Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) User Reviews

Visually stunning and action packed but story is light

[JumpingCineFile · 7/10 · 15 December 2022]

This sequel has a design and look that matches the first film but it no longer has the same impact. While the ocean setting brings new creatures for us to marvel at - it isn't as breathtakingly new as it was 13 years ago.

There are a lot of action set pieces and all of them are great to watch, although they feel either repetitive or borrowed from previous Cameron films like Titanic.

For me, bringing back both the Grace character and the evil colonel felt too much. One of them, Grace (Sigorney Weaver), would have been sufficient, the Colonel could easily have been a brother like in Die Hard 3, although this would require additional story changes regarding the adolescent « Spider » character. But that would have been better than the whole « importance of Family » theme running through everything. Just too much of that for me, as well as let's make sure only incidental characters die.

The 3D and higher frame rate aspects added nothing extra for me, and at times made it feel like video and not like a real film - although interestingly this video feel was not always there like in the Hobbit films, but would come and go.

The story of this film becomes a battle between Jake and the cloned Colonel, with the rest of the global aspect of Pandora verses Humans dropping by the wayside. It would have been more interesting if the new antagonist, not a clone of the Colonel, disobeys his orders from the General and goes AWOL to hunt down Jake - like Captain Ahab and the white whale.

Not his best shot

[LonelyGhost · 7/10 · 14 December 2022]

The visual effects are amazing. But Cameron should be better than this.

I'm a big fan of Mr Cameron. Not only for his directing skills, but also for his screenwriting skills. But this time he seemed to have missed the goal. I know he rarely does sequels. But is this the best he could do? The story has not changed anything compared to the previous episode. Repeated crises, repeated enemies, repeated conflicts,and wait a minute,WHAT? Even repeated Titanic. Are you serious?

As a director, he also did not reach his previous level. For a long time, the pace of the film felt too slow. Yes, the underwater scenes are phenomenal. But this is not the Blue Planet, this is a sci-fi action movie. At least it's what most audiences expect from the film, isn't it?

CONTINUE TO BE A VISUAL SPECTACLE, BUT...

[loikwonghung · 7/10 · 14 December 2022]

With over a decade of technology improvement, the movie provides even better visuals, more believable CGI(not that the first one didn't), it also continues the beautiful cinematography.

But, the script is far inferior to the last one. The movie tries to focus on "family", and with Jake and Neytiri already had a movie, this one focus heavily on the children. But most of the plot lines fall into the trap of being a set-up for sequels. A few plots left unanswer in the end and a few plots begin after the mid point and already wrap after just after being introduced. Some of the charcaters are downgraded into 1 dimensional and some do not learn anything meaningful throughout the story. And the focus of the movie shifts completely once entered the third act which diminishes all the set-up from before.

In conclusion, definitely a must watch, better visuals but slightly worst script.

Film making at its finest

[yogesh-palai · 10/10 · 19 December 2022]

This is an art. You may not be moved much by the story. But you cant deny the experience.

I'd goosebumps 10-15 times atleast just by looking at those mind boggling beautiful frames.

Talking about the story, it may appear like lot of build up right from start, the end action sequences almost lasted for an hour and boy, oh boyy those beautifully transitioning frames will ensure your mouth remains open just because of its sheer beauty. At times it looked soo beautiful I almost cried a little.

You may feel I'm bit exaggerating, may be I am. But 1 thing I'd bet on is, you can't deny the experience.

THE EXPERIENCE is why I'm rating this 10/10.

Damn James Cameron...

[Dory_Darko · 9/10 · 14 December 2022]

He did it again. And I don't even really understand how. He has some kind of mysterious, special power that he secretly wields over us and we don't even notice. That's how he keeps tricking us into spending all our hard-earned money to see his movies, so much so that we've made him the most commercially successful director of all time. Because these are James Cameron's most typical trademarks, for pretty much all of his movies, which he has once again dutifully employed in Avatar 2:

~ The story is paper-thin.

~ The dialogue was written by a 16-year-old intern.

~ The soundtrack is unbelievably cheesy.

