{"id":25802,"date":"2022-12-15T01:30:49","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T09:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25802"},"modified":"2022-12-15T01:30:49","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T09:30:49","slug":"avatar-the-way-of-water-delivers-an-epic-spectacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25802","title":{"rendered":"AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Delivers an Epic Spectacle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 193 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from 20th<\/sup> Century Studios opens\nat cinemas on December 16th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The science-fiction epic Avatar<\/em> arrived at theaters back in 2009 and was an instant smash, earning awards for its groundbreaking visual effects and shattering just about every box office record in the process (it still currently remains the highest grossing film worldwide, earning just under 3 billion dollars in total revenue). While one would have expected an immediate follow-up, writer\/director James Cameron instead spent 13 years toiling on a sequel, or, as it has now been made clear, a new film series. There\u2019s nothing subtle about Avatar: The Way of Water<\/em> and it does have a few clich\u00e9d elements. But it is also a true spectacle in every sense of the word. See it in 3D on the biggest screen you can find and you\u2019ll be sure to walk away impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Years after the events of the first film, Jake Sully (Sam\nWorthington) is living as a Na\u2019vi with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their large\nfamily on Pandora. In the ensuing years their time has been spent raising kids.\nThis includes adopted daughter\/Dr. Grace Augustine relation Kiri (Sigourney Weaver),\nteenage sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo\u2019ak (Britain Dalton) and their\nyoungest daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). Additionally, the family\nfrequently hosts a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion), who also has a\nnotable family history. Unfortunately, their peaceful days end when humans, led\nby General Ardmore (Edie Falco), return to Pandora to take control of the\nplanet. They villains target original rebellion leader Jake with a secret\nweapon\u2026 a group of Na\u2019vi embedded with the personalities of deceased soldiers.\nSpecifically, Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and his team. Fearing for the\nsafety of his family, Jake and the family move to a sea environment, but\ntrouble follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re like this reviewer and haven\u2019t seen the first film\nin at least a decade, then it might help to refamiliarize yourself with the\noriginal movie beforehand. This picture assumes you\u2019ll remember who every lead\nand supporting character is and rushes right into the story after a brief comment\nor two about what happened to everyone since the last installment. It\u2019s a\nlittle jarring (it took me a few minutes to remember some of the supporting\nvillains and background scientists), but after playing catch up for 10 minutes,\nthe relationships and connections are once again clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Much of the thematic material early on involves family dynamics and ex-military man Jake struggling to keep his young boys out of harm\u2019s way. But as the group go on the run and end up in an island village, the younger characters begin to take center stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is some corny teen angst as the kids try to fit in. Yet bits with one teen encountering and befriending an aquatic, whale-like lifeform works extremely well. Like in the previous movie the environmental message is unsubtle., but the sea creatures are so likable that they easily win viewer sympathy. And as the youths become a little more developed and the deadly threat arises, one can\u2019t help but be drawn into the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It also helps that the film is a technical masterpiece. The\nvisuals are frankly jaw-dropping. The forested world from the original has been\ngiven extra detail and the island community is even more impressive. These\notherworldly environments are completely engrossing, especially in\nthree-dimensions. With this film, 3D technology has risen to new heights. Once\nthe characters reach the island and swim under the sea (which was largely\ncreated with CGI technology), the images on display are nothing short of\njaw-dropping. Higher resolution and increased frame rates were used and while\nthe technique hasn\u2019t always worked well in the past, it looks exceptional here.\nSimply put, it\u2019s the best 3D presentation of a film that this reviewer has ever\nseen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The action scenes are no less remarkable. There\u2019s a\nphenomenal bit featuring Lo\u2019ak being pursued by a hungry sea creature. And the\nextended action climax is dynamic and thrilling from beginning to end. It\ninvolves all manner of military ships and aquatic machinery squaring off\nagainst fantastic flying and seabound alien beings and it\u2019s all remarkably\ntense. This director has always had a knack for shooting battle scenes and this\nfilm continues that trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, the screenplay intentionally leaves story threads dangling for the next chapter. But if you can forgive a grandiose emotional moment or two and a lengthy running time (you might want to bring along a sandwich), you\u2019re likely to have a wonderful time. Despite my nitpicking, Avatar: The Way of Water<\/em> is a true epic that we haven\u2019t seen in cinemas for some time. It\u2019s a stunning feature that wears its heart on its sleeve and consistently wows with breathtaking visuals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 193 minutes This feature from 20th Century Studios opens at cinemas on December 16th. The science-fiction epic Avatar arrived at theaters back in 2009 and was an instant smash, earning awards for its groundbreaking visual effects and shattering just about every box office record in the process (it still currently remains the highest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[209,221,270,697,2075,2080,2081,2082,2083,7314,10216,17572,17776,18035,18055,19056,24785],"class_list":["post-25802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-209","tag-20th-century-studios","tag-3d","tag-action","tag-avatar","tag-avatar-the-way-of-water","tag-avatar-the-way-of-water-film-review","tag-avatar-the-way-of-water-movie-review","tag-avatar-the-way-of-water-review","tag-fantasy","tag-james-cameron","tag-sam-worthington","tag-science-fiction-2","tag-sequel","tag-series","tag-stephen-lang","tag-zoe-saldana-sigourney-weaver"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}