On a rainy day in New York city I sat down and spent 6 and a half hours in the cinema watching Avatar 2 and Babylon more or less back to back and although each will get their own review, it feels fitting to comment on the two of them at first in tandem, despite me enjoying one more than the other by a fair margin. Both are all out blockbusters in regards to scale and are the two most expansive epics I’ve seen in a very, very long time. Talking specifically about The Way of Water first, one really cannot bet against James Cameron. Now of course I feel like for most people Avatar is very near the bottom of my Cameron rankings, however one really just cannot underestimate to what level the other five or so films on that roster are some of my favourites of all time, with many being some of my most watched films in my life. The odds were undoubtedly against Cameron here, but with craft, elegance and a little struggle here and there he has indeed managed to make a film that really is the technical marvel and sublime work of film that he promised us.
James Cameron. What a man. What can be said? He did it. He only went and did it again! Now where to start with The Way of Water is difficult in different ways, one firstly cannot go any further without discussing the fact that Cameron and his team, primarily with Weta FX have really and truly developed a new medium of film and have bettered and perfected whole new ways to make films. The level of craft in regards to the effects in this film are on a whole new level and go beyond the plasticness or the fakeness of more recent effects heavy fare. Cameron really has built an entire world and managed to perfectly bring us into it, with subtlety, elegance and an unbelievable level of realism one has to bow down to. For me (who saw it 2-D, big screen) I still felt wholly transported into the world of Pandora once more, with whole new levels of immediacy and wonder. We not only go to new regions as yet unseen in this universe, but we grow out what we saw before, aswell as introducing a whole new wild-life cycle into the film. In regards to growth and expanse, only fools would try and debate that Cameron dropped the ball. The level of Avatar mythology that is understood by wide-spread audiences has almost become a running joke, however with the expanse and the growth of The Way of Water, one can’t help but feel that the world of Pandora will grow with the other sequels really into one of the great fictional lands of film history. Cameron is no longer the sole screen-writer here either, with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver also credited, with further story credits for Cameron, Jaffa, Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salereno. The script really is by all accounts here more developed and has more depth than the rather trope-overflowing script of the first film. Cameron has done many interviews and the like now about how much research, planning and development has gone into the further universe for this franchise and although yes, I would prefer Cameron to be making five original movies in his upcoming years, I can settle for these sequels just as long as they are all as well made as this one.
Although it
cannot not be mentioned that on the bottom line this really is more or less the
first film again. Of course with new developments and lots more world building
and characters, but on the bottom line this does at the grass roots level work
narratively with the exact same beats as the first film. Is this a bad thing?
Not exactly, because it’s done better here in my opinion. But if this formula
is the way the rest of the films will go, then I may want to jump off the Avatar
train sooner rather than later. Again though I have faith in Cameron, this
film lays many seeds for future films and is a clear starting point for a
journey that really will it seems be more adult in nature and have a bounty
more drama aswell as more narrative and character intrigue. Again though are we
just drinking the Kool-Aid with this film-making master? I mean Stephen Lang is
the villain again, brought back as an Avatar this time. I mean Lang’s excellent
again and his performance I think is even better here, with far more complexity,
but still are we just buying into this film being good because it would break
our hearts if it weren’t? I was thinking the same feelings around the middle
act, but then the final act (which with this film’s run-time is around and hour
and 20 minutes) is really some of the most tremendous action film-making I have
ever seen on a big screen. So in a way the film is quite simply a bargain you
make with yourself. All over the performances are better. Sam Worthington is
really, really great here I feel and Zoe Saldana is indeed great again,
although she is given far less to do than in the first film. Kate Winslet too is brought into this film
and is of course unrecognisable, but is only in the film very sparingly.
Sigourney Weaver returns now as an unexplained miracle birth teenage version of
herself. A real sentence that may or may not be explained in future movies, we
may or may not find out. That sort of ambiguity for the future does make this
film seem as if a lot of stuff cannot yet be stated, however this is certainly
not a case where this film feels slight or not its own beast. It certainly is
its own beast and it is almost undoubtedly an excellent one at that.
Indeed the 8/10 technical marvel that we were promised. In regards to scope, efficiency and craft, one really cannot fault Cameron’s film here. Overall pacing and narrative are far superior here than the simpler first film, however for me personally a middle act slump did take the film down a few points, even if the final act is almost unequivocally a return to Cameron at his best as an action film-maker. The performances and characters feel more of depth here and although Cameron with characters and story is still painting with broad strokes, the overall effect and the skill at which he is painting those tropes and strokes really is a craftsman not just at the top of the game, but making new games and topping them too.
P.S Little did I know Babylon-heads that would not be the last Avatar footage I would see that day.
- - Thomas Carruthers
 – Review){kind=link}
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