“Avatar: The Way of Water”(2022) Review
Written by Victor DeBonis
When I saw the original “Avatar” in theaters, it was in 2009. I was halfway through my first year in college, and I went to see it with a friend of mine who would go seeing movies with me late at night once per week at that time as our tradition. I recall admiring the uniqueness of this rain-forest world and the astonishing feat of the visuals that concocted this mystical place.
As many of you are probably aware, this film was also directed by James Cameron. While I may carry some mixed feelings about how he might sometimes proceed with his craft based on past on-the-set stories, I will always regard him as one of the great action directors and, perhaps, one of the most ambitious and brilliant minds in the filmmaking world. The lengths to which he produces special effects and creates a remarkable blockbuster are impressive to say the least. To this day, “Terminator 2” is still a contender for my favorite action movie of all time, and, even decades later, this vicious, thrill-ride masterpiece results from Cameron’s grand, wild vision. “Titanic” is, in my eyes, still one of the absolute best films from the 90’s, and I would argue that a historical epic drama of that scope may possibly never occur again.
So, I knew that Cameron could deliver a sweeping blockbuster that entertains and puts millions of rears in seat and provide good entertainment. As far as the story of the original “Avatar” went, I, similar to others, found the narrative to be somewhat too familiar. I’ll spare the mentioning of “Dances with Wolves” and “Pocahontas” comparisons because, while such comparisons are accurate, I feel that such phrasing of these titles, in regards to this film, is overused at this point. We know that the protagonist is a soldier who is sent to see how a specific world works and unexpectedly falls in love with a princess from this place and the world itself. We all know that the military general in charge is going to be a soulless monster who hates what he can’t understand, and the solider is going to realize that the monster in charge was wrong all along, and he has a change of heart.
I totally believe in this message about respecting the environment and others who are different with all my heart and soul, yet the way that the story played out felt less and less investing on repeated viewings, since there wasn’t too much added to the tale that didn’t feel different from others of a similar message. With all of this being said, I never hated the movie by any means, and, while the original “Avatar” didn’t work for me, over time, as a story or in terms of character, I appreciate the rest of what the film had to offer.
Hit the fast-forward button to 2022 (Wow, getting older is a whirlwind). So much time passed since the original’s release that I almost wasn’t sure if we’d ever get any sequels to the original despite the frequent mentioning of their production. I may have to view this movie more times to see how everything plays out in the long run(And, I do intend to see this film again on a bigger screen in the future and encourage others to do the same).
After leaving the theater the previous evening, I honestly found myself feeling even more satisfied and happier than I did over a decade ago. I overall admired the story and what the connection of its characters consisted of and resulted in. It wasn’t too different from where other stories of a similar vein can go in a few places, but “Avatar: The Way of Water” operates on a level that is far more relatable to many people but still marvelously works as an entertaining blockbuster, too. It easily surpasses the original on a visual level and, in several places, on a storytelling level, and it was a treat to see once more what Cameron and the rest of his crew were capable of accomplishing and excelling beyond their own expectations in the process, too.
Through the scenes that involve exploring the underwater world, I found myself viewing with amazement at how wondrous this place was. There are animals that are essentially whales that have multiple eyes and are shaped in ways that feel distinctly alien (no pun intended). Certain creatures move with the swiftness of seals, yet they also carry this colorful, striped design and look to them that provides an intimidating yet majestic appearance. To little surprise, the movie is shot in an absolutely wonderful manner. Shooting the scenes with a brand-new motion capture system (which evidently took about a year and a half to develop) allows the characters to move and act in ways that feel incredibly alive and blend in perfectly with their unique universe. It also helps that the cameras are positioned right where they need to be to mentally bring audiences as close as they can to experiencing the action themselves.
Sometimes, the camera will comfortably behind the blue creatures as they gallop or float towards their targets. In some of the most moving moments, scenes are shot with an immense size that allows one of the main characters to find their way in the middle of the screen with an animal or other sight and convey a sense of how massive the space and wonder is from this place. The strongest scenes easily come from the times in which the camera follows along with the heroes as they explore the color and unique life of this underwater world, and it never moves too fast. All of the action and moments of quiet admiration are perfectly paced and are filmed with terrific precision and craft. When the battle scenes take place, the camera maintains the same intense motions that match the ferocious fighting instincts of the opponents, and it maintains closeness as much as possible with the characters when they’re trapped or are closer to taking the life of another. Visually, this movie amazes and even surpasses what the original accomplished, which is already an astounding feat.
Thematically, the film still reflects upon the importance of respecting one’s environment, but its new theme of the significance of family is what helps to bring a compelling and intriguing story. In this story, the main character, Jake Sully, (played once more by Sam Worthington) and his wife, Neytiri (performed superbly by Zoe Saldana) are raising a large family of children, and their journey together is explored in a moving and believable manner. I am single and not a father, but, I have best friends who I’ve known for years and have seen them become parents and raise families of their own, and, similar to everyone else, I come from a family of my own that has seen its strong and tough moments. I mention all of this to voice that all of the scenes that show this family and their bond are completely genuine.
