Avatar 2

So saw this earlier. For the first 45 mins or so, it’s Avatar… again. Yes the tech has been improved, and now the frame rate is variable from shot to shot (I’ll have a lot more to say about that 😅)… but it’s more Avatar. It’s spectacular, goofy, over-earnest and very expensive. The story is rather silly - resurrecting dead characters in questionable ways, and basically just saying ‘so everything was fine, but the humans just came back again and war happened’. It introduces a half dozen new central characters in a two minute exposition dump montage, and since Na’vi all look pretty darn similar it can take a while to get your bearings.

But then the plot moves along and we get to the water bits and I was pretty in awe of what Cameron is doing here. The water stuff is **** amazing, to be honest. Whether it’s the relaxed, vibe-filled middle hour or the thrillingly action-packed final act, it all has a clarity and fidelity oh so rare in modern blockbusters. Yes there’s still a bunch of spiritual mumbo jumbo and the writing’s pretty naff, but this is a blockbuster spectacle where you have no doubt whatsoever where that $350 million budget went. To borrow a video game term, it’s a generational leap over its predecessor. The film is not as light on plot as some reviews suggest, but nor is the story particularly weighty, and the stakes can’t help but all feel like something of a lengthy skirmish setting the stage for three (?) more films to come. I did appreciate how much time it spent just exploring the ocean and wildlife, but equally there’s no doubt it’s a (pretty long!) middle chapter in a story with all that entails.

The secret sauce is the high frame rate (HFR), which I have to explain in more depth because it’s totally fascinating in execution. So the film (presuming you see it in Cameron’s intended format - not a given as this is being released in countless different formats) has a variable frame rate - some scenes are in normal 24 FPS, and others are 48. Actually, it varies from shot to shot, and even occasionally within shots (one element in HFR and others in standard). We’ve seen HFR before, most notably - and disastrously - in The Hobbit films, but variable frame rate is pretty new (well, in film at least).

Just to be clear, I despised high frame rate in The Hobbit. I think it looked awful, and ruined the film with its horrid soap opera effect. This is very different. It’s distracting at first, kinda like an IMAX aspect ratio shift when you’re watching The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray. It’s mostly used for fast action or fast camera moves (compensating for the focus issues with 3D cinematography), with dialogue usually at a slower pace. It’s a bit jarring to see it jump back and forth - I’m hypersensitive to it so can’t help but notice the switch when it happens.

But for the underwater scenes and final action sequences, it’s virtually all high frame rate, and it’s a hell of an achievement. I may have uttered a quiet ‘wow’ during the first dive sequence - it immediately justifies HFR. It looks uniquely, unbelievably beautiful - a level of ultra clarity that we haven’t seen in any film before, and hyper-real and immersive in a way that really blows past any concerns about soap opera effect. It helps of course that Cameron and his vast team fill almost every shot with colour and have very keen eyes for clear, legible, fluid action (traits also very beneficial for the 3D, making its not-at-all-anticipated but actually-pretty-cool-thanks-to-HFR comeback). It’s a feast of technology, really, and used to further Cameron’s very specific aesthetic and storytelling goals rather than just show off. Dude really loves the ocean, and you can see why 😅

All of this is to say: see this thing in high frame rate in a cinema (or at very least wait for a good 4K version in HFR). Yes, it doesn’t fix some of the fundamental problems with Avatar: the central conceits and indeed Na’vi design still leave me pretty cold, though this does have a clearer and more engaging emotional backbone even if it’s top-heavy with characters. But it’s rare to go into a cinema and feel like you’ve seen something new, but this certainly offered that with it’s almost alarmingly clear and rich presentation. It’s a flawed film, but when the ride is this spectacular it’s better to just go along with it. Just make sure you see it in 3D HFR if you can!

It’s a mess of formats - there’s apparently 2D HFR in the wild too, but most places I’ve seen aren’t really advertising the details beyond ‘2D’ and ‘3D’.

I would absolutely recommend 3D anyway. Decent chance any decent modern screen will have HFR too.

Not in Ireland so can’t be much help in terms of local screens unfortunately! Good to know Movies@ is showing it in HFR, and I’d imagine the Cineworld IMAX is as well based on past experience.