Lucky for us—lucky even for the culture, maybe—that at least a few more of those are on their way.
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
Avatar: The Way of Water is both more extravagant and dorkier than Avatar, which was pretty dorky to begin with.
Cameron leans all the way into manic mayhem, smash-cutting from one outrageous image to the next. The final act of this movie shows off a freeing attitude he’s never fully embraced before.
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
I will continue to update this post as the score changes.
| Score | Number of Reviews | Average Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verified Audience | 94% | 1,000+ | 4.7/5 |
| All Audience | 89% | 2,500+ | 4.5/5 |
Verified Audience Score History:
90% at <50
91% at 50+
93% at 100+
95% at 500+
94% at 1,000+
Rotten Tomatoes: Certified Fresh
Critics Consensus: Narratively, it might be fairly standard stuff -- but visually speaking, Avatar: The Way of Water is a stunningly immersive experience.
| Score | Number of Reviews | Average Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Critics | 79% | 276 | 7.20/10 |
| Top Critics | 76% | 72 | 7.00/10 |
Metacritic: 69 (62 Reviews)
SYNOPSIS:
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. CAST:
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri
Sigourney Weaver as Kiri
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch
Cliff Curtis as Tonowari
Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder as Mo'at
Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore
Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin
Kate Winslet as Ronal
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
PRODUCED BY: James Cameron, Jon Landau
SCREENPLAY BY: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
STORY BY: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: David Valdes, Richard Baneham
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Russell Carpenter
PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Dylan Cole, Ben Procter
EDITED BY: Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron
MUSIC BY: Simon Franglen
COSTUME DESIGNER: Deborah L. Scott
RELEASE DATE: December 16, 2022
I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.
Rotten Tomatoes: Certified Fresh
Critics Consensus: Narratively, it might be fairly standard stuff -- but visually speaking, Avatar: The Way of Water is a stunningly immersive experience.
| Score | Number of Reviews | Average Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Critics | 79% | 276 | 7.20/10 |
| Top Critics | 76% | 72 | 7.00/10 |
Metacritic: 69 (62 Reviews)
Sample Reviews:
The only part of me that was moved was my eyeballs. - Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Ultimately, it’s the sincerity of Cameron’s belief in this fantastical world he’s created that makes it memorable. - David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
There is beauty everywhere you look, from the spectacle provided by nature’s creations, the tactile sense you get from the skin and hair of humans and other natural life, and the emotional expressions of strength and sensitivity. - Todd McCarthy, Deadline Hollywood Daily
When Cameron’s film calms down, and the stunning imagery that cinematographer Russell Carpenter has created with the film’s enormous visual-effects team can linger for a while, its imagination and scope can occasionally feel quite magical. - William Bibbiani, TheWrap
James Cameron’s sequel is a truly dazzling cinematic experience that will have you floating on a blockbuster high. 3.5/4 - Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press
If "The Way of Water" was the last film Cameron ever made, it’d be appropriate, as all of his cinematic obsessions coalesce within this gargantuan slice of mind-boggling spectacle presented with classical action-adventure storytelling. 3.5/4 - Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
An emotionally charged outing that again dips into themes of colonization while adding environmental issues and relatable family drama. 3/4 - Brian Truitt, USA Today
The Way of Water doesn’t necessarily check all those boxes, but what it does right will offer spectators moments of awe, full-body immersion and genuine beauty. 2/4 - Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Cameron pulls you down so deep, and sets you so gently adrift, that at times you don’t feel like you’re watching a movie so much as floating in one. - Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times
Cameron’s embrace of the idealism of adolescence, of the capacity for moral outrage as well as wonder, is the emotional heart of the movie. - A.O. Scott, New York Times
Whoever thought that a 10-foot-tall blue alien would be such a sight for sore eyes? 4/4 - Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post
Avatar: The Way of Water is such a screen-popping visual feast it earns the 3-hour, 12-minute running time, though the primarily aquatic setting might contribute to some viewers dashing out for a bathroom break. 3.5/4 - Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
The Way of Water has a way of pulling you in, surrounding you with gorgeous, violent chaos and finishing with a quick rinse to get the remnants of its teeny-tiny plot out of your eyes by the final credits. 3/4 - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
On more than one occasion we’re told that “the way of water has no beginning and no end.” No kidding. 1/4 - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
That's the essence of "The Way of Water": It's sheer experience above all else, with a solid, easy-to-follow story underneath it. A - Adam Graham, Detroit News
Avatar: The Way of Water transforms from simple wonder to something truly jaw-dropping. - Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
Cameron's limitations as storyteller remain as crystal clear as the water. But one does not look to Avatar for narrative sophistication. - A.A. Dowd, Chron
It’s still more of a spectacle than a movie. But as spectacles go, it’s a big one. 3/5 - Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
Like the original, it’s “Dances with Wolves” in outer space. Only dumber. 2/4 - Soren Andersen, Seattle Times
The 3-D special effects remain exceptional, but the screenplay is better this time, with a storyline more emotionally engaging than in the original. When people and critters die, we feel it this time. 4/4 - Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News
It’s time well spent for a movie set in deep space that turns out to be a free-flowing whale of a tale. 3.5/4 - Peter Howell, Toronto Star
The floatingly bland plot is like a children’s story without the humour; a YA story without the emotional wound; an action thriller without the hard edge of real excitement. 2/5 - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
