Directed by James Cameron, written by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Story by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno, Based on characters created by James Cameron. Produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau. Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Kate Winslet. 193 minutes long. Budget $350-400 million dollars!
It's been 13 years, but now, at last here it comes, the long awaited (as asked for by absolutely no-one) sequel to the BIGGEST GROSSING FILM OF ALL TIME, the first in a promised four-film, EPIC saga, which sees the return of the much-loved characters of James P. 'Sulley' Sullivan the 7-foot, 8 inch blue-skinned alien and his blue-skinned girlfriend played by Zoe Saldana. This time aided by their crazy family of kids they're off for more shits and giggles on the planet of Pandora.
Best summed up as a sort of The Partridge Family meets Jaws via Apocalypse Now. Our 'eagerly awaited (by no-one) return' to Pandora sees the Sky People (Earth) return to Pandora determined to finish off what that last lot couldn't, causing James P. Sulley to take up arms to fight off the interlopers and their polluting ways.
But this time Earth has a secret weapon in its arsenal, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), "but wait," I hear you ask. "Didn't he die at the end of the last one?" Why yes he did. "So, how is he back?" Well, that would be telling. But his character is the most interesting thing in this.
The story sees James P. Sulley literally run away and hide out at the seaside with his family to avoid an escalating conflict with the massively pissed off humans and that's where the film sinks down into a world that James Cameron loves, the underwater world, because that's where we spend most of the film, and we're better off because of it.
Make no mistake, this film is a visual masterpiece! In fact, it's so utterly and stunningly beautiful, that it entirely negates the rather generic plot, which is a good thing, because the plot is almost entirely propelled by a group of kids who manage to get themselves captured and recaptured consistently to advance the plot, while the adult leads are left to pop their heads around the corner every now and again, when things lag, just to remind the viewer there is a story.
There are several continuity issues or plot holes that niggle, at one junction a group of characters completely disappear, because the situation they were in would have been too easily resolved if they'd stayed, and while the story isn't as flabby as the first, it is filled with some risible dialogue that at times caused widespread spontaneous unintentional laughter.
However there is one subplot involving Stephen Lang's character and a human boy, gone feral on Pandora called Spider which offers a truly fascinating dynamic, as does Stephen Lang's coming to terms with the fact he's somehow returned from the dead.
Visually this film is a staggering masterpiece, it's a cinematic spectacle that needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible and not at home where none of this astonishing visual majesty will come across.
Cameron's direction is as always, sharp and tight, well framed and mounted and with no shaky cam, you see every arrow and bullet strike, the action is brutal, pounding and superbly edited, the effects, animation, textures, lighting, rigging, and modelling are so flawless that you stop even seeing them as anything other than real. Likewise the 3D is the best I have ever seen, and is truly immersive.
If you want to see something that's visually genuinely remarkable, filled with great action, peerless special effects and something that literally takes you to another world than this is for you, however if a searing social or emotional drama is what you're after then this isn't for you. But if you've been as bored rigid as I have by this year's glut of lacklustre churned-out Super Hero movies then this is a much welcomed change. But be warned, at 193 minutes, it's bum-numbingly long and you'll want to avoid liquids and get your loo breaks in early if you're to last the distance.
6/10 for the story. 10/10 for every goddam glorious pixel. Aggregate score 8/10
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