Quality ****
Entertainment Value ***
Overlong remake of Avatar.
In my opinion, a film has no business being any longer that 2 hours. If you need more time to tell the story (and more often than not, you don’t) then you should be making a TV programme. We live in a word where attention spans are rapidly diminishing. Twitter and TikTok are perfect examples of this trend. My inability to watch, read, or write anything for more than 5 minutes without reaching for my phone is another example. So why are films so long these days. Sitting in a cinema for 3+ hours feels like being forced into digital detox against my will.
That being said, I find that my ability to enjoy a very long film depends largely on two things. The ability of the film to keep me entertained, and how uncomfortable my seat is. Unfortunately, I chose a cinema with limited leg room and EasyJet levels of comfort. My legs and buttocks were numb long before the end credits rolled, and yet Avatar 2 did keep my attention against those odds.
The plot was perfunctory and basically a retread of the first film. Sky people arrive, try to do bad things on Pandora, and the locals get the hump. Throw in some water, a revenge arc, and some ecological lessons and there you have it. But I didn’t go for the plot, I went hoping to be impressed by immersive 3D visuals, and in that regard the film does live up to its promise. To some extent.
Avatar 2 does look beautiful. The 3D is subtle but really pops when it needs to. The new location on the water, which is only reached about an hour into the film, adds new textures and interest. What is lacking however, is reality to counterpoint the CGI. When Avatar was released, the PS3 and Xbox 360 were fairly new to the market and their graphic capabilities could in no way match Avatar’s visuals. Two console generations on, and that is no longer the case. The wow factor is diminished and it really needed more scenes with real actors to prevent it looking like a very accomplished video game cutscene. Part of that wow factor in the original film was comparing Sam Worthington or Sigourney Weaver in there human form, against their avatars, and being mightily impressed with the motion capture. This time around only Weaver and Stephen Lang are seen briefly in human form, and Weaver is unrecognisable as an avatar playing the teenage daughter of her original character. I wonder why they bothered with motion capture and didn’t just create a CGI film from scratch.
The running time was bloated and the middle third was pretty boring. However, the whole film is redeemed by a fantastic final hour full of very well executed action. James Cameron know how to deliver on that front. I almost forgot about my buttocks.
Overall then, some superb 3D and impressive visuals trump an excessive running time and basic plot. Worth seeing at the cinema in 3D, otherwise one to catch when you can watch it in the comfort of your own living room.
Mr Chuzzlewit Reviews 