When you think of blue people living in the forest there is a 50/50 chance you could think of the Smurfs. While Papa Smurf may have had exclusive merch at BP service stations only one answer was one of the first movies to cross the billion dollar line. Now some 13 years later Avatar is back in cinemas and there is a lot more on the way.
For anyone who wasn’t around in 2009, Avatar: The Last Blue was James Cameron’s first big screen 3D film hitting right at the new wave of 3D hype. 3D TVs were a must have and in cinemas every week new 3D films dropped with one of the first with the widest appeal being one starring naked blue cat people. 3D films (which did carry a higher ticket price) and multiple re-releases saw Avatar become the biggest movie earner ever for a long time (until it was beaten by another small Zoe Saldana film. For many Avtar was the first 3D film, despite the technology being around for some time, prompting many re-watches.
The plot for anyone needing a refresher went like this Earth mining company set up shop on the far away planet of Pandora to mine a rare mineral called unobtainium (which we believe you also need to collect to unlock better weapons in Ratchet & Clank). The mining company being a mining company it was in opposition with the locals (the naked blue cat people) and resulted in the mine being supported by the military.
In a bid to change the scientists at the mining company developed their own technology referred to as Avatars, basically it allowed a human operator to become a meat puppet and pilot a genetically engineered one of the natives. One volunteer corporal Jake Sully (a double amputee) begins piloting his vessel, becomes close with space Pocahontas and ends up learning about the balance between nature and all things, then drives the military and mining off Pandora. Oh he then got permanently put into his Avatar.
Fast forward to Avatar 2: Electric Cat Fish Boogaloo. Which actually takes place mostly about 15’ish years after the first film but also after 3 graphic novels based on the Avatar series which introduced some new characters who you meet at the very beginning of the film. Along with learning that the mining company/military have returned with a new goal of colonising and taming Pandora as Earth is dying (plus some other stuff).
That might sound like what you need to know going into this film but it’s not. What you really need to know is that this is long, really long, 3 hours and 10 minutes long. Also much like the previous film 3D and CGI is what it is all about. While the original film 3D and animation was good, the new film benefits from 13 years of technology advancements to render 3D animations which look like a 4K HDR great barrier reef documentary with 12 foot blue aliens.
While the definition is great one of the things which does set this apart from other films is the rendering is video game cutscene level rather than feature film – this is not a suggestion of a lack of quality, far from it, but more that much like cut scenes in games the rendering is exceedingly clear and crisp from end to end which includes a complete lack of motion blur that you often see in films. This does help a lot with the 3D glasses to ensure your eyes do not get tired but can make a lot of the action sequences feel a little video game’y.
So, should you go see it? Yeah, probably it is a big summer blockbuster at a time without any other major films releasing over Christmas. The first Avatar was a bit of a technology based cult hit more than the story and while this is a sequel the 3rd film is already in active production with 5 films expected (on top of the theme park, yes a theme park). While it does help to know the first film you can fudge your way through this one by just knowing there was a previous film but it’s increasingly unlikely you will be able to do that next time.
Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas across Australia right now
