Avatar: The Way Of Water Has James Cameron Delivering Another Technological Triumph

      

      It took thirteen years but the long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's phenomenon Avatar titled Avatar: The Way Of Water, finally arrives in theaters. Released in 2009, the original film shattered worldwide box office records due to its use of groundbreaking new technology while popularizing the 3D format, which became a standard norm with film releases afterwards. Originally scheduled to be released in 2014, Avatar's sequel experienced numerous delays prior to its eventual release. Although it seemed like a forever wait for the much anticipated sequel to arrive, James Cameron finally returns and transports audiences back to Pandora with a follow-up that's even more visually breathtaking and emotionally gripping than it's predecessor.

      The Way Of Water picks up years after the first Avatar with Jake Sully and Neytiri now as parents, find their family being forced to leave their home and explore different regions of Pandora when an old enemy returns seeking revenge. Besides the first Avatar's groundbreaking SFX, the plot for it faced criticism for significantly resembling that of Dances Of The Wolves, Pocahontas, and Ferngully. It feels as if Cameron took notice of this criticism and crafts a storyline for the sequel that strikes a more personal chord with it being family-themed. Though it can be argued that the sequel too impresses more as a visual piece rather than one of storytelling, Avatar: The Way Of Water nonetheless delivers a visually immersive experience that surpasses the original. 

      As far as performances go, The Way Of Water's cast show total devotion towards their roles with everyone giving their all. Sam Worthington's performance as ex-marine turned Navi Jake Sully, feels more focused and well-rounded this time as a husband and father fighting to protect his family from an old enemy. Zoe Saldana owns it once again as Jake's mate Neytiri with the latter delivering one of the best motion capture performances on film in addition to showing a frustrated and fearful mother whose concerned about her families safety along with the well-being of her home. Stephen Lang is terrific in his reprisal as Colonel Miles Quaritch, who was killed in the first film and became resurrected as a Recombinant Avatar. Lang stays true to the origins of his human character here while portraying a more vengeful and somewhat conflicted Quaritch. Other impressive supporting performances include Sigourney Weaver returning as Jake and Neytiri's 15-year old adopted teenage daughter, Kiri with the latter loving her adopted family while being drawn to her own origin regarding her real mother. Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis deliver strong supporting performances as Ronal, a free diver of the Metkayina tribe and Tonowari's pregnant wife, with Cliff Curtis being equally strong as Ronal's husband and chief of the reef people clan of Metkayina. Overall, Water's acting ranges as being remarkable with the films stop motion performances.

      Known for pushing the technological boundaries of filmmaking, director Cameron does so once again and demonstrates his gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking. If one found the original Avatar to be breathtaking, they'll find the sequel to be even more stunning with newer cutting-edge technology being utilized. The films most groundbreaking sequences are those in which the story takes place underwater with the audience taking in the awe of it all with the main characters. At 192 minutes, the film marks Cameron's second longest theatrical release behind Titanic. While the story definitely feels longer than required at certain points, the length allows for audiences to become more immersed within the universe of Pandora in comparison to the first. Filling in the shoes of the late James Horner, Simon Franglen takes over composing reigns with him incorporating many familiar pieces from the original to honor Horner's work while incorporating powerful new tracks including Neytiri's song that's performed by Zoe Saldana. When it comes to creating and expanding the universe of Pandora, Cameron and his team do a remarkable job of showing more of this fascinating world to audiences with the latter showing himself to be at the peak of his craft.

      With The Way Of Water's script, Cameron crafts a more personal and emotional sequel that revolves around themes regarding family, protecting those you love, self-discovery, perseverance, fitting in, along with environmental themes including protecting the ocean and its inhabitants, mining, colonizing other planets, and finding sanctuary with the Sully family searching for a new home while averting being captured by Quaritch. Jake Sully's character is shown to be experiencing fatherhood as he's shown to have found true happiness as a Navi husband and father before being forced to protect his family. The Sully children play a large role here with each one sharing key character arcs that connect the whole story together. Other themes including racism and revenge are at play with the Sully family experiencing prejudice at the hands of the Metkayina klan due to being different kinds of Navi, and Quaritch being vengeful towards Sully for killing his human body. While many of the scripts subplots and character tropes feel like standard tropes that run along the lines of being cliched, Cameron makes them work here along with raising the stakes with the Sully children constantly finding themselves in danger, making it hard for the audience not to care about their well-being. While not the strongest writing of Cameron's filmography, it marks a clear improvement over the originals scriptwriting with the selected themes making a notable difference.

