James Hennings

I loved this film. The characters were engaging, the action pulse-pounding, the visuals singularly spectacular. The story committed you emotionally to the fate of the eclectic Sully family. It was so good to see a Hollywood film portraying a strong positive family dynamic and not feeling the need to neuter the men or Mary Sue the women. I think a lot of the love for this film comes from seeing a loving family depicted so well. I saw the high frame rate, 3D iMax version. The technology totally served the experience rather than just being a vehicle for jump scares. You really felt as though you were there in the middle of the scene. The underwater shots made you feel as though you were diving with them. The high frame rate is often criticised for producing an experience that is "too real" by cinema purists. I normally prefer that kind of verisimilitude and am guilty of putting the motion smoothing on full on my Sony Bravia TV. So I cannot speak for the 24fps film snobs. But in my humble opinion it is well worth the extra money to see it in 3D iMax and high frame rate. As for the animated characters, they were at least as well done as Thanos from Avengers End Game. That is to say that you forgot that you were looking at a CGI model and instead treated them as though 3 metre tall blue people really existed and that Cameron had hired them for the film. Well done!!