~ The lead actor has no discernable acting skills.

~ The bad guys are all 100% completely evil, and the good guys are all but entirely saintly.

~ The message and moral of the story are about as subtle and nuanced as a jackhammer.

And yet.....

IT'S SO DAMN COOL.

The world he and his visual design team have created is truly a work of art... It's stunningly beautiful, creative and inventive and it makes you want to be there so badly, it hurts. The action sequences are reliably awesome as always, and there are some truly heartfelt emotional passages. In all honesty, the story is awfully predictable, and an almost step-by-step rehash of the first movie. But it's damn near impossible to be bothered by this, because the magic is there, and it's real. And the whales... Oh my god, the whales. Or whale-like creatures, anyway. Absolutely spellbinding. The familiar characters are precisely the same as they were before, and it makes the past 13-year wait seem like nothing at all. It's like meeting with friends you haven't seen for a while. I especially love Zoe Saldaña, she was always the shining star of Avatar, and she's just as mesmerising here, even if her screentime is a bit shorter. The new characters are all good, strong additions to the whole. Cliff Curtis is very powerful as the Sea People's chief, and Kate Winslet is absolutely unrecognisable as his mate, which is as big a compliment as I can think of.

But the biggest, and most pleasant surprise, are Jake and Neytiri's children. All but one, played by young, virtually inexperienced actors who all understand their assignments perfectly. They are, without exception, lovely and engaging and very real. They each have to deal with their own respective troubles that come with their coming of age, and all these young performers were cast perfectly. I loved them. The "but one", however, is one of the most surprising character/performer pairings I've ever seen. Sigourney Weaver plays a 14-year-old. Yes you read that right. And it's amazing. She's amazing, it's all amazing...

Damn James Cameron. If he was a superhero, his name would be Magic Movie Man.

Bro, The only thing it nails is how pretty it is

[fraser-simons · 6/10 · 29 December 2022]

Technically gorgeous, but the story is similarly emotionally manipulative without really thinking through the colonial themes, making it recursive of the first - even with the exact same antagonists, which get more screen time despite that being used little to no effect, except to perpetuate similar circumstances for the next movie. How exasperating. LET THE BAD GUY GO FFS. The kid saying bro every five seconds was excruciating. Why would they have the same vernacular as 20th century people? Why would the kid have that affectation when no one else uses it? It's so stupid.

It is bloated, indulgent, and repeats the same criticisms with a bullheaded script that feels like it knows that and spits in the face of it. The only reason to see the movie, as with the first, is the CGI. If you've seen any movie about outsiders living with indigenous people threatened by the same culture, you've seen this movie.

Also, if I have.

A movie worth going to see at the cinema

[Harkonnen2 · 9/10 · 14 December 2022]

The movie while not fantastic storywise was very enjoyable and well worth going to see it. The visuals where beyond fantastic and makes this years other blockbuster CGI look like a joke. Would recommended strongly seeing it in 3D, while its mostly a novelty that because in most cases its done cheaply as a gimmic. Not in this case .The biggest suprise was how they returned some of the characters from the 1st movie which just fit right in.

You either go see it in the cinema (biggest screen possible) or don't bother watching it at all. If your thought is to wait and stream it, save yourself 3hrs and don't bother (unless you have a great home theatre (even then....)

Visuals Top, Movie Not

[Tweetienator · 6/10 · 16 December 2022]

The strong suit of the first Avatar movie was for sure not the story (the retelling of Pocahontas in a sci-fi context etc. - my rate for that one is a straight 8), so I did not expect a sophisticated plot or something substantial, and like expected, the story is nothing worth to mention or remarkable. Fore sure, The Way of Water is no bad experience, the effects are fine, the production superb, so I dare to say, if you liked the first one you will like this one most likely too. All in all I was entertained, but the trip had some lengthy parts too, some cutting (like in many productions these days) would have done some magick to the experience of The Way of Water. Also the sensation of the new style like movies like the first Matrix, Sin City and Avatar provided is gone - you know what you get. So I gotta confess, here and there I was slightly bored, and sometimes it was like watching the cinematic to a (well made) computer game. In my humble opinion, the media mostly does overpraise this work by James Cameron like they did with the Dune remake by Denis Villeneuve. Eye-candy? Yes. Cinematic masterpieces? No.