       As with the first Avatar, it can be said that the sequel is more remarkable visually than it is with storytelling, though Cameron still packs an emotional punch with driving home the importance of families sticking together. With The Way Of Water, Cameron doesn't hesitate to raise the stakes along with deepening the audience connection with these characters whom they met 13 years prior. What the story lacks in depth, Cameron more than compensates with a narrative that carries a powerful emotional core while further advancing the stories technological aspects to deliver an experience unlike any other seen before on the big screen. 

Images Courtesy Of 20th Century Studios/Disney

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio Is A Breathtaking Stop-Motion Tale That'll Make Audiences Believe In Magic

      Sometimes it takes a gifted filmmaker with a sweeping vision and visual flare to bring a classic story that's already been told before to the screen and reimagine it in a form, which not only honors the previous work but expands on it. With Pinocchio, the classic Disney tale has experienced numerous retellings with the latest effort helmed by Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis being a mildly serviceable effort. While that film did nothing to dishonor the originals work, it also didn't do anything innovative with the story and ultimately felt like a lackluster imitation. Thankfully, visionary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro delivers an immersive experience that wholeheartedly embraces its source material.

      Del Toro's Pinocchio remains virtually the same as the classic Disney version storywise with a fathers dearest wish for a real child resulting in him creating a wooden boy and magically bringing him to life. After losing his real son during a bombing raid, the wooden child named Pinocchio gives his father Geopetto, a second chance at being a parent. Whereas the story of Pinocchio is widely-known to most audiences, it's how Guillermo reimagines it that makes it feel fresh and emotionally absorbing. Rather than making it feel like a heartless retelling that lacks soul, Del Toro finds a unique way to reinvent the story of Pinocchio in a form that stays true to the originals spirit while delivering fully on the promise of being a visually captivating experience that's nothing less than a sincere labor of love for the classic Disney tale. 

      When it comes to voice acting, Pinocchio's cast does a killer job of playing their characters while injecting tremendous amounts of heart to the story. Gregory Mann does a phenomenal job of playing the exuberant and rowdy living wooden puppet, along with playing Geppetto's deceased son Carlo. Mann inserts much energy and emotion into his performance with the audience finding themselves completely caring about both characters he plays. Ewan McGregor is also tremendous as Sebastian, a traveling cricket and the stories narrator, who lives inside Pinocchio both as his guidance and conscience. When Mann isn't the central focus of the story, McGregor picks things up and carries it with his classy performance. David Bradley makes for a fantastic Geppetto with his version of Pinocchio's father being a more heartbroken one than what's generally portrayed in other retellings of the classic tale. The audience truly feels his character's pain of suddenly losing Carlo, as well as wanting a new son with Pinocchio. The rest of the cast shine with noteworthy performances including the talents of Christoph Waltz as ambitious ringmaster Count Volpe, Tilda Swinton as wise magical fairy The Wood Sprite, who gives Pinocchio to life, Ron Perlman as the Podesta, a fascist government official and father of Candlewick who aspires to turn Pinocchio into a soldier with Finn Wolfhard providing the voice as candlewick, and Cate Blanchett as Count Volpe's mistreated monkey assistant, Spazzatura. As far as voice casts go, Pinocchio's is nothing short of remarkable.

