Rating of
3/4
Avatar: Just Add Water
Chris Kavan - wrote on 01/08/23
With Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron essentially lives up to the phrase "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I can say with no uncertainty that if you liked the original Avatar, chances are this sequel will work just as well - mainly because it's almost the exact same movie but add in a family dynamic and upgraded visuals.
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have settled into their family life on Pandora. They have three children - oldest son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), risk-taking Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) and young daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) along with the adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) - who is the daughter of Grace and whose father is a mystery. There is also Spider (Jack Champion) a human child left behind and raised in part by their family and the scientists left behind (Joel David Moore returns as Norm). But their peace is short-lived as a new human invasion force arrives led by General Ardmore (Edie Falco) and a cloned Quaritch (Stephen Lang), in a Na'vi body along with a group of fellow soldiers.
While Sully and his clan do everything they can to sabotage the new forces, he soon realizes that he and his families presence is drawing in Quaritch and his crew and decides the best course of action is to leave it all behind and seek refuge on the islands of the Metkayina Na'vi. Led by Chief Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet) they reluctantly let them stay, provided they learn their own ways. They also task Princess Tsireya (Bailey Bass) and Prince Aonung (Filip Geljo) with teaching the children their ways as well. But it doesn't take long to realize that not everyone is happy with this arrangement and conflict ensues - and it's also not long before Quaritch is able to figure out where they have gone and will do anything to bring them out leading to a spectacular battle on the seas.
Everything in Way of Water reminds me of the first film - you have another fish-out-of-water learning phase, more creatures to bond with and even a new "magic" McGuffin - in the form of amarita, found only in the brains of the whale-like Tulkun, an intelligent species that has a powerful bond with the Metkayina. You even have the same villain - sure, he's a bit more tall and blue but all the same. Sure, the film throws in a lot of the family dynamic - that was a big selling point - and Weaver's Kiri has an interesting story - as well as a connection to the planet - but that looks like it will come more in to play in the inevitable sequels that are to come. If you're here for the story, sorry to say you're probably going to get a big sense of deja vu.
The film also feels overly long at well over three hours but at least Cameron gets one thing right: the film looks amazing. If Avatar put 3D on the map, maybe this sequel will bring it back. The visuals are truly stunning and the water aspect just makes it that much more amazing. While some things feel too drawn out - it's worth it for the big battle and aftermath - it's the kind of thing that makes you hit the edge of your seat and not come down. It can't count for everything but it does count for a lot.
Cameron has gone on record saying Way of Water needs to hit $2 billion to break even - and allow for the rest of the sequels. As of this writing it has made over $500 million stateside and over $1.7 billion worldwide and shows little sign of slowing down. We're getting more Avatar, that's for sure. I just hope we don't have to wait nearly as long next time and maybe, just maybe, we can tread some new ground in the future beyond the visuals.
