Avatar: The Way of Water

Posted on December 14, 2022 at 5:46 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity and some strong language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended, intense, sometimes graphic peril and violence, characters injured, sad death of a family member
Diversity Issues:	A metaphorical theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	December 16, 2022
Date Released to DVD:	June 19, 2023

Although writer/director James Cameron has made some of the most innovative and financially successful movies of all time, including “Terminator,” “Titanic,” and the original “Avatar,” he has said that his real passion is oceans and joked that his movie career is to fund his explorations of the world under water. He brought those two passions together with his “Deepsea Challenge 3D” documentary about his expedition to the deepest part of the ocean. And in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” this sequel to 2009’s box-office champion “Avatar,” he brings them together again, with much of the story taking place under the clear, sparkling water of Pandora.

Time has passed since the end of the first film. Onetime human soldier Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is living blissfully with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), among the “forest people,” in an Edenic environment of gentle peace with their community and with the land. They have four children, two older boys, a little girl, and an adopted daughter, Kiri, daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine. voiced by Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Grace Augustine in the first film. Kiri is the late Dr. Augustine’s daughter. No one knows who her father was. A human boy nicknamed Spider (Jack Champion) is almost another family member, though he must wear a mask on Pandora in order to breathe. Spider’s father was Miles Quaritch, the first film’s human villain, played by Stephen Lang.

Miles is back, now as an avatar, too. The human “sky people” are no longer seeking just Pandora’s precious ore. They now represent the most popular category of movie bad guy in 2022: colonists. He is charged by his commanding officer (Edie Falco) to conquer the natives, and he vows to kill his former fellow soldier, Jake Sully.

As with the first film, the Pandora natives are portrayed as idyllic indigenous people and the humans, with the exception of the kindly lab staff, are mostly brutish and greedy. Their invaders have machine guns and explosives and no compunctions about using children as bait. The Pandorans have spears and arrows. And pure hearts. Cameron is not known for subtlety or depth of character. There’s a reason his most famous character is a cyborg whose breakthrough film had him utter just 17 lines of dialogue. This movie would have been better with less talking, too.

But Cameron is known for spectacular visuals, and “Avatar: The Way of Water” delivers that and then some. When the Sullys leave their home with the forest people and seek asylum with the teal-skinned water people (reminiscent of the recent “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), much of the story moves on and in the ocean and Cameron’s endless love for that environment is evident in every breathtakingly gorgeous detail, thrillingly immersive in IMAX 3D with Dolby sound. The undersea creatures are spectacularly beautiful and the underwater movements are graceful and balletic or intensely suspenseful as the story demands. Kiri, who loves her family but has always felt something of an outsider, finds her home in the water so believably we begin to feel that way, too. The building blocks of the storyline may be very basic, but the environments where they take place are glorious.

By the end of the movie, the Pandorans no longer seem like giant super-models, with their elongated, slender bodies. They seem like the normal ones and the humans seem tiny and awkward.

The story is just a scaffolding for the world-building. That may make it more of an experience than a movie, but the experience is a fun place to visit.

Parents should know that this film has extended and intense peril and violence. A young character is killed. There are graphic images including a severed arm, dead bodies, and impaled combatants. Characters use some strong language and the costumes are skimpy. There are mild sexual references including questions of paternity.

Family discussion: What circumstances today present the same issues that the Sullys and the water-based Metkayina clan have to consider — protecting their group or caring for those in need, wanting to be peaceful when faced with violence? Does your family have a motto? How are the two Sully brothers different and why?

If you like this, try: “Avatar,” and get ready for three more sequels!

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Posted on November 8, 2022 at 12:20 pm

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, and some language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Fantasy potion
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended and intense comic-book/fantasy peril and violence, very sad deaths, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 11, 2022
Date Released to DVD:	February 6, 2023

The sequel to “Black Panther,” like the original, begins with the death of the king. We may think we were prepared for this. We have had two years to mourn Chadwick Boseman, whose instantly iconic portrayal of the title character was powerfully dignified, courageous, dedicated to his people, and yet endearingly vulnerable. Remember how overcome he was by Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). But in the first moments of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” we see Queen Ramonda (a fiercely fiery Angela Bassett) and her scientist/engineer daughter Suri (Letitia Wright) shocked and devastated by the death of their son and brother, King T’Challa, of some unstated illness. Suri had frantically tried to create a synthetic version of the vibranium-infused “heart-shaped herb” that might have been able to heal him. And so, their grief is deepened by a sense of failure. His loss is the end of the Black Panther line because only the herb could grant the superpower strength and agility.

