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It feels weird to be writing this review. The first Avatar came out all the way back in 2009, when I was in 6th grade. My first time watching it was actually through a bootleg (maybe I shouldn't admit this) and when the Na'vi were speaking their language, instead of captions, symbols showed up at the bottom. I had no idea what they were saying. After that, I went on to see it twice in theaters. I remember being absolutely obsessed with James Cameron's sci-fi epic. The way he created that world just fascinated me. I would watch countless behind the scenes videos and was stunned about how detailed everything was. Pandora seemed like a real place, brought to life with cutting-edge visual effects and the latest in filmmaking technology. It was a game-changer and I immersed myself in that world. I learned as many of the alien creature names as I could, I read about the plants, and learned about the Na'vi culture. Looking back, it was a bit unhealthy. The movie went on to become the biggest film of all time, beating Cameron's Titanic. Inevitably, a sequel was announced.
Since then, I've gone through middle school, high school, graduated from college, got my license, and experienced a pandemic. During that time span, a lot of people turned on Avatar, calling it just Pocahontas and Fern Gully with blue people. For a time, I was even on that boat as well. The sequels kept getting delayed and I began to lose interest. Then something happened over the past few years. It was becoming a reality that the new movies were actually coming out and I had rewatched the original a few times. Back in May, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came out and a trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water was attached to it. I remember seeing it and feeling like I did about 13 years ago. There was a sense of wonder and awe that really got me excited. Then, back in September, the first film was remastered and re-released in IMAX 3D. My mom had never seen it so she went with me. To my surprise, she really liked and got really excited for the next one. I was really happy because Mom doesn't really care for sci-fi movies like I do. When the release date was getting closer, we told my grandpa we were going to the movies. At first he didn't want to come with us. As soon as Mom said what we were seeing, he said, "Avatar?! I'll go!" Was it worth the 13 year wait? That's what I'm here to tell you.
Avatar: The Way of Water is directed by James Cameron and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Jamie Flatters, and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss. It's been over a decade since the events of the first film, and Jake Sully (Worthington) and Neytiri (Saldana) have a family. When a familiar threat returns to Pandora, Jake must take his family and leave their home to take refuge with a clan of Na'vi that live by the sea. With all of that out of the way, let's dive into the review (pun intended)!
As I'm writing this review, I've seen this movie twice already. I loved this movie. While I'll get to the visuals in a bit, I want to first start with the characters. The Sully family is the heart of this film. Without this dynamic, I don't think the movie works. They felt like a real family. It's really interesting to see how Jake has evolved since the first Avatar. He's a soldier, yes, but now he's a father and he has to balance this out. Sam Worthington did a great job. He really lets himself be more vulnerable this time around. Early in the movie, him and Neytiri are having a discussion after just getting home from a battle. Neytiri says that he's too hard on his sons, Lo'ak (Dalton) and Neteyam (Flatters). He replies by coldly saying, "I'm their father, it's my job." She says something else to him and he looks up with tears in his eyes and says, in a much more softer voice, "I thought we'd lost them." I don't know what it was but it really got me. Jake isn't as much of a hard ass this time around. He's softened, which isn't bad at all. I also really liked the kids as well. I've said in other reviews that James Cameron and Steven Spielberg are really the only ones who know how to direct child actors and this proves it. Sometimes the line delivery is a little cringe but overall, I was invested with these characters. We spend time with some more than others. Lo'ak is the second oldest and feels like he's a disappointment. Not only does he have to live up to his father's standards, but he feels as if he's in his older brother Neteyam's shadow as well. It's a common trope, but it worked really well here. Another Sully kid we spend a lot of time with is Kiri (Weaver), who Jake and Neytiri adopt. Kiri is connected to Dr. Grace Augustine, the botanist that Sigourney Weaver played in the first film that got killed. What's interesting about this character is that she's 14, but is being played by the 73 year-old actress. I was surprised by how much this worked. It never felt like an adult trying to do a young person's voice. It felt genuine. What really helps is that Weaver really nailed the mannerisms of a teenage girl. This next part is a spoiler, so I'll start and end it with this **. If you want to go in knowing completely nothing skip this section. Going back to the characters, another one I really loved was Miles Quaritch (Lang). **SPOILERS BEGIN HERE** He was in the first but got killed when Neytiri shot him with a bunch of arrows. He's brought back in this one as a Recombinant, an avatar that is given the memories and consciousness of a deceased person. This version of Quaritch knows and remembers everything the dead Quaritch has, except he doesn't know how he died. It's a very interesting concept that is a major part of the movie. Cameron really plays up the parallels between Jake and Miles. Quaritch has become the very thing he hated in the first film and this adds a very interesting dynamic to the story. Lang knocked it out of the park here and I think he did a better job than in the first film, which is saying a lot because I liked that performance. It's cool just to see a villain who's evil and doesn't give a crap. With that being said, at some parts in the story, he is given some layers. While he has the memories of Quaritch, he's not exactly the same person. **SPOILERS END HERE**. In this film, we are introduced to a new ocean-dwelling clan of Na'vi called the Metkayina. This clan is led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and his mate, Ronal (Kate Winslet). They're very cool and quite different from the Omiticaya clan we saw in the last one. While they were connected to the forests, the Metkayina are connected to the ocean. Because of this, we see new creatures, which, like the first movie, have very unique designs. Since this tribe spends a lot of time in the water, they communicate using sign language when they're in the sea. I thought it was very interesting learning about this new group. Another thing I really loved about this movie was the action. Cameron reminds us yet again why he's such a good action director. Nothing is confusing, everything looks awesome, and it's easy to follow. The last hour or so of this movie is absolutely incredible and extremely emotional. Our heroes are put through the wringer and we feel for them. There's two scenes in particular that come to mind, but I can't talk about them since they're spoilers. Next, l'm going to talk about the visuals, which I think deserves its own section.