James Cameron's triumphant return

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 9/10 · 14 December 2022]

It's hard to believe the sequel to Avatar has actually come out. After 13 years and what feels like half-a-dozen delays, it's officially here.

As someone who was surprised by how much that 2009 movie held up on a recent viewing, and therefore had high expectations for a sequel, I'd say it lived up to the hype. Maybe it's a little less great, but I'd have to sit with it a little while longer before I could be sure.

First of all, this movie is long. 192 minutes long. I didn't feel the length, in all honesty. I got wrapped up in the movie and how it looked and sounded so much that it probably could have gone on another hour and I still wouldn't have felt restless. It's one of the best-paced 3+ hour movies I've ever seen... and you could argue it's even paced a little too fast in the first act, thanks to a time-skip that means the viewer has to be caught up to speed quickly.

Visually and effects-wise, it's perfect. Numerous expensive blockbusters are released every year, but few are given the time that Avatar 2's clearly been given. As such, it looks leagues better than any other $100 million-plus movie released in the last few years. The 3D is great (not something I'd say often), and it finds stunning new areas of Pandora to explore, thanks to the extensive underwater scenes.

Story-wise, I'd say it's a little less predictable than the first, which has a story that seems to bother some people. If anything, James Cameron might only be criticised for borrowing too much from himself - introducing child characters made me think of Aliens and Terminator 2, while parts of the action scenes in Avatar 2 will look a little familiar to anyone who's seen Titanic, The Abyss, or even Terminator (1984).

There's a little corny dialogue, a couple of slightly clunky scenes early on, and a lack of a definitive climax, seeing as there are more sequels planned. There are problems, but they barely matter. The strengths of this movie are overwhelming, and make this a must-watch in cinemas. It just felt great to see a blockbuster like this again; it's been a while.

Avatar: The Way of Water follows in its predecessor's footsteps with stunning effects and a mediocre story.

[Paragon240 · 6/10 · 16 December 2022]

It's a James Cameron film, so it's impressive. The special effects, camerawork, world-building, and action were all off the charts. But Avatar: The Way of Water struggles like its predecessor in the story and character development departments. In fact, the story of The Way of Water is almost identical to the first Avatar. Instead of humans learning to be Na'vi and then fighting Stephen slang, a family of forest Na'vi learns to be ocean Na'vi and then fight Stephen Lang. All the strengths and weaknesses of the first movie are back in this one, with the bonus of being compared to the original. It really is a visual feast and special effects masterpiece, but just like the first Avatar, that's all it is.

Another technical achievement for James Cameron but the story is simple and forgettable

[jaysonpajaronvistal · 8/10 · 15 December 2022]

I decided to rewatch the first Avatar last night before watching Avatar 2 and I am always in awe of how stunning the visuals are; it was a crowd-pleaser and more agreeable for the general audience. However, with the first Avatar, the story was basic and simple---it was rather forgettable. The thing is, the Avatar franchise has a simple story but it was told grandly. 'Avatar: The Way of Water' was a captivating visual feast, with every attempt beautifully framed via painstakingly flawless CGI, but the message about protecting your loved ones is not new to us, but it was ingenious. James Cameron's level of perfectionism translates to the audience; the details of every frame are precise and I can't help but wonder how on earth he has done that. It is the simple plot accompanied by such technical achievement that has always been the formula for almost all of Cameron's movies, not just Avatar. Simplicity is not a bad thing.

Just like in the first Avatar, characters are established a lot, and there is not much emotional attachment during the first half. However, the thrill and excitement peaked during the second act were worth it---This is the trick for most highly-budget films, they will entice you with visual and technical achievement, but the story is not that grand nor special for the audience to keep talking about it in the next 5 years. The Pandora world Cameron takes us to is excellent and magnificently conceptualized, but the story is missing the emotional draw that made this film a pretentious masterpiece. Though the visuals are still magnificent, it's difficult this time not to recognize the repetition of the story and the limited character arcs the movie presented. You will remember Avatar---aside from blue people---as a movie with impeccable and out-of-this-world visuals, but the story remains forgettable.

