Avatar: The way of water – IMAX

Introduction

This is my first article for 2023 (I wish you an excellent year) because from November to December I completely destroy my website what a funny story for an IT Engineer :D, but now it’s back and better.

In 2022 I did not often go to the movie theater because it seems very empty, there is a lack of originality from Hollywood these days, and my relationship with Warner and DC has reached a level of hate I have never felt before…

Black Adam, I watched it Just to see a few seconds of Superman and to celebrate the return of Henry Cavill as Superman just to be fired a few weeks later… Henry Cavill deserves better, it’s becoming very hard to be a fan of DC…

The Batman ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐, Michael Giacchino is my new favorite composer along with Hanz Zimmer.

Listen to this, this is great.

And Nope was an excellent horror movie, the surprise from 2022, like always I’m not disappointed by Jordan Peele.

And of course Minions The rise of Gru with a lot of Asian references, it’s a very good and accurate Minion movie… I validated it!

I missed Top Gun: Maverick I did not see it, I saw “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, and this was a mistake and I still don’t know, why I did this… I should not have watched this thing…

A lot of shows, from Netflix like Strangers of things Season 4, Obi-wan, and a Tale of Jedi on Disney+, Whew look at this, I was so happy to see Ahsoka & Anakin again in 4K HDR.

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But we are not here for that, you already know what’s Avatar, and I am not going to describe what it’s all about, but a little clue would be colonization and people of color who don’t have advanced technology but instead have valuable natural resources… But everything is in CGI.

But what’s IMAX

For me this is the way to watch this kind of movie, you have a very big, giant screen without black bars and the sound is so immersive, you see the movie exactly how it was shoot. I discover IMAX thanks to my favorite directors Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder who start to film their movies partially with an IMAX camera, you need to know to film in IMAX it’s very very expensive, take a look:

• Tenet 2020 – Christopher Nolan – Running time 150 minutes – 75 minutes shot with IMAX 70mm cameras
• Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice 2016 – Zack Snyder – Running time 181 minutes – 27 minutes shot with IMAX 70mm cameras with 1.43:1 aspect ratio along with 1.90:1 aspect ratio

Nolan has his own personal collection of lenses, and actually let director Zack Snyder use them for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Los Angeles Times

In this video, you can see the difference and you will realize that you lose information on a standard screen.

So I chose IMAX, simply because I love the big screen, and I’m obsessed with screens, I have 3 monitors, but I only choose a very high-quality screen with deep colors.

Story

Look this is probably the only worst part of the movie because the story is very simple and it reminds the British when they discover Australia (Omaticaya Clan) and the Metkayina Clan act like Maori. They are probably on an island like New Zealand…

It’s simply a bunch of white people (I am sorry but I tried to find some human of color among these humans or mercenaries) who came to this planet to disrupt people of color’s life (literally…).

In this movie, people from earth are very naughty. I’m not really surprised it’s an American Movie, after all, they have to find a way to show their colonialism when it’s about to bring civilization and democracy somewhere and we can find valuable natural resources at the same time they are always there… And I hate so much the fishing scene this was absolutely burlesque, but I guess James Cameron has his reason to put this scene, I think in the next Avatar 3 (it’s already filmed and ready) we will see a big city from humans.

And Zoe Saldana is the only main woman character of “color” but she is already blue, wait oh my god… Did I say women of color..?

But I still love this movie, we spend some brief time in the forest, but the vast majority of the way of water takes place in the territory seafaring “Metkayina” tribe and there is always this time in the first movie, jake sully has to learn the way of the forest of pandora, and now his family has to learn to live the way of water wonderful introduction…

And the vibrant ecosystem is dream-like, with bioluminescent, rainbows from flora in the depths that look like the aurora on the surface, and the sun on the horizon this is probably my favorite visual effect, it’s the only thing I like with the 3D effects. Marine life reinforces the sense that Pandora is a living world.

