Avatar: Fire and Ash

[electric indigo]

So I invested a small part of my family fortune for a 3D viewing last night.

In terms of CGI craftmanship, the franchise is still cutting edge, and 3D is the proper way to enjoy these films. The art department was also firing on all cylinders fleshing out the new creatures & environments, and the first 20 minutes or so of establishing narration were my favorite part of the movie.

The "plot" pretty much spirals down to iterations of "Surrender Jake Sully - we got your wife/daughter/other daughter/adopted son/Jake Sully", still the resulting action sequences were mostly well entertaining.

The character interactions got on my nerves pretty quickly, with the notable exception of the queen of the fire people. Oona Chaplin's character pretty much steals the scene in each of her sequences, and she fills the gap of a competent villain that was so obvious in the second movie. The Reco Quaritch, in comparision, is mostly borderline comical this time.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

The "plot" pretty much spirals down to iterations of "Surrender Jake Sully - we got your wife/daughter/other daughter/adopted son/Jake Sully", still the resulting action sequences were mostly well entertaining.

Basically they’ve become extra pretty Taken sequels 

[jenius]

I saw this and here's my review:

Easily the weakest of the three and it feels like a big missed opportunity. Yes, still visually brilliant and not a bad popcorn action flick but kind of frustrating.

The female antagonist is excellent and so full of potential. There is an amazing movie here that didn't happen where the humans drive a wedge between the Na'vi and they battle each other. In this hypothetical movie, the humans would barely be present which would have made the movie feel fresh and new. Jake would need to solve the problem not by being the warrior king but by unravelling the machinations (or someone else could do that). Instead, they immediately supplant the female big bad with the same old bad guy we've been dealing with, go back to the same old human locations, and then basically re-live the end of the second movie for an hour. 

[TangledThorns]

Ugh, its either this or Anaconda for our NYE date. 

[Big s]

9 minutes ago, TangledThorns said:

Ugh, its either this or Anaconda for our NYE date. 

Oddly, Anaconda looks more fun. Didn’t really care for the original, but kinda like the concept for this one

[Thom]

Well, there's Alita Battle Angel 2!!   ....oh no, wait, no there isn't'....

[TangledThorns]

Just got home from seeing Avatar. Its a feast for the eyes but definitely borrows much from the second movie and sets up a fourth film. If Cameron makes another Avatar it should be the last and wrap this up. 

[jvmacross]

Just saw it too....I think I missed a few minutes, but seems that it picks up days from the last movie?

Anyways. I enjoyed it....lots of action and some additional world-building elements....

But....how do the "whale people" get their chains and rings on?  I think one even had some banner attached to it....lol

[TangledThorns]

Re-watching AVATAR on D+. After over 15 years the VFX still holds up, could be released as a new film tbh. Interestingly its the shorter of the three films, probably why its considered the best of the three. 

[Big s]

2 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

Re-watching AVATAR on D+. After over 15 years the VFX still holds up, could be released as a new film tbh. Interestingly its the shorter of the three films, probably why its considered the best of the three. 

I have a tough time watching that one at home. It just doesn’t hold up. But if it had a 3D rerelease, I would consider it. It’s one of the most immersive and best use of that technology for film making and such a shame that so much of the feel is lost when it goes into 2D

[MKT]

Watched this couple days ago.

Going in I had near zero expectations on the narrative front, but coming out I realized I did have one - which is at least an expansion to the world building aspects like the 2nd movie. Instead, we got just one new tribe, and everything else remained the same. Felt episodic like one of the Saturday morning cartoons of the past, albeit a very lengthy one lol.

On technical level it was great. The action was superb, easy to follow, and majorly elevated in 3D as previous which to me entirely justifies the ticket price. Sumptuous.

[Dynaman]

18 hours ago, Big s said:

I have a tough time watching that one at home. It just doesn’t hold up. But if it had a 3D rerelease, I would consider it. 

The first movie (I have no desire to see the others so can't comment) was strictly a visual 3D feast best seen on as large a screen as possible.  On every other metric it was garbage.