"Outstanding." Avatar: The Way of Water review

I have seen director James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water and I have many thoughts to share - spoilers below the poster.

I am not one of those people too proud to admit they liked the 2009 film Avatar. There have been plenty of smarmy "no one liked that movie, lol, why are they making a sequel?" takes on the internet over the intervening years but I've always liked the movie. I watched it 3 times in the cinema and waited for the limited edition collector's DVD to own (I watch it at least once per year). So yeah, I'm an Avatar fan.

Yet even I wasn't so sure about the sequel and on that score, I did understand where all those clickbait articles were coming from. The 2009 film was just that - one film. Is it possible to turn it into a franchise? Or will the sequels simply retell the same basic story over and over again?

I avoided seeing trailers or reading articles about the sequel, I wanted to give it a chance but not to have any particular expectations. Still, over the years I did wonder what the sequel would do. The best idea I had was that -- as the film is really about the effects of colonialism upon indigenous people and the environment and humans are the primary antagonist - what if the humans tried to divide the Na'vi loyalties, finding tribes who resented other tribes, making alliances with them and thereby pit the tribes against each other.

Well, that didn't happen. The film brings back Stephen Lang as Colonel Quaritch, the villain of the original film. Having died, he's returned via the Avatar process, existing now as a human/Na'vi hybrid with most of the original Quaritch's memories. He has a whole squad of Avatars like himself but they're just mooks and are not to be taken seriously.

Plenty of characters from the original return, even most of those who died. Heck, I think Michelle Rodriguez and Wes Studi were the only major performers not to return - although considering how high CCH Pounder and Giovanni Ribisi were listed in the cast I'm a bit disappointed that they only turned up for very brief cameos.

Because Ribisi's character survived the first film I assumed he'd return in the sequels as the evil corporate guy. Instead, his place is basically taken by an extremely obnoxious Aussie played by Brendan Cowell. Where Ribisi was weaselly and spineless, Cowell's character is so reprehensible that I did hope his character would meet a gruesome fate. I was not disappointed on that front.

The movie doesn't spend time reminding the audience what happened in Avatar. You're simply dropped in the story and left to either recall how the world works or to pay attention and see it unfold. There are many, many call-backs, especially from Quaritch (who is, after all, a clone). In fact, Quaritch plays something of a shadow self to Jake Sully's journey in the first film; where Jake awakening in an Avatar body was a moment of wonder, Quaritch awakens angry and begins beating up his own people; he likewise punches out an Ikran while bonding to it; and he swipes Jake's line "oustanding" too.

Yet Jake Sully isn't quite the protagonist this time. The film concerns itself primarily with the character arcs of he and Neytiri's children. I wasn't expecting that and I found the new characters appealing. As the cast moves from the forest to the reefs (permitting Cameron to indulge himself in his love of the ocean) the different environment allows even the characters who were born on Pandora to learn something new.

I was particularly fond of the arc of Sully's son Lo'ak, who befriends a massive sea creature called a Tulkun. The Tulkun is permitted a lot of personality, especially in the big fight at the end where it displays some amusing tactics while outsmarting the odious Aussie character (and ultimately killing him, again to my amusement).

I think I expected an Avatar sequel to attempt something even bigger than the previous film. Cameron seems to have wisely noted that what audiences really connected with in the first film was the lush 3-D environment of Pandora, not as much the big fight scene in the climax. Consequently, most of the money in this sequel seems to have gone to making Pandora look beautiful. That was the right call. There is a big fight scene at the end but it's not on a larger scale or even the same scale as the previous film. The stakes are lower - Jake is fighting for his family, not for the survival of an entire species. The emotional stakes make the sequel just as momentous as the original. It's as though after 40+ years of filmmaking James Cameron actually knows how to put a picture together! Again, I'm astounded at how many people assumed this movie would be a colossal failure. I think they were the same people who predicted that about Titanic, come to think of it...

The film ends with a definite nod towards yet another sequel and I'm sure it's coming since apparently they filmed this and the next film at the same time. I still don't foresee Avatar as some long-running franchise like, say, Indiana Jones (whose latest trailer ran in front of this film). But if Cameron gets to tell all the stories he wants to tell with the concept then that's enough. I think Avatar: The Way of Water is a worthy addition to his filmography.

