Following the masterpiece " Avatar ", after 13 years, "Avatar: Way of Water" (hereinafter referred to as " Avatar 2") unveiled the veil of mystery in the eyes of everyone.
Recalling 13 years ago, the emergence of "Avatar" not only redefines what a 3D movie is, but its unstoppable box office makes it the world's first movie to exceed $2 billion in box office at that time, and is still the box office champion in film history.
But judging from the current situation, "Avatar 2" may be difficult to break through the first part.
feedback from domestic audiences can be seen. The ticketing platform initially predicted the first day of "Avatar 2" by 220 million yuan, but in the end it only received 129 million yuan; the final total box office forecast for "Avatar 2" also dropped from 2.5 billion yuan at the beginning to 1.8 billion yuan. The epidemic is indeed an influencing factor in the box office. The refund rate of cinemas has increased to a certain extent in recent times compared to the past; but the most fundamental reason is that compared with the almost universal praise of "Avatar", the plot of "Avatar 2" has mixed reputations.
"Avatar 2" continues the first story. Jack Sally permanently transforms into Avatar with Earthlings and Navigne genes, and married Natily, the daughter of the patriarch of the Omatikaya tribe. They live a happy life, have three children, and adopt a daughter. The four children have different temperaments, and they are inseparable from the orphan "spiders" left by humans.
Good times didn't last long. In "Avatar", the dead Colonel Miles Curridge is transformed into Avatar and returns, determined to seek revenge on Jack and Natily. For the safety of the tribe and to protect the children, Jack decided to take his family away and go to the Ocean Tribe that is not easy to find to start a new life. Just as the family experienced difficult running-in and adapted to the new life, the Avatar special forces formed by humans broke the peace, and a desperate battle began.
As the title says, "Avatar 2" expands from land to ocean, and as we all know, the special effects of ocean are almost the most difficult of all special effects. Cameron wants to break through the special effects ceiling created by itself in "Avatar". The special effects of "Avatar 2" also live up to expectations, making the movie truly an irreplaceable visual wonder.
, even, the special effects of the movie are clearer, more dreamy and more marvelous than any underwater world we have seen. This is because the underwater world created by Cameron is not a replica of reality, but adds his imagination and super imaginative imagination, so the audience will see more colorful and diverse colors and see more strange underwater creatures...
, especially the second act of the movie, presenting the underwater world for more than 30 minutes, bringing the audience an unprecedented immersive experience. A large wave of undersea creatures swam past us, clear, transparent and open, and the audience was immersive and dazzled, as if they were really in this mysterious planet Pandora.
Therefore, today, when various "pseudo-3D" are rampant and various special effects blockbusters that are not worthy of their name are bombarded, the emergence of "Avatar 2" once again reminds: what is 3D, what is a movie wonder, and what is a reason why the cinema will not disappear. From the special effects alone, "Avatar 2" is indeed a movie of another level, and it is far ahead.
But it should be seen that it is difficult for domestic audiences to pay for the more mature movie just because a movie has good special effects - not to mention that the ticket prices of some good-visual performances in "Avatar 2" are relatively expensive, almost all of which are above 100 yuan. From "Avatar" to "Avatar 2", there are many first-class special effects Hollywood blockbusters or domestic blockbusters released. Although it is not as good as "Avatar", it is also higher than the ordinary level of theater movies. However, those special effects blockbusters with poor stories almost all have miserable box offices. This actually puts forward new requirements for the directors: you can be obsessed with pictures, technology, and special effects, but you must not lose your obsession with the story.
Of course, it cannot be said that Cameron has lost his obsession with the story, but as a movie that connects the past and the future, the story of "Avatar 2" has transitional attributes, which has many unsatisfactory points.
, for example, seems familiar, or "self-repeat". The introduction of the first act is too long. Although it is friendly to the audience who forget the plot of "Avatar", the "reproducing" of the previous plot will also make the movie appear long; and the battle in the third act, the war between the beginning, the inheritance and the transition and "Avatar" is almost a change of soup and no medicine.
For example, there are many characters appearing, but most of them lay the groundwork for the next episode, and the character portrayal seems hasty and sloppy. Unlike "Avatar" that almost focuses on Jack, "Avatar 2" is too scattered. Jacks have four children, and there is a "spider" who cannot find a sense of belonging, as well as the patriarch of the Ocean Family and their children... There are many characters and are difficult to remember, and there is no new focus character, which makes the audience's emotions lose the projection object.
For example, the pattern has become smaller, turning the original dispute between the two planets and the two civilizations into personal grudges. The colonel who transformed into Avatar pursued and invaded relentlessly, just to find revenge on Jack and his wife, and wasn’t it to seize the resources of Pandora? Isn't it for the control of the planet Pandora? Since it is a personal grudge, the way to resolve the conflict in the end is also a cliché of Hollywood's "family narrative": children are armor and weaknesses, and use family warmth to cover up the essential contradiction between the two civilizations.
Finally, there are indeed many logical bugs in the plot. For example, Jack chose to escape to avoid revenge. This can be explained by the family’s concerns, but this is certainly not going to bring risks to his tribe members? He went to the Ocean Clan, sure that it would not affect the Ocean Clan? What’s even more outrageous is that during the battle between Jack and his family, all the people from the Ocean Clan disappeared? All this is full of doubts. Did Cameron spend all his energy on special effects, so that the script leaked everywhere?
Cameron said modestly, "Avatar 2 is the worst business case in film history" and it must be the third or fourth highest box office movie in film history to achieve a breakeven. Judging from the top special effects, the production cost of "Avatar 2" must be astonishingly high, but unfortunately the box office of the movie may not be as Cameron wished. But the audience will not lose their expectations for Cameron and the "Avatar" series because of this. We are willing to understand the various regrets of the movie as its "transitional" nature, and the pit dug may be filled in later. Now, after watching "Avatar 2", I have already started looking forward to "Avatar 3" released in 2024. (text/Zeng Yuli)
Edit Zhang Shihao
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