If Cameron’s worldbuilding is exhausting, it also has an epic sincerity far from the lazy cash grab of most sequels. Lazy Cameron is not. 3/5 - Danny Leigh, Financial Times
Watching the film [feels] like being waterboarded with turquoise cement. 1/5 - Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph (UK)
I can’t say that I cared all that much about its story, its themes, or its characters, but its unimpeachable effects work made it feel like I’d locked eyes with the future. 3/5 - Clarisse Loughrey, Independent (UK)
Plot-wise, this movie is treading water. But that’s fine, because the water’s lovely. 4/5 - Charlotte O'Sullivan, London Evening Standard
Cover your eyes if you long ago tired of work that prides itself on “world building”. Flee the building if you longer ago wearied of worlds built to the aesthetics of Roger Dean covers for 1970s Yes albums. 2/5 - Donald Clarke, Irish Times
Does exactly what is expected from it even if it eventually fails to move the narrative beyond the obvious "good guys Vs stereotypical villains" narrative. 3/5 - Linda Marric, The Jewish Chronicle
A meticulous world-building as astonishing and enveloping as anything we've ever seen on screen — until that crown is passed, inevitably, in December 2024, the projected release date for Avatar 3. A- - Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
The Way of Water insists that times haven’t changed; it is heedless of contemporary industry undulations. That swaggering energy is, in large part, what makes the film such a pleasure to watch. - Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair
The Way of Water is the wave of the future, rolling in whether you like it or not. - Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
For The Way of Water, the decadence is more than enough -- for cinemas that have been starved of authentic spectacle, finally, here’s a gorgeous three-course meal of it. - David Sims, The Atlantic
Cameron’s all-encompassing style has a way of making other blockbusters feel small, vague. The Way of Water, in line with his best work, is more affecting for knowing its audience, for digging into primal feelings about being misunderstood. - K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone
If the first Avatar is remarkable because it shows us wondrous lands nothing like our own, The Way of Water is remarkable because it shows us that this world is, in fact, very much like our own. - Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture
It’s a leap beyond even what he pulled off with the first film, a phantasmagorical, fully immersive waking dream of a movie in which something impossible is happening on-screen at almost every moment. 5/5 - Nick De Semlyen, Empire Magazine
An extraordinary visual spectacle that can’t compare on the narrative side — although, to be fair, that’s a mighty high bar. - Tim Grierson, Screen International
A feat of coldly-precise engineering, but not a good movie. 2/5 - David Jenkins, Little White Lies
‘The most dangerous thing about Pandora,’ someone muses sagely at one point, ‘is that you grow to love it too much.’ Jim Cameron disagrees. He can’t love this place enough – and it’s infectious. 4/5 - Philip De Semlyen, Time Out
James Cameron has done it again with Avatar: The Way of Water, a state-of-the-art exercise that rekindles that sense of wonder and demands to be seen by anyone with lingering interest in watching movies in theaters. - Brian Lowry, CNN.com
The 3D visuals are undoubtedly cool but it shouldn’t be the only reason to see this film - but it is. 2.5/5 - Wenlei Ma, News.com.au
Creatively speaking, [it's] of a piece with its predecessor, a would-be epic of boundary-pushing digi-grandeur in service of Pocahontas-style us-vs-them mush. - Nick Schager, The Daily Beast
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. A- - David Ehrlich, indieWire
Dazzling, epic, and yet surprisingly intimate, Cameron's Avatar sequel expands on this exquisite world in ways both passionate and futuristic. A - Tomris Laffly, AV Club
For all the genuine thrills provided by its pioneering pageantry, Way of Water ultimately leaves you with a soul-nagging query: What price entertainment? 3/4 - Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine
It demands the biggest screen you can find so that its most potent elements — from its impossible scale and skillful spectacle, to its more complete range of emotions and thematic romanticism — can be completely absorbed. - Eric Francisco, Inverse
[A] simple but engaging story in an imaginative, beautiful environment. - Jordan Hoffman, Polygon
Cameron loses track of his characters, snarls his story, squanders his star power, and then dizzies 3D audiences with so much whiz-bang that they might feel attacked in lieu of awed. - Kristy Puchko, Mashable
When Cameron’s 3D cauldron of spells is at a high boil, the end result is nothing less than an upgrade on reality. At its best, you find yourself resenting the edges of the screen, for keeping you from feeling fully immersed in this world. B+ - Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
As a story, The Way of Water disappoints, even as its visuals overwhelm. C+ - Isaac Feldberg, Above the Line
Very much feels like a decade’s worth of accumulated ideas crammed into a single film. 7/10 - Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
This wildly entertaining film isn't a retread of Avatar, but a film in which fans can pick out thematic and even visual elements of Titanic, Aliens, The Abyss, and The Terminator films. 3.5/4 - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
True movie magic. The Way of Water is a visual marvel loaded with groundbreaking technical feats that always feel in service of character and world-building. 4.5/5 - Perri Nemiroff, Perri Nemiroff (YouTube)
Overwritten, when it isn’t underwritten. Overwrought. Overblown. I’m over it. 1.5/5 - Adam Kempenaar, Filmspotting
SYNOPSIS:
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.
CAST:
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri
Sigourney Weaver as Kiri
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch
Cliff Curtis as Tonowari
Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder as Mo'at
Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore
Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin
Kate Winslet as Ronal
DIRECTED BY: James Cameron
PRODUCED BY: James Cameron, Jon Landau
SCREENPLAY BY: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
STORY BY: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: David Valdes, Richard Baneham
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Russell Carpenter
PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Dylan Cole, Ben Procter
EDITED BY: Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron
MUSIC BY: Simon Franglen
COSTUME DESIGNER: Deborah L. Scott
RELEASE DATE: December 16, 2022
