Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoey Saldana, Kate Winslet, Stephen Lang
In December of 2022, the long 13-year wait for James Cameron's sequel to "Avatar" finally hit the big screen, and some may say that it was certainly worth the wait.
Back in January of 2010, just weeks after the original Avatar was revealed to the world, director James Cameron announced that we would in fact be seeing the planet of Pandora again in the form of a sequel. This was announced just after the original had his the $1 billion mark.
Just under 13 years since this announcement, the gift that is Avatar: The Way Of Water is handed to fans of the original all around the world.
One aspect about the film that may disturb general audiences is the 192 minute run time that the sequel clocks on, which is 30 minutes longer than the films original piece.
I know for a fact, that a film this long can easily turn the heads of casual cinema goers away from seeing the picture, but for fans of the original and regular cinema lovers, a run time off over three hours is no problem at all.
It goes without saying that the film could be made shorter than what it is, as expected, there are some scenes throughout the movie that don't necessarily contribute towards the overall storyline. But it's a James Cameron movie, what else did we expect?
It is worth saying, that even without storyline, this film is a cinematic spectacle as each frame is filled with nothing but eye-catching scenery and display. This is an area in which the first film and its sequel line up with one another. All story and dialogue could be completely ripped from the spine of this movie and it would still be worth sitting through 3 hours and 12 minutes of pure cinema magic.
Upon the films release, there were a number of criticisms thrown towards the storyline of this movie, being labelled as "dry" and "bland". However, I feel that this is certainly not the case.
Throughout the entirety of this film, there wasn't a moment where I found myself lost in a dull storyline, checking my watch and estimating how much more I would have to sit through.
From the first minute to the last I was captured within an intriguing and interesting storyline that was ultimately easy to follow right up until the end.
As well as a solid storyline, there is a heavy introduction of new characters that weren't existing in the original. This time round Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoey Saldana) have started a family consisting of three of their own children, and the adoption of Kiri, the birth child of Grace Augustine who's existence is a complete mystery.
Although Jake Sully is still the poster boy for the Avatar franchise, as he was for the first, the centre of attention for the second seems to be based around the children of Sully.
Cameron really didn't hold back from providing plenty of screen time and storyline to the 4 children, and really allowed audiences to care for the characters due to amount of time we spend with them.
The overall aim for this movie seems to be shifting from "a different world" to a story about family and how far you will go )literally) in order to protect them.
James Cameron really came to play in creating this movie and it certainly has lived up to my, and many others high expectations, following the masterpiece that was 2009's Avatar.
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