Film Review — Avatar: The Way of Water
James Cameron’s massively expensive Avatar sequel is an interminable waterlogged bore
There seems to be a marked difference between US and UK critical responses to Avatar: The Way of Water. US publications such as Variety generally approved the film, whereas here in the UK, the Daily Telegraph’s Robbie Collin hilariously claimed the experience of watching the film was “like being waterboarded with turquoise cement”. How partial am I to turquoise cement? Not much, as it turns out.
I’ll give James Cameron credit for imagination, considering the meticulously designed, visually opulent world-building spectacle on display here. He’s obviously doing his thing in an I-am-an-uncompromised-artist sort of way. However, raw ambition alone doesn’t make a great film. Adjectives like immersive are chucked around a lot in publicity and reviews, but one cannot be immersed in a film that, unlike the oceans of Pandora, has the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual depth of a puddle. Spectacular imagery will only get you so far.
The plot concerns the further motion-capture adventures of former marine Jake (Sam Worthington), now a full-time resident in his Na’vi body on the planet Pandora. He and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have had two teenage sons of their own: Neteyam (Jamie…
