Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
Like the original Avatar, The Way of Water feels like a glorified tech demo: incredibly good CGI creating a convincing fantasy world -- populated by cardboard cutouts.
Part of what bothers me most about the random appropriation (here mostly Maori) is how much the Metkayina feel like a resort "cultural experience" and not a living culture. Compare something like The Northman, which paints a vivid picture of life, faith, society: this is a Pandora tourism brochure.
It doesn't help that it's offensively light on character for its interminable runtime. I love fantasy and science fiction and it's a disgrace for Cameron to waste this technology on fiction so lacking in substance. Like the original, it's all surface.