FILM: Avatar The Way Of Water 3D (dir: James Cameron, 2022)

"The way of water has no beginning and no end."

Thirteen years on from the box-office-record-breaking Avatar, Cameron unleashes the first of four proposed sequels.  The original film rode the crest of the late 2000s resurgence of 3D with its ambitiously immersive experience, and The Way Of Water uses 3D to similar effect here, with its opening act based largely in familiar jungle territory before moving on to more sea-based adventures.   It goes without saying that the technical level of CG effects on display is nothing short of astonishing, not just in its levels of scale and detail but also in delivering many truly beautiful moments that look incredible on the big screen and - like the first film - even though it mostly looks like the world's most expensive videogame, there are some truly almost-photo-realistic shots where you forget for a moment that you are watching computer-generated tall blue people with tails.  This is more of the same but bigger, with a number of familiar shots and story beats that echo the first film, but the two major differences both work very well: moving forward in time, Jake and Neytiri are now parents of four children (three teenage, one younger) who are engaging, integral to the plot and future-proof the series, and the move from the jungle to a sea-based people - with whom the Sullys seek refuge from a younger cloned version of Quaritch hell-bent on revenge - opens up a whole new palette and CG-playground.  The overall template remains the same: the first act is set-up, the second act is all about learning to adapt, and the third act is a barnstorming huge-scale action finale that is an extraordinary technical feat.  The Way Of Water feels more emotional than the first Avatar, probably owing to the big themes of family and acceptance having much more impact this time round, and whilst the second act may feel a little indulgent with its meandering but impressive set pieces, it is to the film's credit that it holds attention and engages for over three hours.  It will be interesting to see if this sequel busts blocks similar to the original in the post-pandemic box-office or if the numbers determine that the series concludes as a trilogy with the third film, but the set-up for Avatar 3 proves to be a welcome and enticing prospect.
 

Hellraiser (dir: David Bruckner, 2022)

"So, if I solve it, do I get a prize?"

Hulu and Spyglass bring us this latest attempt to drag the Hellraiser franchise back to some level of respectability following its descent into bankrupt sequel hell, and this 2022 take is definitely an improvement on the recent entries.  The arresting and well-shot opening sequence shows promise, the classic Clive Barker themes of pain, sex and addiction are spelt out quickly, and the focus on recovering addict Riley as a female protagonist provides a good angle on the concept.  Production values are strong - the film looks and sounds great - and the attractive cast generally delivers well.  The power and pull of the Puzzle Box is restored, and the Cenobites have their sense of menace restored to a fair degree.  A two-hours run-time may seem ambitious, but it pays off in character grounding and development; sadly, the film does lose some momentum in the final act, but overall this is a positive step forward in resurrecting a classic property.
 

VOD: Warriors Of Future (dir: Ng Yuen-Fai, 2022)

"Now is the time for mankind to pay the price."

Hong Kong delivers this blockbuster sci-fi/action genre Greatest Hits in a vision of mankind trying to repair catastrophic environmental damage, only to be faced with the arrival of a meteorite carrying a fast-growing huge alien plant life-form, with a 'suicide squad' sent to plant a virus to harness the plant's power in order to purify Earth's atmosphere, but as the mission goes awry, three of the soldiers fight for survival in the ruined city - making sense is not the film's strong point.  There is little character or story development, as the movie is all about the machinery and technology and its string of action sequences.  The CG special effects are ambitiously detailed and large scale and a very lively to watch, but they often have a flat videogame sheen.  A lot of the action with the alien creatures is standard Jurassic Park/Aliens/Robocop/terminator/Transformers-influenced fare, but if you are a genre fan there is plenty of spectacle to enjoy.

VOD: Slumberland (dir: Francis Lawrence, 2022)

"School is not a prison!"
"Can I leave whenever I want to?"

This Netflix CGI-fuelled fantasy epic about dreams and storytelling focuses on 11-year-old Nemo, who lives in a lighthouse with her father, but a life-changing tragedy sees her moving to the big city to live with her estranged uncle.  One night, her toy pig and her bed come to life, setting in motion a set of fantastical adventures in the dream world Slumberland with a larger-than-life character Flip from her father's bedtime stories.  Jason Momoa plays flip with a gruff relish, but this very simple story is dragged out for over two hours as it lurches from one pointless and empty set piece to the next in a rather emotionally unengaging manner in this expensively hollow spectacle.
 

VOD: Bully (a.k.a. Pesktop) (dir: Sjoerd de Bont, 2017)

"Makes me look pretty stupid, doesn't it?"

This micro-budget Dutch teen movie oddly transplants the bones of the story of A Christmas Carol into a modern-day high school, with Scrooge being replaced by Danny, a handsome, charismatic but troubled bully who particularly picks on a shy young lesbian student and is afforded glimpses of the past, present and a dark future 'trial' courtesy of a fortune teller.  The story is told in very simplistic broad terms, but the youngish cast appear invested in the material.  The sudden late about-turn and self-realisation redemption arc is triggered in a shockingly-realised moment, but whereas Dickens just about got away with his unconvincing character shift in a sentimental Christmas tale, here it rings very untrue indeed. 
 