As the movie progresses, we see the mother and father teaching their children the importance of looking after another and basic skills for finding their way on their own. The word “family” is repeated often, but, instead of simply just saying the word aloud, I observed these characters actually demonstrate their complex bond with each other in ways that others will most likely connect to. We see this family meet with one another in private to discuss serious scenarios, and there are moments in which siblings will feel hurt about not knowing if they are “fit” in their parents’ eyes but will still step into a protective and aggressive mindset when one of their brothers or sisters becomes a target of mockery. And, these sections are just a few of the parts of a story of a family trying to find the best path forward together following some dreadful, unexpected developments. This type of tale is vastly relatable to those either growing up from a family or raising one of their own, and, after viewing this movie, I found myself increasingly curious as to how much Cameron used his experiences from family of his own to write this script.
One of my favorite moments might be when the children are silently watching their parents debate with each other about what the best step forward is after everything that they’ve been experiencing around their current home. It is rarely easy for someone to watch their parents argue with one another. The truth is, though, that, when it comes to determining what the best choice is for protecting one’s family and following further on your responsibilities of guidance and love, there is an understandable struggle in figuring out how to lead everyone, physically and mentally and emotionally. The parents and even the children rarely scream at each other, even during more confrontational moments, and this, along with the rest of the scenes involving these characters, motivated me to follow this family through everything that they went through together on their journey. Any family sees discord or uncertainty in its journey, and it’s what they choose to do in these harder moments that shows the depths of love and what they’re capable of accomplishing together. Again, I was fortunate enough to grow up and continue in my adulthood with a family that I love and have increasingly bonded further with over time, and I have specific friends in my life that I consider practically as family in my current life, and seeing similar moments of compassion, grief, hurt, and disagreement, among others, made me increasingly invested in seeing how things would turn out for them and a little stunned when events happened that will likely cause sadness or anger in the audience.
In addition to exploring the theme of family, this script, written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, is also fantastic at visually showing these characters from land work on adapting to their new water-based environment. The aforementioned creature designs are creative, but I admired watching Sully and the rest of the family discover styles of breathing under water for longer time and philosophy in how it connects to the lifestyle of their new home. One of the best additions to the story was watching the blue characters connect with the creatures from under the sea. As someone who loves animals and especially admires dogs, I found great joy from seeing the characters demonstrate great empathy for the underwater animals and literally develop their communication with them.
I sense that animals have a way of connecting with humans and understanding more about specific values than humans tend to do. We have much to learn from them. For instance, I admire the unconditional love that many dogs tend to give, and their loyalty never ceases to amaze me. There are characters in this film who find solace from the creatures surrounding them in ways that they simply don’t experience from among their own kind. The development of these bonds easily built up much of the heart of the movie, and it worked in illustrating Cameron’s compassion for not only the environment itself but the creatures that live in it. This story will more than likely resonate with those who have special connections to their pets or love animals in some way and will develop righteous anger when they’re threatened or fatally hurt.
Some of the characters, particularly quite a few of the human ones, don’t offer much in terms of interesting traits. Obviously, there was intense fury for what they do, later on in the film, but, as far as character go, the animal hunters in this movie are about as one-dimensional as they come. They could care less about their well-being of the animals, and their main motivation is pure financial profit, and that’s about it. Nothing makes them stand out from other poachers that we’ve seen in other movies and shows.
There is also a human character named Spider that interacts with and finds a home with the blue Navi. At first, I was interested to see him with his furious movement and his swiftness in adapting the language and mannerisms with him initially being on his own. It slightly reminded me of the character of Tarzan, and I was eager to see how the narrative would utilize him. Sadly, once this character goes through a certain path, he never finds any way of escaping it or stepping further in to prevent specific conflicts from escalating more, and his actions simply didn’t make any sense to me.
Sigourney Weaver convincingly performs the role of Kiri with passion and evident curiosity about her roots. Sam Worthington plays a character who has developed from being a order-driven soldier to a dedicated family man, but, despite a few times in which he could give a monotonous delivery, he believably voices a patience and quietness that disguises the firmness and ferocity from his military-based skills. It is also worth mentioning that the actors and actresses who play the Sully children work wonderfully in echoing their intense, protective demeanor and their conviction that they most likely inherited from their folks. Musically, composer Simon Franglen creates the same rich atmosphere suitable for both awe-stricken and conflicted emotion for this adventure that late-great James Horner also excelled in doing with his terrific music (Horner is deeply missed more than I can express). It is hard for me to fathom how I forget the power with which the choir sang the theme music. Their voices are just wonderful to listen to.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” surpasses the original in numerous ways, and it accomplishes what “Maverick” did, earlier this year, and reminded me of why I’m so happy to be able to see a giant blockbuster, such as this, on the big screen and not on a computer. No matter what the advantages of streaming are and what the disadvantages of seeing something outside of one’s home can sometimes be, movies, such as what Cameron creates, are meant for the big screen and deserve to be experienced as such. Not all of the characters work, and a few can be confused with one another, but, as time progresses, you do start to care about them and their bond with each other. The spectacle that this film provided was superb and reveals more of the technical dedication that went through simply trying to create the mystical and action-packed scenes that take place. On top of that, the world is neat to explore, the music is great, and the themes of family and the importance of respecting animals and the environment are expressed in moving ways.
Even if you were somewhat hesitant about the original’s story, I encourage you to dive into this sequel and see the wonder of what Cameron and the rest of his crew has to offer.
See it on the biggest screen that you can because this film is truly alive.
Grade: A-