Wrap-Up Fridays: It’s All About "Avatar"

Does it live up to the hype?

Wrap-Up Fridays is here once more for your fix on everything new in music, movies, TV and more, and this week, it’s all centred around one major drop: Avatar: The Way of Water.

There’s a bunch more to go through, including a new National Treasure series, a couple major trailer releases and music releases.

Avatar: The Way of Water.

After nearly 13 years, the sequel to Avatar is finally here. It’s one of the most anticipated movies of the decade, and people are already excited.

 The movie dropped internationally yesterday and is reportedly already heading for a $600 million opening weekend.

I just saw #AvatarTheWayOfWater and wow. I expected it to be a visual spectacle, but I didn’t expect it to be so emotionally resonant. Its nuanced characters, rich world building, and fulfilling story make this far better than its predecessor.

Also the fight scenes are BRUTAL. pic.twitter.com/T3fLN4cKE6

— ✶cozza✶ (@stephcozza) December 13, 2022

But does it live up to the hype? Well, it depends on what you're hyped about.

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a rating of 80 per cent, mostly praising the cinematography.

Dana Stevens from Slate praised the beauty of the film, but conceded the plot was lacking.

“The beauty of the world he creates, evoked in lush detail by cinematographer Russell Carpenter, is enough, most of the time, to make you forgive the hokiness of the screenplay.”

Avatar: The Way Of Water is James Cameron’s first film since the OG Avatar, and it’s the first of four planned sequels. However, Cameron recently said that if The Way of Water wasn’t a box office success, the latter three would be cancelled.

But people are already loving the film, as evidenced by the popularity of Avatar on Twitter.

#Avatar interval - Truly out of this world. What an experience so far.

— Prashanth Rangaswamy (@itisprashanth) December 15, 2022

3 hours 15 mins of Visual Treat.
The theme is kept same. But this time a more touching storyline. #AvatarTheWayOfWater #Avatar2 #Avatar pic.twitter.com/Lu9Jipkq19

— Ba Dal (@lifewithbadal) December 15, 2022

Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas now – check it out at Hoyts for just $12.50!

Everything else.

Not wanting to sit in the shadow of a film like Avatar: The Way of Water, it’s pretty light on for other releases this week, but there are a few highlights to note.

Nicholas Cage stans will be pleased to see the release of National Treasure: Edge of History on Disney+. Although Cage himself doesn’t appear in this spinoff of the iconic National Treasure movies, his legacy is clear.

The adventure/mystery series is ridiculous in its own way, but has a sense of infectious fun about it that people are really responding to.

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian wrote:

“Amulets, Masons, relics, lost civilisations, spunky heroine, boon companions, Big Bad in the background, loads of fun. Watch and have some, or don’t and make your own. I’d say you’ll probably be fine either way.”

You can catch National Treasure: Edge of History on Disney+ now.

In terms of music, most musicians are taking the early Christmas break, but that didn’t stop SZA from releasing her new album, “SOS”.

We covered that album earlier this week, so be sure to check out our full rundown.

i been wearing this sza album OUT my goodness

— 💲🤍 (@makeupbyshaniah) December 13, 2022

Finally, since we’re getting closer and closer to 2023, we’ve seen some big trailers for 2023 films we’re looking forward to.

This week we got a major trailer for Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse, the sequel to 2018’s iconic Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.

Since the original was sooo popular, people are bloody pumped for this one.

We also got treated to a brand-new trailer for the upcoming sixth instalment in the Scream series.

A teaser for Scream VI dropped on Wednesday, and horror fans got their first look at the newly crowned queen of scream of herself, Jenna Ortega (aka Wednesday Addams).

That does it for the second last Wrap-Up Fridays for 2022, be sure to check in next week to close out the year in style.