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‘Avatar’ — Four Stars for Visual, Storyline Only 2 1/2
By Richard Roeper
Signal Contributing Writer
1/2 (out of four) 20th Century Films presents a film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Rated PG-13. In theaters.
If I had two separate categories to judge James Cameron’s motion-capture epic “Avatar: The Way of Water,” I’d give it four stars for Visuals and two and a half for Story, and I’m in charge of the math here, so I’m awarding three and a half stars to “TWAW” for some of the most dazzling, vibrant and gorgeous images I’ve ever seen on the big screen.
That’s more than enough to forgive a borderline corny, frequently repetitive, cliche-riddled storyline that features elements of everything from “Free Willy” to “Titanic” to “Die Hard” to “Apocalypse Now,” and I swear there’s even a sequence that reminded me of that scene in “The Karate Kid” where poor Daniel gets jumped by those bullies in the Halloween skeleton costumes.
Arriving in theaters 13 years after the original “Avatar,” with a production budget of at least $250 million and a three-year filming process involving live action, motion capture, performance capture, cutting-edge visual effects technology and I’m gonna say movie magic as well, “Avatar: The Way of Water” is such a screen-popping visual feast it earns the 3-hour, 12-minute running time, though the primarily aquatic setting might contribute to some viewers dashing out for a bathroom break. Director Cameron and his co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have packed Pandora with so many characters it’s hard to keep track of everyone — and yet they have them flying and swimming and running about in the service of a relatively thin main storyline.
When last we left Pandora in the year 2154, humans had been expelled from this moon world in the Alpha Centauri star system with just a few exceptions — chief among them Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully, the paraplegic Marine who has fully inhabited the Laemmle Theatres • Santa Clarita Signal 3col (4.75”) x 5.9” form of a Na’vi. “The Way of Water” takes place more than a decade later, Ad insertion date: Ad creation/delivery date: with Jake the head of the Omatikaya clan and the patriarch of a family that includes his wife, the fierce and brilliant and lovely Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and their children: adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), who is intrinsically connected to the late Dr. Grace Augustine (Weaver in the original); oldest son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), the “golden child” who can do no wrong; second-born son Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), who is something of a rebel, and adorable little sister Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). (Jack Champion’s Spider, a human who was left behind on Pandora as a toddler, frequently tags along with the family and has a particularly close bond with Kiri.)
With Cameron, cinematographer Russell Carpenter and the visual effects army providing candy-colored, beautifully detailed images of landscapes, skies, flora and fauna that pop right off the screen, we see that the Sully family and the community as a whole are enjoying an idyllic life in the lush jungle forest — but the world of Pandora is once again turned upside down by the “Sky People,” aka humans, who have returned with a vengeance and a mission to colonize the planet, as Earth has become virtually uninhabitable.
A miscast Edie Falco plays the ruthless Gen. Ardmore, who clomps about in a giant robotic getup that mimics her movements, and guess who is charged with taking down Sully? None other than Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who was
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 10:25:16 AM CASCS _ LEM1218-
PHOTO COURTESY IMDB Sunday-Thursday, December 18-22, 2022 TM NEWHALL 22500 Lyons Ave. info Line 310.478.3836 Bringing the Finest in Film to the SCV! IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 75TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTED BY TCM B Wed: 7:00 PM t’s A Wonderful Life in select cinemas on December 18 & 21, including exclusive insights from TCM. Embraced as a cherished holiday tradition by families around the world, Frank Capra’s heart-warming masterpiece now celebrates 75 years with this big-screen event. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER C Sun to Tue: 1:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 7:00; Wed & Thu: 1:00 2:00 6:00 7:00 “Avatar The Way of Water”begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive and the tragedies they endure. VIOLENT NIGHT E Sun to Tue: 1:15 4:20 7:30; Wed: 1:15 7:30; Thu: 1:15 4:15 7:30 When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint. DEVOTION C Sun to Tue: 1:05 4:10 7:15; Wed: 1:05 4:10; Thu: 1:05 4:10 7:15 Two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen. THE FABELMANS C 1:00 4:00 7:00 A coming-of-age story about a young man’s discovery of a shattering family secret and an exploration of the power of movies to help us see the truth about each other and ourselves. EO Sun to Tue: 1:30 4:45 7:55; Wed & Thu: 4:45 PM The world is a mysterious place when seen through the eyes of an animal. EO, a grey donkey with melancholic eyes, meets good and bad people on his life’s path, experiences joy and pain.. But not even for a moment does he lose his innocence. BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER C 1:10 7:20 Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje, fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda WWW.LAEMMLE.COM FOR 12/18/202212/22/2022 ONLY
killed all those years ago but returns as a recombinant, i.e., an autonomous avatar embedded with the memories and personality of the human whose DNA was used to create it. In other words, Quaritch is as bloodthirsty and cunning as ever, but now he has the size and strength and speed of a Na’vi warrior.
After a harrowing sequence in which Quaritch and his warriors make it clear their mission is to hunt down Jake and his family, Jake relocates the entire brood across the vast oceans of Pandora to the reef-based home of the Metkayina clan, who are a different shade of blue, have large hands, bigger tails and an almost fin-like cartilage, and can hold their breath underwater for great stretches of time.
The Metkayina are led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), who reluctantly welcome the Sully family and begin to teach them the way of, well, water. This affords Cameron and company to deliver extended sequences on and under water, as we’re introduced to a spectacular array of new creatures, foremost among them the tulkun, whalelike marine mammals the size of a football field who are sentient beings capable of communicating with humans. (Outcast brother Lo’ak forms a special bond with an outcast tulkun, leading to some touching albeit corny moments.)
The extended running time of “The Way of Water” allows room for a number of subplots, from a potential teen romance to Spider’s conflicted loyalties to Kiri’s quest to understand her roots. All the while, Quaritch and his henchmen are in pursuit of Sully, literally burning down villages until they track down Sully and his family. An epic battle is brewing, and when it arrives, the screen explodes with incredible sights and sounds. Pandora remains one of the most amazing worlds we’ve ever seen on the big screen.
Copyright 2022 Chicago Sun-Times
