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Avatar: The Way of Water – Film Review

Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, CCH Pounder, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss and Jack Champion

Director: James Cameron

Synopsis: After several years of peace, Jake Sully must do all he can when his adopted planet of Pandora comes under attack from a familiar foe…

Review: From an 80-page script drafted in 1994, to spending years crafting a constructed language and working with designers to design the world which came to be the planet of Pandora, James Cameron’s Avatar was a project long in the making. When it was finally released to the world in 2009, it became an instant cultural phenomenon, smashing box office records here, there and everywhere on its way to becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, a record it temporarily lost, but has since reclaimed after a brief tussle with the MCU. Such an accomplishment meant a sequel was inevitable, but as was the case with its predecessor, the sequel’s journey to the big screen has been beset with delays. Now, after a 13-year wait, it is finally time for audiences to return to Pandora, but was it worth the wait?

At least a decade has passed since the first film’s events, Jake (Worthington), having been permanently transferred into his Na’vi form, has started a family with Neytiri (Saldana), living peacefully, raising their four children: Neteyam, Kiri, Lo’ak and Tukitrey. However, their peace is interrupted as the Sky People have returned, still desperate to utilise Pandora’s resources to save Earth. However, the mission has some added personal stakes for the humans as they are also out for revenge against Jake after he led the Na’vi to victory against them. Left with no choice, Jake and Neytiri are forced to relocate to take their family to a new region of Pandora, where they meet another Na’vi clan who, unlike the Omticaya, make their homes and livelihoods in the waters of Pandora.

When Avatar first came out, the one thing no one could deny was its utterly breathtaking visual effects, combined with the pioneering motion capture technology. Combined together, these incredible feats of filmmaking brought the beauty of Pandora, its majesty, the Na’vi and the incredible array of characters which call this world home to life in a manner so vivid and fully realised, it could (almost) convince you that Pandora is a planet which exists somewhere in the vast array of the universe. Yet, having played his card of wowing audiences with astounding immersive visuals once, surely Cameron and his team of visual effects artists could not outdo themselves to create even more impressive visual effects this time around?

Srane (Na’vi for yes), srane they can! By taking this sequel to a whole new section of Pandora, it gives them what is essentially a whole new world to play in and the cast and crew dive (pun definitely intended) straight into the opportunity. The world of performance capture has come a long way since Avatar was released, but Cameron once again goes one better by pioneering incredible technology with visual effects company Weta, enabling the cast and crew to utilise motion capture technology while actually filming scenes underwater. These scenes illustrate the incredible power of this technology and are so stunning and mesmerising to look at, illustrating that there aren’t many better companies than Weta when it comes to crafting stunning visual effects. No words in the English (or Na’vi) language can do justice to how immaculate these visuals look on screen, and they deserve to be seen on the biggest screen you can find in order to appreciate them in all of their stunning glory. They might as well start engraving the names of the artists on the respective visual effects awards trophies now.

While the film’s visuals certainly leap off the screen, they cannot do all the heavy lifting and there’s still a need for the cast to deliver the performances required to drive the narrative forward. The screenplay by Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, by expanding our horizons of what we know of Pandora, proved to be a smart decision, not just for the technology but for the story too. It puts the characters in a difficult position where they must learn to adapt to how this water-based Na’vi clan live their lives, which is especially hard for Jake and Neytiri’s children, as their lives in the forest are all they have ever known. It is through their eyes that we see this acclimatisation to the new clan and their ways unfold. Each of these young actors’ performances (Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) shines through motion capture technology.

However, the biggest revelation here is the portrayal of Kiri by frequent Cameron collaborator Sigourney Weaver as Kiri. It might have seemed an odd choice to have the legendary actor play a 14-year-old Na’vi child, but through the magic of seemingly Eywa herself, it works wonders. Also returning from the first film (in a slightly different role) is Stephen Lang’s villainous Quaritch, now taking the form of the Na’vi to utilise their speed and strength as a weapon against them as he leads the charge for the humans in seeking revenge against Jake.

