Happy New Year! A new year brings a new season of Doctor Who. However, 2023 will be different as it marks the 60th anniversary of the British Sci-Fi show. So, in celebration of this milestone, a three-part special will be released, starring a familiar face as The Doctor: David Tennant! Furthermore, the specials will see the return of a fan favourite, Donna Noble (Catherine Tate).
While she didn’t overstay her welcome, Donna Noble is arguably the best companion the Doctor has had and was sorely missed when her time ended. So, seeing her return is sure to be a treat for fans.
‘Doctor Who’ was a show that I became obsessed with when it returned in 2005 and, like other fans, loved Tennant’s era of the show. However, for the last few seasons, the writing has severely suffered much to my dismay and my viewing of the program decreased significantly. But, with the return of David Tennant and Donna Noble in the specials, and Russell. T. Davies as showrunner for the foreseeable future, I have hopes that ‘Doctor Who’ can be revitalized once more, making it just as exciting as it used to be.
It’s the 18th December as I run through the street to my local IMAX cinema. Huge puddles splash against my boots while heavy rain and wind lash against my face and threaten to soak my handbag. As I entered the cinema, I couldn’t help but think that I was getting the full experience before seeing James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is the sequel to the 2009 film ‘Avatar’, the biggest earning film ever ($2.9 Billion worldwide). This film takes place a few years after the previous entry where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington – Avatar, Hacksaw Ridge) is now living happily as a Na’vi on the planet Pandora with his wife and family. But Pandora is threatened once again when the humans return, with a much bigger army. Now, Jake must once again protect the Na’vi.
While it was the biggest earning film, it’s safe to say that ‘Avatar’ left no cultural impact. And, while it was a film that I enjoyed experiencing, I saw no need for a sequel, let alone 4 more that Cameron has planned. But, after the first trailer was revealed, I had changed my mind on not wanting to see it. So, a few days ago, I went to the IMAX cinema. And I overall loved it; just be prepared for the 3 hour and 12-minute runtime! If you’re prepared for that length of time, you’ll be rewarded with a visually beautiful treat.
Just like the 2009 film, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ has the most impressive visuals in any live action film. By now, the technology has caught up to be able to create the Na’vi and Pandora and even improve upon the visual effects because they look phenomenal here. While it is Cameron’s film, the main credit should go to the film’s Effects and Art departments for their hard work in creating this, because the end result is just amazing. And, just like the previous entry, the film is made with 3D in mind. Watching it on the IMAX screen further emphasized the detailing of the characters and setting. And, once again, the 3D helped with demonstrating the depths of each landscape and oceans and it worked beautifully; the best way to see this film is in IMAX.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ strongest elements are its visuals and world building. The film has a very thin plot, so it used its runtime to instead build the world of Pandora and introduce viewers to parts of the planet that weren’t explored previously. Your enjoyment of the film will depend on whether this style of narrative is something of liking or not, but I loved it. It was interesting to see how various clans of the Na’vi lived and functioned, and ‘The Way of Water’ has done an amazing job at showing viewers this instead of telling. It also felt like the long runtime was justified.
The majority of this film is set by the seas of Pandora, meaning that a lot of scenes are set and filmed underwater. And they look incredible; twelve years ago, the filming of the underwater scenes with motion capture, wouldn’t have been possible, hence the long gap between films. I would’ve happily have watched a film dedicated to just the underwater sequences purely because they were so beautiful and immersive. Plus, these scenes introduced new creatures that couldn’t have been shown in the previous entry, further adding to the world building.
However, ‘The Way of Water’ did a have couple of strange decisions: because the IMAX format emphasized details, there was a noticeable change in the cinematography’s frame rate. It would occasionally switch from 30FPS (frame per second), which is the standard cinematography definition, to 60 which gave the film a strange appearance. The film could’ve also done more with the relationship between Spider (Jack Champion) and Quaritch (Stephen Lang – Don’t Breathe, Avatar). These two characters had potential to go in a different direction than they did, even helping Quaritch abandon his squadron or change his ways. This could then lead to further narratives in the third film.
