Review of Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) by Moviemitch96 — 17 Dec 2022

Well the long wait is finally over. 13 years after the 2009 global phenomenon took the world and box office by storm, James Cameron delivers with this long belated sequel. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is now a Na'vi and living on Pandora among the Omaticaya clan as their leader alongside Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their children.

However, an old and familiar threat rises that threatens their home and family once again, forcing them to turn to another clan of water-dwelling Na'vi for help, and along the way, they learn to embrace the way of water (corny pun intended.

) I had somewhat high hopes for this, seeing as it's been so long since the original film, and all this time I've been eagerly awaiting and anticipating to see what Cameron might do next with this spectacle of a world that he practically created from the ground up.

Admittedly, I was also curious to see if he'd be able to craft a more decent story this time around too, seeing as the first film's writing/story wasn't exactly the strongest or most original material (a lot of it to this day still feels an awful lot like 'Dances With Wolves' in space.

) The final results are almost exactly what I expected them to be however: a visually dazzling experience albeit with highly uninspired and derivative storytelling. The film's story not only very obviously borrows and follows several of the first film's plot points and tropes beat for beat (even down to the same musical score cues), but it also can't help but feel highly derivative of several other classic films and properties in several scenes and moments, ranging from everything from 'The Lion King ', 'Jaws', and even the just-released 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', which also felt like an 'Avatar' wannabe of a film in its own right, but I digress.

I will say that the emphasis on the familial aspect in this film is genuinely touching, and you really do feel for Jake and his family often times throughout the film, and Worthington and Saldana both give solid and dedicated performances here.

The previous film's villain Stephen Lang also returns in a rather unexpected way, and he also has his fair share of intense scenes and showdowns with the heroes. Seeing Sigourney Weaver here in a different role as a new Na'vi character was also somewhat unusual, but worked much better than I initially thought it would.

Kate Winslet also delivers a commanding presence onscreen whenever we see her character. The action scenes throughout are also very well-crafted, particularly the final battle, which offers some genuinely tense moments throughout that I couldn't help but be reminded of another certain Cameron film that involved a famous sinking ship (*hint hint*) Last but far from least, the visuals and grand world of Pandora, both land and water, are the real star of the show of course.

If not his scriptwriting abilities, never doubt Cameron's visual storytelling abilities, because the CGI and effects here do NOT disappoint! Seriously, see this bad boy in IMAX if you can! It's well worth the extra cost! Every tiny and obscure little detail onscreen is so unbelievably vibrant and fully realized! It truly has to be seen to be believed! Overall, another thinly-written and uninspired story that can't help but make the film feel a little too much like 'Avatar: Greatest Hits/Moments Playlist' at times certainly didn't spoil my mesmerization thanks entirely to the absolutely beautiful, grand, and lush visuals that Cameron never disappoints with.

All things considered, it still was pretty fun returning to Pandora after such a long wait.