      In terms of the films animation and overall design, Del Toro brilliantly displays his skillfulness as a visual and magical storyteller with him cleverly utilizing stop-motion effects in presenting a fascist italy-set rendition in animated form. The film contains breathtaking visual imagery that includes Pinocchio's beautiful Italian village, which looks impressively realistic. As for the latter's overall look, Pinocchio is cleverly designed to look like wood that was never completed. Along with co-director Mark Gustafson, both men create an enchanting world for the current reimagining of Pinocchio that's not only fascinating but completely engulfs the audience with them not just taking in the vivid details of the puppets and settings, but also find themselves wondering "How the hell did they do that?" The soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat enhances the stories emotional core with notable key songs performed by members of the cast including "Everything Is New To Me," that's performed by lead actor Gregory Mann or "Cio Papa". With Pinocchio, both Del Toro and Gustafson pour their hearts and talents as filmmakers into this film and deliver a reimagining that's near flawless.

      With Pinocchio's writing, the script takes a more mature and darker approach in retelling the classic Disney tale with a heavy emphasis placed on themes pertaining to grieving, loss, pain, and the desire for acceptance with Pinocchio wanting to be looked upon as a real son to Geppetto and not simply a burden. The screenplay also incorporates elements of Italy's previous history into the background such as setting the story around the fascist regime of totalitarian dictator, Benito Mussolini, as evidenced with characters giving the Nazi salute. At the core of Pinocchio's story, Del Toro emphasizes how precious life is with how it can be so brief while showing the great pains that come with it. Examples are Geppetto's character being shown to drink as a way of handling the pain of losing Carlo along with wanting Pinocchio to be exactly the same but realizing that they're both special in their own ways. Del Toro's version also keeps in line with the original films life lessons regarding mortality with Pinocchio wanting to become a real boy to make his father happy, as well as learning about the consequences of his actions through simple things like telling a lie, being obedient, and the belief that what counts in life is not the material that constitutes as being one's body but ultimately what's in the heart. 

      Del Toro's version of Pinocchio works magnificently well because it takes all of the essential themes and life lessons that the original Disney film explored and reapplies them while adding more depth to the story. Though powerful and hard-hitting at times with its handling of key themes pertaining to loss and grief, Del Toro's Pinocchio never shies away from the dark aspects of its story, but embraces them along with the brighter aspects of Pinocchio's tale. His reimagining is a prime example of how to do it properly and make it feel relevant again.

Final Verdict: SEE IT

Images Courtesy Of Netflix

Violent Night Provides Action Fans With A Holly Jolly Good Time

  

      What if Holiday classics like Die Hard and Home Alone were reincarnated as a new type of holiday tale? Now replace John McClane and Kevin McCalister with Santa Claus saving the day in a brutally over-the-top and action-filled experience, which is exactly what Universal Studio's Violent Night delivers. Boasting Stranger Things David Harbour in the main role, the action-comedy delivers a hard-edged holiday fare that's surprisingly entertaining while managing to be admirably heartwarming.

      Violent Night's plot focuses on an elite team of mercenaries, who break into a family compound on Christmas Eve and take everyone hostage inside. Despite their efforts, they soon realize that they aren't prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus whose about to save the day Bruce Willis style while proving that he's not so jolly. For any action fans, Violent Night is the ultimate Christmas fantasy brought to the screen. Borrowing heavily from the holiday classics that came before it while heavily relying on the charismatic presence of its main lead, Violent Night produces solid fun while positioning itself as becoming a future holiday classic. It's funny, action-packed, and embodies the spirit of Christmas within its familiar Die Hard scenario. 

     Much of Violent Night's charm comes from its main cast with David Harbour proving to be a clever choice as gift-bringer Santa Claus, whose also revealed in the story to be a former Viking warrior. Harbour plays a not-so-jolly version of St. Nick with his character shown to be cynical in feeling that people have become alarmingly doubtful in Santa Claus's existence. Elevating Harbour's presence in the film is John Lequizamo in a equally terrific performance as Jimmy "Mr. Scrooge" Martinez, whose the leader of the mercenaries. Lequizamo brilliantly reverts back and forth between being the head thief to someone whose become disenchanted by Christmas. He spurts out many solid one liners here, including a catchy one in which he declares "Christmas Dies Tonight." Alex Hassall does well as Gertrude's favorite son, Jason Lightstone. Hassell convincingly conveys his characters frustration with his overbearing mother, as well as his desperation to reunite with his wife Linda. Alexis Louder is equally good as Jason's estranged wife and engineer Alexis Louder, whose forced to spend the holidays at the house so that their daughter can have a nice Christmas. A key impressive performance to the story is Leah Bradley as Jason and Linda's daughter Trudy, who believes in Santa Claus and wishes for him to not just save her family but bring her parents back together again. Both her and Harbour sharing great on screen moments together. The rest of the cast deliver noteworthy performances including Beverly D' Angelo as foul-mouthed matriarch Gertrude Light who deliberately make her kids fight for her money, Edi Patterson as Gertrude's hard-drinking daughter Alva, and Cam Gigandet as Alva's second husband and wannabe action star/filmmaker, Morgan. Overall, Night's cast do a terrific job of showing genuine enthusiasm for the story.

