It is impossible to talk about Avatar: The Way of Water without sounding hyperbolic. But James Cameron's sequel is a truly dazzling cinematic experience that will have you floating on a blockbuster high.
No matter if you’ve spent a second of your life in the past 13 years thinking about what’s happening on Pandora or how Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are getting on, assuming you remember their characters’ names. The Way of Water will make awe-struck believers out of even Avatar agnostics, at least for three hours and 12 minutes.
The film isn’t only visually compelling, either, it’s spiritually rich as well — a simple but penetrating story about family and the natural world that is galaxies better than the first.
About that run time: three hours and 12 minutes sounds excessive, but there is something decidedly decadent about really committing that much time to a movie in a theatre. When the filmmaker is purposeful with that time, as Cameron is and many others have been before him, it’s a uniquely rewarding experience. In other words, it’s not a big ask. And you’ll forget all about checking the time from the first shot of Pandora and Jake’s earnest exposition about what’s been going on in the past decade.
He and Neytiri have four children — Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), Tuk (Trinity Bliss) and an adopted teenage daughter, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), and they’re happy living in the forest.
“Happiness is simple,” he says. “Who ever thought that a jughead like me could crack the code?”
So, of course, it can’t last. The humans are on the hunt for Jake, with a familiar antagonist leading the charge. And soon his family is on the run, taking up home in another part of Pandora, on the water with a new tribe led by Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) who reluctantly grant them refuge and try to teach them how to live on the water.
It’s worth noting that Cameron has not stuffed the film with mind-numbing, wall-to-wall action and a needlessly complicated plot. There are long stretches of movie where we’re simply exploring the environment with the characters, delighting in the intricacies of a reef or basking in the beauty of giant sea creatures. Sometimes we’re just sitting in the water with Kiri who is also sitting in the water. It is not advancing the action in any obvious way. It is not even really developing characters. It just is, and it’s serene. You imagine that anyone without his clout would have a hard time justifying something similar.
The action is there, too, of course, and it’s exciting because you’ve become invested in the family and worried about the children who are never where they’re supposed to be and are often in danger because of it. And though we know there are more sequels coming, and one already wrapped, this is not the kind of franchise where anyone is guaranteed to get a fake superhero death. Sure, there is some Avatar silliness, including the fact that the word “bro” is uttered about 8,000 times, but there is something admirable about the straightforward dialogue and emotions at play, too. No one is snarking their way through this ordeal.
“Never doubt James Cameron” has become a bit of a rallying cry lately, at least among those left on Twitter. It’s all the more extraordinary as the once-mythical sequels had become a kind of joke in the years since the first movie. Even as The Way of Water release date actually approached, the “who cares?” chorus intensified. Had anyone really thought twice about Avatar? But Cameron knows his way around a thrilling sequel, and the water for that matter (and references his own greatest hits in this film, too).
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But then people saw it and the tune changed. There is something comforting about the fact that we are capable of intense, collective cultural whiplash. That “who cares?” can turn to uncynical amazement in an instant. Is that the magic of the movies? Of continuing to push the bounds of the big screen experience? Of betting big on weird-sounding stories about giant blue environmentalists instead of superheroes every so often? Maybe it’s just the magic of James Cameron.
Avatar: The Way of Water is out in UAE cinemas on December 15
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
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If you go
The flights
The closest international airport for those travelling from the UAE is Denver, Colorado. British Airways (www.ba.com) flies from the UAE via London from Dh3,700 return, including taxes. From there, transfers can be arranged to the ranch or it’s a seven-hour drive. Alternatively, take an internal flight to the counties of Cody, Casper, or Billings
The stay
Red Reflet offers a series of packages, with prices varying depending on season. All meals and activities are included, with prices starting from US$2,218 (Dh7,150) per person for a minimum stay of three nights, including taxes. For more information, visit red-reflet-ranch.net.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0
Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The biog
Prefers vegetables and fish to meat and would choose salad over pizza
Walks daily as part of regular exercise routine
France is her favourite country to visit
Has written books and manuals on women’s education, first aid and health for the family
Family: Husband, three sons and a daughter
Fathiya Nadhari's instructions to her children was to give back to the country
The children worked as young volunteers in social, education and health campaigns
Her motto is to never stop working for the country
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
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MORE FROM CON COUGHLIN
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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