‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ review roundup: See it on the biggest screen possible, critics say

• Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which clocks in at over three hours long, is a stunning piece of blockbuster cinema, according to critics.
• Critics were adamant that audiences should watch James Cameron’s “The Way of Water” on the biggest screen possible.
• The film’s long runtime was a fault point for many, who found that Cameron’s script was too thin to justify three hours in a theatre.

James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel to 2009′s “Avatar” arrives in theatres this weekend and it has critics captivated and exasperated.

Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which clocks in at over three hours long, is being hailed as a stunning piece of cinema, generating a “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But, its narrative is thin and, like the original, doesn’t hold up against Cameron’s lofty technical ambitions, several critics said.

“The Way of Water” follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) who are now the parents of four Na’vi children. The family is driven from their forest home when humans return to re-colonize parts of Pandora.

Critics are adamant that audiences should watch “The Way of Water” on the biggest screen possible, lauding the film for its you-won’t-believe-this-is-computer-generated visuals and bombastic sound design.

But the film’s long runtime was a fault point for many, who found that Cameron’s script was too thin to justify three hours in a theatre.

Here’s what critics thought of “Avatar: The Way of Water” before its Friday release.

Eric Francisco, Inverse

“The sequel to Cameron’s 2009 box office hit, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ is simply bigger and better than its predecessor in every regard,” wrote reviewer Eric Francisco.

“It demands the biggest screen you can find so that its most potent elements — from its impossible scale and skilful spectacle, to its more complete range of emotions and thematic romanticism — can be completely absorbed,” he said.

Francisco noted that there are some hiccups in the film’s plot and in “Cameron’s own inability to resist” teasing elements of the next instalment in the franchise. Apparently, there are several unresolved narratives that audiences will have to wait to see in future Avatar movies.

“As is the case with most of Cameron’s films, what elevates his work is the bravado of his execution, allowing magnificent beasts and scenery prime real estate on the screen, while large-scale battles have tight spatial and rhythmic coherence,” he wrote. “Both never fail to inspire awe. The bioluminescent creatures and caverns aren’t just a dazzling visual to distract us, they work in tandem with the storytelling to create a revelatory experience.”

Source: CNBC