Avatar: Way of The Water Review
Mckenzie '24
Mckenzie '24
In 2009, the blockbuster movie Avatar came out in theaters. In its opening weekend it made 134 million dollars. Because of its instant success, conversations quickly circulated about the creation of a second movie.. But, as the years passed on, people lost hope for the second film. Now the hope has been restored because on December 16th, 2022, we finally got a second film. Avatar: The Way Of The Water.
Avatar - 1st Film Recap:
The first film is set in 2154, Jake Sully, a retired Marine who was paralyzed during his service, goes to the planet Pandora to fulfill his dead twin brother's mission. Which was exploring this newly discovered planet and working with the natives living on the planet. When Jake arrives, he is introduced to his brother's Avatar, which was created unique for him upon his arrival. Because of the brother’s identical DNA, what used to be his brothers, is now Jake’s. The first day he uses his avatar he travels deep into the forest, and overcomes almost being killed by many of the mythical creatures of Pandora. Jake then got separated from the group of scientists he was with while dealing with another animal that wants to kill Jake. a native observes Jake and chooses to save his life. This natives name is Neytiri. They go back to Neytiri’s home, she is apart of a clan called the Navi. And days pass, Jake learns more about Pandora, like the animals, plants, and how to move around navigating the environment. When not in the Avatar, Jake makes daily video diaries to record all of the stuff he learns, and does in the Avatar, he also builds relationships with some of the humans working there. Like a scientist named Grace who had opened a school with the Navi to help them learn english, and two other scientists named Norm, and Max Patel. But some of the humans such as the Colonel, and his military team, and the boss in charge of this organization on Pandora, Parker Selfridge, use these video diaries to attack the Navi. But Jake travels around to gather all of the other Avatar clans, and work together to fight the sky people. Grace gets shot in the beginning of this fight, but she dies, the Colonel, and a lot of the military die. But after the battle they send the sky people who survived the battle back to Earth, and then Jake’s Avatar and Jake combine, so he transfers into the Avatar body.
Avatar: Way Of The Water- Film recap:
The beginning of the second film is set 16 years later. Jake and Neytiri now have 4 kids, Neyteham, Lo’ak, Kiri, and Tuk. There is also another human that lives with the Navi, his name is Spider, he was the Colonel’s son (someone who worked with the humans, and initiated the attack on the Navi). Later on, we find out that the sky people have returned, but instead of being humans, they have biologically turned themselves into Avatars. And they are searching for Jake. The late colonel travels to the place where his body was left in the battle that occurred in the first film. The kids see the Colonel and report back to Jake with a communication device. Jake and Neytiri travel to their location and see who the Avatars are. When the Colonel finds out whose kids are at the scene, they try to hold them captive, to seek revenge on Jake. This results in a fight scene.This fight scene ends with Spider being taken by the sky people, and Jake’s kids get released and they go back to their home. Because of the conflicts with the sky people, Jake decides to leave for the better of his family, and they go trave to another clan to try to prevent the sky people from hurting their family, and other Navi’s. The clan they find reside in the water. The water clan lets Jake and his family stay there to learn the ways of their clan. But as time passes the sky people find Jakes location after traveling all over Pandora. Which leads to a bigger fight scene that ends with Jake's eldest son Neyteham getting shot, and dying, but ultimately the Avatars win, and they still live with the water clan, and have become one of them.
Pros:
I really loved everything about the movie. I feel like it was a good sequel, compared to the first film it feels like it would be hard to top that film. But surprisingly it did. And the main thing everyone loves about these movies are the scenery, the CGI has gotten visibly better in the past 10 years. So the imagery in this movie is breathtaking, especially now with some of the scenes being in the water is very surreal. The new additions to the cast, being the kids, are all very different characters, but you can see very obvious character development. The eldest Neyteham in the beginning is a typical older sibling throughout the entire movie, and always taking the fall for his younger brother. While watching this movie you really build a relationship with him. Making his death harder to watch. Lo’ak in the movie you see him make many mistakes. And no matter how hard he tries to make the right decision he feels it is never enough. When his parents express his disappointment you can see it really affects him. Lo’ak feels as an outcast in his family, but at the end of the movie he proves himself to his family, and with his elder brother dying you can see he automatically wants to step up because he feels he’s responsible. The eldest girl, Kiri also feels like an outcast, because she has a different mom, and dad there is something different about her. She really bonds with the environment throughout the movie. Which makes the audience wonder who she really is. But since the movie never answers that question it leaves you with millions of questions which I feel like makes you want to watch future movies even more. Another element I love about the movie was that they kind of make a call back to the first movie, because in the first film Jake had to learn the ways of the Navi, and had to learn a completely different life. And now in the second film he had to do that same exact thing for the second time.
Cons:
In my opinion I didn’t really like the youngest daughter. She didn’t add anything to the plot, and she felt as if she was a burden to carry around the entire movie. And she never does anything throughout the movie except cry. She just really irked me throughout the film . Another thing would be the ending. It didn’t really raise questions about furthering films other than the daughter. I don’t know what other conflicts they need to resolve, maybe that is the point, but I just don’t know what else they could turn into another film.
Conclusion- Should You Watch It?:
In my opinion I feel like this movie is a good watch. No matter how long it is the movie keeps you locked in and interested throughout the entire thing. Since Jake’s family is learning new things about the new clan, you are too. And I feel like that keeps you entertained because it isn’t the same movie continuing a lifestyle that we have already seen. So yes you should give it a watch!!
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