Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Finally. After thirteen years since James Cameron’s first Avatar feature broke how cinemas function, his much-hyped sequel (well, one of them anyway) has hit theatres. I originally was wondering how impactful this release would be, especially considering how much time had passed and how much interest in Avatar as a whole dwindled. I shouldn’t have doubted the initial response since everyone has captured Na’vi fever again. During a time where box office numbers have been aching, Avatar: The Way of Water will likely dominate movie theatres for a little while. The big question on everyone’s minds is this: is Avatar: The Way of Water worth the wait? I would definitely say yes, but — and that is a major “but” — only for those that still love the original Avatar to this day and appreciate it for the singular cinematic spectacle that it is. If you’re wanting something fresh or groundbreaking outside of the technical aspects, you’re still not going to find it on Pandora, even in the deeper depths of its waters (dive as much as you want).

Jake Sully is beyond being a fish-out-of-water in this film (please excuse this accidental pun: it’ll be the last of its kind), although his connection to the “sky people” (the scientists and military that came from Earth to infiltrate Pandora for unobtanium) is still felt and referenced to at times; I suppose he will never fully shed off being a human at one point. Nonetheless, he is fully Na’vi in body and spirit, and he and Neytiri are not only still together, but they have a family of younglings as well. It isn’t long until we get into the plot of The Way of Water, with Colonel Quaritch leading a mission to kill Jake Sully for turning on the human race. Wait… Isn’t Quaritch dead? He should be as dead as a doornail after the first film. Well, he is and he isn’t. His memories have been implanted in a scientifically gestated Na’vi body, and so he lives again. He’s stronger, faster, and bigger. With the military training he has, he feels as though he is unbeatable in this Na’vi body: he’s no longer at a disadvantage. It was at this point that I was both hooked on the endless nature of Cameron’s original avatar-mind-and-body premise and concerned: the first film started with outsiders heading into Pandora with a dangerous mission.

This is where I feel like Cameron is both one of the best at his craft and his own worst enemy. With the amount of work put into the science, technology, and details of this distant planet (one, of which, I need to remind you caused people to have withdrawal symptoms once they left the theatres after the first film, since Pandora felt so real and lovely compared to the state of our own planet and humanity), he didn’t want to write a different story? After that instant Pavlovian response (something here feels too familiar), I began to notice similarities elsewhere. Sully and family have to move out of harms’ way when they come across the Metkayina tribe: beings of the water. They have to make themselves trustworthy by a different community… just like Jake Sully had to get the Na’vi to trust him. Additionally, his family have to learn the ways of surviving and taking advantage of their aquatic surroundings, in the same way Sully learned how to traverse the skies above. A subplot involving Spider, the son of the human version of Colonel Quaritch that was left on Pandora after his death. Spider is discovered by the now-blue Quaritch and is pulled away from the Na’vi tribe to act as their eyes and ears to find Sully. Spider feels so much like Sully and/or the other humans in the first film with his rediscovery of self, although Spider never really feels like a human (he does showcase signs of turning just a teensy bit). Once we start seeing the battles and even spotting this film’s answer to unobtanium (yes, it’s there), it began to feel bothersome. The Way of Water is tethered to Avatar at least enough to feel like it’s a recycling of ideas.

Despite feeling all too familiar, Avatar: The Way of Water is at least gorgeously well made, particularly its underwater sequences.

However, let’s be honest. Most people watching The Way of Water won’t be here for its story. They want to see how the special effects and technical capabilities are this time around, and they won’t be disappointed on these fronts. The CGI is (mostly) stellar, outside of a couple of physics-based occurrences in some of the battle scenes that already feel a bit dated. The motion capture usage is still mind blowing, and I have very little to critique here. Then, there’s what we’ve all been waiting for: the titular water sequences. These are absolutely jaw dropping, and the closest I felt to that first drop into Pandora during the previous film. Cameron’s affinity for underwater filmmaking, creating new technology to help us dive deeper, and motion capture effects leads us to the exhilarating underwater filmmaking here, and you will not be disappointed. For moments at a time, I forgot about the narrative frustrations and how long this picture felt. I was suspended in a weightless state, watching sea life zip around me. You can see why Cameron was so exited, not just because all of his favourite hobbies converged here but because they all work so well together. It is times like these that I can sense this bloated vision he possesses.

Despite assuming how this will all end because we’ve had this journey before (outside of one or two risks that I’m grateful for), I still had quite a ride with Avatar: The Way of Water. Even though the film feels like an excuse to flex some phenomenal filmmaking specs, being surrounded by these capabilities is worth the watch. However, that wide-eyed, hypnotic state I felt back in 2009 with Avatar (when I was younger and the film was much more of a unique experience) wasn’t here this time. We’re quite familiar with Avatar now, to the point that I can tell how identical the films are at times. Many filmmakers tried their best to repeat Cameron’s success and achievements, and even this wave of influence has since died down. The Way of Water pushes the envelope, but I feel like it isn’t quite the game changer Cameron wants it to be, outside of its underwater storytelling (these only start about an hour into the film, so at least there’s quite a bit of build up towards this magnificent pay off). In a sense, Cameron is right because The Way of Water is brilliant at something. It also possesses great action sequences, and there’s no denying that Cameron is still one of the best directors for these kinds of scenes. Honestly, I do feel like Avatar: The Way of Water is worth seeing once just to have that sense of escapism and wonder, but I don’t know how many people are going to be coming back to this flick again and again. The mystery is gone, but the reliable excitement remains.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.