Some films are just pure escapism and sometimes that's what audiences need, and this is what Avatar 2 delivered. Avatar 2 doesn't necessarily check all those boxes to become a great film, but what it does right will offer viewers moments of astonishment, full-body immersion, and beauty. You can easily watch the movie and points out its mistakes and flaws, but it is hard to resist the fun and adventure the film delivers throughout its 192 minutes runtime. It is clear that James Cameron is making this movie for a general audience, and while imperfect, it certainly seems to serve its purpose.

Most part felt like watching a sequence from National Geographic

[EvanoOruvan · 6/10 · 16 December 2022]

Without question, this has the best CG works I have seen in recent movies.. Visuals are outstanding.. Underwater sequences and the fight scenes felt very real.. And that's all to it.. Just because it's a visual masterpiece, I cannot spend continuous 12-15 minutes just watching the underwater animals.. It felt like watching some episode from National Geographic or Animal planet..

Overall, if you cut 30-40 mins of such parts, you will still not miss anything in the story line.. First half was mostly to setup the environment and was very lagging .. I was like ,"Okay.. I get it.. it's a great place with different creatures.. Now, please move on to the storyline..".. Climax fight portion was good but not as great as the Avatar 2009 climax fight.. After the fight we still get some 5-10 mins of lagging scenes.. "Come on ... Finish it already"...

A major plot hole that I would think of is the reason for the presence of humans on Pandora.. What happened to the reason from part 1?! And why all these unnecessary hunting of someone who already fled the fight?!

To watch this movie in cinemas and experience it is an one time opportunity in life, provided you can bear the portions which makes you feel like sitting inside a boring science class...

Messy and Inconsistent Plot Points, Over bloated With Teen Melodrama, But Pretty Visuals

[dommercaldi · 4/10 · 29 January 2023]

Pros: 1. For the most part, the movie has exceptional visuals and produces some stunning scenes, especially in the water. This film definitely serves as a love letter from James Cameron (Director) to the ocean.

2. There are some touching scenes when it came to Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) caring for their family, and teaching them to care for each other.

3. There are some entertaining action sequences that are engaging.

4. The strong emphasis on family, and the importance to said family, is refreshing and a positive message to take away.

Cons: 1. Plot-wise, this film was pretty much a rehashing of the first one as the evil humans come to conquer Pandora, but are beaten back by the virtuous Na'vi's.

2. The run-time is far too long, and the script definitely isn't expansive enough to effectively fill out the 3 hour runtime. At least an hour could have been shaved off, especially with the boring teen-melodrama between the Jake's kids and the water tribes' kids.

3. There are moments where the animation looks a little janky.

4. Jack Champion (Spider) cannot act, and his character is both annoying and pointless. Spider just exists as a weak conduit to humanise Quaritch.

5. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and his marines are supposedly deadly and well-trained, but they pretty much lose every conflict, no matter how big or small, that they're engaged in. Moreover, the whole point of them coming back to Pandora as Na'vi was to infiltrate the world and get closer to Jake to kill him. However, they retain their marine get-up and weapons (which makes them stick out like a sore thumb), and their tactics used to flush Jake out, consists of them laying siege to Na'vi villages, torturing and killing the villagers, and then setting said villages aflame.

6. Jake is depicted as virtuous and brave as he decides to leave the forest to protect his people from Quaritch, but he has no problem in seeking sanctuary with the water people and putting them in danger. He just saves one people at the expense of others.

7. It seems almost every drama and conflict is initiated by Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) disobeying Jake. It quickly becomes a tired and overused plot device to move the story along.

8. The pro-environmental message is far too preachy and in your face. It also lacks subtlety in presentation like the anti-colonial messaging in the first movie.