Finally, I was pleased to see a reprisal of much of James Horner's music in this film. As I've said on the blog many times, he was my favourite film composer and I loved sharing a birthday with him. His Avatar soundtrack was like a "greatest hits" encompassing all the best music of his career. Hopefully some of that music will continue in any future sequels.

My Incredulity Concerning Avatar

From time to time I've mentioned that I enjoy the 2009 film Avatar. It's definitely not fashionable to admit it, considering the plethora of online articles I see which are incredulous that the film was the #1 box office success of all time. I've heard the criticisms and don't much care for them; I like the film and watch it about once per year.

Where the sequels are concerned, I'm a little skeptical - it's unproven whether the concept of the film can sustain itself over multiple pictures. Maybe it won't - maybe Avatar II: Na'vi Boogaloo will be the franchise-killing flameout much of the internet would like it to be - but then again, maybe it will work. I'm skeptical but optimistic.

This, on the other hand...

Next January, Dark Horse Comics will begin publishing the mini-series Avatar: Tsu'tey's Path, celebrating Avatar's 10th anniversary. Incredibly, Avatar II has been filmed but isn't scheduled to debut until 2020! You could see this comic book as an effort by the filmmakers to keep the Avatar property in people's consciousness, but...

...Look, I don't see myself buying this comic - no offense to the creators involved, but I don't typically buy comic books which are adaptations from another medium. If you put 10 people who like Avatar in a room and asked them, "Who's Tsu'tey?" I think you'd be lucky if half of them remembered: "Oh yeah, the guy who lost his girlfriend, mantle of leadership and life within a week all thanks to Jake Sully."

This is a prequel to Avatar telling what Tsu'tey was up to prior to the first film. If this had been released around 2009-2010 that would be a pretty good hook for your typically-inconsequential Dark Horse film tie-in product, but 10 years out? At this stage, who is interested in a prequel about one of the film's second-tier characters? This would be like Dark Horse putting out an Aliens prequel in 1996 which told us Hudson's very interesting backstory (please don't tell me if Dark Horse did this).

On some level, I feel like the primary reason this comic book exists is because Dark Horse has been steadily losing the licenses which used to be their bread and butter (Star Wars, Conan) and are flailing about for something which has a built-in following.

Thoughts on Being the Rare Person Who Admits to Liking Avatar

I don't like to see movies by myself. I make exceptions, as when I discovered I had a narrow window to see Shin Godzilla and no time to alert any friends - but typically I go to the movies when I have a friend who wants to join me. On rare occasions, I've seen a film with my friends then later that month seen the film a second time with members of my family. I very seldom see a film 3 times in the theater.

One exception is James Cameron's Avatar. The first time I saw it a friend had invited me. The next two times I was the one inviting people to see it with me. I truly liked this movie and I continue to enjoy it. I delayed purchasing the DVD of the film because I wanted to wait for the limited collector's edition so that I could be sure I was getting the most complete version of the film for my library. I watch it at least once each year.

Don't get me wrong, the longest version of Avatar is not better than the theatrical cut - in fact, the longer cut serves as proof of Cameron's instincts in terms of what to leave out of his film. The theatrical cut is tighter and less flabby - the collector's edition cut exists just for the sake of Avatar fans who wanted more footage - people such as me.

I came onboard with the film without seeing any of the promotion (which is easy to do when you don't watch television). I didn't see the trailer until the day after I first saw the movie - I became convinced I should see the picture after hearing Cameron speak about it at San Diego Comic-Con. Hearing him talk about the work which went into making the picture left me impressed and certain that, as a fan of films, it would be of some interest to me.

Yes, I have heard the nitpicks. Yes, I have heard all the "Dances with Smurfs" jokes. Despite the film being the all-time box office grosser, there are many corners of the internet which despise this film. Nathan Rabin featured Avatar in his Forgotbusters column at the Dissolve, in spite of the fact that the stated purpose of 'Forgotbusters' was to explore top-grossing films which had been 'forgotten.' Avatar, as a film with planned sequels, continued merchandising and a still-active theme park, can't be said to be 'forgotten' in the way other entries in his series were - he bent the rules of his column because of his own distaste for the film. Likewise Forbes posted a well-circulated editorial titled "Five Year Ago, 'Avatar' Grossed $2.7 Billion But Left No Pop Culture Footprint". Many were and are skeptical of the sequels and remain incredulous that the film was the successful production it ended up being. As those sequels come nearer, I imagine there will be more articles such as those two.

