As computer technology progresses filmmaking, James Cameron's ambitions stretch to meet the edge of what is possible to achieve within the frame. He spares no expense, topping previous budgets with every new release. Luckily for the director, his box-office returns always swell beyond what was previously possible to meet these costly ambitions.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is perhaps his biggest gamble yet. A direct sequel to an original film that set the standards for 3D cinema, 11 years after the fact. Marvel and the superhero era was barely off the ground in 2009, and the novelty of 3D has already come and gone. Likewise, the hype around Cameron’s heroic tale about colonialist earthlings pillaging a rainforest planet inhabited by a warrior race of blue cat people left only a faint impression on the world of fandom. In the year of our Lord 2023, who still talks about Jake Sully, Neytiri and the battle against the humans for the sovereign planet of Pandora?
This sequel picks up in real time after the events of 2009’s “Avatar.” Our protagonist Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) now lives among the forest tribes of the Na’vi with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Together they raise two pre-teen boys; a daughter, Kiri, the scientifically grown child of Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver); and a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion), the biological son of the industrial military leader Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Upon hearing the news that the sky people (humans) have returned, Sully relocates his family away from his forest home to the oceanic Na’vi tribe led by a tattooed king named Tonowari (Cliff Curtis). There, they learn to refocus their inner strength and oneness with nature to learn the way of water while they prepare for battle.
Quaritch, now with his mind and memories uploaded into a Na’Vi body, kidnaps his biological son Spider to lead him to the whereabouts of Sully and his family. Meanwhile, Sully's son Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) learns to communicate with hyper-intelligent whales that are now hunted by humans for their psychic oil.
Visually, the movie is stunning and less dependent on the 3D gimmick. One can choose to watch the film in two or three dimensions in the theater, but Cameron and his team of innovators create a cinematic experience that satisfies either way. The physics of the underwater scenery and the textures of every plant, animal and blue warrior both improve on the 11-year-old predecessor while staying true to Cameron’s original stylistic vision.
As a science-fiction action picture and a showcase of advanced animation, this sequel delivers the popcorn. It’s also exhausting, overlong, plodding and indulgent.
Despite more characters, more plot and more visual panache, this story still follows the basic “Dances with Wolves” structure with the same shallow post-colonial, environmental messaging. No character grows or changes in any significant way. Future sequels are set into motion with subplots that could lead to later character growth or a discernible arc, but in over three hours and a half, “Avatar: The Way of Water” merely pushes the narrative food around the plate and insists to the audience that it finished the meal.
The substance of the film should parallel the familial dynamics between the villain and his estranged son and Jake’s fractured family unit. The movie is full of thematic father and son pairings that suggest something more emotionally driven, but the story is obscured by extraneous scenarios and fluffy world-building that diffuses what should be the thematic thrust of the plot.
Grade: B-
Cassidy Robinson is a former Idaho State University student with a master’s degree in film studies from Orange County’s Chapman University. He is currently working as a media journalist in Los Angeles, California.