Anthony's Film Review - Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

James Cameron has delivered an epic sequel to Avatar that meets the same high bar as before...

The first Avatar movie from 2009 could exist just fine without a sequel. The way that one ended made it so that the audience can just imagine what would happen next without actually seeing it. But I guess director James Cameron wanted to go further and make a sequel showing exactly what happens next, which is totally fine as long as it's done well. I am happy to report that this sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, does exactly that. It meets the high bar of the first movie, neither exceeding it nor falling short.

Looking at the two Avatar movies together, I now notice that a common formula exists in both films. Specifically, they have three elements. The first one is the most important core element: the beauty and wonder of the distant moon of Pandora, where its native blue humanoids called Na'vi live in luscious jungles. They exist in harmony with nature, portrayed beautifully on screen. The second element essentially comprises the human invaders from Earth. They have come to Pandora to exploit its resources, without regard to their destruction of nature and disruption of the Na'vi way of life. Lastly, the third element is the epic war that breaks out between the humans and the Na'vi, with certain characters having ties with both.

You might wonder if, based on what I just described, Avatar: The Way of Life is a formulaic movie. I would say that it's not. The formula may be there again, but the elements are portrayed with variations from 13 years before. For the Pandora element, we get to see another part of the moon that is just as beautiful as the jungles: the reefs and oceans. Just as there are sweeping scenes of flying above jungles on the backs of aerial creatures, there are gorgeous scenes of swimming underwater alongside native aquatic lifeforms, big and small. For the human invaders, a new group arrives, which is mainly a military force accompanied by a few scientists. This, to me, is scarier than a corporation that doesn't respect nature. And as for the epic war, I will admit that I can't think of one major thing that is different from that of the first movie. However, all that matters is that it's awesome to watch.

There are also variations from the first Avatar movie in the characters. Whereas the main character of the first Avatar is a marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who controls the body of a Na'vi as a disguise, Jake Sully is now reborn as an actual Na'vi, and he also has four children with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). This family also ends up seeking refuge elsewhere on Pandora, specifically with a tribe that lives off the reefs and sea. There is initially mild distrust between the blue Na'vi from the jungle and the aqua-green Na'vi of the sea, but ultimately, they learn to trust each other. Meanwhile, the human invaders include the return of the ruthless colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who along with his comrades have physically taken the form of Na'vi as a way to disguise themselves and blend in where appropriate. Their mission is simple: hunt down Jake Sully to make it safe for Earth to colonize Pandora.

Avatar: The Way of Water has a running time of 3 hours and 12 minutes, half an hour longer than Avatar. Let me take this opportunity to address a common criticism about this movie: how the story in this movie really comprises only a third of this three-hour epic. Sure, if you consider the story to be just the human invasion and the epic war, then it seems the story is only one-third of the movie. But look carefully. The many scenes of native life on Pandora are part of the story, too. They help you appreciate how wonderful the Na'vi way of life is before you see how vulnerable they are to external threats. Ultimately, those scenes make you care about the Na'vi once the epic war threatens everyone's survival.

If you can appreciate every moment of the movie without judging whether it belongs or not, then you should end up loving it. I did. There was not a single dull moment for me through the entire 3 hours and 12 minutes. (I didn't even have to worry about leaving my theater seat to use the restroom. Granted, I did use it before the show.) I am reminded of James Cameron's previous epic film Titanic, where he laid out a setting in gorgeous detail and portrayed memorable characters we care about, all before disaster that destroys everything. That's what he does here with his Avatar movies. By the way, Cameron has considered making a third Avatar movie, essentially completing a trilogy, but only if Avatar: The Way of Water doesn't bomb at the box office. If my experience with this movie is any indication, it will do well at the box office and we will see a third Avatar. Mark my words.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about Avatar: The Way of Water, visit the Internet Movie Database.

In addition, check out my review of Avatar.