This week’s movie review: “Avatar, the sense of Water,” “Aftersun,” “Little Nicholas,” “EO.”

Never mind, relatively soon after we collectively lost our minds symbol picture (2009), The rest of the world seems to have made it quite clear that there is no need to revisit the planet Pandora; boss James Cameron He decided it was necessary to elevate the film to the category of cinematic universe, and to wait until the technology was available to do justice to the idea he had in mind. Currently, The sense of water It shows that Cameron worked tirelessly on this technical development; It’s the most immersive and most realistic 3D digital image display one can imagine – yes, the Na’vi have lime too -; He worked so hard, in fact, that he hadn’t had time to deliver in 13 years 192 minutes of movie footage No other use.

The fact is that it is difficult to talk about the adventures of its plot or characters, because they hardly exist. The First batch heroes They completely lack depth, for much of the story their only function is to act as fathers to those who are supposed to be heroes in future installments; The villains’ motivations are ridiculous, and there are about a dozen characters hanging around in endless second action with nothing really fun to offer.

The images and sounds around them, yes, are captivating — obviously, in some cinemas more than others — but clear Disconnect between formal brilliance and narrative roughness It sometimes makes sense to ponder scenes from a video game rather than cinematic fantasy.

During its long climax, which is distinctly reminiscent of Cameron’s lead shot Titanic Although no New York aristocrats here, but rather blue aliens, the film offers a lesson in both visual spectacle and choreographic cadence, and that boast only underscores how much, as the narrative has become more glamorous and technical, Cameron has increasingly lost interest in having something substantial to tell. or intellectually stimulate the viewer.

yes, The sense of water he flirts with an anti-colonial message, but is too simplistic to count; And yes, like its predecessor, it is eco-appeal, but in the end, it’s nothing quite as spectacular and over-the-top as it is symbol picture He can be convincing about the need to leave as little a footprint as possible. Nando Salva