So I, like a ton of others, caught James Cameron’s much ballyhooed epic, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ over the holiday season. And if I could describe it in one word?
Long. It’s long.
If I could describe it in more than one word? Visually amazing – I mean, from the perspective of the eyeballs alone, this sequel is darn close to flawless.
Unfortunately, looks aren’t everything, and there’s really not a whole lot more to this. Well, other than, it’s long. Really, really long. Agonizingly long. Butt-numbing long. But probably most importantly…and UNFORTUNATELY….it’s needlessly long.
Granted, I’m not a huge cheerleader of the original. I certainly admired 2009’s ‘Avatar’ for its technical brilliance, and acknowledge that it was a groundbreaking piece of work by Cameron. But memorable, it was not. At least, not on the level of a lot of classics that burn into the heart with such ferocity and nostalgia, you can’t forget them. If the legion of ‘Avatar’ fans were to be completely honest, even a gigantic portion of those who saw and adored the original probably had to re-watch it before seeing this follow-up, right? Perhaps it was much the same as ‘The Way of Water’, the story didn’t match the towering peak of the sights that accompanied it – or maybe, just maybe, IT, like this one, was so bloody long that no one could possibly remember everything about it.
But I digress…
Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana are back and blue for ‘Avatar 2’, even though they don’t get as much screen time….or as least as much fun, scene-chomping opportunities…as does the antagonist, Stephen Lang. Brought back to life with zero memories of his death, but on a mission for revenge, Lang is the heart of ‘The Way of Water’, a story that shifts from the forests of Pandora to the water, as Jake (Worthington) and his family set off to hide out with the aquatic Metkayina clan.
As in the original, there are some pretty fierce battles (which, as I’ve noted before, are visually awesome), but a primary source of the heavy lifting for Cameron seems to be assembling building blocks for ‘Avatar 3’. And ‘Avatar 4’. And……well, who knows how far this vehicle can go? His game plan is similar to the Marvel universe, and how each movie introduced was less a standalone film, rather a contributing chapter to an overall, never ending, always expanding tale. And it’s not an awful strategy if done right. But for the love of all things teal, for future sequels, can SOMEONE close to this guy explain the virtues of editing? My bladder would thank you.