What also makes Avatar special is the world-building by Cameron and his team. The moon of Pandora never gets tired of being seen on any screen. It really is a glorious creation in all aspects. Cameron always knows how to create a true large scale cinematic experience and many including myself were highly anticipating this. Especially when it sounds like it is the first of four scheduled sequels. So for all the people that criticise it with quite frankly weak arguments, it looks like we're in it for the long haul. Particularly when filming finished for the next film a couple of years ago.
So was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Just the opening frames and notes was enough to get me back into the world. Already there seems a lot to cover and be up to seed with where we're at. We are introduced to other parts of Pandora's terrain and civilisations. This then gives Cameron's new technology and oh my goodness is it glorious.
While the story is basically giving room to show off the unreal CGI. But underneath is plenty more lore to understand and it made for highly satisfying viewing.
All of this gave us a final act that has great action and tension with an almost vintage execution about it that has plenty going on with our characters in various types of peril. It takes some risks that I felt paid off well and sets-up for great potential for the future installments. There are some of the new characters that I enjoyed that are certainly hinted for a big story arch within this franchise and I am all here for it.
The creation of Pandora is a big part of the experience of seeing these films. Much like with Middle Earth, just being in this world no matter what is happening on screen with the plot is enough for some people as it is so rich with goodness its in landscape and its connection with its people is special to watch.
There are actually plenty of scenes in this film where the characters are basically playing the audience and drinking everything in with what is happening in front of them.
The visual effects are flat out fantastic. If you weren't impressed by the trailers showing its CGI magnificence that there is just no pleasing you with this art. This film shows what digital artists can really do when they're given the time needed to perfect the visuals.
Most of the effects are as impressive as you expect. But when it comes to the underwater sequences, it really is breaking new ground. Actually filming those scenes underwater really helped give it weight and true motion of the characters.
The team behind this aspect of the film deserves all the awards and I know they will win everything that is available.
The cast both returning and new do a solid job. While Sam Worthington hasn't had the career he was hoping for after Avatar, he still does a functional job back with this leading role. It's still nothing to shout about. But it remains serviceable and good enough to carry the story forward.
I felt like Zoe Saldana was partly side-lined for this one. With what she had, Saldana did a good job. But I can tell that this story did not have as an integral character on the whole, which was somewhat fine for me.
Instead we saw a lot of youngsters Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Bailey Bass, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion and Sigourney Weaver who is given such a strange new role. But it is one I am up for seeing more of.
I am aware that the film is filmed in different frame rates and to be honest, I didn't notice it. So maybe the technology has improved since those attempts with the first Hobbit film and now it feels seamless. Either that or I didn't know that my screening wasn't in the high frame rate option.
For the score, I think composer Simon Franglen did as good as a job as he could have done with it, as this was intended for the late great James Horner. It is obvious that some pieces from the first Avatar were re-used. But I was personally fine with it as it is the sound of this franchise and they were chosen well for those particular scenes.
So while not everything is of high quality, I did really like this. All of it seemed really well thought and you can feel the passion that has been put to screen. The action may be smaller in scale. But it is packed with more content and that reminded me of earlier Cameron with 'Aliens' and 'Terminator'.
It's almost 3hrs 15mins which is clearly lengthy and off-putting for some people. However, I felt the runtime was earned. Yes it does show off its visuals a lot and almost forgets to actually tell a story. But I think for a film that took this long to be made and perfected, I think it deserves to show off itself a bit.
It will be interesting if there is a directors cut of this and how long that will be as we know much like Ridley Scott, Cameron is known for releasing directors cut for his films.
The story while simple is not a repeat of the first one. That's just not Cameron's style. He loves this world too much to destroy it. He is expanding it and taking risks. We know Cameron can deliver and he keeps giving us these modern epics.
But what I will say is that even though I really enjoyed it, I think it lacks the punch the original had. With us now aware of this civilisation and world, it needed to be more character focused. That was still fine as I liked a lot of new characters. It just didn't result in a stronger reaction then what I got with its predecessor.
If you didn't like the first Avatar, then I cannot see this changing your mind as it is more of the same. Thankfully, there are plenty of fans out there and I know it will please them as much as it did me. It's great that James Cameron is still making films. It certainly reminded that films can be made like this with a classic storytelling vibe where it is pure escapism, has great spectacle and is an experience more than anything else.
Rating: 8/10
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