      As for the films directing, Tommy Wirkola keeps the violence heavily R-rated while incorporating the look and feel of the Christmas season. As far as action movies go, this one contains a wide variety of different forms of violence to enhance the films brutality while keeping audiences engaged. Both the cinematography and art-set decoration are effective in giving off a true Christmas Eve vibe, that surrounds the characters while glorifying the films excessively brutal action. The soundtrack does a fine job of matching the stories level of mayhem while complimenting the holiday aspect of it with catchy songs including "A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives and "You And Me and Santa Claus" by Bob Saker and Bill Connor. In terms of directing, Wirkola knows how to approach the story and crafts a carefree and super-violent action fare that ultimately demands to be taken seriously on its own merits.

      Within all of the films mayhem, the core of Violent Night's story revolves around Harbour's Santa struggling with people no longer believing in him, and wondering if he still has purpose. The stories twist is that Harbour's Santa is real with cleverly fun bits incorporated into the film to poke fun at that fact such as him pulling out a digital list of those who have been good or naughty, including the terrorists. Other fun bits in the story include his character shotgunning a beer while riding his sled along with peeing off a rooftop that'll give audiences flashbacks to Billy Bob Thornton's character in Bad Santa. The rest of the film supplies the arc of Santa defeating the robbers, while finding a newfound purpose with Trudy's character believing in him. Outside of Santa's main character arc, other subplots in the film include Trudy wanting her parents to put aside their differences so they can be a family again, along with her father wanting to get away from his mother while using her wealth to start a new life with his family. Even John Lequizamo's character gets an interesting backstory that makes him appear as being less one- dimensional. Despite Gertrude's family being dysfunctional, they share many of the traditional family issues that come to a head during the holiday season with the audience still wanting them to be rescued by Santa.

      While it can be said that Violent Night's story heavily utilizes subplots from Die Hard 1,2, and Home Alone, the film deserve points for generating its own Christmas tale involving Santa that feels fresh and fits the holiday spirit. If there's any issue that can be directed at the film, it's that its execution sometimes feels as if it doesn't go as far as it could've gone in carrying out its tremendously fun concept. Still, David Harbour's Santa proves to be a blast with him going full Die Hard mode with the overall experience making for a shockingly good time.

Final Verdict: A must watch for action fans.

Images Courtesy Of Universal Pictures

Disney's Strange World Makes The Most Out Of Its Standard Action-Adventure Plot

     

      When one looks at a multimedia company as legendary as Disney, it's hard to imagine the iconic studio as being capable of delivering a flop. With a trackrecord that's immeasurable in comparison to other studios, one can almost forget that Disney churned out massive underperformers like 2002's Treasure Planet or Atlantis: The Lost Empire despite the films themselves not deserving of being misfires. With Disney Studios Strange World, their 61st film, much has been said about the films box office underperformance to its surprisingly mixed audience reaction and LGBT representation. While it doesn't offer anything innovative in terms of storytelling, Strange World delivers in providing families with a brand new Sci-Fi action-adventure that's both entertaining and full of heart. 

      Strange World's plot focuses on The Classes, a legendary family of explorers whose conflicts with each other threaten to derail their latest mission into uncharted territory. Though it's true that Strange World relies heavily on previously established Disney formulas to round out it's plot, it manages to make them work once again with a story that's serviceable in presenting a dazzling animated experience which ultimately gets the job done in giving audiences a visual stunner that contains poignant messages regarding family and becoming ones own person.

