Ever since Disney created Pandora — The World of Avatar at Disney World in 2017, fans were left thinking — wait, wasn’t that the movie with the blue people from 2009? Now, 14 years after the original, James Cameron finally blessed us with more blue people, but water flavored.
Thus, I went and saw the movie around 8 p.m. Walking out of the movie theater at midnight, I couldn’t remember a single character’s name, but I did remember the gorgeous world-building.
Similar to the first movie, the sequel continues its focus on environmentalism as the core message. It showcases this message by creating diabolical villains who murder intelligent creatures, commit hate crimes against the Na’vi and constantly choose violence. While not the most nuanced way to present its message, it gets the job done. Plotwise, Cameron also bring back the villain from the first movie, but also as an Avatar, with an underwater tree, although I might have dozed off at one point until they got back to the gorgeous underwater world.
The movie shines most in its spectacular underwater visuals. Of course, a movie with a $250 million budget can work magic in the technical aspects. “Avatar: The Way of Water” transports you into an underwater realm that is dazzling. The use of lights, both with the Na’vi’s glowing freckles and the creature’s bioluminescence, makes the movie a fun time, regardless of whether or not you follow along with the story. Plus, the soundtrack of the movie is amazingly done. Overall, the movie is a technical wonder, and the movie performs at its best in this subject.
The acting in the movie is also well done, especially from Jake Sully’s actor Sam Worthington and Neytiri’s actress Zoe Saldana. The two feel like they’ve naturally continued their relationship from the first movie and their chemistry on-screen is pleasant. Granted, some of the emotion does get lost due to the motion capture, but I mostly liked the performances.
Unfortunately, the story does suffer somewhat due to a large cast, multiple narratives and an ending that drags on. Even one of the charaters comments on how absurd the last fifteen minutes is by saying, “I can’t believe we got captured again.” Similarly, due to the planned sequels, many of the characters seem to be in the middle of their growth. For a movie with a run time of three hours, I had hoped to have some conclusion or evidence of a change. Aside from the parents and maybe one important story beat, there’s not a lot there. The youngest daughter doesn’t change at all, for example.
If you’re wanting to turn your brain off for three hours, this is the perfect movie. Otherwise, if you’re looking for riveting plot and compelling characters, this might not be the best use of your time.
