Better Never than Late on "Avatar: The Way of Water"

Over the weekend my wife and I watched the new "Avatar" movie, "The Way of Water". Let’s discuss.

I was lukewarm on the first "Avatar". I found it boring, the bad guys were cliche and it was way, way too long. I went to the theaters to see it and I spent more time playing with the strings on my sweatshirt than watching the movie. It looked neat and all, but I just couldn't get into it. So, when my wife said she wanted to watch the newer "Avatar", I had my doubts, but I did go in open minded.

First and foremost, this movie is incredibly beautiful. It is one of the prettiest movies I've ever seen. It is so colorful and so bright and just really cool to look at on my tv. I'm sure it looked even better in the movie theater. I bet it was a true experience in IMAX. The new storyline with the kids I enjoyed very much. I was in when they had to move and the kids were super bummed. I liked how the other Avatar kids would bicker and fight amongst each other. The writers treated their storylines as if they were human kids. I appreciated that. I like that they went there. The middle child in the Sully family was, by far, the best kid actor in the movie. I bought every twist and turn. I rooted for him. I wanted him to do good, which he does. I really enjoyed the kids' story in the movie. It was very relatable. And I really liked the way they interpreted whales in the movie. I like that they could communicate with the people. I enjoyed how they added an opening at the back of the whale's body where the Avatars could communicate with them. I, next to the kids' story, liked the whale stuff the best.

Outside those three things, this movie was not really for me. As beautiful as the movie looks on screen, none of it is real. It is all CGI. It is all computerized. My wife turned to me at one point and asked what I thought they were acting against. I couldn't give her an answer. I had nothing. I understand that CGI is here to stay and that it makes real cool stuff happen in movies, but when it makes 99 percent of a blockbuster movie, that is where I kind of check out. I also did not care for the adult stories in the movie. The Sully's were moody and a real bummer. I understood what they were doing and why they were doing it, but still, it was a real bore. I felt the same about the other adults. When they go to water land in the movie, the parents there are just as bad. They may actually whine more. They bring back the Marines in this one, the bad guys, but this time they are younger Avatar versions of themselves. Look, they need to give these bad guys some depth or more of an arc. They are as cliche in this as they were in the first movie. It is a bad and boring take on villains. I am not a fan of the way the "Avatar" writers portray villains. I mentioned above how much I liked the kids in the movie. Well, there was one kid that I found to be very annoying. That was Spider, the human who wants to be an Avatar. The kid tries his best in the movie, but he comes off very annoying. My wife didn't even like him, and she is very forgiving with movies like these. Finally, this movie is over 3 hours long. That is far too long for any movie. We watched it at home and it took us two days to finish. I cannot imagine seeing it in theaters. I felt like Milhouse because I just wanted them to get to the fireworks factory. And when they do finally get to the fight scene, which was rad, after the fight ends there is still a good 15 minutes of movie left. I wish movies would go back to being 90 to 100 minutes long. That is all you really need to tell a good story. I do like some 2 hour plus movies, but they are few and far between. And this movie surpassed 3 hours, it was too much.

Watch the movie if you want to see some cool CGI stuff, fast forward through a good portion of the movie. Otherwise, you can skip it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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