Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
A whopping 13-years after his initial trip to Pandora, James Cameron finally returns to the world of the Na'vi in Avatar: The Way of Water. Yet another massive project that looks to expand and redefine the world of Avatar into one fitting of an ongoing franchise, Avatar: The Way of Water carries large ambitions and a tremendous weight on its shoulders. While there are undeniable growing pains within this venture, Avatar: The Way of Water holds the same magic of the first film as some of the best visuals ever seen on screen are blended with compelling emotions.
There is no mistaking that the largest draw of the entire Avatar franchise is the world of Pandora. The original film revolutionized what was possible through the cinematic lens and while the sequel might not be as shocking of a viewing experience, it is still absolutely stunning. The film wisely moves Jake Sully, once again played by Sam Worthington, and his family way from the jungles where the original film was set to the coast where a variety of new flora and fauna can be discovered and brought to life. The film handles this migration wonderfully with enough runtime dedicated to audiences securing their footing back on Pandora before the film embraces anything new. Once the film reaches the ocean, nearly an entire hour of runtime is dedicated to exploring and showcasing the marvelous new world that Cameron and his team has created. The vibrance and the imagination used to create these visuals are once again just unbelievable with visual effects truly starting to reach the point where it is unclear what are practical effects and what is computer generated. The world is immersive and captivating in a way unlike nearly any other project since the original Avatar.
Not only does the nature found in this new location change, but so does the culture. Pushed out of their home at the threat of being hunted by a reborn Na'vi clone of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Sully and his family run to another tribe of Na'vi's that have evolved to be proficient at living in a more aquatic setting. There are new social dynamics and personalities here that give way to another natural fish out of water story that sees Sully and his family struggle to fit in and adapt. As with the other parts of this world, the culture and people found and represented in the film are well realized and feel incredibly natural.
The story on the other hand struggles. While the grand emotional moments still do land and the overall pathway the franchise carves out for itself has many promising seeds planted, there is an unavoidable awkwardness in the transformation of the Avatar world. This was a world and set of characters not designed to set up sequels or franchises. 2009's Avatar lives and dies as a standalone project making the usage of retconning and Deus ex machina necessary. From dead characters finding ways to come back to life to new characters that apparently existed just off screen, there is plenty in Avatar: The Way of Water that requires the audience to simply accept what is happening and move on without concern for logic or clarity. This is a rather large weakness for the film with both the pacing and storytelling suffering alongside a rather tragic weakening of key moments within the original film. The death of Colonel Miles Quaritch only means so much when one knows he is immediately going to come back. A definitive victory quickly is turned into a temporary cheer.
This isn't to say that every forced narrative beat is particularly weak. While the return of his character might end up as a problematic force for the overall franchise, Stephen Lang once again destroys it with one of the most compelling villain performances of recent memory. Also introduced is a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion) who was left behind as a young child and has now grown up on Pandora. While his use within this film is somewhat minor, he clearly is going to be a key player in the larger Avatar franchise with the emotional backbone given to his character feeling worthy and intriguing. The main cast of Jake Sully's kids are also given unique enough personalities to really shine and feel worthy as main characters. Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is given a unique soul considering her connection to Weaver's Dr. Grace Augustine from the first film with much of her story being dedicated to a love of nature and a feeling of confusion around her identity. Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) have strong personalities and a well established relationship both with each-other as brothers and with their father who expects a lot from his sons. Lo'ak especially gets to shine through a side plot involving his connection to an outcast tulkun, a large whale-like creature that forms a close bond with the local Na'vi. This is one of the most charming relationships of the entire feature and gives Lo'ak a needed heart considering how obvious it is that he is going to be playing a large role in the future of this series. Rounding out the family is the younger Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) who borders on falling into the annoying younger daughter stereotype but just manages to survive for now. Cameron knows that if he wants the audience to care about this franchise, he needs to get them to care about these characters and the film is smart in spending so much time trying to grow a connection between them and the audience.
To fit in these new plots, sadly some of the established characters and arcs take a rather large backseat. Avatar: The Way of Water is far more concerned with establishing the characters and stories that are going to carry the future of this franchise so some like Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) tragically lose almost all their agency and take a massive back seat outside of the action scenes. Even Jake Sully himself is far more one dimensional and in the background than one might expect. While maybe necessary for starting a franchise, this is a frustrating reality when put into context with the first feature. Rather than being seen as a sequel, it is quite clear that Avatar: The Way of Water is really the beginning of the story with the events of 2009's Avatar being used more as a prequel.
While the narrative strength of the first film might be lacking here, at least the technical achievements are not. While the visual effects have already been gushed about, though one could spend 1000 words just celebrating the visuals of the film, the score by Simon Franglen also really shines. Many of the underwater scenes, of which there are plenty, are spent without dialogue leaving plenty of space for the score to swell and grow. Both taking pieces of the original while ultimately crafting something unique and new, Franglen rises to the challenge and provides some really exceptional work. The cinematography by Russell Carpenter is also rather beautiful with thought and craft going into how the world is shot and how characters are portrayed visually. These might seem like basic elements of filmmaking yet when so much of the film is completed in post, these are often some of the first things to go.
