This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Tuomas’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
Lost my shit when the movie went back to Cameron's familiar stomping grounds of The Abyss and Titanic at the very end. Probably should have seen it coming considering the focus on water, but I just still didn't expect it and then when the finale went down, I was full on in OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SHIT town.
Pretty much loved this. The white savior stuff from the first one is now firmly in the rearview, so it's not overwhelming the plot with the focus on Jake. He's still of course a leader and a central player, but expanding this to a family epic with Sully having kids, the film gives a lot of focus to the younger cast, who drive most of the awe inducing adventurous stuff in the middle act. Another big thing is that the corporation hangs in the background in this one as the conflict is more focused on the Na'vi and the military characters. The drama is more engrossing because Lang while still being incredibly fun, is allowed to be a little more compelling than just the military caricature he was in the first one.
The only thing that I caught myself thinking in the third act was that there were moments when I would have totally been floored and overwhelmed with emotion, but watching these CGI created faces just doesn't get that emotion out of me. The film's a massive accomplishment and a stellar piece of blockbuster filmmaking especially with how heavy it is on water spectacle, but there's still just that extra level it's not achieving because as good as these designs and the motion capture acting is, it's still not a human face.
