Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Movie Review
Synopsis:
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) now lives with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their three children on the planet Pandora. When a familiar threat returns, Jake must gather his family and people together and learn to protect them at any cost.
Review:
13 years after Avatar (2009) broke box office records, director James Cameron returned with a direct sequel.
The Way of Water keeps a familiar sense of scale alongside its mesmerizing environments.
Its narrative and characters, though, aren't as well-developed.
As with the first Avatar, The Way of Water is yet another technical showcase of Wētā FX’s visual effects talents.
Each environment onscreen is vibrant and brimming with detail both small and large.
Motion capture technology also helps bring the Na’Vi people to life with discernable detail.
As a whole, The Way of Water has a great deal happening on the surface, with very little substance underneath.
For context, this film is almost 3 hours altogether. With it, it spends most of its time on cliched dialogue and tiresome exposition.
Although there is a focus on Jake Sully’s family, they’re defined by rather standard qualities.
This leaves them with little room to grow beyond them.
The Way of Water’s pacing also takes a significant hit during its middle half. This is where Jake and his family join a new Avatar tribe.
This section diverts attention to environmental messaging and teenage drama.
Instead, the film should've diverted its attention to furthering the central narrative.
While this could have been a touching segment, it drags on and isn’t subtle in its intentions at all.
This film's human characters aren't that well-developed either.
Their mission is the same in this entry - Destroy the Na’Vi population and claim Pandora for themselves.
A new addition to The Way of Water is a teenage boy named Spider (Jack Champion). He’s an odd addition to this film, whose motives change often.
Also, the actor appears lost, looking far too reminiscent of the Disney hero, Tarzan.
If the actor had more quality material to work with and clearer motives, he would’ve felt less redundant as a whole.
A returning character to this film is Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).
His former memories had become linked to the body of a Na’Vi, acting as the film’s central antagonist.
As a whole, Lang’s vocal performance is good. Despite a good vocal performance, his presence isn’t as memorable compared to Avatar (2009).
The Way of Water also contains its fair share of spectacle-heavy action, most of which is good.
Each hit is impactful, with more of a focus on one-on-one combat between humans and Na’Vi warriors.
This film’s final act, while bloated at times, is also fast-paced and well-shot.
Conclusion:
For a movie 13 years in development, some audiences may feel disappointed with Avatar 2.
Its spectacle and action are the film's main highlights. Despite that, there’s no excuse for not having a more developed story and characters.
As a visual spectacle, The Way of Water succeeds. Regardless, this may not be enough to warrant a third installment.
Sam’s Action Reaction score:
Characters - 5.5/10
Story - 5/10
Action - 7/10
CGI and visuals - 8/10
Soundtrack - 6/10
Overall score: 6.3 out of 10