Avatar: The Way of Water might not be the revolution that the original film was, but the project still is a rather large success. Clearly elevated by its technical elements, the film accepts some roughness in plot and pacing to carve out a pathway for its future sequels. With some intriguing setups and personable characters, this could equal a fantastic new cinematic franchise. While that reality remains to be written, Avatar: The Way of Water proves that there is more to see and do on the world of Pandora and promises to be a worthy theatrical experience
There is no mistaking that the largest draw of the entire Avatar franchise is the world of Pandora. The original film revolutionized what was possible through the cinematic lens and while the sequel might not be as shocking of a viewing experience, it is still absolutely stunning. The film wisely moves Jake Sully, once again played by Sam Worthington, and his family way from the jungles where the original film was set to the coast where a variety of new flora and fauna can be discovered and brought to life. The film handles this migration wonderfully with enough runtime dedicated to audiences securing their footing back on Pandora before the film embraces anything new. Once the film reaches the ocean, nearly an entire hour of runtime is dedicated to exploring and showcasing the marvelous new world that Cameron and his team has created. The vibrance and the imagination used to create these visuals are once again just unbelievable with visual effects truly starting to reach the point where it is unclear what are practical effects and what is computer generated. The world is immersive and captivating in a way unlike nearly any other project since the original Avatar.
Not only does the nature found in this new location change, but so does the culture. Pushed out of their home at the threat of being hunted by a reborn Na'vi clone of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Sully and his family run to another tribe of Na'vi's that have evolved to be proficient at living in a more aquatic setting. There are new social dynamics and personalities here that give way to another natural fish out of water story that sees Sully and his family struggle to fit in and adapt. As with the other parts of this world, the culture and people found and represented in the film are well realized and feel incredibly natural.
The story on the other hand struggles. While the grand emotional moments still do land and the overall pathway the franchise carves out for itself has many promising seeds planted, there is an unavoidable awkwardness in the transformation of the Avatar world. This was a world and set of characters not designed to set up sequels or franchises. 2009's Avatar lives and dies as a standalone project making the usage of retconning and Deus ex machina necessary. From dead characters finding ways to come back to life to new characters that apparently existed just off screen, there is plenty in Avatar: The Way of Water that requires the audience to simply accept what is happening and move on without concern for logic or clarity. This is a rather large weakness for the film with both the pacing and storytelling suffering alongside a rather tragic weakening of key moments within the original film. The death of Colonel Miles Quaritch only means so much when one knows he is immediately going to come back. A definitive victory quickly is turned into a temporary cheer.
This isn't to say that every forced narrative beat is particularly weak. While the return of his character might end up as a problematic force for the overall franchise, Stephen Lang once again destroys it with one of the most compelling villain performances of recent memory. Also introduced is a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion) who was left behind as a young child and has now grown up on Pandora. While his use within this film is somewhat minor, he clearly is going to be a key player in the larger Avatar franchise with the emotional backbone given to his character feeling worthy and intriguing. The main cast of Jake Sully's kids are also given unique enough personalities to really shine and feel worthy as main characters. Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is given a unique soul considering her connection to Weaver's Dr. Grace Augustine from the first film with much of her story being dedicated to a love of nature and a feeling of confusion around her identity. Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) have strong personalities and a well established relationship both with each-other as brothers and with their father who expects a lot from his sons. Lo'ak especially gets to shine through a side plot involving his connection to an outcast tulkun, a large whale-like creature that forms a close bond with the local Na'vi. This is one of the most charming relationships of the entire feature and gives Lo'ak a needed heart considering how obvious it is that he is going to be playing a large role in the future of this series. Rounding out the family is the younger Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) who borders on falling into the annoying younger daughter stereotype but just manages to survive for now. Cameron knows that if he wants the audience to care about this franchise, he needs to get them to care about these characters and the film is smart in spending so much time trying to grow a connection between them and the audience.
To fit in these new plots, sadly some of the established characters and arcs take a rather large backseat. Avatar: The Way of Water is far more concerned with establishing the characters and stories that are going to carry the future of this franchise so some like Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) tragically lose almost all their agency and take a massive back seat outside of the action scenes. Even Jake Sully himself is far more one dimensional and in the background than one might expect. While maybe necessary for starting a franchise, this is a frustrating reality when put into context with the first feature. Rather than being seen as a sequel, it is quite clear that Avatar: The Way of Water is really the beginning of the story with the events of 2009's Avatar being used more as a prequel.
While the narrative strength of the first film might be lacking here, at least the technical achievements are not. While the visual effects have already been gushed about, though one could spend 1000 words just celebrating the visuals of the film, the score by Simon Franglen also really shines. Many of the underwater scenes, of which there are plenty, are spent without dialogue leaving plenty of space for the score to swell and grow. Both taking pieces of the original while ultimately crafting something unique and new, Franglen rises to the challenge and provides some really exceptional work. The cinematography by Russell Carpenter is also rather beautiful with thought and craft going into how the world is shot and how characters are portrayed visually. These might seem like basic elements of filmmaking yet when so much of the film is completed in post, these are often some of the first things to go.
Avatar: The Way of Water might not be the revolution that the original film was, but the project still is a rather large success. Clearly elevated by its technical elements, the film accepts some roughness in plot and pacing to carve out a pathway for its future sequels. With some intriguing setups and personable characters, this could equal a fantastic new cinematic franchise. While that reality remains to be written, Avatar: The Way of Water proves that there is more to see and do on the world of Pandora and promises to be a worthy theatrical experience