9. There's no nuance at all. The humans, who have actually travelled to Pandora in order to seek survival for humans, are portrayed as unequivocally evil, polluting and selfish, whereas the Na'vi are noble, courageous and in touch with nature. A deservedly more balanced viewing of the motivations of the humans could have added a lot more depth and intrigue into the story.

10. This film ret-cons one of the most interesting plot points of the first movie, wherein the humans needed to link their live bodies to a machine which would transfer their consciousness to a Na'vi avatar. In this film however, it's revealed that humans have invented a microchip which allows them to upload their thoughts, emotions and personality traits to it. This not only now makes their second invasion of Pandora redundant as they're effectively immortal now, but it removes a big source of tension that the first movie had when Jake's human body was being hunted down by Quaritch. Moreover, as established in this film, they had invented this technology during the timeline of the first movie, so why didn't they use it?

One of the most visually innovative films ever

[louis1011 · 9/10 · 18 December 2022]

This film is visually stunning. It simply has to be seen on the biggest screen possible in 3d. That's the best way to enjoy this film just let it consume you. The story is one that most people can get behind and it's enhanced by the visual storytelling on screen. I haven't looked at the film in detail because so much happened and it was so visually engulfing. I'm not saying the story is perfect but the 3 hour+ runtime helped flesh out all of the characters and give the story depth and weight that you only really get with TV series theses days.

Honestly there could be a few plot holes but I don't really care. If you're looking to nitpick this movie then maybe you should rethink your life just and enjoy one of the most gorgeous pieces of art this world has ever produced. Just think of how much work was put into this and how amazing it feels.

This film has got to be one of the best cinema experiences I've ever had probably along with 1917, Dunkirk, the original Avatar and the re-release of Akira. I know I haven't seen 2001 in imax so maybe that would knock this film out the park but who knows.

I'm probably gonna see this movie 3 or 4 more times at least in imax even if it means I'm broke it's just one of those films that is just breathtaking.

I Don't care. I just don't. This was beautiful, and an absolute experience in 3D imax.

[adrenilinmatt-56062 · 10/10 · 3 January 2023]

Okay. I'm just gunna write from my heart here on this one, mainly because that's what was impacted most by this "movie". We call it a movie, but for me, and my ENTIRE family, sitting in an imax theatre with the sound blasting, the visuals in our faces via the perfectly implemented real 3D, this was more an experience than just a movie. And I really feel confident that I'm not exaggerating when I say that.

Is this the most complex, well written, nuanced story ever created? No. Is this a movie that does a massive amount to improve on the writing from the first movie? Well, not really, but kind of. Is this a movie that has a bunch of characters you'll absolutely adore by the end and remember forever? No, outside ot one particular character, which I loved a great deal. Sigourney nailing it.

Does this movie need to be or have any of the things I mentioned above to be an amazing experience that will draw the breath out of your lungs, and part your lips in utter disbelief at what you're seeing and, at times, almost FEELING? NOPE.

This movie needs to be exactly what it is. An experience almost essential to be had in the biggest, baddest, bells and whistles attached theatre screen you can possibly get yourself into. This is a 10 out of 10 CINEMA experience. As a movie, watched on its own, at home on your smaller screen, streamed or otherwise, I'd say its a 7.5 or 8/10. Similar to the first movie which I think is okay... maybe a 7.

My opinion on this movie is, if you're a person that can sit in the theatre with the 3D and surround sound, imax and whatever else, watching the film, and come out of the other end totally unaffected, you're a miserable person that's just looking for something you'll never find.

After the last few years we've endured as a species, the 3 hours of magic this film provides, in a good theatre, was more than enough to leave me, the entire group I was with, and the entirety of the audience I sat within, with huge smiles and the occasional teary eye upon the credits rolling. A buzzing atmosphere walking out with people looking more amazed than I've seen since Spider man NWH.

I don't care what say about plot, story, whatever, try to be less miserable. This WAS an experience I and many others won't ever forget, and I can't wait for the next one.

