Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Zaldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lung, Cliff Curtis, Kate Winslet

Primary genre: Epic

Secondary genre: Science fiction

Nominated for: Best picture, visual effects, sound, production design

Won: Best special effects

It’s been 13 years since we visited James Cameron’s Pandora and in between, the once great sci-fi filmmaker focused on shooting exclusively an army of sequels whose sole purpose is the further exploration of his alien world. However, things are different now than they were in 2009: superheroes rule the box office, the 3D gimmick has died, and the streaming wars produce several (and albeit) cheaper blockbusters that can be enjoyed from the comfort of your much less expensive couch.

Despite Cameron’s obvious enthusiasm for this alien world and his insistence to push the not-so-ground-breaking mo-cap technology, his second Na’vi adventure proves to be even more shallow than its predecessor. While the first film followed at least a formulaic arc that copied “Dances with Wolves” (1990) questionably and with ambiguous artistic integrity, “The Way of Water” feels like a bloated, repetitive and superficial videogame cinematic.

Packed with stunning landscapes of tremendous detail (and blue, lots and lots of blue), once you seek to dive deeper to the root of the story, there is no substance to be found: from the one dimensional characters and continuous underwater shots that try to compete against the BBC team of Blue Planet to the awkward cuts during potentially interesting dramatic turn of events (!) that prevent from anything meaningful to unfold.

Clearly, Cameron’s script is more interested in the visual presentation as opposed to necessary emotional storytelling complexities that make an audience invested. “The Way of Water” instead is an extensive and safe prologue for the later entries by replicating beats that we saw before under a banal and panache-less approach. There is a real lack of pathos here which crumbles under the weight of an overly serious tone much to the disbelief of the Canadian director’s resume that includes the likes of “Aliens” (1986), “The Abyss” (1988), “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991) and “True Lies” (1994).

Brushing the conflict between the Na’vi and the humans under an extreme dogmatic morality of good vs evil does not make for a compelling story either showcasing the “invaders” as obnoxious, indifferent and as sadistic killers that take pleasure in burning environments, killing animals and natives alike all while yelling “yeah!” and “hoorah!”; thus removing any intriguing aspects that might justify in a devil’s advocate way this sort of extra-terrestrial clash (i.e.., it is mentioned that Earth is dying and the human race needs a new home). Cameron utilizes metaphors about the conquistadors (and the French/Dutch/Belgian/British Empires too) that bear the subtlety of a drug queen on a awards show but when you have “The Mission” (1986) and the fantastic “Embrace of the Serpent” (2015) that explore and present such aspects with appropriate intellectuality, one wonders why bother spending $350 million dollars (!) on subpar dialogue and unlikeable individuals.

Expanding the cast does not do the movie any favors either as Sam Worthington’s wooden acting and the underwhelming presence of Zoe Zaldana are overshadowed by their constantly in danger offspring who act and behave like American high school stereotypes. Forced to deliver cringe worthy and misplaced lines of dialogue (e.g., “punk ass bitch”, “pervert”), especially by that ill-conceived human named “Spider” who seems he has jumped out straight from a California surfing sitcom (bro), the underage group takes center stage during the second act and drags the film to a halt used more as actions catalysts for the few exciting moments that within the three and a half running time exist. Speaking of the action, it is rock solid but do not expect to experience the same sense of 2009 excitement as neither of the set pieces are spectacular.

But all the above are mere observations for the sheer visual splendor and technical proficiency of “The Way of Water” whose quality wise remains way above of that of any modern blockbuster and for those looking for an eye feast, they will not be disappointed. Cameron and his army of technicians, artists, colorists and software engineers have put a lot of effort to expand Pandora, its inhabitants and their environment in exquisite detail even if they rely occasionally way too much on Earthly cultures (the water tribe is literally a copy past of the various Pacific Islander communities) which depending on your point of view can be distracting.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is better than all the cookie cutter superhero end of the world crap because like it or love it, Cameron has a clear (and deeply flawed) vision for his story and world building. Yet, despite the more advanced and sophisticated effects, this sequel is masquerading its story for an over simplified environmental message that sacrifices character development and emotional investment. Maybe “Avatar 3” might be better but there is little conviction for that belief.

Boring, bloated and repetitive sequel

+Technically efficient

+State of the art effects

+Great detail

+Good action

-Wooden acting

-One dimensional characters

-Too long

-No substance

-Awkward dramatic cuts

-Teenage High School drama, Pandora edition

-Monotonous villain

-”Spider”