Naah, can’t review this Avatar 2!

Let alone a detailed synopsis that many writeups get put out as film reviews for readersmdashwhat if I broke down for you James Cameronrsquos Avatar The Way Of Water scene by scene Therersquoll still be nothing by way of revealsspoilers likely to even minutely diminish the viewing experienceItrsquos a film that you just have to ldquowatchrdquomdashwhether you love it doze off find it exhaustiveexhausting thatrsquos not the point As with its 2009 prequel the worldrsquos most expensive breathtaking bluefilm evermdashnobody else can translate its energetic sensory visuals for youAnd while thatrsquos true for a great movie anywaymdashyou should be able to enjoy it even without knowing its languagemdashCameronrsquos latest attempt at a classic for the ages calls for your body on occasion to immerse itself underwater devouring the extraordinary flora fauna codes and conductcreated from scratchThe ICE Immersive technology was invented by Jocelyn BoussyMaking all worldbuilding in cinema semiredundant for the moment This is Cameron our man playing God for the screen Hell yeah the size of thatscreen mattersAlso ReadJames Cameron opts out Avatar Way of Water LA premiere after getting Covid19Goes without sayingmdashgo giant IMAX What you canrsquot do much about are the crummy darkening 3D glasses that donrsquot seem to have undergone much innovation since their first commercial use That was exactly a century ago by the waySo you got those glasses on When your eyes arenrsquot navigating vast threedimensional expanses you find the brim of the ocean at the centre of the camerarsquos lens or its lowest edge The sense of wobbling in and out is completeWhat if I told you that from the corner of your eyes peering outside the glasses you can still sense the ebbs and flows of the oceanrsquos tidesCanrsquot be imagining this right I wasnrsquot The cinema I was at is the ICE Immersive Cinema Experience There are only two in Asia presently Both in the National Capital Region PVRs in Delhirsquos Vasant Kunj Gurgaonrsquos Ambience Mall that opened with Avatar 2 There will be seven such in India soon The one in Mumbai opens in March 2023Using ICE Immersive a technology invented by French lsquotheatrepreneurrsquo Jocelyn Boussy What do you see or rather not consciously see in an ICE theatre Large LED screensplanksmdashseveral times the size of advertising screens at airports hotelloos etcmdashlining up both sides of the cinemarsquos walls Itrsquos not like there are separate moviesmdashor the same movie playing separatelyConsider these multiple screens facing your ears as extension of the filmrsquos canvascolour palette They also seamlessly draw out the moviersquos visible action ldquoLight changes and movements are really when you can best tell the effect of the ICE designrdquo Boussy tells meHe debuted this technology with Luc Bressonrsquos Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets 2017 Rohit Shettyrsquos Cirkus will be the first Indian movie to get the ICE treatment Avatar 2 is obviously an apt start for desis Boussy was earlier equally impressed with test results for Brahmstra 2022In fact the final outcome of several screens so subtly enveloping the cinema hall without once distracting from the actual big screen before us is so simple and satisfyingmdashone wonders why itrsquod never been thought of beforeBoussy says ldquoWersquore dealing with peripheral vision that through evolution humans have been highly sensitive towardsmdashthatrsquos how they perceive threats for instancerdquo You can imagine this logic serving horror movies chillingly coldAvatar of course is a scifi fantasy that turns on its head the mainstream movieconcept of aliensmdashwherein itrsquos inevitably humans or Americans more specifically New Yorkers under attackHere the insatiably greedy destructive humans are the problem As theyrsquore likely to bemdashif we do discover life outside Earth or indeed a hospitable planet That Elon Musk the clown billionaire on Twitter is aiming for with the Moon and MarsFor all of Cameronrsquos filmtech geekery with CGI 3D motion capture magic and a healthy obsession with oceansmdashhersquos patented a propeller to shoot underwatermdashthe script of Avatar 2 holds waterThe editing may not be watertight But Cameron has a story to tell and characters and emotions to zoom intomdashchiefly with a father protecting his familymdashas you closely observe actors emoting within aquatic life like they havenrsquot beforeAlso ReadThanos Come on Give me a break says James Cameron as filmmaker pans Marvel VFXIn this sequel Narsquovi or Forest People of fictional Pandora get together with Reef People This filmrsquos audiences are obviously Sky People the enemies heremdashfreaky humans Who in their movies generally crave setpieces of violencebattles Cameron Terminator is obviously up for thatNo goose bumps but I did feel the lsquoactionrsquo coming at me from the side screens as well ldquoIs ICE like VR Virtual Reality without headset for a community experiencerdquo I asked Boussy before watching the movieHe was impressed with the analogy to say hersquoll use it in his promotional interviews from hereonmdashmaybe I should share bank details for copyright But no ICE isnrsquot the allencompassingconsumingrestrictive VR Watching Avatar 2 over three hours 15 minutes wouldrsquove been a massive headache otherwise