10 of 10, PLEASE SEE IN CINEMA BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Masterpiece CGI for a nothing plot

[winterfishes · 6/10 · 14 December 2022]

I loved how beautiful it was. The CGI and cinematography is a work of art. Also, I saw it in the cinema which everyone should absolutely do! But the plot was such a snooze fest. Just insert any classic sequel plot - here's your hero, they've grown up, have a family, and there are some bad guys, the heroes are threatened, they have to fight back yada yada. I mentally clocked out a couple times only snap back into it and realise nothing had happened. At least the Aussie guy was entertaining.

Also it is looooong. So maybe that didn't help things. I can imagine watching this at home with an interval in between and enjoying it more.

Go see it for the visuals. Just don't prepare to use your brain understanding the story.

Amazing visuals. Simple (but not bad) story and great characters

[linusmarhold · 9/10 · 14 December 2022]

The movie was great IMO. Some lower ratings will be expected since it wasn't as action packed as the first one and the main plot isn't anything mind-blowing. However I think this was an amazing experience. The visuals were truly stunning and mesmerizing. I'd say 99% of the effects in this movie were unbelievably good and where there were some few scenes that could've looked better, those scenes still looked as good (if not even better) than most other block buster movies like the MCU. Story wise I believe it was simple, but definitely not bad. The movie focuses more on developing the characters bond with each other and their own individual progress. The movie wasn't as action packed and grand as the first Avatar, which is to be expected since there's 3 more films to follow now. The 3+ hour run time felt like it flew past and as the movie was concluding I actually wished it was longer just cause how amazingly well done the effects were, especially the underwater scenes.

The movie definitely lived up to all of my expectations after the first movie, which basically were: even more incredible visual effects, cool action scenes and a good story.

A beautiful highly entertaining movie, but a bit cheesy and cliche

[namob-43673 · 7/10 · 16 December 2022]

If you loved the first movie, you are likely to love this too. This movie too has a thin story, very basic dialogue, and has a very simplistic outlook on life and story. And yet, again as the first one, this movie is beautiful, the story is about family and love, and Cameron just know how to pull those strings. This is what Hollywood used to be so great at and clearly Cameron is one of the last true directors of tinseltown.

I am not completely sold on this. I think the movie is too long, I think the simplistic worldview with no shades of gray, and the somewhat cringe dialogue reduces the score too much for me to fully enjoy this spectacle. However this is very entertaining, it is stunning to look at, and I will give this a lot of props for the feel of the movie. There is just something about this experience that gets to you, and as I mention initially the magic of the first movie is definitely still there. This will be the biggest box office of the year for sure, but I cannot say it was a great movie to me.

I gave it a 7/10 and I do highly recommend this, especially if you loved the first one, but I find the movie a bit too cheesy to be anything great...but I felt the same about the first one so...

An impressive achievement weighed down.

[lord0faiiusion · 8/10 · 18 December 2022]

James Cameron is easily the most ambitious film maker in the business with the knowledge and credibility to do literally whatever he wants. Nowhere is this more evident than the mammoth Avatar sequel. He pulls off yet another visually stunning film that feels real, but the indulgence of the studio and no one to say no to him create some unfortunate flaws.

The humans are almost universally cartoonishly evil. When they come back to Pandora, their ships essentially nuke a majority of the setting of the last film. They cruelly hunt whale analogues, specifically hunting females with calfs, all while knowing explicitly that they are intelligent, emotional alien species.

Cameron's biggest issue though is the cast. There are about 10 or so main characters in this movie, and Cameron tries to give all but two a complete, separate, story arc of their own. Several times it feels like 3 movies were actually spliced and intercut together because there are so many threads being handled at the same time, but to his credit, they all come together exceptionally well in the climax and are all fairly satisfyingly and efficiently resolved.

So while it is fashionable to hate on everything that anyone ambitious tries to do right now, and try and root for everything popular to fail, I think Way of Water is a very interesting experience which should be seen in 3D at the theatre as the director intended. Because, while the film is by no means perfect, when someone tells you they built their own rocket to Mars in the back yard, people should gather to watch the launch because succeed or fail, it is going to be worth the price of admission.

What a a ride!

