Avatar: The Way of Water

I can’t help thinking that this story could have been told with a bit more economy. And I don’t just mean as regards the lavish amount of money that was obviously spent to put all those CGI visuals on the screen. One suspects that the plot, as presented, could have been shown in the standard two hours instead of the three-plus clicks you get here without any real degradation of the telling. This is not to say that this flick indulges in a heavy dose of padding—perhaps to make it more epic and thus justify its price tag—but a few less and/or shorter sequences of ostensibly awe-inspiring vision of the fantastical might have chopped the running time down a bit. It’s a real commitment to watch this film. At least those visuals are indeed state of the art; Cameron doesn’t kid around when he’s in world-building mode. Other aspects of the production do raise questions. On the performances of the cast, it’s hard to make a judgment, due to most of the thespians being almost wholly digitized. Are these CGI characters striking powerful emotional notes, or just making hysterical ham sandwiches of their scenes? Hard to say given the distance, so to speak, between the viewer and the unreal actors. “Avatar” is not just a plot device in the film but a fundamental aspect of the whole production. (And, despite this site’s standards, a "hiss" can only express so much.) Also, it’s hard not to downgrade the movie for utilizing the trope of bringing dead people back to life; it opens the whole thing to the charge of simply being a recycled product. And after all, shouldn’t a work of hard science fiction—and this film otherwise qualifies—refrain from a device so unscientific, even if it’s dolled up with cloning and other sciencey hand-waving? Finally, this is meant to be the middle movie of a trilogy, and that always brings its own storytelling issues. Still, even with its questionable aspects and a long running time, it must be noted that this film never drags; your interest rarely wanes throughout the length of this journey. This work rests right on the cusp of that fine line between a fully fledged positive review and so-so label. A MEOW seems right to me, but your mileage may vary considerably, wherever you’re coming from.