Avatar: The Way of Water is a timely reminder of what cinema can do when it dares to dream big.
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Ney’tiri (Zoe Saldana) have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a brutal war against the humans.
The film features some outstanding performances and shows just how passionate the actors are about these characters. They know how to make cultural expressions come to life that really work. Sam Worthington is still a little monotone and stoic but makes it work and keeps the cool soldier/father that works well. Zoe Saldana’s ability to sound like an alien tribal cat is impressive and the raw emotion she brings out really helps enhance the heart-ripping moments. Sigourney Weaver has a pretty interesting change to her voice, as she is able to somewhat mask her voice but yet adds a familiarity that should give you hints for a twist. The rest of the cast plays their parts well and does justice in crafting the cultural twist this movie is about.
The movie is a bit long, but it uses its three-hour runtime quite well to tell a story and gives the audience a decent amount of information and emersion but smartly uses the jumps to not get lost. It handles the past and present material very well and manages to keep things easy to follow. The character stories move in tandem and, again, are easy to follow and well-edited to help keep things ingrained. Still keeps the cultural coming-of-age that works to give you the world that this franchise thrives on and does well with the placement of action, though more is welcomed, it’s placed well to build things up and adds stakes.
The emotional aspect is bigger in this one and made me feel more in my heart than in the first one. It’s tied to the characters and helps elevate the new cast beyond just the simple love interests and it helps establish an edge and connection to make you really care about the characters and their rides and will have you rooting for them to make it through. The film does have its heartbreaking moments, which keeps the established danger that a movie needs to be exciting.
I really enjoyed the character development, learning more about them and the ties that they have to the larger story. It handles different levels and responsibilities while giving those quirks to members of the family. It adds some heat and relationship-building that works with the stereotypical interactions that many tribal histories have, alongside learning to establish an interesting dynamic. It is definitely relatable, as the older characters get their own trials to get through showing attention and care for the series and not just the new generation.
The new cultural aspect is interesting and familiar like the first movie, but now we move to a different way of life in Pandora. It’s not too much of a stretch, but it’s a fantastic blend that plays by Pandora’s rules and doesn’t break the boundaries, and still is slightly different to work. And, it works well with the story without getting in the way of the pace, making a great world-building to extend the story, all the while working with the theme of water that they promised.
Overall, Director James Cameron’s latest film is a visual experience and the second outing to Pandora is just as stunning as ever. It’s smart world-building and storytelling, with great attention to detail on building a world further and honoring the characters that played in the first film so well. The action dances well with the drama and integrates many characters into the world and plays the cultural collaboration so well that it’s a true sci-fi opera that many can relate to. With more questions answered and new ones emerging, this sequel mostly feels like a standalone, but the focus on more movies may have been the thing that limited the movie a bit. Still, it’s a film that did its job quite well and is definitely worth a trip to the theater.
Avatar: The Way of Water is now playing in theaters.
What did you think of the film? Let us know in the comments below.