[accsailgl · 9/10 · 19 December 2022]

Take the movie for what it is, a beautiful story, stunning visuals, and a call for harmony. Just enjoy the ride, it truly is a feet of visual engineering that has never been rivaled. The world building is amazing. The story is not absolutely perfect, the dialogue is rough in spots but the story as a whole makes up for the lack of complex writing. The action sequences are long and complex but they never lost my attention. Definitely one of the best films of the year. I can not wait to see what's next for this series. There are so many options for the future directions of the films. With no doubt, just bye in,

Soothing for eye! Not for mind!

[ashib-84933 · 7/10 · 24 December 2022]

After watching first Avatar movie I was stunned, everything was perfect. I watched the movie hundreds of times. The expectation was very high.

The visual of the movie is very fantastic. The 3D seems real. It was a great experience visually. Overwhelmed with the visual effects.

The story was missing, it seems like a very common story. It was very predictable. Some scene was elongated which was boring. Seems like watching discovery channel in 3D in the cinema.

My personal rating is 7 for this movie only for the visualisation of the Pandora's water & the animals under the water. May be for the movie I would give a 5.

We have got lot's of finest movies from Jams Cameroon. He is one of the talented directors of all time. We expect something better than this.

Hard to care enough to finish watching it

[Rob-O-Cop · 3/10 · 20 April 2023]

I struggled to get through this film. It was just a rehash of the first film, and tired 'magical natives' tropes, offering nothing in the way of insight and intelligence. The usual bang bang explosions were there but does anyone really care to watch 3 hours of video game like action when you're not even a player?

The much talked about visuals were fine, but so 'ten years ago', when we cared about stuff like CGI. Now we're seen it all and this is fine but nothing special.

This film missed the boat by a decade and in that decade they couldn't hire themselves a writer to fit in some semblance of substance and meaning for a 2023 audience. A wasted effort and a waste of our time and someone's money.

Visually stunning, simple yet satisfying story, but some poor dialogue

[Oli22 · 9/10 · 23 December 2022]

ATWOW is simply stunning to the eye! JC's return doesn't disappoint providing a story with more depth, emotion and fantastic new characters.

8 or 9 out of 10 is the rating this movie deserves to be. The only moments that let the movie down are some cheesy and cringey lines from the kids and Neytiri almost disappearing in the second act, otherwise, this movie is amazing and sets up the coming film's brilliantly. Worthington and Saldana provide the audience with incredible performances as they did in the first. Lang continues as Quaritch which is great considering his fantastic antagonist role in the first film, will be interesting to see his role in 3, 4 and 5. Finally, some great additions to the cast who play Jakes kids and those of the Metkayina clan. Will be interesting to see if Cameron can pull in some more A-listers for the coming sequels!

IMAX and 3D is the way to go for this if you do decide to see it, you will not regret it.

Unfortunately, people will hate this film as audiences are too critical these days, but it is what it is.

Can't wait to be back in the cinemas for the third instalment!

Great visuals, action, drama, you will like it

[cengokhan · 9/10 · 14 December 2022]

You don't even need to like the Avatar world or watch the first one. It's a joy to watch. Sea aspect is great. Underwater shots and sea creatures stunning. Unbelievable CGI, miles ahead of all other movies. This time 3-D works much better , l think first Avatar doesn't even need to be 3-D. Emotion and action well balanced. Almost everyone cried, l don't think this is a movie for kids, they all get bored. At the end of the screening there was a short silence and everyone applause like Jim Cameron was there. Believe me he delivers again. Probably first 3 billion dollars box office movie is coming.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022, James Cameron) Cameron impresses with visuals but story is lacking and treads a lot of the ground the original movie did

[hoernkeem · 6/10 · 4 February 2023]

'Avatar: The Way of Water' is the long gestating sequel to the mammoth hit from 2009 'Avatar', also directed by James Cameron. If this teaches us anything it is that more than likely you shouldn't bet against James Cameron as his high profile sequel soared to $1 billion dollars worldwide in only 14 days and, when all is said and done, will probably be one of only a handful of films to make over $2 billion. Despite a 13 year hiatus all of the principle actors return to reprise their roles including Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver. The film is a technical marvel and much of the delay was due to the need to actually develop the appropriate technology to allow filming Cameron's meticulous vision. At least one more Avatar film will be produced with the potential for more if they keep being successful.

