Tag Archives: james cameron

12.22.25
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Avatar: Fire and Ash

James Cameron succeeds yet again in teleporting the audience from their seats into the lands, airs, and seas of Pandora and anyone who buys a ticket for Avatar: Fire and Ash may experience one of the most visually arresting things they’ve ever seen. The complexity of the water, the Na’vi people themselves, and the incredible settings are so detailed and breathtaking to look at, immersing you into an action sci-fi saga with epic scale that only Star Wars and Dune have reached recently. Every character is challenged to the brink to make the most difficult choices, and the child characters from the last film are even stronger here. Jake and Neytiri’s son Lo’ak earns a lot of spotlight he’s given, and Jack Champion’s performance has definitely improved. Zoe Saldaña is again a highlight as Neytiri and given much more to do, while Sigourney Weaver impresses in her strong performance as Kiri. Stephen Lang eats up the scenery as the ruthless and vengeful Quaritch. It’s interesting to examine his grievance against Jake, as they’re both once-human military men now in Na’vi bodies, but even more interesting is the dichotomy between Neytiri and new antagonist Varang, played fantastically by Oona Chaplin. She’s the leader of the Ash People, who reject the Na’vi belief in the goddess Eywa and is hellbent on spreading chaos.

The action sequences are brought to life with such a might and grandeur that it truly feels like the culmination of decades of blockbuster filmmaking. The journey is so stunning that you may not want it to end, but if anything holds the film back, is action set pieces feeling recycled from the last film. The similarities to The Way of Water, especially in the final act, are glaring, including numerous character dynamics/arcs and action scenes. The human characters get a lot of screen time and are rather annoying, especially Giovanni Ribisi, who is needlessly brought back from the first film. However, it looks so gorgeous, particularly a jaw-dropping final battle, and the emotional stakes are so high that the immersive adventure forgives much of its unoriginality and some narrative shortcomings. Those looking for another thrilling experience will be amazed by the sheer beauty of what may be one of the most intricate and astounding CGI achievements of all time. If you can forgive some familiarity, Fire and Ash will lift you out of your seat and take you to worlds away that feel so tangible that watching it in big formats like IMAX and 3D is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

12.17.22
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Avatar: The Way of Water

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

James Cameron created a monumental landmark in visual entertainment and epic storytelling with Avatar. A sequel so many years later with so much promise to top the first would send too impossible to be real, but The Way of Water manages to deliver that same ambition felt in every shot of the first film and then some. Years were spent to create new technology to film motion-capture scenes underwater, and I’m glad Cameron spent all the time he needed to get it right because the term “out of this world” has never fit more for anything else. The plot beats in the first hour are familiar, but everything from there onwards is breathtaking, grand, and mesmerizing to the eye. The underwater scenes are some of the most visceral visual cinema I’ve ever seen, with the detail and realism allows you to completely suspend disbelief as you feel you’re actually on Pandora. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana are great in their roles again, and the script this time beautifully captures the depth of a parent’s love for their child. Sigourney Weaver returns not as the same character but in a different and inventive way. Jake and Neytiri’s children are as complex and poetic characters as their parents who carry across the story’s themes such as empathy, uniqueness, and selflessness.

Cameron manages to somehow expand on the scale of Pandora and this fictional universe that millions of audiences were already in love with, while finding the intimate moments beneath all the colorful CGI that often stick out and resonate. The cast ensemble may not be Lord of the Rings-level of memorable yet, but the world-building and storytelling certainly is. Not to mention, the love Cameron creates between the audience and the oceans of Pandora may hopefully bring attention to the way corporations and human actions deplete our oceans here at home, and the way of water the title refers to is the beauty of nature that our ancestors knew so purely that can give life and consume those who don’t respect it. The overall narrative has familiar beats but the emotion is heartfelt and thrilling, and the atmosphere and aesthetics are a once-in-a-lifetime experience that has to be seen on the biggest screen you can seek out and in 3D — I’d recommend IMAX 3D, which is how I saw it. Avatar: The Way of Water may have the lesser story of the two Avatar films, but it has a sensational awe and grandeur to its fusion of images, score, and weight that invites you to not only enjoy, but experience, behold, and never want to leave the forests and oceans of Pandora.