However, I overall loved ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’. It felt like a natural progression after the first film, as well as acting as a build up to the rest of the sequels, something that is needed considering three more films will follow! It’s the most impressive film I’ve seen in terms of its visuals and effects, and even the long runtime is justified. It used the runtime to fully explore the world of Pandora and its characters, and not one second felt wasted. But there’s no ignoring that it is nearly 4 hours long and moviegoers will have to prepare for that, as well as the strange framerate of the cinematography.
After thinking a sequel was not necessary, I have completely changed my mind; I was blown away by the effects and the world building and will happily return for the third film. It’s safe to say I’m on board with the ‘Avatar’ franchise.
While my sister’s childhood included Barbie dolls, mine was filled with Batman, Power Rangers and Pokémon. And, while I did own a Barbie doll, I was more interested in the forementioned toys. So, when the cast for a live action ‘Barbie’ movie was announced, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. While Margot Robbie (The Suicide Squad, I Tonya) sounded like a good fit for the titular character, Ryan Gosling (Drive, La La Land) seemed like a strange choice to cast as Ken.
But the trailer is honestly fantastic. The plot hasn’t been revealed, so fans are instead treated to a re-enactment of the opening to 1968’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, except instead of monkeys with clubs, it’s little girls with baby dolls. It’s a great tongue-in-cheek scene that hopefully represents the tone the film will go for: a satirical look at the Barbie franchise, but a fun film. And, of course, the film looks vibrant and colourful with lots of pink! While it is a bit of an eyesore, it’s also an impressive aesthetic that represents the doll brand perfectly.
While I was never a Barbie fan, I am curious especially after seeing the trailer, and I’m hoping the film will have a humorous tone to it.
Ever since the sequel to the brilliant ‘Spiderman: Into The Spider-verse’ was announced exactly a year ago, the trailer has been eagerly anticipated. And, finally, our first look at the animated film has been released.
‘Spiderman: Across The Spider-verse Part One’ continues the adventures of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Gwen, as they’re faced with the consequences of the last film.
Overall, this looks incredible. The unique style of animation returns and still looks amazing. But the trailer does a fantastic job at not showing any plot. Instead, fans are treated to footage of Miles coming face-to-face with Spiderman 2099 (Oscar Isaac – Moon Knight) as well as other Spidermen! It’s a true spectacle to see and, while ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ did utilize the multiverse concept well, we have never seen these many variations of the comic book character on screen at once.
This is all wrapped up neatly with a monologue from Miles’ mum Rio Morales (Lauren Vélez – Spiderman: Into The Spider-verse, The First Purge). This implies that, after the events of ‘Into The Spider-verse’, Rio will play a bigger role compared to the previous entry, much to my delight. Due to the plot that the first film had, Rio hardly appeared so it’ll be good to see her fill the role of the parental support that Miles will need.
‘Into The Spider-verse’ is my favourite Spiderman film so I’m really excited for the sequel and it looks incredible. Plus, fans won’t have to wait too long for its release, which is 23rd June this coming year!
While the second trailer for ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ arrived last week, this one stomped its way onto the internet to an unsuspecting audience.
Based on a true story, the film follows a bear that accidently ingests a boatload of cocaine and goes on a drug-fuelled rampage.
With a name like ‘Cocaine Bear’, the film looks to be exactly what is expected of it: it dives into the strange premise headfirst in gory fashion! The results of the bear’s coke fuelled adventure is clearly exaggerated and, in doing so, is happy to let the bear go on a killing rampage. But the tone of the film carries a lot of dark humour which works perfectly given the synopsis.
Carrying a tone like ‘Tucker and Dale vs Evil’, this film looks ridiculous but a lot of fun in a dark and silly way. The kills look crazy, and it takes delight in being self-aware which works perfectly. Out of every film that’s due for release, something called ‘Cocaine Bear’ was completely unexpected!