And yet, Cameron seems to be 100% aware of these criticisms as he goes forward with the sequels: "Let’s face it, if Avatar 2 and 3 don’t make enough money, there’s not going to be a 4 and 5" he told Vanity Fair recently, also casting this shade:

"Basically, if you loved the first movie, you’re gonna love these movies, and if you hated it, you’re probably gonna hate these. If you loved it at the time, and you said later you hated it, you’re probably gonna love these."

Now taking all of this into account, here's how I feel about the sequels:

• I will go see the 2nd film in the theater BUT
• I'm not particularly engaged with the idea of a sequel either.

Again, I like Avatar enough to watch it once per year, but I don't want to see the film remade - that is, I don't want the sequel to replay the same narrative; if it's about the company trying to exploit Pandora and Jake having to band the Na'vi together again, I can't promise I'll enjoy it. Revisiting the same plot as the first film would be the easy path to a sequel - that's why sequels are so very often underwhelming. I suppose my hope is that - as Avatar was inspired by the John Carter* novels - that like John Carter there will be something else fascinating and adventurous to discover over the next hill on the planet.

So yeah, I'm part of the 'silent majority' who enjoyed Avatar. Yet even I'm uncertain about these sequels.

*=By the way, I liked the John Carter film too. Yeah, I don't really have a place at film fansites, do I?

The state of free comics, 2017

I've been taking advantage of the annual Free Comic Book Day each year since it began but not every year yields fine results. Many publishers use the event as an opportunity to push promotional material (usually a brief fragment of a story) rather than printing something which truly stands on its own. Ideally, every book on Free Comic Book Day should be an engaging story which stands on its own yet is representative of other works (more from that series or more by that author).

This year I snagged 10 books so let's approach this as a top 10 list, starting with the best:

New England Comics: The Tick

The Tick has become the most reliable of all the FCBD offerings. This time there are two stories by Jeff McClelland & Duane Redhead. In the first, the Tick realizes he's never celebrated a birthday; in the second, the Tick witnesses a political debate drawn from the headlines (to give you a clue, one candidate vows to build a prison and get super-villains to pay for it). It's clever, funny, and truly all-ages.

Humanoids: The Incal

I've been remiss about getting into European comics and certainly Alejandro Jodorowsky & Moebius' Incal is one of those titles everyone nods respectfully at. This free book features the first three chapters of The Incal and it features the kind of awe-inspiring futuristic cityscapes I expect from Moebius and weird sex perversions I expect from Jodorowsky, plus a cosmic whatsit and... y'know, I have this feeling that when I do read all of The Incal I'll groan, "So that's what The Fifth Element was ripping off!"

Drawn & Quarterly: Hostage & Poppies of Iraq

I'm already a fan of Guy Delisle so a free preview of his most recent book Hostage is most welcome and the second feature, an excerpt from Poppies of Iraq by Brigittte Findakly & Lewis Trondheim also impressed. Both are non-fiction works, the first about a man held hostage in Chechnya, the second an autobiography of a woman who grew up in Iraq during the 1960s. I will definitely seek the full versions out in the future.

Epicenter Comics: Tex: Patagonia <|P>I'm not exactly a fan of the western genre but I had a suspicion that Tex would feature some decent artwork. Sure enough, it turns out that Pasquale Frisenda is a masterful artist reminiscent of Al Williamson and this (another European work) is the opening pages of a full graphic novel. I notice that there are a lot of Tex graphic novels and I'm a little afraid of falling down a sinkhole of more and more of them, but it's good to know that if I ever need something new to read, Tex is out there and it's very handsomely made.

