Avatar: The Way of Water Review

 

Avatar: The Way of Water is an epic sci-fi film, and the sequel to the 2009 hit, Avatar. It's produced by Lightstorm Entertainment and TSG Entertainment and distributed by 20th Century Studios. Avatar: The Way of Water is written by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver and directed by James Cameron.

The story is it's been more than a decade after the events of the first film, since then Jake and Neytiri now have a family. Soon this peaceful life is disturbed when the RDA return, and this time they want revenge on Jake. Now knowing this, Jake and his family leave their home and travel outside of Omaticaya to Pandora's eastern seaboard, and live among the clan there. They soon learn that even when hidden, they'll have to prepare for battle once again.

Initial Reaction

I really don't think I need to explain why I wanted to see this. I loved the first movie, and I've been waiting for the sequel to come for the longest time (much like everyone else).

Cons

I've got nothing here folks. So ya might as well keep scrolling.

Middle Ground

Now there's still a lot to enjoy from the movie. For instance, there's a lot of focus on character and the theme of family [insert Fast & Furious joke here], but the slight issue comes from balance. While we still do get the villains' story, we're mainly focused on Jake and what his family are up to. So while we get a lot of development for everyone else, we barely get any for our bad guys. Hopefully if this movie does well enough, that issue will hopefully be fixed in Avatar 3.

Pros

The CGI effects in the first Avatar were groundbreaking. So I was wondering how the crew could've possible top themselves in this one? I was very surprised once again. Not only are the water effect beautiful, but they're very realistic, to the point where I couldn't tell what was real and what was fake. I dare say the water effects here are better than Aquaman's, I really liked that film and the effects there as well. Much like the CGI, the action is awesome. While in the first movie, we were still worried about Jake and the Na'vi, here the stakes feel even more serious. Because Jake has limited ammo so him and everyone else is outgunned, there's barely an army for him if anything it's more like a small squad until, and even though the heroes have bows, arrows, and spears, and again, there's only a limited supply. So basically Jake and his allies have to play it smart. So you very much have a group of underdogs. Not only does that leave a sense of dread, but now, whenever they do score a win you'll be left with a big smile on your face. I really don't know if there's anything I can say about James Cameron's directing, that I could top in my review for the first film. Not only does he do action well, but he once again provides us with amazing visuals. Visuals where I can definitely see people using them as both a wallpaper and a screen saver for their computer. That's really all I can say without feeling like I'm repeating what I said for the first. In my review for the first film, I mentioned how Cameron did a fantastic job world building, and at the end of that I wondered how he could've possibly top that? Well he did here. While the newest clan [the Metkayina] do share some similarities with the Omatikaya, we learn a lot about what makes them different from the Omatikaya, other than them having a water gimmick. We learn about their ways, see how their physical appearance makes them more capable in the water, and their fighting style. So throughout the movie I was really enjoying learning about this clan. But not only that it was again expands the Avatar universe.

Avatar: The Way of Water is definitely an enjoyable experience if you go see it in theaters. It provides you with the great CGI, great action, and so on and so forth. I do wish there was more of an even balance for our heroes and villains when it came to the story, but I still had a lot of fun with this one.

My final rating is Good.

So, that's all for me. Please come back on Monday, Dec 19th, for my review of Christmas Vacation. And I mean this time, it's not gonna be a bait and switch like it was in my review of Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.