Avatar: O Caminho da Água

A escrita de argumentos de uma série de televisão medíocre que não se apressa a nenhum lado. Não só a história pode ser resumida numa frase curta novamente, como é a mesma da última vez e parece que a próxima vez não será diferente. O movimento artificial dos lagartos azuis em terra não mudou desde «Pilot». Faz com que metade do filme pareça uma versão de demo de um jogo de vídeo. No entanto, entrar debaixo de água é uma grande evolução. Os lagartos nadam muito mais lindamente do que andam e saltam, e James Cameron dá uma vida sem precedentes aos animais e flora subaquáticos fictícios. É bela e mágica. Luc Besson alegrar-se-á. Também é dado espaço aos caracteres humanos na água, oferecendo a um assunto artificial digital a energia mais física. Todos aqueles submarinos, caranguejos mecânicos e geralmente cenas de «caça à baleia» de vilões são muito fixes. Vão lembrar ao público a alegria juvenil de ação em Waterworld. Mas no fim de contas, o fenómeno de Avatar torna-se mais um passeio de parque de diversões (com a promessa de um futuro de VR) do que uma obra-prima cinematográfica no verdadeiro sentido da palavra. Uma espécie de Marvel de Cameron com fraco desenvolvimento de caracteres. O que é de uma certa maneira uma pena. (14/12/2022)

I tried to resist, but eventually, I gave in and watched the second Avatar movie. I had to break it into three sittings because of its length. As expected, it's visually stunning — leagues ahead of anything else in the film industry right now and probably for years to come. However, the visuals overshadow everything else. The acting feels almost nonexistent since it's essentially an animated film. Plus, it’s only truly impressive in a theater setting. Story-wise, the first hour is a slog, but things pick up once James introduces us to a new tribe on Pandora, adding some interest to the typical blockbuster narrative. If it weren't so long, I'd have fonder memories of it. Honestly, if James keeps churning out similar tales from Pandora, he might just end up boring the audience. We'll see. (30/09/2023)

Less water, man, less water! I’m still a big fan of the first Avatar, which worked like a euphoric trip through another world thanks to its simple narrative structure involving a hero/outsider savior of the noble savages. The second one is essentially a drawn-out and shaky soap opera about a family run by a militant father who moves to a new ’hood and can’t get used to it. Let’s leave aside that Cameron paid significantly less attention to dramatic motivations than he did to the last fish below the surface. The whole film thus seems irrational and the dialogue, which was never Avatar’s strength, is even more ear-scratchingly pedantic. As an epic tech reel, however, the film is breathtaking and I truly, royally enjoyed the underwater National Geographic in HFR. There is something truly intoxicating in the smoothness and fluidity. Unfortunately, the film’s 192 minutes are emotionally stolen by a crippled humpback whale, which has the significant advantage that it doesn’t talk (and even its retrospective is not told smoothly). Yes, Cameron is a great craftsman and illusionist, but as a storyteller, he fails here significantly in my opinion. There is no development of the mythology to speak of, as everything is just a variation, the metaphor of nature as a loving entity is becoming more and more naïve and, honestly, I would like to spend less time waiting for the third one and the fire people after this aquatherapy. During the screening, I found it difficult to push away the thought that I would have preferred to enjoy some top-quality sci-fi, which Avatar decidedly isn’t! (02/01/2023)

I like how every plot shift is tied to familial relationships (as family comprises the whole ecosystem of Pandora in this case), how the film works superbly with parallels (between the characters’ relationships and the past and present – the villain goes through the same initiation as Jake in the first film, but with a different result) and how divine the water and underwater CGI looks, and I’m not offended by the simple eco-friendly plot about finding a home and saving one’s family through a connection to an ancestral heritage, but Cameron is far too enamoured with his moon/planet and his singing whales, and he revels in both of these aspects far more than is necessary for the narrative. You can imagine the middle part of the film, which is followed by the comparatively interminable final act, as a sequel to My Octopus Teacher, with big fish instead of octopuses (which I don't mean as a compliment). Whereas the first Avatar flew by quickly and, due to its focus on building a fictional world and evoking fear for its fate, you weren’t bothered by the two-dimensional characters communicating through poorly written dialogue, here I felt every minute passing by, missing the mark emotionally by several nautical miles, because when the going gets tough, you will probably have trouble even remembering the name of the character whose life is at stake. At least the protagonist’s sons are similar to each other and interchangeable in terms of character. An unbearably long three hours. P.S. Some of the action scenes in 3D and 48fps look like cut scenes from a highly advanced video game (which is not a compliment either) and the non-action scenes are reminiscent of a soap opera. 60% (14/12/2022)

James Cameron once again shows Hollywood who is the king of blockbuster movies. Despite its three-hour running time, Avatar 2 is entertaining from beginning to end, with breathtaking audiovisual and personal stories of old and new heroes at the ideal pace. Pandora is perhaps even more beautiful than last time, the newcomers are likeable, and Cameron keeps the pace from start to finish without a single flinch. And after thirteen years, he shows that he's still a long way ahead of most Hollywood filmmakers. (14/12/2022)