Review: Avatar: The Way of Water
Avatar: The Way of Water, directed by James Cameron, tells the tale of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former Marine turned Na’vi chief of the Omaticaya clan, raising his family alongside his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) more than a decade after Sully led the Na’vi to fight against the EVIL humans looking to exploit the natural resources of Pandora. But those pesky “Sky People” are back at it again, looking to colonize Pandora and even resurrecting the formerly deceased Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), now in a shiny new avatar body, to silence Jake Sully once and for all. Fearing for the safety of his family, Jake takes his family and seek refuge among the reef clans of Pandora and learn the way of water.
Thirteen years after revolutionizing the world of cinema with 2009’s Avatar, James Cameron returns with his long awaited follow-up to the highest grossing film of all time as of this review. This is the first of FOUR planned sequels to the box office behemoth, needing to make a hefty $2 billion worldwide just to break even with its near $400 million price tag. That’s a lot of money, but I guess if anyone can do it Cameron can, knowing the past two films he’s directed were both at one point the highest grossing film of all time (prior to Avatar, Cameron wrote and directed 1997’s Titanic which was the first film to reach the billion-dollar-mark worldwide and raked in 11 whole Oscars including Best Picture and Director.)
Right from the bat you can see where all that money went to; The Way of Water is a freaking gorgeous film. Somehow Cameron was able to improve on the technology and visuals of the first film, making this one of the most beautifully rendered films I’ve ever seen. From the details in the jungles and oceans of Pandora to the unique look and design of the alien life inhabiting it to even the tiny intricacies of emotion in the Na’vi characters’ faces, everything in this film look so, damn, good, made even more so thanks to Cameron’s now iconic use of the 3D format.
With how good the Na’vi look on screen, it is a shame the film doesn’t have enough acting talent to make the most of the newly-refined motion capture technology. Just as with the first film Zoe Saldana is great as Neytiri; she takes a more reserved role this time around, but when the film calls for her to be front and center she delivers exceptionally. Kate Winslet, who last worked with Cameron on Titanic and was famously reluctant to work with him again, shows up here as a new Na’vi character and she too gives a fantastic performance despite her relatively limited screen time. And that’s about it in terms of memorable performances in this film; the rest of the cast is either not that special or notably bad.
The child actors especially in this film were not very good, which is concerning because knowing that there are at least three more films to come in this franchise they are destined to become the main characters of the future sequels. Jake Sully’s children in this film have no discernable character traits outside of one basic stereotype you see done before in many other films; you got the rebel middle child trying to make daddy proud, you got the responsible older brother that the middle child is envious about, and you got the cutesy little sister that’s there to be cute in every scene.
The film also introduce two other kids that get adopted by Jake Sully and the family, one of which is a human boy nicknamed Spider (he’s kinda annoying) and another Na’vi child named Kiri played oddly enough by 73-year-old Sigourney Weaver (the film does have a reason for this, but still.) Bless her heart Weaver gives it her best shot, but alas I just can’t take her seriously as a teenage girl.
A main criticism I keep hearing about the first film is how basic and uninspired the story was, to which I somewhat agree, but it wasn’t a deal breaker for that film to me; Honestly I appreciate how simple the first film’s plot was despite how familiar it was to many other films before it. For the sequel though the plot is almost identical to the first film beat for beat, which is where I draw the line.
A lot of story beats are repeated here from the first film, making it seem like as if our protagonists have learned absolutely nothing the last time we saw them. I can’t explain much without spoiling major plot points but the story really is identical in a lot of ways to its predecessor, right down to using the exact same film score from the late James Horner for some very similar sequences. It doesn’t help that this familiar plot is padded to prolong the film to a gargantuan THREE HOURS AND TWELVE MINUTES. I’m sorry but this story does not need to be over three hours long.
So even though my patience was tested to the max with this film, the question remains: Did I at least have fun and got my money’s worth with this film? Yes, for the most part. Despite taking forever to get the ball rolling, when it does finally roll the film was a certified entertaining blockbuster. Cameron is no stranger to directing some delicious sci-fi action, and for this film it’s no different; I had a blast, plain and simple.
Overall I can see a great many people getting their money’s worth learning about the Way of Water. No doubt this film will bring Cameron the big bucks in the end, and as of this review only time will tell if it will have the iconic Cameron legs at the box office that carried the filmmaker’s last two films to become the global juggernauts they are. There is a lot to appreciate with the ground-breaking visuals, but just as with the first Avatar ground-breaking visuals can only take you so far when the core elements of your film are inherently flawed. I can see myself coming back to this film one more time, but after that I think I’ll have enough of my fill of Pandora for at least until the next installment arrives, whenever that’s going to happen.
Final Verdict: 6/10