While this was definitely a fun, and at times even jaw-dropping experience, I think I still like the first movie
slightly better. There's just something more visceral about the straightforward plot of the original, not to mention the awe of discovering Pandora for the first time.
That said, this was an
incredible sequel, if only because there's no one better than Cameron at taking certain threads/ideas from the first movie of a franchise and turning them completely on their head in the second, in a way that's just so cool and fun and thematically resonate. I loved Quaritch & co as Avatars this go around, I loved Sigourney Weaver/Grace playing/reincarnated as Kiri, I loved the idea of Neytiri having to be the one trying to fit in in a "new world," etc. In terms of maximizing plot lines from the original, and zigging where you'd think it zag, it gets an A+. And as someone who was skeptical of the whole kid/family dynamic when first announced, I could not have been more wrong, as I was surprised by how much I loved the entire Sully clan. Yeah, Spider could have been played by a better actor, but I liked the *idea* of the character, and the rest of the Sullys could not have been more perfect or better cast. In that sense, it felt like a classic Disney movie meets classic James Cameron, a marriage that somehow melded together better than I possibly could have imagined.
Overall, it's absolutely a worthy sequel and, if anything, the 850 people we saw it with, cheering when that captain poacher dude got his arm split in two by the space whale, was a moment I won't soon forget.
All that said, a few minor story complaints, along with some major technical ones…
- I think I'm already coming around on this one, but Quaritch & co's hyper-focus on taking out Jake, and Jake alone, didn't quite working for me in the moment. I guess I just thought the bad guys' plan would be "bigger" than that, and technically it was, but I didn't think that a taking-out-Jake-Sully step, as part of their larger plan, would comprise an entire movie. At times it felt a lot like how Riri was used in
Wakanda Forever, where killing her was THE sole mission of the bad guys, when it felt like the cat was already out of the bag, and that killing her really wouldn't solve their larger problem. Though, it *was* better explained here and, again, I'm already warming up to it, it just wasn't something I was expecting going in.
- Zoe Saldana/Neytiri felt weirdly sidelined. This was very much a father-son/father-daughter movie, and I don't understand why it had to be. Don't get me wrong, I really liked a lot of that stuff, but it was odd how they hardly let Neytiri have any of those moments/lessons, comparative to Jake. And she really didn't have much of an arc either. If anything, she seemingly became even
more hate-filled toward/distrusting of humanity by the end, which was an interesting choice. I understand that's apparently part of her larger arc, though, with Cameron & co saying it's going to take her character going to Earth, in the fifth movie, to finally see that there *is* good in humanity. So I guess I get that aspect, but I still feel like she should have had more to do in this movie.
- This is a small one, but the way the entire water tribe seemed incredibly focused, for days on end, on teaching the Sullys how to learn their ways, felt a bit forced. Plot-wise, the water tribe needed some kind of incentive or something to teach them, otherwise it felt like they were teaching them simply because the plot needed them to. For instance, in the first movie, the Na'vi decide to teach Jake their ways because his presence has something to offer them (they've never met a "warrior dreamwalker" and want to study/learn more about him). That, and the entire time he was learning their ways he felt like a nuisance, as opposed to how invested the water tribe elders seemingly were in the success of the Sullys. Then again, Jake *is* a legend on Pandora, so I get it, I just wish there would have been a bit more reluctance on the part of the elders, other than Kate Winslet's character putting up a fight for approximately 30 seconds.
- I hadn't seen a movie in 3D in probably a decade or so, and I won't be seeing one again in the format until they finally figure out how to make the image brighter. The 3D effect itself was fine, and even cool at times, but man, those f-ing glasses just dim every last frame, to the point where, three minutes in, I knew I was going to have to see the movie again in 2D to actually appreciate what the damn thing really looks like. And this wasn't a theater issue either, as we saw it at our go-to, the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, one of the most famous, state-of-the-art theaters in the world. They know exactly what they're doing, and after all these years
this is (still) the best the industry can offer? Be it a brighter image, glasses-less 3D, or freaking holograms, for the love of God just…
- We also saw it not only in IMAX 3D, but in 48 FPS (frames per second), and thank god the high frame rate was only used for certain scenes/shots, because it looked like absolute ass when the story took place above water. Really, it's an identical effect to motion smoothing or the soap opera effect on your TV, and I hated it so, so much. That said, when used underwater, I have to admit… it was kind of astonishing. Something about the "smoothness" and being completely submerged in water is so perfect for the effect. The underwater scenes alone are worth the price of admission, and it was as if HFR was *made* for them… but for underwater scenes
only. Because that's how it should have been used - where beneath the surface was almost like a completely different magical experience - as opposed to the way it looked above the surface. It was further confusing that it was used so randomly too, often times switching back-and-forth between 24 FPS (which is standard) and 48 FPS in the same scene, location, etc. One shot would be 24, the next 48, then back to 24 again, for no apparent reason, and it was absolutely maddening.
Anyway, I'll end up seeing it again, in 2D, with the family over the holiday. My dad's three favorite movies are (somehow)
Knocked Up,
The Hangover, and
Old Yeller. He's not a sci-fi guy
at all, and as a super conservative oil man, you would think he wouldn't particularly jive with the first movie's message, but for some reason he absolutely loved
Avatar. He saw it THREE times, in fact, teared up every single time, and will still randomly/jokingly say "I see you" to me and my sisters. It's wild. So he's stoked to see it while I'm home, and I'm super curious to see how it plays a second time, knowing what to expect this go around (and again, especially in 2D).
