Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
As I thought after my first cinema viewing, this would play even better 2nd time, as the first act felt like it was in too much of a rush to catch up us up with story, explain what the new situation is, introduce many new characters and concepts and then the second that's done, shift the whole film to a different place. It was only later that I managed to catch up with who all the characters were, this time I knew and loved them from frame 1. Plus I was picking up on things I'd missed in that rush. Like
Edie Falco's new human head honcho (who is only briefly seen at the start, presumably to feature more heavily in future films) mentions in passing that she's setting up Pandora as a colony, with plans to move the entire population of the dying planet Earth on to Pandora. So full-scale planetary war is on the cards in the sequels. First time, I was confused as to how Lo'ak is able to communicate with Payakan, I thought it was a plot hole. But it is setup in one bot of dialogue that the Metkayina clan and Tulkuns have a symbiotic relationship across their lifetimes, so Payakan would already know how to talk to a Na'vi prior to his banishment (although Lo'ak must be a quick learner in reading a Tulkun's gestures). Once again I was in awe of 72-year old
Sigourney Weaver's completely natural performance of herself as a teenager, even more so when thinking of how weird some other talented older actors feel and sound when digitally de-aged, like
Harrison Ford. Kiri and Lo'ak are such great new protagonists, their journeys of self-discovery are woven together so well, each saving one of their parents with their new found abilities and insights. The scene where Kiri rescues her family with essentially glowing angel wings is truly magical. I'm upgrading this from a 4, to a full 5 stars. I'm itching to see it again already.
Forget the impressive FX, this is just a wonderfully acted scene: