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Reviews
The Coven (2022)
The coven
Following up on a lead, a couple searching for her long-lost family ancestry is led to a remote Southern plantation under the guise of finally finding answers but find themselves the prey of a deadly supernatural cult using her for their demonic savior's rebirth and must try to get away alive.
Overall, this was a decent enough if somewhat mildly problematic entry. What works best for this one is the somewhat enjoyable and engaging starting point here to everything. The quest for understanding her family heritage and the unknown nature of what everything means to her gives this a strong start that's highly effective as their desire to understand that leads them into the obvious trap and subsequent threats by the cult. Their imposing nature and deadly powers provide a nice sense of eeriness that goes alongside their ruthless behavior and ultimately dark fate looking to bring a powerful demonic entity into the human realm which makes their encounters together that much more fun. The brutality doled out by their invasion of the house and the shortcuts through which they get the upper hand for their quest make for a deadly time here, resulting in some incredibly chilling scenes as well as some solid bloodshed along the way. These are what hold this one up for the most part. There are some issues to be had with this one. One of the biggest factors here is the rather bland and dull pacing to start this one off as the first half doesn't have much of anything interesting going on. The various scenes of the two going through the community not doing anything to further the plot due to the purposeful dead-ends in their search that are set up to keep them there which is only exacerbated by his tendency to be argumentative and combative with the locals. This is carried over to the rest of the film where he comes off as wholly unlikable and just plain irritating to anyone and everyone around him even when trying to help since he's supposed to be the macho male in charge which just makes this part of the film so tough to get into. The other factor here to get into is the rather unfocused action that transpires with the cult and their powers. Since they're clearly manipulating the events from the start with their ability to force hallucinations, bend the activities of others to their will, and are generally just capable of doing anything, why they're unable to barnstorm the house and take her makes this feel a bit underwhelming. They seem so powerful and in control of what's going on that their halted approach to taking her seems more like a convenience that the characters themselves acknowledge without delving deeper into. This would've gone a long way towards making this do something interesting than just have them stand outside watching them as well. The last issue is the use of several rather obvious and unrealistic cliches that pop up throughout here, making for a rather familiar feel at times involving celestial configurations and black magic that doesn't feel that original. These are the slight issues that hold this one back.
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
James Cameron's triumphant return
James Cameron's triumphant return
It's hard to believe the sequel to Avatar has actually come out. After 13 years and what feels like half-a-dozen delays, it's officially here.
As someone who was surprised by how much that 2009 movie held up on a recent viewing, and therefore had high expectations for a sequel, I'd say it lived up to the hype. Maybe it's a little less great, but I'd have to sit with it a little while longer before I could be sure.
First of all, this movie is long. 192 minutes long. I didn't feel the length, in all honesty. I got wrapped up in the movie and how it looked and sounded so much that it probably could have gone on another hour and I still wouldn't have felt restless. It's one of the best-paced 3+ hour movies I've ever seen... and you could argue it's even paced a little too fast in the first act, thanks to a time-skip that means the viewer has to be caught up to speed quickly.
Visually and effects-wise, it's perfect. Numerous expensive blockbusters are released every year, but few are given the time that Avatar 2's clearly been given. As such, it looks leagues better than any other $100 million-plus movie released in the last few years. The 3D is great (not something I'd say often), and it finds stunning new areas of Pandora to explore, thanks to the extensive underwater scenes.
Story-wise, I'd say it's a little less predictable than the first, which has a story that seems to bother some people. If anything, James Cameron might only be criticised for borrowing too much from himself - introducing child characters made me think of Aliens and Terminator 2, while parts of the action scenes in Avatar 2 will look a little familiar to anyone who's seen Titanic, The Abyss, or even Terminator (1984).
There's a little corny dialogue, a couple of slightly clunky scenes early on, and a lack of a definitive climax, seeing as there are more sequels planned. There are problems, but they barely matter. The strengths of this movie are overwhelming, and make this a must-watch in cinemas. It just felt great to see a blockbuster like this again; it's been a while.