Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

 

5/10

 

Starring

Sam Worthington

Zoe Saldaña

Stephen Lang

 

Directed by James Cameron

 

One of the major challenges with this movie is its length and uneven pacing, which made it boring at times. Honestly, it’s a miracle I managed to sit through it without falling asleep. I yawned so much from boredom that I questioned my ability to see it through to the end.

This movie feels like James Cameron’s personal Everest—a challenge he’s determined to conquer at all costs. His hope is that the box-office returns from this sequel and the upcoming third installment will pave the way for Disney to commit to parts four and five.

This sequel has been thirteen years in the making, with the first Avatar premiering in 2009. While the plot of the original was decent, I never felt the need for a part two. The first Avatar felt like a visually stunning Pocahontas rip-off, and while Cameron’s dedication to completing his story of Pandora is admirable, here we are with part two.

It’s tough to critique something without it being labeled as negativity or bias, but the truth is, the story felt like a two-year-old trying to walk in their dad’s size 46/12 (Euro/US) shoes—clumsy and overstretched. The movie is packed with too many things happening around a small, weak plot, paired with bland dialogue.

One of the biggest issues is how Avatar diminishes the weight of death. Colonel Quaritch’s return highlights this point: consciousness can now be backed up and reloaded into an Avatar. This concept reminded me of the book Altered Carbon (later adapted into a Netflix series). While it’s an interesting sci-fi idea, it cheapens the stakes. Bringing back characters just for nostalgia or to tease their roles in future sequels felt lazy and unnecessary.

The film also wasted an opportunity to explore a more compelling reason for the human invasion. Initially, the motive was survival, but it shifts to something as uninspired as serum harvesting. Yes, serum. And if you’re wondering what happened to unobtanium, so am I.

The central theme of greed persists, but the film abandons its earlier premise of Earth’s desperation for survival. Instead, humans are now after a serum for anti-aging, harvested from a Pandora creature that dies once the serum is extracted. What’s the endgame here? Kill all the creatures and run out of serum? A more compelling plot could have involved humans attempting to capture and rear these creatures for the serum while the Na'vi fight to stop them. But alas, I don’t have Cameron’s pull.

This sequel clings to the Pocahontas-esque narrative of the first movie. We’re introduced to Kiri, the new “chosen one” who is destined to reunite and lead the tribes. Her full heroic potential isn’t realized yet, but it’s clear she’ll play a major role in the next films. The story also hints at Grace’s mysterious rebirth in the Avatar world, leaving us with unanswered questions meant to build anticipation for future parts.

While the underwater visuals were breathtaking, and the technological achievements are undeniable, this movie has killed any excitement I might have had for part three. I know it has a massive fan base, and my disinterest won’t affect them, but for me, the thread of enthusiasm has snapped.