From any point of view, the new "Avatar" film "Fire And Ash" is breathtaking. Granted it uses certain formulas and concepts of history but the sheer spectacle of it coupled with the fact of James Cameron's prowess in making something both immense and intimate simply invites criticism as well as praise. But that said, it is a sprawling story that does take three hours and fifteen minutes to tell and would be hard to tell shorter than that.

The intention of "Elio" is a good one and there are many factors at play and yet at times there is disconnection. The movie is undeniably inspired by early 80s genre movies. There are exceptional homages (although subtle) to "The Last Starfighter", "Explorers" and "E.T." The issue is that it only keys into those kind of emotions in two specific moments near the end. Granted it sounds like the film went through series of development reworkings but the approach is not ineffective. It seems more akin in style to something like "Onward".