There are two thoughts that you never want to cross your mind at the cinema. One is “Did you just step on gum?” Another is “What is this? assumption this way? ”
Avatar: Path of Waterbasically a fun and exciting sequel to James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster Avatar, It is intended to represent a major technological advancement in film exhibition. Time will tell if that is the case. In practice, however, many viewers have a troubling experience when viewing photos in the format they deem optimal.
First press screening of the heavily delayed 192 minute film. $250 million When $400 million It was held in a theater equipped to show the film at high frame rate (HFR) to produce the film.you may have experienced this gemini man, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walkor The Hobbit by Peter Jackson Trilogy. It’s safe to say that unlike his 3D waves that temporarily changed the cinematic landscape, HFR hasn’t really taken off. Avatar released.But director and explorer Cameron boasted in October He found an “easy hack” that worked as a game changer. road of water Between 48 frames per second and the traditional 24 frames.
On paper, this seems like a good compromise. But three hours or more of dynamic change without being able to settle for one or the other is actually worse than watching an entire HFR movie.To use the old phrase, two horses with one behind him. You can’t ride it. And this is all the more upsetting because a lot of the movies are really great.
Avatar: Path of Water It tells a simple yet engaging story in an imaginative and beautiful setting. He’s over three hours long, but unfortunately it takes him nearly a third by the time it starts. But once that happens, a former human Marine joins Pandora native Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), his Na’vi buddy Neytiri (Zoe Saldanha), and their four half-Na’vi, half-avatars. Baby chicks flee the forest In the watery regions of the world, a sense of wonder hits like a tsunami.
Image: 20th Century Studios
The composition of the story is simple. The Sky People (greedy and militarized humans of the Resource Development Authority) Avatarand this time they want something more Not available than the element unobtainium. No spoilers, but let’s just say that extracting something like this from Pandora is not only dangerous, but a crime against everything the Na’vi hold dear. (Stephen Lang) is leading the charge for killing traitor/rebel Jake Sully and nothing stands in his way. aura!
In the second hour, action begins. Jake and Neytiri’s family emerges from the water and almost literally becomes a collective fish that migrates with the Na’vi aquatic tribe and adapts to its aquatic lifestyle. This is where the soaking rich are most fulfilling. Just floating around the reef is about an hour. Sally’s children get into a fight with the local bullies. The eccentric daughter learns how to stick her hair into sponges and reefs. Adorable runts spin around with translucent furry wings. It lasts quite a while and the visual creativity display is breathtaking.
The third hour is when things get wild. Unparalleled Action His director Cameron has a conversation with himself as he increases his stakes and tests his resume. There are thrilling and emotional chases and propulsive, energetic and inventive daytime fight sequences. It involves a giant sea beast descending from the top rope in a way that left my theater cheering.
Cameron is not well known as a comic director, but his action sequences always had an element of humor. Remember Jamie Lee Curtis catering and robbing. causeway rescue of true lieor Robert Patrick’s T-1000 standing up from behind a soda machine killer checkered goop of Terminator 2: Judgment Daywhat we it wasn’t The first revelation of Sigourney Weaver in a mech suit should have made you laugh alienBut the last third battle road of water it’s different.
Cameron may have rediscovered Sam Raimi’s work. Maybe he’s drinking from the same cup as SS Rajamouli, who made the epic and absolutely ridiculous Indian import. RRR. of road of water, Cameron leans into manic mayhem, smash-cutting from one outrageous image to the next. The film’s final act shows a free attitude he has never fully embraced in his actions before. titanicJames Cameron has some expertise in this area, but it feels like he’s having more fun this time around.
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Image: 20th Century Studios
it is unlikely road of water Financial tipping point at the same level as 2009 AvatarAt the time, 3D technology was very new, and both the world building and the use of CGI environments were unprecedented. This was a once-in-a-lifetime step forward for cinematic technology and immersive storytelling.Like Disney’s recent sequels Disillusioned, road of water You’ll arrive in a cinematic environment that’s been completely reworked by its predecessor—and there’s no trick here that pushes filmmaking forward in the same way.
The closest Cameron comes is the shift HFR trick. This makes it more of a distraction than a bonus. Think about the changes you notice around your screen while watching Christopher Nolan or Mission: Impossible. A movie in an IMAX theater. Materials shot in large IMAX format are blown out to fill the entire screen, changing the aspect ratio. The front and back of the top and bottom masking can get in the way. Eventually you get used to it or realize it’s not that big of a deal. The back-and-forth change with HFR (a giant screen that toggles with a “motion smoothing” effect) is not something your eyes and brain can get used to.
And this is an avatar. Most of the time, it already looks insane because what’s in the frame is a computer-generated image (a telepathic alien whale the size of an aircraft carrier with vengeance!).If the whole movie is he’s HFR, one would probably settle for one, but jump between the two — often from shot to shot or even in the same action sequence. in the same shotas shown in some cinemas, is nothing more than a failed aesthetic experiment.
This is not just annoying. This change means that the tempo of on-screen action will speed up or slow down as transitions occur. Low frame rate shots and low frame rate shots (there are a lot of them) seem to get stuck in rendering like computer games and spit something out at lightning speed.To put it the old school way, it would be something like benny hill show.
Captain Technology, it’s just fascinating that James Cameron does I want in this way. And it’s a pity. The overall message of the Avatar movies is environmental protection and conservation, and respect for the world as it is. The creators of Pandora seem to realize that sometimes the best thing to do is leave things alone rather than looking for ways to fix things that don’t need to be fixed in the first place.
Avatar: Path of Water Releases December 16th in theaters.
