As of December 16th, 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water released in theatres worldwide, and goodness is there a lot to talk about. In some respects, this 3 hour and 12 minute film soars above its predecessor—in others, it sinks; weighted down by poor writing and a swarm of tropes. But on that in a moment. Here is an unbiased review of Avatar: The Way of Avatar, looking at how this film met (or failed to meet) the grand expectations preceding it.
First, the visuals, as that’s one element nobody could argue fell flat.
While the original Avatar (2009) was certainly a marvel, holding up well over the 13 years since it’s debut, this film has taken Avatar’s CGI to a new level. It’s the only film I’ll ever vouch for seeing in 3D, though with how the 3D glasses tint the screen’s colour, I honestly recommend viewing it in standard as well to experience all vibrancy the world of Pandora has to offer. While the Na’vi themselves were well-executed in design (apart from some awkwardly stale facial expressions), the environments themselves are what truly stole the show. Whether soaring through the air or splashing into water, every frame looks absolutely stunning.
What doesn’t hold up as well is the music, though this is more of a personal gripe than anything—I wouldn’t be surprised should people disagree. While the music itself is in no way bad, it can sometimes feel a little too intense in the calmer moments, and vice versa in some of the action-based sequences. The themes are often repeated to boot, making each song a bit tiresome by the end.
As for the plot… well, that’s where things become complicated.
Not much seems to happen throughout the movie’s duration when written out, unlike Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is of a similar length, or even the original Avatar itself. Still, the banality of many scenes adds to the film, as The Way of Water perfectly manages to pull off the artistic, slow pace so many movies attempt to achieve (yet fail). Plus, when what’s on screen is as gorgeous as in this film, nothing feels like a slog. I won’t tell of any specific moments for the sake of keeping this a spoiler-free review, but the scenes with a certain character and his whale friend serve as prime examples.
Sadly, while you’d think that making a movie so languid and long would make it feel continuous and flowing—it’s named The Way of Water after all—the story seems disjointed; fragmented. The pacing, while usually slow as previous mentioned, does have a few moments of sheer adrenaline that seem utterly out of place. And goodness, the tropes: I think every character was a damsel in distress at one point, some being the damsel, then saved, and then damsel again about 2 minutes later. It was nothing but tedious, particularly at what would be considered the “climax” of the film.
But what really disappointed my family and I when going to see this film were the characters.
Now, some were fantastic; the antagonist, who I will not name, was the best example of bringing back an old baddie done right. The acting of many background characters was spot on to boot. However, much of the main cast (Neytiri, who became the stereotypical mother hen and just screamed whenever she was on screen, Jake Sully, who was even blander than in the first film (though luckily he was left out of the limelight), and their children) was incredibly lackluster.
As for dialogue, all characters speak English from 4 minutes in onwards, which I understand from the producer’s perspective, but personally found disconcerting—especially since much of the language used was modern slang. If I had heard the word “bro” one more time before the credits rolled, I may have just about packed my things and left the theatre. It’s a real shame, in my opinion. Much of the other word choice was, well, choice to boot, making for less than sublime interactions between characters.
Yet, for some reason, despite all these flaws, I genuinely enjoyed this film. In fact, I’d say I liked it more than anything I’ve seen in theatres this year. I suppose you could chalk it up to the spectacular nature of the Avatar franchise, or maybe even nostalgia, but honestly, I’d argue that it’s just plain entertaining. With plans to see it again, I’m looking forward to diving deeper into the world of Avatar: The Way of Water, and recommend it to any and all interested—if only to get a pretty screensaver. It's worth at least one watch.
Now, let’s just hope James Cameron won’t wait 13 years before releasing the next one…
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