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Avatar: The Way Of Water

James Cameron is the king of epic filmmaking. No other director can match his visual flair and style. He proves it again with "Avatar: The Way Of Water", a sequel to his enormously successful "Avatar". Surprise: this one is even better!

We meet Jake and Neytiri back on Pandora, over a decade later. They are now parents of four children: sons Neteyam and Lo'ak, daughter Tuktirey, and adopted daughter Kiri (her mother is Jake's deceased colleague Dr. Grace Augustine). Also part of the family is Miles "Spider" Socorro, human son of Jake's deceased commanding officer Colonel Miles Quaritch. Their idyllic life is shattered when the vengeful Quaritch, now resurrected as a Recombinant (a Na'vi with uploaded human memories) comes after Jake. The family flees to Pandora's eastern seaboard and joins the Metkayina clan reef people. After initial distrust and resentment, the Metkayina gradually come to accept them. When Quaritch and his army launch a violent attack, the clans unite to defeat him.

"Avatar: The Way Of Water" is another triumph for writer/director James Cameron. It is an epic film in every way, and much better than its predecessor. The movie is a visual feast- vividly colorful, stunningly photographed, and beautifully detailed. It's as close to Virtual Reality as you will ever see.

The screenplay by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver adds emotional depth and greater character development to the story. They are helped enormously by the marvelous cast. Cameron again gets brilliant performances from his actors, who bring their motion-capture characters vividly to life.  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang are outstanding. They are perfectly matched by Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis as the Metkayina leaders. The young actors who play the kids are excellent. 

James Cameron once again proves why he is one of the best directors in movies. Here, he brilliantly combines good old-fashioned storytelling with technological wizardry. Cameron is also a master of action, and he is in top form. The awesome battle scenes are breathtaking and spectacular. Cameron deliberately gets the story off to a slow start as he updates events, but once it gets going the film's 192 minutes fly by. He gets masterful work from his many collaborators, two of whose work is especially notable. Russell Carpenter's eye-popping photography is among the finest in movie history. Simon Franglen provides a haunting and rousing musical score that combines perfectly with James Horner's classic themes from the original.

I'll say it again: "Avatar: The Way Of Water" is better than the first. It's also by far the year's best movie!

https://search.livebrary.com/record=b4260000 DVD

https://search.livebrary.com/record=b4327800 BR