Avatar 2: The Way of Water

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Here’s the teaser trailer.  Just a beautifully filmed as the first.  We’ll see if the story has more depth:

 

[sifth]

Has Sam Worthington learned how to act, in the ten years it took to make this film.

[Heartofice]

Without the 3D gimmick what is the point?

[polishgenius]

Like I said in the Dr Strange topic, I saw this before that film and forgot entirely that I had until BFC asked if anyone had. So I guess I didn't find it interesting.  

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

11 minutes ago, sifth said:

Has Sam Worthington learned how to act, in the ten years it took to make this film.

I would have called this thread "The Way of Wudder"

[RumHam]

15 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Without the 3D gimmick what is the point?

Oh wow did they really ditch that? Shame.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

3 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Oh wow did they really ditch that? Shame.

I never watched it in 3D.  I wa delighted when the 3D craze died… again.

[RumHam]

1 minute ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I never watched it in 3D.  I wa delighted when the 3D craze died… again.

Most of the time it ranged from adding nothing to being annoying. Especially when they'd take a movie shot normally and convert it. Avatar made good use of it though, I think I saw it twice. Or it just felt that way because it was so long.

I don't miss the trend, but I was expecting this to be in 3D. It's less of an event without it and I really doubt I'll bother to see it in theaters now.

[Myrddin]

The trailer reminded me of the 4-D Avatar ride at Animal Kingdom: a beautiful tour of Pandora with no story.

I'll go see A2 int he theater, but mainly for the visuals. With properly set expectations, it'll be enjoyable.

[Corvinus85]

Avatar was the first movie I watched in 3D and was blown away by it, but nothing else topped it afterwards. And yes, I got tired 3D quickly and have no desire to see others.

I am reasonably excited for the movie. I don't know if the story will be anything special, but I have no doubt the movie will be amazing on the technical side.

[Heartofice]

The only thing I remember from the first movie is a couple of occasions where the 3D really worked. There are some scenes where you go WOW! Pretty much every other 3D experience I had afterwards only detracted from the movie

So unless there is some new revolutionary advance in 3D technology I see no reason to watch this, that first one wasn’t really a movie, it was like the sort of thing you’d see in shops that sell TVs, to show off the picture quality.. but for 2 hours 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

7 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I’d be interested in why? You can answer in the specific Avatar thread, but I’m a bit baffled by anyones enthusiasm for a second Avatar movie.

 

A fantasy film that's actually about something.

Milking existing IP's is (creatively) experiencing diminishing returns IMO. I'm done with quite a bit of it. More original Sci Fi is always good.

It will be interesting to see how a generation who've been brought up on the "Of course it's spicy; flour is a spice isn't it?"  MCU deal with this. Say what you will about the first Avatar, but it had a hell of a lot more guts and more heart than most of the stuff being pumped out now. Remember back in 2009 how the Fox News types were accusing James Cameron of making a film that's "Anti-american"? Good times.

The first film had visuals that still hold up today. Watching that thing in 3-D on a big screen back in the day was an incredible experience. I look forward to more of the same. 

James Cameron is a titan of fantasy film making and a pretty damn good director. Also one of the few big budget film makers who can credibly claim to be an "auteur". We need more of that. ALSO ONE OF THE FEW BIG BUDGET FILM MAKERS WHO MADE ME CRY! You know when. 

Listen to the Chapo Traphouse retrospective review. It's long and it's a bit tongue in cheek, but it's spot on. 

[BigFatCoward]

33 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Avatar was the first movie I watched in 3D and was blown away by it, but nothing else topped it afterwards. And yes, I got tired 3D quickly and have no desire to see others.

I am reasonably excited for the movie. I don't know if the story will be anything special, but I have no doubt the movie will be amazing on the technical side.

Pretty much perfectly sums up how I feel. I doubt Cameron is going to release anything other than something with the most perfect visuals ever seen, otherwise he has wasted a lot of his life on this. 

