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Avatar: The Way of Water
(20th Century Studios/Lightstorm Entertainment)
By Lucas Allen
The world was a different place 13 years ago when 2009’s “Avatar” was a breakthrough and innovative blockbuster everyone was talking about. Writer/director James Cameron created the world of Pandora through the then-latest advances in 3D and mo-cap technology and billions of box office dollars later, it launched a new franchise. It felt like forever, but the second film “Avatar: The Way of Water” has finally arrived to help pay off such patience. The Oscar-winning filmmaker returns to expand more of his ambitious sci-fi vision that goes from the floating mountains to under the ocean’s surface.
In the years since liberating the Na’vi, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) remained on Pandora with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) to raise a family. They have two teenage sons Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) hoping to follow in their father’s footsteps, youngest daughter Tuk (Trinity Bliss), adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), and Spider (Jack Champion) the only human member of their tribe. But their peaceful world is once again disrupted by the “sky people,” which is the military led by General Frances Ardmore (Edie Falco) bent on building a new Earth out of Pandora. When they unleashed the now-resurrected Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and his Na’vi unit on a revenge mission and kidnapped Spider, Sully and his family escaped from their home and find a new home in the island nation of the Metkayina clan.
The clan’s leader Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and his wife Ronal (Kate Winslet) reluctantly accepts them into their tribe as well as their sons Aonung (Filip Geljo) and Rotxo (Duane Evans Jr.) and daughter Tsireya (Bailey Bass), who teach their kids the ways of being in the water. However, Kiri is questioning her existence being birth from the avatar of late scientist Grace (also Weaver), while Lo’ak feels more like an outcast and makes a connection to a lost alien whale. But when Quaritch and his crew finally track his family down, Sully and Neytiri will do everything they can to fight to the last breath.
If the visual appeal of “Avatar” is what you’ve wanted, then this followup gives you an eyeful of it and more with the 3D experience. Throughout it, there’s one great sequence after the next that never lets up on both the thrills and the grandeur. When you see it in 3D, the images wonderfully pop out of the screen and it helps to enhance the film’s adventurous experience.
Like before, the world of Pandora is a real sight to behold with the addition of an underwater world. The many sea creatures that appear front and center are fascinating to watch, while the 3D cinematography makes the audience feel like they’re really swimming with the characters. It’s also like having a breathtaking summer vacation on the planet and away from the wintry drab of the season.
For all the ambition put into this film, the story this time around feels somewhat thin and it feels padded sometimes with some silent sequences to stretch it to the movie’s three-hour runtime. Not to mention, some plot points involving Kiri and Spider don’t have a resolution and likely only foreshadowing for the next film. As much as he’s well known as a visionary filmmaker, Cameron does tend to bend over backwards in telling a good story within an excessive runtime.
Despite some script issues, the acting is still as top-notch as the first film with some returning actors given a chance to add more dimensions. Worthington becomes more believable as a father than just simply a warrior, while Saldana pushes herself further as fierce fighter and very protective mother. Weaver gives the most difficult job of playing a teenager and actually did a marvelous job especially when she’s interacting with the younger actors. As for Lang, he’s basically playing the same role but in a new form, but manages to be as entertaining as ever in what’s essentially a way better sequel for him to be in than last year’s disastrously grim “Don’t Breathe 2.”
With “Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron has become the Frank Herbert of sci-fi moviemaking. His ambitious vision comes through the screen with power and magnificence that’ll surely gain a sizable following. If you can get past certain writing discrepancies and enjoy the 3D, it’s worth the three hours in the theater. Also, “Avatar 3” is already on the way and hype will be going through the roof.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: PG-13 (for sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity, and some strong language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 3.75 Stars (Out of Four)