It is clear, though, that it is not just the characters who are in mourning but the actors and the filmmakers, who give Boseman a most loving tribute. Like the people of Wakanda, we have lost a rare and treasured member of our community who had so much more to give us. This is a comic book movie with a lot of tears on screen and I predict a lot in the audience as well.

A year after T’Challa’s death, the queen has taken over as the leader of Wakanda. She appears before a UN panel who accuse her of not living up to her country’s promise to share the extraordinary properties of vibranium, which is found only in their country and is the basis for their extraordinary technology. She tells them that they have shown they will abuse the mineral by adapting it for offensive weapons. She is withholding it, “not for the dangerous nature of vibranium, but for the dangerous nature of you.”

Predictably, the world powers were not going to wait for Queen Ramonda to decide to share vibranium. The US has a vibranium detecting machine — just one — that has located some on the ocean floor. The leader of the previously unknown vibranium-based underwater country is Namor (Tenoch Huerta). He appears before Queen Ramunda with a threat — if she does not Find and kill the inventor of the machine that can find vibranium, he will attack Wakanda.

It is a shock to the exceptionalism of Wakanda’s identity to disco ver that vibranium not only exists in other place; it has also been the basis for an advanced civilization. And they are more protective, even aggressive, in keeping out intruders. Like the first film, which popularized the term “colonizer” as an insult, this film is grounded in the trauma of centuries of plunder and abuse. It lends the series a gravity that makes even the most fanciful elements more meaningful.

Suri and the General of the Wakanda army, Okoye (Danai Gurira) find the inventor, an MIT undergraduate Marvel comic fans will recognize as Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne). She is, like Suri, an engineering genius. And she has a gift for skunkworks machines made from a combination of junkyard finds and uniquely crafted designs. Namor and the Wakandans are not the only people who want the creator of the machine. This leads to a wild chase scene through the streets of Boston, and to both girls being taken to Namor’s Talokan. Suri is curious to learn as much as possible about Talokan. And she is determined to protect Riri.

The movie’s visuals are stunning, wildly imaginative but within the realm of possibility and always gorgeous. Production designer Hannah Beachler, who has worked with writer/director Ryan Coogler since “Fruitvale Station,” and Ruth E. Carter, who was awarded a well-deserved Oscar for “Black Panther’s” costumes, have outdone themselves with one jaw-drooping image after another, always in service of the story. Queen Ramona’s jewelry and costumes match Bassett’s powerful dignity and resolve. The people of Talokan reflect the indigenous designs of South America. Every single time they appear out of the ocean, it is goosebump-inducing. The titles informing us of the locations begin with the native lettering, and then are translated into English, underscoring the respect for the cultures being portrayed, refusing to “other” them.

As I have observed many times before, superhero movies depend, more than the powers of their heroes, on the motives and personality of their villains. Eric Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan in the first film, is, in my opinion, the best Marvel villain of all time. Huerta’s Namor is also a top-level villain, willing to do whatever it takes to protect his people, still furious over what happened to them when they still lived on the land. His conflicts parallel Suri’s, making the dynamic between them more meaningful. Where does justice end and vengeance begin? Is it possible to have one without the other?

This is a movie about the Wakandan women. Winston Duke’s M’Baku and CIA Wakanda expert Ross (Martin Freeman) play important supporting roles, but it is Queen Ramunda, Suri, Okoye, Nokia, and Riri who are at the center of this story. Their interaction, with good will and often good humor (the comments about the dress presented to Shuri by the Talokans is a hoot) is the vibranium that is this film’s superpawer.

Of course there is also that wow of a chase scene and terrific comic-book action. There are some flaws — too much backstory, and the whole idea that killing the inventor would prevent any further efforts to locate more of the world’s most precious substance — but this is a movie that would make T’Challa proud, and it is a worthy tribute to Boseman and to the Marvel writers and artists who first envisioned Wakanda and made us all want it to go on forever.

Parents should know that this movie has intense comic-book peril and violence with characters injured and killed and some painful deaths of family members. Characters use brief fstrong language and there is a non-explicit scene of childbirth.

Family discussion: How are Namor and Suri alike? How are they different? What should Wakanda do about sharing vibranium?

If you like this, try; “Black Panther” and the comic books

Black Adam

Posted on October 20, 2022 at 5:04 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, intense action and some language
Profanity:	A few strong words
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended comic book/supehero peril and violence, many characters injured and killed including family members and a child held and gunpoint and another one murdered,
Date Released to Theaters:	October 21, 2022
Date Released to DVD:	January 3, 2023

In the mid-credit scene in “The League of Super-Pets,” Dwayne Johnson (as Black Adam) explains to Krypto the super-dog (also Johnson) what it means to be an anti-hero. “It’s basically the same thing as being a hero but way cooler. You make your own rules and then you break them. Also you can ignore most moral and ethical conventions because no one can stop you.”

