Avatar The Way of Water Movie Review: James Cameron's Sci-Fi Sequel Is a Spectacular Visual Treat That Revels in Deep World-Building! (LatestLY Exclusive)

Avatar The Way of Water Movie Review: I remember being nine-years old, and pulling up in the theatre with my dad and just being amazed at the visuality of the world James Cameron had created with the original Avatar. It’s been almost 13 years since we last visited Pandora and experienced a visual experience like we had never seen before. Now, Cameron returns with Avatar: The Way of Water in hopes to recapture that same effect the first film had, and while it does get a bit light on story, there is no denying that there is a memorable experience in this three-hour long adventure. Black Panther Wakanda Forever Movie Review: Tenoch Huerta, Letitia Wright Bring Their A-Game to Marvel’s Most Poignant Film Yet! (LatestLY Exclusive).

Picking up a decade after the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water sees the Sully family leave the Na’vi and join the Metkayina water clan after the sky people return and start hunting them. Having to learn their ways, they must face a familiar enemy that brings out the wounds of past and shows the lengths they go just to keep each other safe. That’s primarily the set-up for the second film, and in many ways, it does feel compelling considering how much of the themes here rely on the aspect of family (Fast and Furious you better watch out).

Avatar: The Way of Water quickly gives us a quick rundown of what has taken place in those ten years since the first film. Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) live a peaceful life as they parent four children. One of them is adopted, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), who was born out of Grace, from the first film, and has a deep connection to the Eywa.

The plot for Avatar: The Way of Water is interesting considering a lot of the themes from the first film are brought on over here, but are showcased from a different POV. Stephen Lang’s Quaritch makes a compelling return in the sequel with his consciousness being transferred into that of an Avatar after his death. Having the same memories and conflicts as him, he makes for a well-rounded antagonist and his presence feels threatening as he tries to adapt the ways of the Na’vi to fight Jake Sully.  James Cameron has a great way of navigating through sequels as is proven with Terminator 2 and Aliens, and over here he does prove himself again once more.

Watch the Trailer:

Talking about Jake Sully, he and Neytiri take a huge step back here. So much of the screentime is given to the kids, even though Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana bring their a-game here. While I initially found their lack of involvement in the plot a bit disappointing, the coming-of-age aspect that the film brought to the plot of the kids made up for it. My favourite being of Kiri’s of course, the adopted daughter of Jake and Neytiri, who is portrayed by Sigourney Weaver. With Sigourney being at the helm, I was initially worried that her involvement might create for a jarring aspect, yet the veteran actress pulls it off really well.

Britain Dalton’s Lo’ak, Jake’s second son made for a highlight in the film too. Being the troublemaker of all the siblings, he very much plays into the concept of the first films themes being showcased from a different point-of-view. Travelling to an unknown region, and being treated as an outcast by the Metkayina’s, he really reminds you of Jake’s initial struggle in the Na’vi clan. Also having an interesting dynamic where he is just trying to live up to be a warrior in his father’s eyes, it does make the film have a heartfelt dynamic. However, it’s the kids plot that makes some of Cameron’s more blooming issues seem a bit more visible too.

Cameron’s dialogue in these sequences especially comes off extremely clunky, and something his previous films have suffered from a lot. A lot of the banter between the children seems unnatural at times with them dropping “bro” and “cuz” in every other sentence, it just feels like Cameron was trying to appease to a newer generation with a caricature that never really felt natural for the world of Pandora. Especially the human character of Spider (Jack Champion), a child born at Hell’s Gates and adopted by the Na’vi, I was never fully invested in his story.

The first half of the film feels clunky in its execution too. Avatar: The Way of Water drops some huge revelations that retcon parts from the first film; it does demand a huge leeway from the audience, that I don’t think it earns right from the start. It keeps on moving at a frantic pace, and there is certainly a moment of the film feeling a bit aimless there, however, things completely change when they move out of the environment of the forest.

So much of Avatar: The Way of Water’s marketing was focused on the new motion capture technology they came up with for the shooting of underwater scenes, and Cameron literally blew me away here. You have never seen visuals look this good on the big screen and Cameron’s amazing handling of the camera made for a spectacle. A specific instance saw Jake tying a rope on his new mount while floating above on water, and I swear it looked like a real hand.

This makes the new clan of Metkaniya, led by Cliff Curtis’ Tonowari and Kate Winslet’s Ronal (who has a very brief appearance) seem so deep with world building galore being the name of the game in Avatar: The Way of Water. They have their own set of rules, traditions and way of living that you feel engrossed as Cameron wears his social commentary on his sleeves. There is no one on this planet who loves water more than James Cameron, and Avatar: The Way of Water is the perfect example of it. Avatar The Way of Water Director James Cameron to Skip His Film's LA Premiere as He Tests COVID-19 Positive.

The action is spectacular with moments of excitement being delivered with such huge thrills that it was hard not to cheer in those moments. Be it a whale flipping out of water just to land a devastating impact on a ship or Neytiri shooting an arrow through an enemy’s cranium, the action was raw and riveting which was bolstered by a great score by Simon Franglen who picks up the late James Horner’s leitmotifs from the first film so well. It all makes for a final act that probably has to be one of my favourite and most memorable hours in a blockbuster so far.

Yay!

The Visuals

Final Act

Coming-Of-Age Plot

Nay!

Clunky Dialogue

Rough First Act

Final Thoughts

Avatar: The Way of Water is a master class in visuals that is only made better by its impeccable world-building. While the movie does have issues in its dialogue and a rough first act that can feel clunky, Cameron’s sense of ambition and scale will bring you back into the world of Pandora like never before. Avatar: The Way of Water releases in theatres on December 16, 2022.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2022 12:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).