Review: Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Avatar: The Way of Water

Rating

Director

James Cameron

Screenplay

James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno

Length

3h 12m

Starring

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jake Champion, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans Jr., Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald

MPAA Rating

PG-13

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Review

Most sequels arrive in theaters mere years after the original, but for James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar, it’s been thirteen years. A lot of films cannot survive the delay and are often consigned to the dustbin of history. Cameron’s film hopes to buck that tradition with an adventure that’s intended to build upon the world he created previously and recapture the bombast and excitement of that first step into the realm of Pandora.

Much like the film’s release window itself, Avatar: Way of the Water picks up over a decade after the events of the 2009 film. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are living peacefully on Pandora with their four children, two boys and two girls, one of whom is the adopted offspring of that film’s Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver). The same militaristic group that tried to relieve the planet of its unobtainium and to do so by first destroying the sacred tree home of Neytiri’s family, has come up with a new plan. Revealed in flashback, the marines who carried out that mission implanted their minds into devices that would allow their memories to be preserved and inserted into avatars of the Na’vi should they die.

Now, with a team of Marine avatars in hand, the Resources Development Administration (RDA) returns to Pandora with new goals beyond the mining of unobtanium. They hope to turn Pandora into a world that can support human life and provide a new home for Earth’s citizens who are facing a planetary crisis. Able to bypass the planet’s natural defenses, the Marines go in search of the one person who could raise an army and succeed at repelling the invading force, Sully. Afraid for the lives of Neytiri’s tribe, and more specifically his wife and children, he takes them all across the sea where they seek refuge with the Metkayina reef people, but it’s only a temporary reprieve.

The world of Pandora was always a bountiful and creative environment in which artists could find ways to explore the bounds of realism and fantasy. While the terrain of the film doesn’t feel like it’s anything new, the creatures that inhabit the world most certainly are. We are presented an array of fascinating creatures whose individual details are minute and appear well researched. Cameron is nothing if not a fanatic of realism even in his gritty and glossy visions of the future.

The performances are about on par with Cameron’s other films, good but not great. None of the actors immediately stand out for recognition, but they create believable enough characters to engage the audience, something Cameron’s skills are able to deliver. His story, while simple, has the kinds of rip-roaring excitement and narrative cohesion we’ve come to expect even from his most uncomplicated screenplays. He’s also trying to move certain technical advancements forward, from his underwater choreography to his projection innovations.

The only problem with trying to force 4K is that it creates visual irregularities that many viewers catch because they are used to traditional frame rates. Yet, Cameron tries to go all-in on the 4K revolution, but the end result is a film where the action sequences feel unnatural, exhibiting that Soap Opera Effect many viewers experience when watching “motion smoothing” technology on big screen TVs. Further, the 3D in this film, while a continuation of what he’d already implemented in the first film, adds almost nothing to the narrative focus and while some elements are rather beautiful when captured in three dimensions, they don’t represent a large enough impact on the film itself to be necessary viewing.

If you’re already a fan of the first Avatar, you will welcome a return to the realm of Pandora. Those who were lukewarm or hostile to the original won’t find anything new enough to merit consideration. Avatar: The Way of Water wants to be the kind of success its predecessor was, but the long delay (presumably to enhance the technology enough to make the new film feasible) combined with the familiarity and lack of inventiveness on the narrative front make this a film unlikely to win converts.

Oscar Prospects

Guarantees: Sound, Visual Effects
Probables: Picture
Potentials: Original Score, Film Editing, Cinematography, Production Design
Unlikelies: Directing, Supporting Actress (Sigourney Weaver), Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling