So. I saw Jim Cameron's Avatar sequel last week.
Right off the bat re the Avatar franchise, I believe that there are two types of viewers.
Firstly, there are the fans. The people who see the pretty visuals and immediately conclude that Avatar is the greatest film franchise of all time.
Then there are the rest of us - people who can appreciate the world-building and stunning visuals but do not use them to cover over the flaws, more of which later.
The plot - Jake Sully, Neytiri and their children have to leave their idyllic arboreal existence and seek refuge among a green-skinned tribe which lives a semi-aquatic lifestyle.
Bad guy Quaritch is back ... in Avatar form.
*slow handclap*
That's some great imagination - nice one, Jim.
So the humans are back because the Earth is dead. This time they're after a substance from Pandora's native whale-type creatures.
There is a final battle and Jake and his family live happily ever after.
There is so much wrong with this film.
First off. the plot is basically a retread of the first film, if you switch Unobtainium for the life-prolonging whale jizz, and put Quaritch and his gang of redneck f**ktards back into human bodies.
The dialogue is atrocious in places. I know that with these kinds of visual films. the plot and dialogue are not the most important aspects, but still(!).
The characters are rather bland and forgettable. I couldn't get invested in Jake and Neytiri, let alone the new characters. In short, I didn't really care what happened to them.
And was it really a great idea to have the whale creatures as talking beings who can chat to the Navi? That was f**king ridiculous.
Avatar: The Way of Water is basically what happens when a director has total control, an enormous budget, and no one to drown out the yes-men.
How would I rate this film?
Meh - 4 or 5 out of 10.
My mate streamed it but maybe it's best to see it at the cinema.