James Cameron has outdone himself. As I mentioned earlier I've seen this movie twice: Once in IMAX 3D and another in a normal theater. They are both visually outstanding, though I do recommend you see it in IMAX 3D if you want the full effect. The water effects are absolutely incredible. There's a scene where one of the Na'vi laughs underwater and a bunch of bubbles come out of his mouth. It looked real. There's another shot that's been in the trailers. It's this one:
I'm not sure what's real and what's not. It's incredible. What's also really interesting is the technology behind the movie. Part of the reason why it took so long for it to come out was because, like in the first one, the filmmakers had to develop the equipment to make the movie. In this case, they had to figure out to use the performance capture technology underwater. When you see the characters swimming or riding a creature in the sea, you're actually seeing the actors' performance underwater. They had to learn how to hold their breath over long periods of time. All of this effort comes through on the screen. The creatures and plants look magnificent. It looks like Cameron and his team went to another planet to film this movie.
There are a couple of issues I had with this movie. I was hoping Neytiri was going to be in this one a lot, but she's not in it as much as I thought. It's a shame because Zoe Saldana, again, is fantastic. There's one scene in particular that she has that's incrediblel. She's in the movie, don't get me wrong, but not a ton. There's a human boy in this movie named Spider (Champion). He lives with the Na'vi and has a bond with Lo'ak and Kiri. Early on, Jake likens him to a stray cat. It's also mentioned that Neytiri doesn't really care or trust him because he's a human. I was hoping this would be explored a little more. Continuing with Spider, Champion did a great job with the role. The only thing is that his character makes a decision at the end that kinda came out of nowhere. There was also one part of the movie that was edited quite oddly. There's two scenes going on and the film abruptly cuts between the two. I kind of felt a little bit of whiplash. I think it would've been better to have seen the sequences in their entirety rather than jumping back and forth. This next part, for me, isn't really a criticism. There are many portions of this movie that are identical to the last, whether that be scenarios or even lines of dialogue. This didn't really bother me because I felt that Cameron was doing this on purpose. It never stopped the movie. I've seen a lot of people complain that Way of Water and its predecessor are too simple. I honestly don't see how this is a complaint. There are a ton of fantastic movies that have simple premises. I mean, the Harry Potter franchise is a lot like Star Wars, but I don't see anyone mention that.
One final thing I want to touch on is that this movie is very long. It's over three hours. I love that. I've said many times that I really like long movies. The longer, the better. I want to start a movie and by the time it's over, not feel my lower back or legs. I hate how people use this movie's length as a criticism. Are there things that could've been trimmed? Sure, but I'm glad the studio let Cameron make the movie he wanted to make. We are living in a time where everyone wants things immediately and quickly. I'm glad that Way of Water is sort of an antithesis of that. It wants to take its time and make sure the audience cares about the characters. For the past couple of years, the source of major blockbusters has been the Marvel movies. I like those a lot, but they've gone down in quality immensely. It kind of feels like James Cameron saw this and went, "I have to address the nation." As a result, he's made a great movie that has me really excited for where the rest of this franchise goes.
To wrap everything up, Avatar: The Way of Water was worth the 13 year wait. The Sully family is the beating heart of the movie and you really care about them, the kids did a great job, Stephen Lang was amazing as the villain, the visuals are groundbreaking, and the action is fantastic. I was hoping for a little more of Neytiri and more about her relationship with Spider. There were also some scenes that were edited a little weirdly, too. However, these are very minor gripes. If I were to rate it, I'd give Avatar: The Way of Water a 9/10. Be sure to see this on the biggest screen possible and in 3D if you can!
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