Watching Avatar: The Way Of Water was kind of a bittersweet experience for me, and not necessarily because of anything to do with the film itself, it’s more of what it represents. While it is a sequel to the biggest film of all time, it is still seen like a risk by many. Can we count on people returning to this or was the success of the original a fluke? But is that same skepticism made for any of the numerous blockbusters that is based on previously established IP? Doesn’t seem to be the case. It has become so rare to see a film given a grand canvas for the filmmakers to really explore all their wildest ideas with little to no compromise, and it’s something I wish Hollywood would offer filmmakers who aren’t James Cameron the opportunity to do so.
But those are thoughts for another time because The Way Of Water is a film absolutely worth gushing about. As someone who liked the first film, but understood the general complaints about it, I was curious to see how this one would pan out, especially with director, James Cameron, bringing Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver as co-writers. My thoughts are pretty much echoed by a lot of folks, and that is you simply never bet against James Cameron. The dude is somehow incapable of missing, and The Way Of Water is an absolute winner through and through.
In terms of plot, the film is fairly straightforward, it’s over a decade after the events of the first, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is living a fulfilling life with Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their children, sons – Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and daughters – Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the latter of whom is the offspring of Weaver’s character from the first film that they adopted. Another character who goes by Spider (Jack Champion), a human child who was unable to be taken to Earth after the ending of the first film.
The family is enjoying life on Pandora when they realize that the “sky people” have returned to try colonizing once again. This time, they have managed to in a sense revive Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) in a Na’vi avatar, not the same person, but retains all his memories. He is back, and this time, the mission is personal, lead his team of avatars to track and kill Jake Sully. Thankfully, the family catch wind of this, and resort to running to an oceanic society called Metkayina led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and his wife Ronal (Kate Winslet), where they adapt themselves to their new culture before dealing with Quaritch.
As far as spectacle goes, it’s been quite a year, but this plays as a fascinating response to something like Top Gun: Maverick. Both are blockbusters that don’t necessarily feel of its time, they are cut from the cloth of sincere tent-poles of yesteryear. However, one embraces as much on-camera action as possible, while the other is an unabashed visual effects extravaganza, pushing the boundaries of what we’re capable to conveying on-screen, just as the first Avatar did. It’s some of the finest effects I think I have ever seen, and it’s so beautifully rendered and mixed with the live-action material that the immersion is absolutely seamless.
Speaking of immersion, it would not be a surprise to say the 3D is spectacular, creating this sense of place that makes you feel like you’re right there with the characters. But what’s different this time around is the use of high frame rate, which gives a very smooth motion to the camera and characters, and it appears to be fairly selective on when it’s being used. It sounds like it would be distracting, and for some I think it will be just for the sheer newness of it, but it’s easily the most sophisticated handling of HFR filmmaking I’ve seen.
While the story may be simple, it remains compelling through and through, from Cameron’s particular brand of melodrama, to the hangout vibes exploring the new race of Na’vi, to the exhilarating action sequences. In a way, despite it being the second in a five film series, it feels like the kind of movie Cameron has been building towards his whole life, managing to cram in all his obsessions and fascinations that we’ve come to recognize through the course of his career, even down to shots that feel like deliberate self-homage.
Are there things that don’t work? I would say yes. The narration by Jake Sully doesn’t feel wholly necessary. Some of the setups for the sequels are a bit on-the-nose. There are bits in the middle when I found the cutting in between certain plot-threads to be rather clunky and abrupt. And while I think the film, for the most part, earns its gargantuan run time of three hours and twelve minutes, there are scenes I could point to, and think, “that could have been trimmed by a couple minutes.” And if you’re looking for the film to in anyway for the Na’vi to be portrayed in a way that isn’t just a thinly veiled mimicry of actual indigenous cultures, I’m afraid you aren’t gonna find it.
When I left Avatar: The Way Of Water, my head felt so heavy, literally, as if it gained weight from the sheer volume of visual stimuli and information funneled through my eyeballs over the course of the film. It is so much movie, and yet, it all comes together so well and so skillfully. I also want to highlight Simon Franglen’s ethereal and pulse-pounding score, which does a wonderful job at building on the foundation that was laid by James Horner. I was so swept up by the film, and taken in by the joy and wonder that can be felt in every frame of the film. It is truly the kind of film that showcases everything great about the big screen experience, and it does it better than a vast majority of blockbusters that have been out in recent years. I was also surprised by how moved I was, by how invested I was in the family, and how compelled I was by the pieces being put in place for the upcoming films. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait another decade plus change to finally see where this is all going.
Avatar: The Way Of Water is now out in theaters.