Avatar: The Way of Water

Since the surprise hit of Avatar back in 2009, a sequel has long been in the offing. Over a decade later and the first sequel in an extended franchise has arrived. Helmed again by director James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water returns audiences to the moon of Pandora and its indigenous Na’vi who successfully pushed out the human presence. Time has also passed upon Pandora, finding an older Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), hero of the original Avatar. Chieftain to his tribe and father to a budding family, Jake doubts that he is the fighter he once was as humans return to Pandora. Sully’s self-doubt, caused by his conflicting duty as a father and chieftan, leads Sully and his family to seek shelter with an oceanic tribe.

The original Avatar was a story of colonial conflict and finding identity set in a sci-fi world. The film was novel but self-contained. The Way of Water is here to set up greater events in Cameron’s cinematic universe. Ladened with deus-ex machina moments to shoehorn old characters, precipitate events and foreshadow future plot lines, the film is a long act of world-building which feels every minute of its three hour plus run-time. The personal crisis of Jake Sully is lost as the story follows Sully’s children, establishes new mysteries and the oceanic Metkayina tribe. The broader back-ground thread of a returned and resurgent humanity bearing genocidal intent, is also forgotten for an impactful but objectively unnecessary sub-plot with environmental overtones. Sully’s moral crisis is then returned and readily resolved as the The Way of Water repeats the conclusion of Avatar.

My personal gripe with The Way of Water is that the whole affair is a bloated pet project. Nearly every scene bears a palpable weight of excess, dragging long after delivering its message. The slap-dash ping around characters and sub-plots, loaded with leaps of logic and the inclusion of actors whom Cameron has already worked with all point to an unrestrained director. Directors can pursue a passion project, but it is arrogant that Cameron expects viewers to endure over three hours to follow the future Avatar films, especially when The Way of Water simply treads water rather than tell a story. The same criticism can be levelled at Star Wars or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but at least these films each try to tell a distinct story which connects to a greater narrative.

Visually The Way of Water is stunning in terms of its scale and visual effects and the cast deliver good performances, but it is not enough to save the film from itself. The Way of Water has elicited a decent ticket sales so far, but whether this is genuine audience engagement or nostalgia for the original film will be seen when Avatar 3 comes around.

By Saul Shimmin

Give Dredd a chance

The earth is a desolate wasteland and the enclaves of humanity reside in megacities which stretch the length of continents. Wracked by inequality, drug use and crime, the megacities are a boiling pot of unrest. The sole barrier to complete chaos is the judges; militarised police commandos who act as “judge, jury and executioner” to the criminals they encounter.

Adapted from the 2000 AD comic series, Dredd follows the titular Judge Dredd as he prosecutes a campaign of brutal justice in megacity one. Tasked with assessing Anderson, a rookie Judge, their training day escalates into a bloody siege with Ma-Ma, the gang leader of a monolithic tower block named Peach Trees. Dredd is a high-octane thriller which effortlessly immerses viewers into the dystopian world of 2000 AD. Anderson acts as the surrogate for the viewer as she becomes versed in the bloody complexities of megacity one while being tested on Judge protocols. Michael Biehn said that director James Cameron’s best trick in The Terminator was to link the film’s exposition to constant action and motion. The result was a film which kept the viewers invested despite the intricacies of its time-travelling plot. The same trick can be seen at play throughout Dredd. The plot flows from one state to another as it charts a day in the life of Judge Dredd. The film begins with Dredd tackling criminals before beginning an assessment of Anderson. Their training day leads to an investigation of a crime at Peach Trees which in turn escalates into a bloody battle against Ma-Ma. Once tasked with fighting Ma-Ma, Dredd’s momentum continues both physically and in terms of its narrative. Anderson and Dredd ascend the many flights of the Peach Trees block while they engage in move and countermove with Ma-Ma. Reflecting its focus on an ordinary day for Judge Dredd, the film’s plot remains very lean. Focusing on action above all, the narrative is a fluid reaction to events which results in no lulls or weak sub-plots.

The dystopia of megacity one naturally forms in the background of Dredd. The brutalist concrete creations of the megacity clash with the amalgamated architectures of past centuries, while drab colour designs pervade the urban landscape. Over-the-shoulder shots and medium close ups project a claustrophobic confinement to both interior and exterior scenes. From stacks of bloodied corpses sent for “recyc” to child gangsters, little details reinforce the pervasive cruelty of megacity one. The greyness of the megacity is starkly contrasted by the vibrant oversaturation and slow motion of the world as drug hazed gangsters witness the bloody wake of the Judges. While harking to Dredd’s comic book roots, the contrasting brightness of the drug-induced hazes represent a glimmer of humanity as Peach Trees’ inhabitants seek narcotic escapism. Rookie Judge Anderson also represents a shred of optimism as she navigates the mega tower block while her ascent with Dredd forms into a looping narrative. It is a testament to Alex Garland’s writing that Dredd can balance so many elements while still acting as an introduction to the world of Judge Dredd.