      One of the key elements that makes any successful Disney animated feature work are the fantastic voice acting performances of its main cast with Strange World's ensemble proving to be hugely effective and charming. Leading the cast is Jake Gyllenhaal, who delivers a charming and heartfelt performance as farmer Searcher Clade, whose the son of famous explorer Jaegar. Gyllenhaal is an actor who feels like an excellent fit to play an animated character as he possesses the right amount of emotions and sincerity behind his voice. Following Gyllenhaal's lead is Dennis Quaid as Searcher's father, Jaeger Clade who chose continuing his quest over being a husband and father. Both Gyllenhaal and Quaid do an excellent job of making audiences believe in their damaged father-and-son relationship. Jaboukie Young-White impresses as Searchers 16-year old son Ethan Clade, who longs for adventure beyond his father's farm while navigating being an openly LGBTQ teenager. Gabrielle Union also surprises and shines as Ethan's mother and Searcher's wife, Meridian Clade, whose revealed to be both a pilot and natural leader. The rest of the cast give noteworthy performances including Lucy Liu as Castillo Mal, president of the land of Avalonia, and leader of the exploration into the strange world, Karen Sonai as Caspian, a nerdy member of the expedition to Strange World, and Alan Tudyk as pilot Duffle for the expedition to Strange World who is killed by Wyvern-like creatures. As far as voice performances go, Strange World's ensemble injects the story with some much-needed enthusiasm and energy.

      As far as the animation goes, director Don Hall crafts a vibrant adventure that looks sharp in terms of both graphics and scenery while enhancing the visual richness of the story. The new world is full of numerous colors, that gives it a cotton-candy style appearance as the Avalonians further explore it. The films action sequences and moments of peril are presented as being relatively intense, but not to the point where they're anxiety driven. One death scene in particular is presented as being humorous in an effort to deflate the amount of stress audiences would feel if it was totally serious. The films world-building is admirable with Hall going to extreme lengths to present a unique kind of world for audiences to experience. The soundtrack by Henry Jackman does a notable job of adding to the stories emotional core, along with making it appear as being sentimental. At 102 minutes, Strange World is kept fast-paced with the film striking the right balance of keeping things constantly moving while setting aside time to flesh out the main characters arcs.

      When it comes to the scriptwriting, Strange World is very much about finding a way to live harmoniously with the environment that surrounds you while repairing generational relationships as evidenced by Searcher and Jaegar. Their dynamic serves as the film's heart, while also setting up the conflict between Searcher and his son Ethan. The latter has received a significant amount of controversy (Mostly negative) regarding his character being LGBT with a subplot revealing his crush on another boy, much to the support of his whole family. Whereas such a plot device should earn praise for being inclusive, it's become a primary target of criticism with some reviewers accusing the film of being "too woke". The reveal of the characters sexuality doesn't feel forced nor bears any negative weight on the story as it goes in line with the films themes regarding family, growing up, being stuck in a path, and becoming ones own person with the latter theme coming into play with Searcher wanting Ethan to follow his farmer footsteps, yet resents the fact that Jaegar is influencing him with exploring. The story is one that's about family and healing old wounds with the adventure setting being used as the glue binding everyone together. The film also plays as a fun throwback to classic pulp "lost world" storytelling that dominated the 1940's and 50's era of cinema. 

      Despite the lack of originality, Strange World's plot is serviceable enough for the animated team behind it to deliver a visual feast for the eyes combined with some notable messages aimed at young audiences. As with any recent Disney film, World promotes a healthy level of diversity through it's multicultural cast of talented actors and characters with Gyllenhaal's Searcher sharing an interracial marriage with Gabrielle Union's Meridian, which resulted in them having a biracial son. While the story may disappoint Disney fans in terms of being more original in regards to storytelling, the world-building that's done here deserves commending along with the efforts its talented cast bring to the table. It's not the strongest of Disney's works, but there's enough magic present to make it palatable for fans.

Final Verdict: Worth Watching For Both Families and Disney Fans.

Images Courtesy Of Disney