While the change in location serves the story up to a point, with the film coming in with a run time of 192 minutes, it struggles to justify such a lengthy run time with an imperfect second act. Furthermore, by putting the focus to such an extent on the young Na’vi children, certain important characters are relegated to bit-part roles. There is undoubtedly a familiarity in terms of the narrative, but when it is time for the Na’vi and the humans to clash once more, it remains utterly compelling and reinforces Cameron’s credentials as a master of crafting action. It might have taken a bit longer to return to Pandora than he would have liked. Still, when you have a director like Cameron in his element, pioneering ground-breaking performance capture and visual effects, all in the name of our entertainment, you just have to take your hat off to him and say, irayo (thank you).

While it can feel a bit repetitive in terms of its story, the long-awaited return to Pandora goes to extraordinary depths with stunningly immersive visuals which surpass its predecessor, reinforcing Cameron’s reputation as a master blockbuster filmmaker.

Steve Jobs – Film Review

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogan, Jeff Daniels

Director: Danny Boyle

Synopsis: An account of the founder of Apple Steve Jobs, focusing on three different points in his life, before the launch of 3 different new products.

Review: Chances are good that if you’re reading this, you have some sort of apple product at your home or in your office, be it an iPod, a Mac or an iPad. There’s little question the impact that Apple has had on this market, quite simply, it has revolutionised the industry. But with all the hype that surrounded the launch of these products, there were a few behind the scenes issues that confronted the company’s founder Steve Jobs, and this focuses on the challenges that he faced prior to the launches of these inventions, personal and political. The second film about the creator of Apple, and a film that does do the man some justice. It’s a tale of motivation, what pushes his buttons to bring these revolutionary products to market, and will they work?

With screenwriter Aaron Sorkin on board, a writer who managed to make a website about one of the biggest websites the world has ever seen, Facebook, insanely enjoyable and interesting. Similarly with the little details about numbers and maths behind a sport. He does provide once again some very fascinating and riveting dialogue as Steve Jobs battles with assistants and angry ex girlfriends about children that may or may not be his, or if the product launch is encountering a thousand and one problems, whilst also feuding with former employees who are demanding some of the credit for the products that Apple has created. The writing, as usual with Sorkin, is excellent. All of this stuff should sound very boring for many of us, but through brilliant writing, it could easily bore the audience to tears with a load of technical mumbo jumbo that could whizz over our heads, but it does not. That being said, with the film being dialogue driven, some of it does come off as less uninteresting than some other parts.

Therefore with mostly great screen-writing, you hopefully can expect some great acting, and everyone in this film is absolutely on point. Most of all is Michael Fassbender as the late Steve Jobs. He has the accent nailed, the look nailed, and he really gets into the role and plays him as tremendously well as someone with Fassbender’s insane talent can, and certainly much better than Ashton Kutcher did. Along with Fassbender, the rest of the cast also bring their A game. Kate Winslet as Jobs’ assistant and good friend Joanna Hoffman, who is supportive of Jobs while also frustrated at his stubbornness. Also venting his anger at Jobs is Steve Wozniak played by Seth Rogan who is unhappy that Jobs is not giving him credit where credit is due for what he believes is his contribution to the company of Apple.

The film is divided into three acts, each act set in a different time before Steve is unveiling different products and each act is shot in a different way, the earliest being on 16mm film, with the most recent act being filmed on digital. It was a very smart decision and reflected the way that the technology has changed as time passes through each act. However, despite the dialogue being very interesting, there are some parts that do drag, most notably the controversy between Jobs and a woman who is claiming that a girl is his daughter. It just feels a bit repetitive with her popping up every so often saying that Jobs owes her money for this, and for that, and it just gets a bit irksome. The technology behind these products is what is interesting but there’s just a bit too much focus on the family drama.

Nevertheless, the film remains very interesting to watch with some very good performances that could very well get some Oscar nominations for the acting and the writing. Boyle does a tremendous job with the directing as well, he gives everyone a chance to shine, from Jobs, to Wozniak, to Jeff Daniels’s John Sculley. It’s not quite on the level of The Social Network, or Moneyball in terms of a very riveting and very intriguing. Yet it does remain a very interesting and well acted dialogue driven movie, that gives its audience a glimpse into the life of the man who created one of the most successful companies the world has ever seen.

Despite some slow moments, the screenplay ensures the dialogue is for the most part very interesting, with assured direction, and the performances are all electric, that could get some awards nods.