I like it even more because the movie is about the point of view of Jake and Neytiri’s children, we can say that Lo’ak, Kiri, and spider are the main characters they get plenty of character development. Maybe I also would like to see more character development from “Recoms” in their new “Navi” body, it would be excellent to see them adapt to their new Navi body and figure out the advantages.

Why so blue?

Quaritch

But do you want to know what I liked the most? The runtime was 192 minutes I could stay in the theater forever and even with that length the movie was too fast, this should be the new norm for movies now. I’m not a stranger to long movies. I wanted to see this movie because of the action sure, but my main goal is to feel immersive in this alien world and for that, the movie is strongest when it takes its time, for example, letting those kids breathe a little… There are too many things to say, I am not here for that… 😀

IMAX 3D

I hate 3D, I don’t understand why they keep doing this… First, I have glasses, second, when you wear their 3D glasses to create the 3D effect they filter the light which means you are already in a dark room and you lose light from the screen… You lose information…

I don’t like this technology because my brain can’t keep up, I can’t focus on the subtitle because my brain is spending its time figuring out which object is in the background and which one is in the foreground.

And I know that Avatar’s 3D is the most advanced technology (48Hz) that even some movie theater crashes 😀

Avatar 2 au CGR de Sarcelles il a crash ptdrrrrr pic.twitter.com/e722rjtRSi

— mlb-95 (@mlb_95) December 16, 2022

But this is how my brain sees the motion of the movie in 3D… Anyway.

A new era for CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery)

Since the release of the first Avatar in 2009, the quality of VFX (Visual Effects) was consistently improved, we had a 10-year run of hits when it’s to VFX, especially in blockbuster movies.

So what happened? Did technology get better? I believe Avatar is responsible for that because it shifts everything in the mind of the filmmaker and the audience, CGI opens a whole new door to filmmakers, now they can effortlessly do explosions or robots or crazy new camera techniques, and this is the beginning of filmmaking freedom.

Then, Avatar came out it was a massive success, it was a huge milestone for CGI with almost the entire film being completely computer generated, and the audience around the world love it, simply because the movie looked beautiful. The difference between reality and the digital world was so small, it built an entire planet with its own ecosystems, species, and culture.

Avatar landscape was something we have never seen before a new filmmaking effect, and the use of CGI was purposeful, Avatar was using modern technology to take us on an impossible journey, with artistry and creativity. The reason that makes this movie so successful it’s because of its special effects. I think now the value of VFX in the film industry will be re-evaluated thanks to Avatar.

I write this article just to give this movie the respect it deserves. I want to see it in IMAX because Avatar is the most advanced movie Hollywood can produce…

Conclude

Avatar the way of water is a sumptuous return to pandora, it’s an improvement on the film that proceeded it, and it’s expanding the previous visual experience but with the ocean of Pandora.

The story is simple and cliche but this should not be the main reason for you to watch this movie, this movie is just a way to transport you to another world.

James Cameron has a lot of imagination, and he will make you bowled, he will give you a decade of technological advancement has done for realizing Pandora on screen and the result speaks for themselves.

We are in January 2023 and the movie has already reached 1,7 Billion $ at the box office this is great for a movie with 450 Million $ budget (Avatar 3 is already filmed and Avatar 4 is in preproduction). That’s another proof, that this movie it’s an easy recommendation.

I’m happy, we are not going to wait longer for Avatar 3 is projected to come out in 2024…

My next Movie

My Top priority for 2023 is Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan (x3) a movie about Manhattan Project that will be surely available in IMAX. (wait what Universal Pictures… Did he also divorces Warner Bros studio..? :D)

And also :

• Fast X
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• John Wick: Chapter 4
• The Equalizer 3 (Realy?)
• Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (DC movie but It’s Jason :))
• Expendables 4 (Wait what, it’s over yet?)
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Partie 1
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods (DC movie depends on what the future plan of dc will look like)
• The Flash (DC movie depends on what the future plan of dc will look like)