Avatar: The Way of Water

First Avatar movie, I watched maybe half a dozen times, it was an enchanting flick. For A:TWoW, I waited until the DVD came out, didn't want to spend over 3 hours in theater. I'm sooooooo glad I bought the DVD and avoided the theater. This movie just wasn't worth the 3-hour time.

I watched at home, over 3 sessions, in comfort of my own recliner and awesome sound system. A:TWoW was a visual treat for the eyes, but that's about it. Everything else was pretty much awful, one of the worst sequels I've ever seen (story-wise).

Will I watch again?? Nope.... I'm one and done. If it wasn't for the visuals, I'd give this movie a rating of 2.

So, one of the most anticipated sequels has finally come out. To tell the truth, I expected a more interesting, multifaceted plot, but I got what I got ... Well, my personal expectations are my problems alone.

The plot is about the new adventures of Jake Sully and his large family. He is pursued by the same Colonel Quaritch, who was in the first part. In fact, the plot completely copies the first part, only with different scenery, there is even an analogue of the character Giovani Ribisi from the first part. Some scenes are almost an exact copy of the scenes from the first part. It was depressing and I already thought that my review would be negative, but first things first.

With such a long runtime, more than three hours, the viewer is not really told how the people have managed to return to Pandora, because we remember that in the first part they were expelled from the planet in disgrace. The plot includes a huge number of children and adolescents. Some of them turned out to be just useless and had no weight in the film. In addition, it is not clear where did the children of another leader disappear at the end of the film. The film, of course, is designed for a teenage audience and is already successful, but I still expected more from Cameron.

There is no point in evaluating the quality of acting, since there are mostly CGI avatars here.

The cinematography is actually quite good. Much attention is paid to the underwater world. This is not surprising, since James Cameron loves this subject and has made several documentaries about the oceans and their depths. But the script is very lackluster. The storyline seems fat-fetched, there is no feeling of grandiosity as it was in the first part, a lot of unnecessary characters, the dialogues are not worked out, the main antagonist is not impressive, etc. The scriptwriters did not even try to hide that the main goal of releasing the franchise is to make more money. When a film brazenly shouts to the viewer "we didn't even try to come up with something new, because you will eat the old one in the second round" this is very bad. However, 2022 was a sparse year for good films, so Avatar: The Way of Water is still a top contender.

As for the good things, there is the stunningly beautiful world of Pandora and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver's character), but this is not enough for the film to receive a highly-ratef review. By the way, Kiri turned out to be a rather bright character and there is a feeling that in the third part she will have way more screen time.

Usually, when I give a film a seven out of ten, then I have an overall very positive opinion of a movie, but since I compare it with the predecessor and generally expected much more, this time I have mixed feelings about this movie.

7 out of 10.

"Avatar: The Way of Water" is a disappointing sequel that fails to live up to the high expectations set by the original film. While the movie boasts stunning visuals and a unique underwater world, it lacks the emotional depth and compelling storyline that made the first film so memorable.

The biggest issue with "Avatar: The Way of Water" is its lackluster storyline. The plot is thin and predictable, with little to no character development. The film relies heavily on clichéd tropes and predictable twists, leaving the audience feeling underwhelmed and uninvested in the outcome.

Another problem with the movie is its pacing. The movie is slow and meandering, with scenes that drag on for too long and fail to move the story forward. The underwater scenes are beautiful, but they can also be overwhelming and repetitive, leaving the audience feeling numb rather than immersed in the story.

The characters in "Avatar: The Way of Water" are also disappointing. Despite the efforts of the talented cast, the characters are one-dimensional and lack the depth and complexity of those in the original film. Even the villain is cartoonish and uninteresting, with no real motivation or backstory to make them compelling.

Overall, "Avatar: The Way of Water" is a lackluster sequel that fails to capture the magic and emotional resonance of the first film. While it may appeal to fans of the original for its stunning visuals and familiar world-building, it ultimately falls short in terms of storytelling and character development."

With over a decade of technology improvement, the movie provides even better visuals, more believable CGI(not that the first one didn't), it also continues the beautiful cinematography.

But, the script is far inferior to the last one. The movie tries to focus on "family", and with Jake and Neytiri already had a movie, this one focus heavily on the children. But most of the plot lines fall into the trap of being a set-up for sequels. A few plots left unanswer in the end and a few plots begin after the mid point and already wrap after just after being introduced. Some of the charcaters are downgraded into 1 dimensional and some do not learn anything meaningful throughout the story. And the focus of the movie shifts completely once entered the third act which diminishes all the set-up from before.

In conclusion, definitely a must watch, better visuals but slightly worst script.

The movie while not fantastic storywise was very enjoyable and well worth going to see it. The visuals where beyond fantastic and makes this years other blockbuster CGI look like a joke. Would recommended strongly seeing it in 3D, while its mostly a novelty that because in most cases its done cheaply as a gimmic. Not in this case .The biggest suprise was how they returned some of the characters from the 1st movie which just fit right in.

You either go see it in the cinema (biggest screen possible) or don't bother watching it at all. If your thought is to wait and stream it, save yourself 3hrs and don't bother (unless you have a great home theatre (even then....)