Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
B+ (88%)
Director: James Cameron
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver Synopsis: Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home. Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi MPAA Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 3 hr 12 min Release Date: December 16, 2022 It's been 13 long years since audiences landed on Pandora, that beautiful, yet dangerous alien planet. After numerous delays, James Cameron is finally back with a true tsunami of a film in Avatar: The Way of Water, the sequel to his sci-fi epic that became (and once again is) the highest grossing movie of all time. With a massive budget and a tall hill to climb at the box office, two questions have been asked: (1) will this film improve on its predecessor (ahem: the story department), and (2) will it be a box office hit again or crash and burn?
I've said it many times but I'll say it again, James Cameron has proved twice that he can do sequels. Not just good sequels, but great sequels--with Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Now granted, those were 30+ years ago, but the fact still remains that the filmmaker crafted two of the best sequels ever made, from both technological and storytelling standpoints, not to mention showcasing two of the best and most iconic sci-fi female protagonists ever put on screen. So, I had little doubt that he could produce a good sequel, but Avatar: The Way of Water had a steeper hill to climb, given that the first film's story wasn't as innovative and original as his previous movies. As to if this film will be a box office hit or flop? After everyone believed Titanic and Avatar would be massive box office flops, I simply don't bet against James Cameron. I don't think The Way of Water will claim the title of highest grossing film of all time, but I don't believe it will be a massive flop (a $1.5-1.7 billion gross is my projection). First and foremost, let's discuss the bread and butter of Avatar--the aspect that everyone who was enthralled by the first film came to see---the visuals. Unsurprisingly, Cameron once again delivers absolutely stunning imagery. The CGI here (which included pioneering underwater performance capture) is miles ahead of the first film (which was already incredible in its own right). There's more detail, more lushness, and the water element addition from the new setting at the Metkayina tribe is breathtaking. When you are plunged underwater with the characters for the first time, you feel like you're right there with them---it's that immersive. With that, there's also a lot of unique and colorful sea life--creature designs that you wish existed in the real world, but sadly don't. Honestly, every time the characters come out of the water, you just wish they would go back in so you can experience that feeling again and again. And this is where I can't stress enough: IF you have any remote interest in this film, see it in theaters. Your 55" TV at home will not do it justice. Perhaps above any film we've ever seen, this needs the big screen treatment. Waiting for this on streaming is a huge disservice to you--I'd liken it to waiting and watching the Ride of the Rohirrim in Return of the King on your phone for the first time instead of seeing it in theaters. So, the visuals are breathtaking (as we hoped and expected), but what about the biggest complaint of the first film--the story? While I think the massive complaints of the unoriginal story in the first Avatar are blown out of proportion sometimes, (there was a lot of subtext on modern-day environmentalism, colonization, spirituality, humanity vs. nature, etc), there are a lot of similarities to yes, Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, and what have you--lots of other films. And the truth is, unfortunately, if you hated the story of the first film, you're gonna probably hate this one. The Way of Water's narrative is a re-hash of the first's in many ways, with the sky people (humans) returning to Pandora (albeit with slightly different intentions this time) and the battle once again between the natives on Pandora and the sky people. This isn't the best story Cameron has written, not by a long shot. We've seen him do much better. It's a simple, revenge-driven story that people will once again call derivative and probably even boring at times. It also poses a lot of questions that ultimately go unanswered (no doubt being setup for Avatar 3 in 2024). That said, it does employ some richer ideas than the first film, relating to spirituality, connected-ness with nature, the afterlife, self-purpose, and family. On a narrative level, I actually liked the first Avatar's story better, with the setup of a handicapped veteran transported to an alien planet and being able to achieve his dream of walking and getting his life back through his avatar. Here, we are presented with a Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) that is trying to get ahold of the reins of how to be a father--an element a lot of people can relate to. But he's fully Na'vi this time around. There's no avatar. The stakes this time around also don't feel as threatening, perhaps because we know what the Na'vi tribe is capable of from the first film, and ultimately the narrative just has a "we've seen this before" feel to it. That all being said, the characters on the Na'vi side are much improved here--we get a deep and intimate look at Jake's family, and we care about them. We care if one gets hurt or is in danger or is about to get murdered in cold blood. Furthermore, there's a much stronger emotional pull in this film--the themes revolving around family, parenting, loss, and grief are continually poignant throughout the film--they're themes that everyone in the theater can relate to in some way or another. As can be expected with a James Cameron film, the runtime is over 3 hours. But honestly, as someone who was sucked into the world of Pandora, it didn't feel like 3 hours. Yes, scenes certainly could've been tightened up, as Cameron lingers on the spectacle of the visual effects work, but when you're immersed in a world as inventive and stunningly beautiful as Pandora, you're hard pressed to even care. Avatar: The Way of Water is a visual feast, first and foremost. You don't watch this film in theaters, you experience it, a feat which precious few films are able to accomplish. It truly feels like you are taken off Earth for 3 hours and placed right on Pandora. On the flip side--once again, the story comes in second place. If you're looking for a Shawshank Redemption-esque life-changing screenplay, look elsewhere. Avatar does not and likely will never offer that. It's not a bad story here, it's just not the wholly original, Oscar-worthy script detractors of the first Avatar wanted to see. It's a straight-forward, largely re-hash version from the first film. The positives are there's more emotion and deeper character work here, and the main antagonist (who I'll still leave out) is a strong force and surprisingly fleshed out and features a great performance. Zoe Saldana also once again gives a standout, powerful performance as Neytiri. And Cameron once again zeroes in on providing strong female roles, from Neytiri to Kate Winslet's Ronal, to Jake and Neytiri's daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver). While it doesn't provide the vintage Cameron sequel screenplay we would've hoped, Avatar: The Way of Water is nevertheless a breathtaking, thoroughly entertaining dive back to Pandora that's an absolute must-see in theaters. Written by Anthony Watkins, December 17, 2022 |