That was a cheeky nod to Johnson’s next role, the anti-hero of “Black Adam,” a DC Comics superhero/anti-hero, which has a lot of old-school superhero requirements — origin story, walking away from a huge fire without looking back, heroes in slo-mo, and someone looking up into the sky and moan/yelling “Noooooo!” Make that two “Noooooos!” It also has a bit of meta-humor about catchphrases and more recent addition to the expected elements: some Gen-Z superheroes, one for comic relief, and, much more welcome, a lot more diversity.

That mid-credit sequence in an animated movie for kids had a better understanding of what it means to be an anti-hero than this movie does. More seriously, it also had a much better idea of how to make the best of one of Hollywood’s most appealing actors. “Black Adam” (known as Teth Adam for most of the film) does not have a clear idea of where its title character should fall on the spectrum from anti-hero to hero. And he is tamped down emotionally for most of it, which means we get only glimpses of Johnson’s limitless charm.

We do get plenty of what we go to superhero movies for, though, big superhero fights with an assortment of well-crafted characters using their different powers. There’s a solid theme about an (imaginary but believable) resource-rich place that has been occupied by oppressive invaders for millennia.

It begins thousands of years ago, before the great civilizations of Egypt and Rome, in the Middle Eastern area known as Kahndaq. After many years of peace and plenty, a ruler arises who wants absolute power. He enslaves the population and makes them mine the country’s version of Wakanda’s vibranium and Pandora’s unnobtanium, oh and also the rings of power. This is called etermium, and a crown made out of it will give the wearer all the superpowers necessary to control pretty much everything. Just as a note, these folks are not the greatest with names. The thugs who are running Kohndaq have the most boring name possible for a bunch of menacing tough guys. They are called Intergang. Seriously. That’s like one of those incomplete programming jokes from “Free Guy.”

A young boy tries to inspire the enslaved people to challenge the king. Wizards pick someone to be a hero and bestow magical powers on him.

We will not find out the whole story of the hero’s defeat of that ruler until later in the film, but after the opening sequence, we are in present day, and Adriana (Sarah Shahi) is trying to retrieve the crown from the cave where it has been hidden for thousands of years, because she knows people are trying to steal it. Things don’t go well and the ancient hero is brought back to life as Teth Adam, who can not just fly but levitate and shoot lightning from his body. Even mercenaries with etermium-powered technology are no match for that.

Teth Adam’s literal scorched-earth approach attracts the attention of the Justice Society, and there is one of those tense but understated calls between Hackman (Aldis Hodge) and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). I hope Hawkman gets his own movie, by the way. Hodge is wonderfully magnetic and his character’s wings are very well designed. He brings in his old friend (old in both senses of the word), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan, all silky elegance and world-weariness), who has all kinds of tricks, including the ability to see the future. They are accompanied by two newcomers, Maxine (Quintessa Swindell), described as “a tornado with a 167 IQ), and the affable if a bit clueless Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), who has just inherited the super-suit from his uncle (Henry Winkler!) and hasn’t got all the kinks out.

Teth Adam is presented as opposite to Hawkman because he does not worry about whether it is fair to kill the bad guys when not in a specific situation of peril. But the more interesting question that is raised is from Adriana, who points out that Teth Adam is from their community, while the so-called Justice Society are just another set of interlopers, Justics-splaining to people who cannot help wondering why justice did not seem so important during their centuries of occupation and abuse.

Of course, that’s just a very small part of the film. The rest is comic-book action, and all of that is well staged except for the key element that we are not given enough information about the powers and especially the vulnerabilities of all of the many superheroes. That makes even the most energetic and expertly staged conflicts less exciting than they could be. And Teth Adam does not meet the description of Johnson’s meta-description in the animated film. He’s not someone who has deliberately chosen to violate ethical principles. He’s more like the Terminator in the first film, just a shark-like machine who pursues goals regardless of collateral damage. His interaction with a skater boi teenager (Bodhi Sabongui as Amon) recalls “Terminator 2,” even to the kid’s insistence on providing Teth Adam with a catchphrase.

As Teth becomes more human by reckoning with the losses of his past, we begin to see a little more life in the character. But by then of course we are in the middle of yet another superhero battle, this time more emotionally charged because we have begun to care about the characters. The pilot light is still too low but it’s getting warmer.

