AVATAR: THE WAY OF THE WATER REVIEW [SPOILER-FREE]
*Splash* The last Kino of 2022 with a review of AVATAR 2. Plus an action-packed weekend streaming recommendation
James Cameron’s sequel to sci-fi epic AVATAR (2009) released last week and has taken theaters across the world by storm. Just today, 10 days after release, it crossed the $1 billion box office mark with no signs of stopping. How does its sequel, released a staggering 13 years later, hold up to the revolutionary first?
No discussion of this sequel is complete without considering its predecessor. The first Avatar was a groundbreaking movie. It brought technology that had never before been seen to the big-screen, pioneering everything from cutting edge motion-capture visual effects, to revolutionizing 3D and IMAX camera technology.
And it was well-rewarded for it. The movie has grossed over $2 billion since its release. And not in the way modern blockbusters generate their money – with a seismic first two weekends and a rapid dwindling down, all but forgotten 2 weeks later. Avatar started and showed no signs of slowing down, as word of mouth carried it to being the highest-grossing movie of all time.
News of its sequel, understandably, was met with a muted response. The complaints may sound familiar. “Avatar had no cultural legacy.” “It’s been 13 years, who cares?” I felt a lot of the same trepidation coming into this sequel.
Having watched it, though, I think it’s a tremendous improvement on every aspect of the first movie. Avatar: The Way of the Water, is one of the best blockbusters of the past decade.
Seeing is Believing
Of course, we have to start with the visual experience. If you can, you need to watch this in IMAX 3D. It’s a visual experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. So unbelievably immersive, so made-with-love. You are right there on Pandora, alongside creatures that look so life-like and visceral that leaving the theater is an out-of-body experience. I saw a whale do things in this film that I couldn’t have conceived of in a million years.
I’ve written about the VFX in this movie before (see here) but there’s something special about how this film approaches VFX as an art. The 13 years spent on this movie did not go to waste – the team filed over a dozen patents for newly invented technologies and models purely for this film. It’s one thing to hear that in the abstract, and it’s another to see it with your own eyes. You can’t fake spectacle.
Where Avatar (2009) was impressively realistic, Avatar: The Way of the Water looks straight-up real.
Story
But pretty pictures will only take you so far in a movie (even though the visuals in this alone make it worth the watch). My biggest gripe with the first movie is that it suffers from a simplistic story, flimsy and poorly-written characters, and middling dialogue. It’s still a good time, but these things all hold it back – especially an insistence on Jake Sully as a main character, who is painfully boring.
Way of the Water strips all that back and delivers a story worth telling. It’s a story about Jake Sully’s children and the Na’vi people far more than him – we see each go through their own compelling character arcs, delivering growth and storylines with such sincerity that it immerses you into their world even further. There is no main character of this movie – there doesn’t need to be. Hell, there’s a literal whale in this movie with a story that’s worth watching. You could say any of these characters are your favorite and make an argument that I’d agree with.
Pocahontas in Space
No discussion of Avatar would be complete without discussions of its more controversial plot elements. Specifically its white-savior tendencies – Jake Sully the human who undergoes a change of heart, saving the indigenous Na’vi against the attacking humans. The original is weighed down by a regrettable insistence on this tired trope.
There are traces of that still here, but I think the sequel improves on all accounts. Jake Sully is no longer the savior of this story – the franchise has expanded well beyond anything he has to offer. The Na’vi are at the center of this through and through. It’s their story now, and that’s the story we’re told (and the one we’re interested in, honestly).
Moreover, this movie is a critique of white imperialism far more than an endorsement of white saviorism. And not in a complex way. It slaps you in the face every second with how horrible humans are and how much better the Na’vi symbiotic relationship with the planet is. You’ve never seen something so horrible, largely because the movie makes you surrender in love with the planet so quickly. Jake Sully doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is preserving a way of life.
Legacy
I wrote in my Black Panther review about the power of sci-fi that chooses to craft a whole new world, as opposed to simply introducing science fiction elements into what we’re already comfortable with. It’s hard to pull off, but when it works, it works.
James Cameron’s Avatar has given me a world I’m excited to see grow, one that is still driven by art and a creative vision. It’s awesome to see his insistence on quality. It’s awesome to see this movie do well all across the world, not just in the United States. It’s going to be awesome seeing each of the sequels in the pipeline (including Avatar 3 in hopefully ~2 years, which is supposed to be about the fire people Na’vi). I’m struck with movie magic after watching this and can’t wait to go watch it again.
Review: 4.25/5
2022 Top-10 List:
I’m a little behind on my watchlist for the year, but stay tuned for my top-10 (and maybe top-20? Split into 2 weeks?) lists towards the end of January!
WEEKEND STREAMING RECOMMENDATION
BULLET TRAIN (2022) dir. David Leitch, Available on Netflix
Five assassins aboard a swiftly-moving bullet train find out that their missions have something in common. This was one of the most fun releases of the year and easily one of the most rewatchable. I keep hearing from people how fun it was to watch with their families over the holiday, and for good reason. Brad Pitt oozes with charm and has the chance there to show off just how funny he can be. Check it out on Netflix!
See you all again next week. Until then, please get in touch if you have any thoughts or suggestions you’d like to share. If you want to keep up with what I’m watching, follow me on Letterboxd @atharv_gupta.
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