The long-awaited Avatar 2 has finally arrived some 18 years after the original and you’d think people would be happy. You’d be wrong.
Well, some of them are and some are a little underwhelmed; others are just plain mad, as it looks like the much-anticipated James Cameron sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has seriously split opinions.
Releasing on Friday, 16 December in the UK over a decade after the initial buzz of the first film and years of jokes about when/if the follow-up would ever actually arrive, Way of Water is simultaneously the biggest and most divisive thing on the box office.
For example, these are all reviews of the exact same movie, though you’d struggle to tell based on these first impressions.
Avatar The Way of Water: lol imagine being dumb enough to bet against James Cameron. or teen alien Sigourney Weaver. or giant whales subtitled in papyrus.
light years better than the first & easily one of the best theatrical experiences in ages. streaming found dead in a ditch.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER: Yeah never bet against James Cameron. Trying to spare hyperbole, but I’ve never seen anything like this from a technical, visual standpoint. It’s overwhelming. Maybe too overwhelming. Sometimes I’d miss plot points because I’m staring at a Pandora fish
At the same time as seemingly delighting most moviegoers online, it would seem its critical reception has been far from glowing — in fact, it’s actually been pretty damning.
Here’s a quick round-up of what just a few of the big boys had to say: The BBC called it a “damp squib”, The Telegraph said it’s like being “waterboarded with turquoise cement”, and The Guardian dubbed it nothing more than two-star “soggy, twee, trillion-dollar screensaver”. Tell us how you really feel…
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As is often the case with something as subjective as cinema, there were countless reviews that made us go ‘yikes’ but, at the same time, there were just as many waxing lyrical about how it was a vast improvement on the first iteration and the most visually impressive thing they’ve ever seen.
Either way, Avatar: The Way of Water has already earned six nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards and the sequel is on track to earn over $525 million its opening weekend, meaning it will easily join its predecessor and subsequent blockbuster among the highest-grossing films of all time.
‘AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER’ is tracking to earn $525M+ in the film’s worldwide box office opening weekend.
Despite all of the debate, Avatar 2 is not only selling plenty of tickets but 3, 4 and 5 are all already on the way and no, we’re not joking.
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Not only have the entire third film and large portions of the fourth already been shot, but Cameron and his production team have hinted that as well as not receiving a single note on his script for Avatar 4, the fifth and presumably final instalment will see the audience return to Earth.
We’ve waited more than a decade for one sequel but now it looks like you’ll be getting another movie every two years from now on. In the meantime, we’ll go watch Way of Water and get back to you.
— Barefoot Spooky Bartender 👣💀🍹 (@barefoottiki) October 10, 2024
“Be assured there won’t be 14408mph winds, hurricane force winds or overnight temperatures of 404°C.
“It is being looked at and hopefully sorted asap.”
BBC Weather shared: “You may have noticed some data issues on our app and website. We are working hard to fix it quickly. Sorry – please bear with us.
“In the meantime here are Thursday’s weather headlines: -Colder, clearer air moving in -Rain and drizzle in south -Blustery showers near east coast”
And national treasure Carol Kirkwood said live on air: “We are having a technical glitch at the moment. It’s showing wind speeds far too fast, in fact, hurricane strength and that is not the case at all.
“Please don’t be alarmed. We are aware of it and on it.”
At the time of writing, the BBC Weather forecast service is still predicting hurricane force winds for the UK. Eek.
BBC issues statement after UK forecast shows ‘hurricane force winds’ up to 14,000mph
Liam Gallagher says Oasis reunion rehearsals have begun after blatant hints at tour support acts
Danny Jones
Liam Gallagher has confirmed that rehearsals for the Oasis reunion are now underway and has been teasing the acts that could be supporting them on the tour.
The incomparable frontman has been very vocal on social media (more so than usual) ever since the talk of their comeback was actually confirmed to be real, though we’ll admit we’re still having to pinch ourselves every few days.
Nevertheless, the Oasis reunion IS happening, the tickets have gone and even a slate of North American dates have now sold out along with an Australian tour set to do exactly the same – though there has been some furore over price differences.
Although the gigs are still a little ways away, practice for summer 2025 has to start sometime and after a fan asked Gallagher a point-blank question online, he had a simple but exciting answer.
The idea of the two actually being back in the same room still feels so surreal but we’re SO glad they are.
After the pair were first snapped posing for the reunion press shots by photographer Simon Emmett, it sounds like the two are not just in each other company but now practising those songs they first played together some 20-30 years ago.
The Britpop icons and legendary rock band also announced a new special collection of the seven-inch Definitely Maybe single pressings to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’; there are only 4000 up for grabs and they come in the actual 1996 cigarette-style CD (vinyl) box.
After rehearsals are all said and done, one thing that we still don’t know for sure is who will be supporting Oasis on their reunion tour, but that hasn’t stopped the 52-year-old from having fun with some rather heavy hints.
We don’t know how blatant or serious any of these names are, or if this is just a clever red herring or two, but let’s just say we’d be happy with any of them.
Liam is very much enjoying the usual wind-up and toying with Oasis fans.
As well as Manic Street Preachers and Cast – the lattermost having already supported Liam on his Definitely Maybe anniversary tour – there seems to be a lot of debate around whether a potential Richard Ashcroft support would include the rest of The Verve, who haven’t played together since 2017.
That being said, Blossoms have been heavily linked with the tour since they were the band to break the first reunion teaser at their massive Wythenshawe Park gig; there have also been rumblings of Kasabian, The K’s, New Order, Gene Gallagher’s band Villanelle and many more.
Again, we’ve got nothing concrete yet so you’ll just have to take LG at his word – just do so with a big fistful of salt.
Right, we’ll give you three support slots: who would be your dream warm-up acts for the Oasis reunion?
Danny Jones -
16th December 2022 