VOD: Disenchanted (dir: Adam Shankman, 2022)

"Does anyone in Andalasia ever just SAY stuff?"
"Not if we can help it!"

Following a nifty animated recap and set-up at the start, Disney's belated sequel to the delightful Enchanted finds time moved on with Giselle and Robert now parents to a stereotypically sarcastic teen daughter and a baby moving to a new life in rural suburban Monroeville, with a wishing wand MacGuffin and Giselle's desire for a fairy-tale life quickly unravelling and corrupting and pitching her against the local queen bee, played here by Maya Rudolph.  Some of the strengths of the original film are evident here - Amy Adams again charms magnificently, James Masters's Prince still blusters preposterously (but is criminally underused this time around), and the juxtaposition of fairy-tale and real-life values has some effective moments - and the freshness of the first film is here tempered with more maturity and an interesting character arc for Giselle as she moves into antagonist territory.  However, the other characters have little to do other than to grind through the plot mechanics (even Robert's fairy-tale character growth segment feels shoehorned in), Rudolph's character feels underwritten, and the industrial-strength songs feel more like a commercial Frozen necessity than integral to the plot.  Nevertheless, Disenchanted runs with its inherent silliness, written and delivered with a largely effective lightness of touch and sense of playfulness that overall does not match the original.
 

VOD: Nope (dir: Jordan Peele, 2022)

"It's the dream you never wake up from."

Jordan Peele writes, produces and directs his third success in a row with Nope, in which the excellent Daniel Kaluuya plays a down-at-luck Hollywood horse wrangler dealing with very strange goings-on at his isolated desert ranch.  Clues are as usual seeded cleverly into the long slow-burn first two acts, in a film which doesnot necessarily go quite where you expect.  At times gloriously disorientating and with some striking images, Nope is also a masterclass of sound and visual composition, with excellent building of tension and suspense.  Kaluuya gives another perfectly-pitched performance, with Keke Palmer having real presence as his more open and sassy sister.  The film never goes full-tilt horror as a couple of sequences suggest it could, and the finale seems a little low-key - in keeping with the film as a whole, however (this is more Arrival than Independence Day) - but the overall concept works well and the movie entertains and impresses.
 

VOD: The Noel Diary (dir: Charles Shyer, 2022)

"Are you ready for this?
Absolutely not."

Another Netflix Christmas 2022 offering sees the ever-reliable Justin Hartley playing a successful single jazz-loving crime author with a tragic past who returns to the family home after the passing of his mother and gets involved with the adopted daughter of his former nanny looking into her true background.  Together, they embark on a backwoods road trip to find Hartley's estranged father for answers.  Unlike most festive-themed films, here Christmas almost provides an unnecessary backdrop to this heartfelt but very restrained film that rarely strays beyond one-note but which nevertheless quietly unfolds its quite intimate and adult tale with sincerity and clarity. 
 

VOD: Christmas With You (dir: Gabriela Tagliavini, 2022)

"Okay...I'm not feeling it."

Conveyor-belt Christmas movies tend to tread a very fine line between whimsical feel-good and crass nonsense, and this latest 2022 Latin-inflected Netflix festive offering falls firmly in the latter category, as a pop singer is under threat from upcoming talent and being dropped by her label unless she delivers a hit Christmas song.  Landing with a teenage fan and her music-teacher father when snowed in at a small town, unlikely romance and that elusive song inevitably follow.  With an unlikeable lead character and an ageing Freddie Prinze Jr as the musician/widower trying to charm, the general lack of warmth, sincerity and basic credibility do not help to sell the film, and neither does the simplistically unrealistic portrayal of the music industry.

 

VOD: Terrifier 2 (dir: Damien Leone, 2022)

"Something really bad's going to happen tonight..."

The cult hit that had Americans fainting in the aisles sees maniacal serial killer Art The Clown mysteriously resurrected to wreak further havoc on Miles Grove one year on, trading up the cheap grindhouse aesthetic of the first film for a more shiny and ambitious 80s Elm Street vibe.  The selling point here is obviously the showstopping practical gore sequences which punctuate the story, which viewers will either find revolting or spectacular.  Right from the opening sequence, Terrifier 2 takes Grand Guignol to excess with the swift, sharp and impactful scenes of carnage that are very well realised and given a nastier twist with Art The Clown's childishly gleeful disregard for human suffering.  The film is unpleasant and unapologetic - and yes, the bedroom murder scene is as grimly unpleasant as its notoriety suggests - but the film is not remotely scary, having at times an hypnotic hallucinatory style that feels like David Lynch meets early Sam Raimi.  The film is surpisingly effectively structured, touching on internet influence on a young boy who becomes obsessed by Art's previous rampage, and an early Clown Cafe sequence plays like a demented version of Pee-wee's Playhouse.   Perhaps in terms of the overt violence it is no more extreme than some of the 70s and 80s Italian genre classics, and Terrifier 2 is ultimately little more than an ultra-cheap slasher done well, but to its credit it has punched through to provide a new horror icon for our times.