This and top gun are the only films I plan on seeing in the cinema this year.

Edited May 9, 2022 by BigFatCoward

[Heartofice]

I dunno, it’s hard to cheer on one of the most expensive and successful movies of all time as some sort of example of independent cinema.

Not to mention I don’t think the first movie was very creative either, it being a rather blatant amalgamation of other movies, cobbled together with a lazy environmental message.

But then even on a visual level, maybe it will look good on the big screen but I wasn’t sure if the visuals in that trailer were from the first movie or not? 
 

In 2022 it’s going to take something mind blowing for computer graphics to be even slightly relevant to whether I watch a movie. It’s kind of the minimum requirement now, it’s such an everyday occurrence I’m not sure what I would find interesting. Other than that one episode of Love death ans robots I can’t think of anything I’ve even noticed as being good. Artistically the look of Avatar was always pretty generic, even if it was technically impressive, so I don’t see it as an artistic enterprise.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

28 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I dunno, it’s hard to cheer on one of the most expensive and successful movies of all time as some sort of example of independent cinema.

Not to mention I don’t think the first movie was very creative either, it being a rather blatant amalgamation of other movies, cobbled together with a lazy environmental message.

What's lazy about it? Unlike so much sci fi, this is one of the few that is neither dystopian or techno-optimist. The technology exists to repair Jake Sully's spine but he just can't afford it. The marines give him a wheelchair instead. Sorry, no bacta tank.

And after humanity sucks every last particle of mother-nature's-value-added out of the earth we turn into space locusts in service of inter-galactic capitalism. We are not the good guys in this story. And it does this in a way that doesn't talk down or preach to the audience. That's pretty cool.

ETA: and the first film didn't just look cool. They actually invented the technology required to make it. 

"I want to shoot this thing in native 3-D"

"Oh, James, that's not actually thing. The camera doesn't exist"

"So we need to invent a camera."

"Yes."

"That wasn't a question."

And then his eyes burned with an incandescent red light and beams shot from his eyes and that person was erased from existence. True story. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Deadlines? What Deadlines?

[Gronzag]

Looks like a demonstrator for a new video game engine.

[Corvinus85]

7 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

And then his eyes burned with an incandescent red light and beams shot from his eyes and that person was erased from existence. True story. 

Ahh, so that's where the blaring, red eyes meme comes from. Thank you. 

[Heartofice]

8 minutes ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

What's lazy about it? Unlike so much sci fi, this is one of the few that is neither dystopian or techno-optimist. The technology exists to repair Jake Sully's spine but he just can't afford it. The marines give him a wheelchair instead. Sorry, no bacta tank

The environmental message is the same one we’ve been hearing for decades before Avatar even came out, and have done since . so what is interesting or unique about it?

Not even mentioning all the movies Avatar is clearly “influenced” by.. Dances with Wolves, Aliens… Ferngully! It’s a creative black hole outside of the 3D technology, which is why i don’t get what value the movie has if you don’t even have some exciting 3D experience to look forward to.

[polishgenius]

The first Avatar is my second-most-hated movie so overall I gotta agree with HoI on this one. I'm all for original IP in movies but I felt insulted by it. 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

14 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Ahh, so that's where the blaring, red eyes meme comes from. Thank you. 

He's a goddamn innovator, that's who. 

10 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

The environmental message is the same one we’ve been hearing for decades before Avatar even came out, and have done since . so what is interesting or unique about it?

I didn't say it was unique, just that it wasn't lazy. I explained why I thought it was interesting.

11 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Dances with Wolves, Aliens… Ferngully!

Dances with wolves was Oscar nominated. And the similarities are superficial.

Aliens is his own film. He's allowed to be influenced by his own film. Also it's amazing. And influential.

The only reason people remember Fern Gully is because of Avatar. Comparisons are cheap heat.

And, as I've said before, after a decade of massive cash and endless praise being heaped on franchise reboots and endless superhero stuff, "Lack of  originality" isn't a criticism I take very seriously.