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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I am Not in a Hurry to See the New "Avatar" Movie

In preparation to watch the second "Avatar" movie whenever it comes to Disney +, it may be on there now, I have no idea, but my wife turned on the original "Avatar" the other day. We watched about 90 minutes of it before we went to bed. Let’s discuss.

I have been saying on this site and the podcast ever since it went up that I did not care for "Avatar" when it first came out in 2009. I saw it in the theaters with a very good friend who really wanted to see it. I figured I'd go because it was getting a ton of buzz, the critics loved it and we had a chance to see it in 3-D. I found myself bored and not enjoying it. Granted I was 26 at the time, a movie snob and was predisposed to not like it. I am not a James Cameron fan. I find him off putting. He seems like he is very arrogant. And with some stories that have come out about him, I do not feel bad saying this. I also only like two of his movies. I love "T2" and "Aliens". Those are legit excellent movies. But I have not liked much else he has directed. "Terminator" is fine. I do not like a single second of "Titanic". I have no desire to watch stuff like "Aliens of the Deep" or "Ghosts of the Abyss". I openly dislike "True Lies", much to my wife's chagrin. But I went into this rewatch of "Avatar" with more of an open mind. I decided I was going to let my predispositions wash away and just view the movie as a "critic". I was not looking to poke holes in anything. I wanted to see if, with 16 more years of life added on, that maybe I would enjoy it more. I am also a little curious about the new movie. Maybe it is the hype train again and maybe I will be fooled again, but people I listen to seem to like the new movie. Even people who disliked the first one seem to like this new one. And I am not being one of these fans that is just hating on "Avatar" to hate on it. I could literally careless if it is good or not. I do not care about the box office. None of that stuff matters to me. I just wanted to rewatch the first one to see if I was wrong, or what I was wrong about, and to see if it made me want to see the sequel.

So, as previously stated, we got through 90 minutes of the first one. This was not due to boredom or lack of not wanting to finish. We have two kids, my wife works a full time job and we only have time to watch a little bit of something before we both get tired. Yes, I get it, we are old. But in this 90 minute rewatch I noticed a few things. First off, the movie looks incredible. It is beautiful. Even on our home television it looked stunning. The effects look modern. And that is something that Cameron has always had a good hold on. He knows how to do special effects maybe better than anyone in the business. He is a genius when it comes to that. This was a part that I did not appreciate when I first watched this movie. It is visually stunning. That is about where my praise ends though. Well, Sigourney Weaver is wonderful in the movie too. I like how badass she is. It is like her character from the "Alien" franchise moved into the world of "Avatar". Okay, that is where my praise stops. Other than Weaver and the effects, the movie still bored me. I do not care about the military storyline. The bad guy, or guys in this movie, are cliche. You can tell just by looking at them. Then when they speak the point is further driven home. Sam Worthington is not great here. He is dull and boring and not the leading man I want to root for. Zoey Saldana is so underused. She is too put upon and not given nearly enough to do in the movie. The actors they put in the movie to be the comedy relief are using tired and dumb jokes. Nothing in this movie made me laugh. I do have to say, the last hour is supposed to be when the movie really picks up, and we get the big battle scene, but I have not had the urge to go back and watch it yet because I don;t really care what happens. I also kind of remember it being ridiculous. I remember "The Simpsons" doing a parody of it, and that was a million times better for me to watch. My wife also made a good point while watching. She kept saying that the original "Avatar" is a lot like "Pocahontas". She is 100 percent correct. I mean, watch them side by side and I bet you can see far too many parallels.

At this point, I do not know if I will ever watch "Avatar 2". I enjoyed the visuals of the first movie. But the story and most of the acting fell flat. For me. Time will tell, but right now, at this very moment, my desire to finish the first and watch the second are nearly null. 

Ty

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

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.