Avatar: The Way of Water

It was thirteen years ago that director James Cameron wowed audiences with Avatar. With a box office of $2.9 billion, it still ranks as the highest-grossing film worldwide. Now he has finally returned with its sequel. Avatar: The Way of Water is set on Pandora, an extrasolar moon from the Alpha Centauri System. With an unintentional nod to the Fast & Furious franchise, it’s all about family. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña are back as parents: Jake and Neytiri. They manage an extended clan that consists of two sons (James Flatters & Britain Dalton) and a daughter (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss ), as well as an adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver). Her mother is Dr. Grace Augustine, who was mortally wounded and perished in the original. There’s also a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion), the son of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

Once again, evil colonizer humans invade Pandora. The “Sky People” are led by Quaritch, who technically died in the previous installment. However, he’s back in a slightly different form thanks to scientific advances. Jake and his family realize their presence has put the fellow citizens of their forest dwelling in danger. As a result, they exile themselves from that area and retreat to the sea. There they meet a new community on Pandora led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet). Despite their altruistic desire to avoid conflict, you can best believe a monumental battle is imminent.

The plot is a simple tale that preaches environmentalism over industrialism. That lesson is amusing coming from a director who reportedly spent $350 million to make this picture a high-tech stunner. The director has never been about sense or subtlety, but whatever. It’s all about the visual exhibition. The Way of Water delivers that using the most extravagant methods available. Reportedly, this is the 4th most expensive movie ever made, and it looks it. Advanced motion capture perfectly mimics the actors playing Na’vi characters. The technology not only impressively reproduces their underwater manipulations while swimming but their facial expressions as well.

It all builds to an epic showdown. The climax is a massive water-based confrontation between the invading humans vs. the native Na’vi. The latter gets a generous assist from aquatic creatures. The spectacle makes up for the deficiencies in the story. My frequent quibble: it’s far too long. The production is a patience-testing 3 hours and 12 minutes. Cameron could have easily trimmed an hour out of this bloated narrative to make it a little more efficient and enjoyable. Lengthy sequences exist to simply highlight the splendor of Pandora. The marvels of marine animals include a prolonged focus on alien whales. Part of the chronicle is akin to a nature documentary. Granted, it is gorgeous. See this in 3D on a big screen in a theater to fully appreciate its beauty and wonder. I was enthralled.

12-15-22