An imposing, dazzling, supersized blockbuster, critics are adamant that audiences should watch Avatar: The Way of Water on the biggest screen possible, lauding the film for its you-won’t-believe-this-is-computer-generated visuals and bombastic sound design.
Described as “jaw-droppingly beautiful,” one critic likens it to watching a David Attenborough documentary rather than a CGI feature. In CGI terms, the film certainly has the “wow” factor. Hair and skin glisten, flames and dustmotes transfix.
13 years on from the release of Avatar, this spectacle-cinema is next-generation amazing.
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, the sequel begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri and their children), 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.
The success of 2009’s Avatar heavily influenced the direction of digital filmmaking and distribution. The Way of Water doubles down on the naked sentimentality of the first movie, refocuses the plot on more interesting characters, and sets the high-water mark for visual effects in film all over again.
Most of the movie takes place in the territory of the seafaring Metkayina tribe, and the vibrant underwater ecosystem is an even more dreamlike palette for director James Cameron to work with. Bioluminescent rainbows from the flora in the depths refract through the moving surface like the aurora, sunsets on the wide horizon bounce off the waves and cast the shores in a purple hue; the thoughtfully designed marine life all reinforce the sense that Pandora is a living, breathing world, even more effectively than Avatar did.
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. Another reviewer candidly remarks: “Plot-wise, this movie is treading water, but that’s fine, because the water’s lovely.”
Avatar: The Way of Water delivers an experience that is more than you can possibly imagine, a fantasy world so vivid and real it commands your full attention for the three-hour and 12-minute run time. When it’s done, you’ll still want to linger in this heightened state of make believe.
Avatar: The Way of Water, rated PG, plays at the Patricia Theatre on January 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, and on January 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, at 7 pm. Matinee screenings will take place January 8 and 15 at 1:30 pm. Running time is three hours and 10 minutes.
The theatre will be closed on January 11 and 12.
Gary Shilling is executive director of qathet Film Society (formerly Powell River Film Society).
