Over time, I’ve come to believe that Avatar is the Star Wars of a new generation. James Cameron could be the GOAT. There is nobody else alive who knows how to make a movie like this. He’s also got an unbelievable eye. His compositions are interesting, he holds the camera steady and follows the action clearly, and he properly lights his (virtual) sets. His movies are polished to the nth degree. Just incredible work.
It’s odd to see the tide slowly turn against these movies, as though they’re derivative and therefore pointless, while people line up this weekend for the ninth Spider-Man movie and Tom Holland’s seventh appearance as the character.
My only complaint about the first Avatar film is that I think the video log is an excuse for narration, which doesn’t suit this movie. That sort of contrived exposition doesn’t belong or fit in with the rest of what’s on display.
Dances in Wolves in space is a real banger of an idea, and the visual invention is out of this world (no pun intended).
I would love to see Cameron make a fourth and fifth.