NOTE: Stay for a mid-credit scene indicating which legendary character will be joining the cast in the sequel.

Parents should know that this movie has extended superhero/comic book peril and violence with many minor characters and a few major characters injured and killed, including a child held at gunpoint and another who is killed. There are some disturbing and graphic images including a character sliced in half, several burned to death, and a couple impaled. Characters use brief strong language.

Family discussion: What is the biggest difference of opinion between Hawkman and Teth Adam? What would you like to have as your catchphrase?

If you like this, try: “Man of Steel,” “Shazam,” and “Justice League”

The Banshees of Inisherin

Posted on October 19, 2022 at 10:30 am

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Adult
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language throughout, some violent content and brief graphic nudity
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Domestic abuse including sexual abuse, suicide, graphic and disturbing self-mutilation, arson
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	October 7, 2022
Date Released to DVD:	December 19, 2022

As The Banshees of Inisherin, the new film from Martin McDonagh, the writer/director of “In Bruges” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” begins, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) looks like a man who understands his life and is content with it. He nods companionably at people he passes, as he walks along the spectacularly beautiful path of (fictional) Inisherin Island, off the coast of Northern Ireland. He knows where he fits into the world, he knows everyone around him and the names of all their animals, and he knows what each day holds, tending to his cows and the little donkey named Jenny that is a beloved pet, stopping at the home of his best friend Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleason) every day at 2:00 pm to invite him to the pub for some drinks before he goes home to dinner made by his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon).

If he thought about it, which he does not, because he does not think about much and takes comfort in not having to think about much, Pádraic would feel comforted by that familiarity and certainty. So, as this movie begins, Pádraic pets Colm’s dog, as usual, then invites him to the pub, as usual, it is deeply disturbing when Colm does not answer and even more disturbing when Colm does come to the pub but will not sit with him. Pádraic offers to apologize for anything he may have done to insult or upset Colm. But Colm shakes him to the core by saying he no longer likes Pádraic or wants to be friends with him.

Colm has been doing some thinking about life and has decided he no longer has time for chit-chat about meaningless topics. He wants to spend all of the time he has left creating something that will live on after he is gone. Pádraic is not able to understand this. he believes that meaningless chit-chat has value because it is kind; perhaps it is all that has value. When he refuses to let Colm alone, Colm makes a terrible promise. He will cut off a finger every time Pádraic tries to speak to him.

Gleason and Farrell, re-teamed with “In Bruges” writer/director McDonogh, give performances of deep complexity and authenticity. We can see them each, in his own way, struggling with his thoughts and emotions they find difficult to explain. Director of Photography Ben Davis places this small story of a small quarrel in the midst of spectacular beauty, with an evocative core from Carter Burwell. The characters occasionally refer casually to the far-distant sounds of gunfire from the battles of the Irish civil war and one mentions the payment and free lunch he will get from providing security at an upcoming hanging, though he does not remember which side the condemned men were on. They may give some thought to existential questions about the meaning of life, but when it comes to the affairs of the world, they seem to have no impact at all. The local shop proprietor insists on being paid in local gossip as well as money, the more lurid the better as long as it does not pertain to someone she cares about. But no one seems connected enough to try to respond to what is going on. Everyone knows that the local policeman constantly abuses his son (a heart-wrenching performance by Barry Keoghan as the damaged man). Other than offering him a night in their home — only one, Siobhan insists, no one intervenes.

There’s a sterility to the community. None of the main characters are married and we see almost no children. Siobhan is the only one who seems connected to the larger world, through a love of books the rest of the community considers mildly odd. And yet, in their own way, each of the characters is trying to find purpose. Neither Pádraic nor Colm is right. Kindness and art are both ways to find meaning. They may be wrong in considering them mutually exclusive. McDonagh pursues these questions here, as he did in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “In Bruges,” with a unique combination of dark humor, shocking violence, and an invitation to the audience that is both heightened and very real.

Parents should know that this movie included graphic and very disturbing self-mutilation, sexual and violent abuse of an adult by his parent, suicide, off-screen (real-life) war violence, strong language, drinking and drunkenness

Family discussion: Who is right about what is important in life, Colm, Pádraic, or Siobhan? Why is the story set during the time of the Irish Civil War? Why are the characters in this story unmarried and childless?