It is 12 years after the events of the first film and Jake Sully is the chief of his clan and lives with his wife Neytiri and their 3 children plus the adopted daughter of Grace's comatose avatar who's conception is a mystery. The daughter, Kiri, is also played by Sigourney Weaver who played Grace in the previous film. Another constant presence is a human boy called Spider who is a child of the deceased Miles Quaritch. The kid was too young to be put in cryostasis at the time most of the humans were expelled, and thus was allowed to stay growing up wild and much more Na'vi than human. Spider is, of course, practically inseparable from Sully's kids so you can see the potential for drama here. The "Sky People" as they are called have returned with the aim now being to colonize rather than plunder as the Earth is dying. The Sky People once again return with avatars of their own but this time instead of transferring a live human's consciousness into the avatar they were able to upload the thoughts and memories of deceased soldiers including the major antagonist from the first film Quaritch who serves as this avatar contingent's leader. On a raid Quaritch's avatars manage to capture Jake's kids including Spider. All of the kids are liberated except Spider who ends up begrudgingly aiding Quaritch. There is some sort of father son bonding that does occur, however, Spider remains predominantly loyal to his adopted Na'vi family. Jake Sully decides the best thing for the tribe is for him to take his family and flee. They eventually land with the reef people and need to learn the way of water to live there and be of use. There are growing pains for the family as they attempt to learn the ways of the new tribe. The children especially struggle as they don't fit in with the other kids. Of course Quaritch does not just let Sully and his family run and eventually tracks them to the reef people and begins a shock and awe campaign of violence to flush them out. The kids get captured again, and eventually a big showdown occurs, and of course with Cameron it is a spectacle of a showdown and while the side of right prevails, as one would expect, they do clearly leave room for the story to continue on.

Cameron has clearly created a sumptuous visual feast with motion capture technology at the most cutting edge that it has every been, and I don't want to undersell the special effects as those special effects are why people are tuning in. It is why people are spending top dollar on premium seats at the best screens they can find because, story aside, this film demands to be seen in that format. Much like the first film 'The Way of Water' feels like all of the creative effort was put into the technical aspect of the film and the story is, for the most part, basic. In fact there are many very similar themes to the first story. As Jake initially needed to gain the trust of the forest people and bond with their mounts the family goes through the exact same trials when they get to the reef people. This film actually may take a step backwards with the plot due to some gaping plot holes that they just plow through with all their fancy effects hoping nobody is paying too close attention to things like the narrative. It is an incredibly bizarre shift that in the first film the human invaders were looking for the universe's most expensive mineral, and only 12 years later the Earth is dying so now finding a new home is the mission du jour. Somewhere in there they just managed to uncover a completely different substance that everybody is after, and there is no mention of the unobtanium that drove the entire plot of the first film. The other huge flaw is the main driver for this film which is Quaritch's pursuit of Jake Sully which seems very much like a vendetta from his past life although it is not framed that way. The story only casually mentions why so many resources are being exhausted to hunt down this former chieftain. The script does not make it clear whether or not the Sky People seek to inhabit Pandora along with the Na'vi or if the are seeking to destroy them or pacify them. I think ultimately the aim, for now, is pacification and they believe getting Jake Sully will somehow accomplish that although once his family goes into exile that makes zero sense. It is super frustrating to see such an impressive display and see the narrative squandered. I will give James Cameron all the credit in the world as he has made a movie that everyone believes needs to be seen in theaters on the big screen, and I agree with that sentiment. Due to the visual effects alone this is a special film, however, these films of his are never going to be great until he can really develop the narrative beyond these basic confines he has lain out while also making the story actually make sense with in the larger framework of the film. As with the first movie 'Avatar: The Way of Water' is a beautiful yet flawed ideal.

Eric's Grade: B-