Avatar vs Avatar: The Way of Water

[levcore]

Which do you prefer?

[John1701D]

The second is obviously more visually stunning but the first tells a better, tighter story.

[kylor]

Honestly, right now I prefer the directors cut of the first. But there is a chance that if the directors cut of the sequel should release, it might just swoon me.

[Roonan]

Originally Posted by kylor

Honestly, right now I prefer the directors cut of the first.

IIRC, that's the theatrical cut, not the extended cut (which I assume is what you're referring to).

[kylor]

Originally Posted by Roonan

IIRC, that's the theatrical cut, not the extended cut (which I assume is what you're referring to).

The one which has the Earth scene at the start.

[DarkEco910]

Originally Posted by kylor

The one which has the Earth scene at the start.

The correct terminology is "extended cut" as the director's cut is what Cameron released in theaters.

And since I'm here, I'll say I prefer The Way of Water.

[KManX89]

WoW.

[StarWarsIsAwesome123]

Way of Water for me.

[-JKR-]

I like added nuances to the sequel, with it being a 'family movie,' but I agree that the original is just a tighter, more focused movie.

It stands on its own, whereas Avatar: The Way of Water is obviously the second chapter in (at least) a trilogy.

[sfmarine]

I don't think the story is better, but Way of Water has absolutely incredible visuals which gives it a solid edge over the first film for me. I freaking love that they brought Lang back in that way as his character was fantastic in the first film.

Way of Water for me but I need to see it a few more times.

[BluBonnet]

Equally "meh" for both of them but at least the first one had the advantage of some amount of novelty when it came out.

[Magyalmar]

I have watched Avatar 3 or 4 times and I still enjoy it even though it's far from a masterpiece.

To me The Way Of Water is a failure on every level. The screenwriting is terrible, with a tendency to constantly look for the easy way out. I was never surprised at any moment. None of the new characters has any kind of charisma. Dialogues are poor.

And worst of all, especially from someone as brilliant as James Cameron, I was absolutely underwhelmed by the direction choices. Every shot is "functional" instead of carrying meaning. He never even tries to tell something about his characters through shot composition. There is not a single shot in the movie that doesn't look already familiar because we have seen it in thousands of movies before (I'm strictly speaking about composition here).

That's why I can't even find the movie "visually stunning", Cameron was not a director on The Way of Water, he was a CGI studio manager, a "maker". He's not interested in cinema any more, just in technology. Which would have been great if The Way of Water was a rollercoaster ride and not a movie. You could replace the Fox logo with the Marvel one, and James Cameron's name with the Russo brothers, I don't think anybody would see a difference.

And it kills me to write that, because so far I had loved all of Cameron's movies, apart from Piranha 2.