If you like this, try: “In Bruges”

Tár

Posted on October 13, 2022 at 5:58 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for some language and brief nudity
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol and medication
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense emotional confrontations, accident with bloody injury
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	October 14, 2022
Date Released to DVD:	December 19, 2022

Author and New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik (playing himself) introduces us to “Tár‘s” subject, Maestro Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) at one of those events that certify the highest levels of achievement, an interview before an appreciative audience of highly cultured Manhattanites. As he reads out her almost preposterously accomplished resume, her beleaguered assistant mouths silently along. Tár is one of a tiny group to have been awarded the four prizes that make up the EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony. She has a PhD for her years of research on ethnographic music in the Amazon Basin. She has a book coming out called Tár on Tár. She has conducted prestigious orchestras all over the world and composed movie scores. And she is now in one of the most revered positions in classical music, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. All of this is in a rarified world that has been at best unwelcoming to women (see the documentary, “The Conductor,” about pioneering maestro Marin Alsop).

I admit to wondering a few minutes into the film, “Am I at a movie or a TED Talk?” That does not mean the thoughtful questions from a very respectful Gopnik and the also-thoughtful and engaging answers from the maestro are not fascinating. But we cannot help asking ourselves where a character so completely in control and so impeccably on top of the world can possibly go from here.

The answer, of course, is down.

We get a slight hint of that possibility from the beginning, as an unseen person is texting someone about Lydia as she sleeps on a luxurious private jet. Not everyone is as unconflicted in admiring her as the New Yorker festival audience.

Still, between the deeply researched dialogue from writer/director Todd Field (in his first film since 2006’s “Little Children”) and the truly spectacular performance by Blanchett, Lydia Tár is a mesmerizing character. She seems to be supremely in command, whether rehearsing with the orchestra, responding to a student who tells her that as a “BIPOC pansexual” he cannot be interested in Bach, politely but firmly setting boundaries with an important funder who wants her to share her conducting notes, or threatening the child who has been bullying her young daughter. Blanchett’s physicality in the role is never less than stunning, the masterful arm movements as she conducts communicating to us as much as to the musicians she is leading. As Tár explains to Gopnik that she is not a “human metronome” but she does use her right hand to control “the essential piece of interpretation,” time.

As she prepares to complete her final recording for the complete set of Mahler symphonies, the legendary 5th, Lydia, always exquisitely sensitive to sound and fiercely in control, is increasingly disrupted by noises, a rattle in the car, knocks on the door of the apartment she keeps as a studio. That studio, like the other brilliantly designed settings of the film by Marco Bittner Rosser, cement and metal, stark, institutional, according to the architectural style of brutalism. Her bespoke suits, from costume designer Bina Daigeler, are impeccably tailored but similarly severe. There is no softness or vulnerability. As her wife (Nina Hoss), who is concertmaster of the orchestra, tells her, every relationship Lydia has is transactional. She excepts their daughter, but we may not agree.

The movie takes its time with the story; it is two hours and forty minutes long. But it is as spare as the settings; not a moment is wasted. As Lydia’s carefully constructed life and persona begins to unravel (we will learn just how constructed in an extraordinary scene near the end), she at first is certain she can continue to maintain control. But her failure to understand the limits of her control is evident in some key mistakes. First, just because you delete some emails does not mean they disappear from the inboxes of the recipients. Second, just because someone is an enabler who puts up with abuse for a long time does not mean that will go on forever.

The sound design will be studied in film schools; it makes a huge contribution to the atmosphere and the storytelling. The supporting cast is excellent, especially Hoss, Noémie Merlant as Lydia’s assistant (and more) and real-life cellist Sophie Kauer as a potential new member of the orchestra who attracts some special attention from Lydia. Their lunch scene together is mesmerizing as we see the unstated shifts of power. Lydia may have all of the power of her achievements and the opportunities she can bestow. But the cellist has the power of Lydia’s longing. The movie gives us an enthralling character who keeps our sympathies shifting as we consider questions of seduction, privilege, predation, and cancel culture. And its final scene is breathtaking.

Parents should know that the themes of this movie include sexual predation and #metoo issues as well as cancel culture. A child is bullied and a character has a bad fall with bloody injuries. There are tense emotional confrontations about infidelity and characters use some strong language, drink, and take and abuse medication.

Family discussion: Was Lydia Tár fairly judged? How would you have responded if you were Francesca? If you were on the board of the orchestra? What is the meaning of the final scene?

If you like this, try: Field’s other films, “Little Children” and “In the Bedroom” and the documentary about Marin Alsop, “Meeting Venus,” and “Black Swan.” You may also enjoy learning about Gil Kaplan, an American businessman whose passion for Mahler’s 2nd Symphony led to intense study and performance as a conductor with many orchestras, a possible inspiration for the character played by Mark Strong in this film, also named Kaplan.