For all that the original Avatar was hailed as a technological wonder, it was also lacking in many ways. It's characters were mostly uninteresting, it's story was criminally basic, and it had so many conveniences in it's plot, you could almost call them holes. But it still went on to make billions of dollars and become the highest grossing film of all time, a record that hasn't been beaten since it arrived in 2009. So, even 14 years later, with all the time to craft something much, much better, Cameron has rested on his laurels, let the money do the talking, and demonstrated that he's fine with, once again, delivering a film basic in plot, basic in character, emotionally weightless, incredibly good looking movie. There are some thrills to be had, but Cameron delivers a mostly mid-tier sci-fi flick with a very glossy sheen of paint.
We're back in Pandora, Jake Sully is fully Na'vi with wife Neytiri and four children, including an adoptee born of Sigourney Weavers character from the previous film. It's been a decade since humanity packed up and left Pandora, but the film doesn't waste much time settling into familiar territory. Humans return to Pandora, with first film villain Quaritch in tow. "But I thought he died in the first film?" I hear you ask. Fear not, the film has managed to come up with a plot convenience to bring back the only entertaining character from the first movie to once again be the primary villain. Before long, Quaritch is after Sully, Sully and family flee home for a chain of islands settled by a sea tribe, lots of pretty water and creatures put on a show, and we get yet another bombastic action finale.
I won't really bother to try and convince you that the film isn't the cinematic event of the century. If you thought the first film was the best thing ever, you'll likely enjoy this one quite the same. If you weren't taken in by the first, you'll find this as rote and played out as that was. This is a better film though. Far less conveniences and inane plot points are used and it at least makes an attempt at a bigger emotional connection, even if it falls mostly flat due to half hearted, cliched character development. Brave, older brother? Check. Black sheep? Check. Special child like no one else? Check. Youngest and cutest who constantly needs protection? Check. Even the most original addition, a young human boy named Spider, is mostly relegated to a nuisance the writers couldn't quite figure out what to do with. Neytiri is wasted here with little to do but bounce between caricature roles that shine a light mostly on Sully. Oh, and what about this lead? Once again, Sam Worthington demonstrates that there could have been better choices of lead. Where we should see an emotionally charged role in that of a father trying to protect his family, we instead get a range that barely registers as emotional. Even Stephen Lang feels like he has less to chew on, now as a Na'vi that makes him far less entertaining, even if he does have a more interesting part.
The film does look beautiful though, possibly some of the best effects I've ever seen put to film. Pandora is even more of a visual splendor under water, with incredibly detail to it's ecosystem. If Cameron didn't spend so much time trying to bewilder and make our eyes pop out of our skull with it, I'd say it's worth the price of admission, but by the time we got to the sixth scene of Na'vi swimming around and gazing in wonder at it, I was starting to find myself over it. A lot of the time that could be spent developing the family dynamic beyond mentions and Sully yelling at his kids, is instead devoted to Cameron's pretty graphics. One moment in particular was devastatingly unemotional and, although I kept expecting something more from our lead, it never came, muting the emotion that should be there. But the film certainly delivers on it's technological promises, something that once again shows in the action packed climax. This, I'd say, is very likely worth the price of admission. If there's one thing it can never be argued, it's that Cameron knows how to do action. He's arguably still one of the best at delivering it on screen and Way of Water shows he's still a master. This is every bit as good as the first film.
If I had to put a summary to it, I'd say Way of Water is worth at least seeing once in theater for the spectacle. It feels more like a combination of one of Cameron's sea documentaries slapped together with an in-theater ride, with the film part tacked on. I have no doubt most people will enjoy this, and many will even site it as one of the years best, a monumental achievement of film. For me, it simply wasn't enough. Not enough character development, not enough of a story, not enough originality. Simply not enough of what generally makes a top tier film top tier. I'd quite honestly rather see Cameron return to the franchises that put him on the map than see him continue to undercook this franchise he has so painstakingly put his time into developing the tech for. My only hope is that, since he is adamant about continuing to churn these out, he puts more effort into giving us characters and a story that don't feel redundant and feel like they actually matter.
We're back in Pandora, Jake Sully is fully Na'vi with wife Neytiri and four children, including an adoptee born of Sigourney Weavers character from the previous film. It's been a decade since humanity packed up and left Pandora, but the film doesn't waste much time settling into familiar territory. Humans return to Pandora, with first film villain Quaritch in tow. "But I thought he died in the first film?" I hear you ask. Fear not, the film has managed to come up with a plot convenience to bring back the only entertaining character from the first movie to once again be the primary villain. Before long, Quaritch is after Sully, Sully and family flee home for a chain of islands settled by a sea tribe, lots of pretty water and creatures put on a show, and we get yet another bombastic action finale.
I won't really bother to try and convince you that the film isn't the cinematic event of the century. If you thought the first film was the best thing ever, you'll likely enjoy this one quite the same. If you weren't taken in by the first, you'll find this as rote and played out as that was. This is a better film though. Far less conveniences and inane plot points are used and it at least makes an attempt at a bigger emotional connection, even if it falls mostly flat due to half hearted, cliched character development. Brave, older brother? Check. Black sheep? Check. Special child like no one else? Check. Youngest and cutest who constantly needs protection? Check. Even the most original addition, a young human boy named Spider, is mostly relegated to a nuisance the writers couldn't quite figure out what to do with. Neytiri is wasted here with little to do but bounce between caricature roles that shine a light mostly on Sully. Oh, and what about this lead? Once again, Sam Worthington demonstrates that there could have been better choices of lead. Where we should see an emotionally charged role in that of a father trying to protect his family, we instead get a range that barely registers as emotional. Even Stephen Lang feels like he has less to chew on, now as a Na'vi that makes him far less entertaining, even if he does have a more interesting part.
The film does look beautiful though, possibly some of the best effects I've ever seen put to film. Pandora is even more of a visual splendor under water, with incredibly detail to it's ecosystem. If Cameron didn't spend so much time trying to bewilder and make our eyes pop out of our skull with it, I'd say it's worth the price of admission, but by the time we got to the sixth scene of Na'vi swimming around and gazing in wonder at it, I was starting to find myself over it. A lot of the time that could be spent developing the family dynamic beyond mentions and Sully yelling at his kids, is instead devoted to Cameron's pretty graphics. One moment in particular was devastatingly unemotional and, although I kept expecting something more from our lead, it never came, muting the emotion that should be there. But the film certainly delivers on it's technological promises, something that once again shows in the action packed climax. This, I'd say, is very likely worth the price of admission. If there's one thing it can never be argued, it's that Cameron knows how to do action. He's arguably still one of the best at delivering it on screen and Way of Water shows he's still a master. This is every bit as good as the first film.
If I had to put a summary to it, I'd say Way of Water is worth at least seeing once in theater for the spectacle. It feels more like a combination of one of Cameron's sea documentaries slapped together with an in-theater ride, with the film part tacked on. I have no doubt most people will enjoy this, and many will even site it as one of the years best, a monumental achievement of film. For me, it simply wasn't enough. Not enough character development, not enough of a story, not enough originality. Simply not enough of what generally makes a top tier film top tier. I'd quite honestly rather see Cameron return to the franchises that put him on the map than see him continue to undercook this franchise he has so painstakingly put his time into developing the tech for. My only hope is that, since he is adamant about continuing to churn these out, he puts more effort into giving us characters and a story that don't feel redundant and feel like they actually matter.