Lion Forge: Catalyst Prime: The Event

After years of silence, Christopher Priest is suddenly everywhere! He's an architect of this new super hero shared universe which Lion Forge is selling, though I don't know if he's writing any of the actual titles. This one-shot (drawn by Marco Turini) explains where Lion Forge's superhumans' powers came from and it's a lot like other shared universe start-ups like the New Universe or Milestone where virtually everyone got their powers in the same place. The story itself is actually satisfying, as it gives barely a glimpse into each of the people who will be protagonists of Lion Forge's super hero line but the antagonist - who is not established as such until the closing pages - is brought to life very sharply and seems to fit the mold of other Priest masterminds. If Priest were writing any of the titles, I'd definitely buy them; as is, I'll consider it.

Dark Horse Comics: Avatar & Briggs Land

So I'm that guy, that guy who liked Avatar. Back when it came out I was very busy writing for Marvel and didn't have time to see what the movie fan websites were saying, but in recent years there are certainly a lot of thinkpieces stating it's either overrated or was never any good to begin with. Yet it's the highest grossing film of all time? Who else liked it? I only went three times, it didn't raise the roof on my cash.

But despite my love for the film I am uncertain about Avatar as a franchise. I'd be fine if James Cameron just quit while he's ahead - I fear a sequel would rehash the first film. How weird that now, of all times, we have an Avatar comic. Written by Sherri L. Smith and drawn by Canada's own Doug Wheatley, it's a story set between the scenes of the film, showing more detail of the part where Jake Sully tames the Turok. It's okay, but I imagine if you (like evidently 99% of the populace) disliked the movie you won't find anything to like here.

Marvel Comics: Guardians of the Galaxy & The Defenders

I quit working for Marvel before Gerry Duggan came on the scene but his name has popped up a lot due to his work on Deadpool. To promote him taking over Guardians of the Galaxy, timed to the release of the new movie, Duggan and artist Aaron Kuder contribute a brief story here about the Guardians breaking out of a prison and stealing a ship and acting a lot like their film counterparts. However, unlike Duggan's predecessor, he appears to have done his research as the story includes the Nova Corps and the Fraternity of Raptors, tying things back to when Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett revitalized the Guardians of the Galaxy brand. Outgoing Guardians writer Brian Michael Bendis also contributes a story promoting he and artist David Marquez's new Defenders book, featuring the same foursome who will be appearing as the Defenders on Marvel's Netflix show and utilizing a Netflix villain as their antagonist. I suppose the hope is that fans of the film & TV versions of these characters will pick up this freebee and want to try the print version. Good luck, would-be fans; take it from one who knows, so far as getting into comics today it s the best of times, it is the worst of times.

Youneek Studios: Malika: Warrior Queen

I grabbed this because of my fascination with Africa. It's from a new comic book company trying to develop properties which feature black protagonists. This one is about a female African warrior queen, by writer Roye Okupe and drawn by Chima Kalu. I'm not really the audience for this work but the full graphic novel version of Malika is probably going to be a good one for school library's (or my instutition's education library).

Fantagraphics: World's Greatest Cartoonists

You really get a bang for your $0 here as this is a massive 60 page tome with tons of creators who publish their works through Fantagraphics. I feel at times too much of Fantagraphics is avant-garde and impenetrable. Here, at least, there are a handful of contributions with hooks I could understand. Ed Piskor's autobiography Mudfish seems particularly interesting and I will keep it in mind.

Chapterhouse: Captain Canuck: Year One #1

Oh, Canada. You would think with a "Year One" in the title that this would be a great jumping-on point but nope; just reading the recap of the new Captain Canuck's origin on the first page is a dizzying task, then you spend a great deal of time being confused as he's not a super hero yet but is instead serving in Afghanistan... and his bosses are all corrupt, I guess? They're a private military force of some kind? And I spent so much time not know who anyone was (soldiers can be hard to tell apart) or which of them was supposed to be the hero. Like, the hero is narrating but I would become confused as to which person on the page was supposed to be him. This is not a bad comic, but it is not told (courtesy of writers Jay Baruchel & Kalman Andrasofszky with artist Marcus To) in a way which is welcoming to first-time readers. Whose bright idea was it to make the free, promotional Captain Canuck comic one where he never puts on the costume he's wearing on the cover?

COMICS! One day a year, they're free.