Avatar: The Way of Water more than warrants its three-hour-plus runtime by proving itself to be a gorgeous, action-packed, thrilling, and powerful film.
Overall Score: 10/10
Image: 20th Century Studios
“Experience the motion picture event of a generation.”
Boy does Avatar: The Way of Water deliver on that promise. I’ll admit, I was initially skeptical when it was first announced that this film was finally getting made, but now, having actually seen it, I can tell you with absolute certainty that yes, it really is that good.
Oh, where to begin? I suppose I should start with the story. Avatar is often criticized for having an unoriginal and clichéd plot, with many arguing that it’s far too similar to movies like Dances with Wolves and Pocahontas. And while I’ve honestly never fully agreed with this particular sentiment, I can at least understand why certain people feel that way and respect them for it. Fortunately, The Way of Water does not suffer from the same issue. Set over a decade after the events of the first film, the long-awaited sequel follows Jake Sully, Neytiri, and their family as they are forced to leave their home (following the re-emergence of humans and the threat they pose) and take refuge with the Na’vi's Metkayina clan who live by the sea. It’s a long and very large story, but at its core, it’s about love, family, acceptance, and fighting to save the things that you care about. These are universally relatable themes, and in comparison to Avatar, I think that they allow The Way of Water to tell a much more personal, emotionally rich, and powerful story.
Perhaps what’s most impressive about Avatar: The Way of Water is just how immersive of an experience it is. From start to finish, James Cameron gives us multiple breathtaking sequences of characters swimming underwater and ones that showcase the beauty of Pandora’s nature and wildlife, all of which help make it feel as though you’re really there on the planet of the Na'vi. I swear, there’s got to be at least a full hour of scenes like this, but at no point does it feel like any of it drags. And if there was ever any doubt concerning Cameron’s capabilities, this should all serve as proof that he is still very much a master when it comes to world-building and a storyteller like no other. Of course, the immersive viewing experience also owes thanks to the movie’s dazzling visuals. Everything really does look amazing and it’s often hard to distinguish reality from CGI.
Much like the original film, The Way of Water also features cutting-edge filming technology. The use of performance capture is pretty standard in today’s filmmaking world, but from what I’ve gathered, it has never been filmed underwater — likely because up until now, the technology required to do so wasn’t advanced enough. Well, thanks to a couple of technological advancements and new techniques developed by Cameron and his crew, this seemingly impossible task became possible. And once you’ve seen this movie, like me, you’ll probably walk away feeling wowed by just how much of it does take place in the ocean and amazed by how detailed the characters and all of their different movements look underwater.
Also, the acting in this film is absolutely phenomenal. Zoe Saldaña, in particular, is the big standout here — just as she was in the first Avatar — and she’s able to channel so much raw emotion into her performance, something which ultimately helps ground the movie in a sense of realism. Sigourney Weaver is also fantastic in this, and the fact that she’s able to play a teenager so convincingly is mind-blowing. This isn’t a feat that’s easy for a 73-year-old woman to accomplish, but somehow, Weaver manages to skillfully pull it off. The rest of the cast is quite good as well, and I think that each actor does an excellent job of bringing their respective characters to life.
The thing that I appreciate the most, however, is how The Way of Water continues the franchise’s metaphorical exploration of the horrors of humanity’s constant exploitation of nature. Whereas Cameron used horrifically explicit scenes of nature being destroyed in the first film, here he employs ones of wildlife being hunted down and viciously slaughtered. These can be difficult to sit through (believe me, I found them to be very traumatic), but I believe that they’ve been purposefully designed this way to get us thinking about how wrong and inhumane it is to do this to animals and what we can do to stop it. Cameron is using his fictional world and his fictional beings to get this very powerful message across, and I’m deeply thankful that he and his team have put in the time and effort to do so.
It’s very hard to pinpoint exactly what’s great about this movie because, let’s face it, everything about it is outstanding. This is an easy 10/10 for me and it’s definitely one of the best films I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. And while it might be a little too long or narratively thin for some, I think that James Cameron has really knocked it out of the park with Avatar: The Way of Water. Honestly, I can’t wait to see it again.
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