The action sequences of Dredd are absolutely riveting, using a mix of frequent cuts and close camera tracking first seen in The Bourne Identity. The firefights are a refined form of gun-fu which would be perfected by the John Wick series. Despite the future setting of Dredd the behaviour of its central characters remain grounded. Anderson and Dredd have to reserve ammo, find routes through the tower block while they solve problems on the fly, much like Jason Bourne in his films. Dredd’s action is also bolstered by the pulsating industrial soundtrack created by Paul Leonard-Morgan.

The casting was perfect for Dredd. Karl Urban effortlessly fits the gruff and brutal demeanour of Judge Dredd. Lena Headey projects a maniacal evil to Ma-Ma which would gain her fame as Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones. Olivia Thirlby is great as rookie Judge Anderson, showing a real growth to her character as the events of Dredd unfold. Other notable performances including The Wire star Wood Harris as a Ma-Ma enforcer and Domhnall Gleeson, who would later work with Alex Garland in Ex Machina, as Ma-Ma’s enslaved tech operator.

Given the roaring popularity of John Wick and the reception of audiences to dystopian sci-fi, it is hard to understand why Dredd performed poorly upon release and remains an underappreciated cult film. The film did go through a problematic development cycle and while Pete Travis is billed as the director, Karl Urban stated that Travis was forced out by Liongate during filming. Consequently, Alex Garland effectively directed Dredd before his official debut with Ex Machina. The problem with Dredd upon its release may be due to its 18 certificate in the U.K and the emphasis upon 3D screenings. Audiences at the time were tiring of 3D releases, especially after films such as Prometheus released with no real benefit from watching the 3D version over 2D.

Sometimes though great films perform badly upon release. Fortunately, Dredd has appeared on Netflix in the U.K and was until recently a top 10 pick on the streaming site. Karl Urban has long expressed a desire to reprise the role of Judge Dredd and given Alex Garland’s subsequent hits, a sequel could easily be picked up as streaming services and studios scramble for content.

In the meantime, Dredd is one of the best action films you may have never watched. If you have watched it, it is well worth returning to.

By Saul Shimmin.

The Guest

A stranger visits the grieving Peterson family claiming to have served alongside their deceased son Caleb in the U.S army. The stranger, named David, becomes the guest of the Petersons as he supposedly settles back into civilian life. Yet is David a guardian angel, a veteran racked by PTSD, or something else entirely?

Directed by Adam Wingard and written by his frequent collaborator Simon Barrett, The Guest is a pulpy homage to thrillers and horror films from the 1980’s. Saturated by a pulsing synthetic soundtrack, the film openly borrows from John Carpenter and James Cameron. Both the films’ visuals and its narrative invoke elements of Halloween alongside The Terminator and even Escape From New York. The purpose and reasons for David’s visit are slowly teased from his actions, while Wingard and Barrett make it clear from The Guest’s beginning that nothing is quire right. David’s presence among the Petersons also satirises the trope of the mysterious stranger who helps or rescues those he encounters, as David tries to better the family. In his own way, David echoes the desires of the Peterson family, even if those are desires best left unfulfilled. The Guest is made even more engaging and unnerving thanks to Dan Stevens. Known for his role in British period drama Downton Abbey, Dan Stevens is captivating as David, appearing at The Petersons like a nefarious cuckoo, his intentions unknown but his menace plain for the audience. At times he is like Thomas Ripley with even less humanity, extolling a cold predatory drive behind his handsome exterior. Later on David morphs into an almost supernatural presence mirroring the unstoppable force of Halloween’s Michael Myers. Given the film’s focus around the titular “Guest”, Dan Stevens is perfect for the role. Steven’s range; from cold sadism to comedic timing imbues both life and complexity to the role of David.

In the pull of the moment, it is easy to be swept along by the twisting stream which is The Guest as it ravines from slow burn mystery to a horror film. Wingard and Barrett clearly drew from multiple genres for The Guest, and the resulting hybrid is enjoyable if not a little jarring. There is a clear, and unforeseen, leap in events during The Guest’s final act. Although a few hints lay scattered in early scenes, not enough context is left for the viewer to accept this transition in The Guest’s narrative. The film remains entertaining, but there are clear and jarring shifts as Wingard and Barrett clunk The Guest through different genres into its final form. The whole may not quite work in retrospect, yet The Guest is one of the more unique and overlooked thrillers of recent years. Looking back after the rise of Stranger Things, it is hard to not see The Guest as a prelude to our more contemporary nostalgia for a gritty reimagining of the 1980’s.

By Saul Shimmin