Avatar: The Way of Water

Rating: 3.5/5

Avatar: The Way of Water was visually stunning, just as expected, but unfortunately wasn’t a homerun in all aspects.

Avatar: The Way of Water has been classified as a long awaited sequel, and I would somewhat agree with that statement. Where that would be accurate is the “long” part, given that it has been over a decade since the original Avatar came out, but the “awaited” piece is where I take issue. I think obviously when the first Avatar was released, it was a global phenomenon; its box office reports were proof positive of that. But, I don’t feel like the sequel was something that people were chomping at the bit to finally get to see. I think in the two or even three years after the initial Avatar, yes, people were probably still eager to see a sequel, but after so much time had passed, the premise of another movie seemed all but forgotten about. Perhaps the circles of friends and movie watchers that I tend to be around are an anomaly, and that the majority of the film viewing world have been anxiously awaiting to return to Pandora, but I don’t believe that to be true. That being said, once it was officially confirmed that a sequel would be happening and we actually started to see footage from it, I did feel a sense of mounting excitement. Now having seen it, I can say that overall I found Avatar: The Way of Water to be very impressive in many respects, but I wasn’t quite as won over by as I’d thought I would be.

I remember when the first Avatar came out, I was absolutely enamored by it. I had been an avid fan of the Academy Awards for literally as long as I could remember, but I recall that particular season paying especially close attention to the ceremonies with the hopes that Avatar would sweep; it did not. Since then, my love for the film waned, but in all fairness, it’s been quite some time since I’ve revisited it. With The Way of Water, I knew virtually nothing about the plot other than that it took place near an ocean of sorts. I figured I’d be getting some impressive visuals and an emotional score, which both assumptions were accurate. If the rest of the movie were as great as those two previously mentioned elements, then the whole thing would’ve been perfect; but alas, that was not the case. To praise the look of Avatar: The Way of Water, I truly can’t say enough positives about it. I’m genuinely in awe of what is possible with modern film technology. It takes a great deal of skill and movie magic to watch a film that is what I’d guess to be 98% motion capture/CGI and allow the viewer to almost entirely forget that what they’re seeing isn’t real. The Na’vi still look a bit too animated in some ways, but even so, the technology behind it is truly a remarkable feat. What really blew me away was how unbelievably real anything in the water appeared. Obviously there was some real water taking place, but there were times when it couldn’t be. I recall reading or hearing somewhere that water is one of the most difficult things to animate, but you’d never know it by watching this movie. Any scene that took place in the water was absolutely captivating and beautiful.

Now that I’ve gushed over the look of The Way of Water, I figure it’s time to discuss why I couldn’t give this movie a full 5/5. Where the movie shined so bright in many ways, it was also equally as weak in others; primarily in the dialogue and a small handful of the performances. To me, a prime purpose of a movie like this is to have it be an immersive experience. The viewer is expected to be pulled into or transported to a whole new bioluminescent world and forget that they’re sitting in a seat in a run of the mill theater. For the most part, the movie succeeds in this attempt, but then there’s some very clunky dialogue that pulls you right out of the illusion of Pandora. Namely, the interactions between the character Spider and Jake Sully’s sons. The conversations seemed very ingenuine, and the constant use of the word “bro” seemed incredibly ill fitting to the miraculous surroundings that the dialogue was taking place in. This reminded me a bit of similar interactions in Titanic. Everything that took place on the famed vessel was nearly pitch perfect, but whenever the movie would cut away to the modern day exploring boat that was searching for the Titanic, some of the magic would disappear due to the odd acting choices and dialogue. The same thing happens in The Way of Water, except in this case, it’s whenever humans are interacting with the Na’vi and it just doesn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the film’s splendor.

I will definitely be giving Avatar: The Way of Water another viewing, and if I had an IMAX theater nearer to me, I’d without a doubt be trying to see it there, but unfortunately that’s not an option. I don’t quite know when I’ll be seeing it again, as it is tricky to carve out time to watch the movie in its full three and a half hour duration, but I’ll certainly be giving it another chance. Perhaps I’ll like it more the second time around, but it’s hard to say for sure.