'Avatar: The Way Of Water' — Stunning, But Lacking

Zoe Saldana & Sam Worthington in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Over a decade after the first installment, Avatar: The Way Of Water brings us back to Pandora and introduces us to Jake and Neytiri’s family. We’re spun through a montage of their family's beginnings and their people's development, introducing us to the sequel’s initial supporting cast. With biological and adopted kids, Jake and Neytiri’s family is made up of Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Brittain Dalton), Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), Tuktirey (Trinity Bliss), and Spider (Jack Champion). When the RDA and Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) head back to Pandora, Jake and Neytiri are forced to go on the run to protect those they love and relocate to the aquatic tribe of the Metkayina.

Brittain Dalton, Sam Worthington, & Jack Champion in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

From the first frame to the last, the film is stunning. Most of the discourse surrounding the film’s development has revolved around its advancement of visual effects, as that was the most prominent point of discussion about its predecessor, a three-time Oscar®-winner. The amount of detail in the close-up shots of every individual Na’vi shows the textures in their skin, the stray hairs, and the other features that make them look real. That said, arguably, the most impressive feat revolves around Spider (Jack Champion) and the seamless blending of a human character into a digital environment. There aren’t any moments where Spider’s appearance feels out of place. The composite artists have done an outstanding job making Pandora come to life and making every character look natural. The film travels through multiple main locations and utilizes varying color palettes, which all look beautiful. Cameron’s team at WETA has truly made this world come to life, making even technologically driven, sparse landscapes look appealing.

Trinity Bliss in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

All the performers did their very best to bring this world to life, and with the sets they were given to work with, the results are impressive. However, the biggest issue I had based on acting was the decision to cast Sigourney Weaver as the 14-year-old Kiri doesn’t feel like a good choice. While it’s great to see Weaver in mainstream roles again, all I can see when watching Kiri is Sigourney Weaver. With many child actors at a comparable age to the character, it begs the question of why to go this direction instead of the logical route. The most notable performance comes from Zoe Saldaña, who, when given the chance and screen time, brings emotion and turns it up to 11. Sam Worthington does a great job at playing a strict, at times mean father while continuing his role of spearheading the franchise. The young actors in the film do a great job of captivating the joy and wonder of exploring vast new environments and have great chemistry with each other and the rest of the cast.

The film uses jarring editing, quickly cutting from one sequence to another, removing the sense of what’s happening, when, and why. It takes the “eclipse” event and expects us to immediately understand what’s occurring as abruptly it cuts back and forth to the sun, as an ultimately irrelevant plot point. The editing takes away from the alluded depth and relationships we see being formed with our characters through its mission to quickly force the plot to advance while actually slowing the development of the protagonists.

Sam Worthington, Kate Winslet, & Cliff Curtis in Avatar: The Way Of Water. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Ultimately, the film finds its biggest flaw in its screenplay. Throughout most of the runtime, it feels like Cameron wanted to remake the same film he made 13 years ago, and the plot reflects that. The decision to bring back the same antagonist, and while slightly modified, the same conflict and the same overall story. The film works best when it takes the time to appreciate the moments of intimacy and continue to develop the expanding world of Pandora but falters when it pushes itself to be something that it’s not. Additionally, the film underdevelops many of its protagonists to the point of lacking emotional ties to the characters when it tries to pull on the audience’s heartstrings. While the pacing isn’t perfect, the subplots and side stories are, at times, more interesting than what we’re supposed to be focusing on. In all honestly, I enjoyed the side stories more and found that they gave us emotional ties to the characters while attempting to tie the story together and expand the world.

That said, Avatar: The Way Of Water, in a word, is entertaining and gives viewers much to look forward to with future entries in the *quintology* (if that’s the correct term).

Avatar: The Way Of Water is now in theaters.