I was having doubts about this second Avatar movie. Sure, its creator, James Cameron, was back, but it has been 13 years since the original science fiction epic. Plus, as good as the first film is, and it is very good, the main attribute is the stunning visuals and not the story, which isn't too complex. Then the trailer for the new movie came out and it looked exactly like the original, and to confuse matters, the original movie was re-released in theaters, so I wasn't sure if I was seeing the trailer for the new movie or the re-release of the original.
So, is Avatar: The Way of Water more of the same? Yes...and no. The blue humanoid aliens, the Na'vi, who are a reflection of Native Americans, once again have to battle it out with those pesky humans from Earth, but the movie does expand not only on plot, but the characters, and the world they inhabit.
Ten years after the events of the first film, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who permanently had his soul transferred from his human body to the body of his Na'vi avatar, has a family with his mate, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). They have two biological sons and a daughter, as well as an adopted daughter born from the comatose avatar of Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), and a human feral boy named Spider (Jack Champion). Their peaceful existence on the world of Pandora is shaken again when heavily armed humans return to colonize it. One of the leaders of this mission is Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), cloned into a Na'vi body and out for revenge against Sully and Neytiri for, well, murdering his human form. To protect his family, Sully hides them with another tribe, who live on the water.
James Cameron, the director of The Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, The Abyss, and Titanic, is a great visualist, a master at constructing action scenes, and knows how to effectively use CGI. The Way of Water is no exception. The underwater scenes are filled with a sense of wonder and beauty, and there is a lot of kick-ass action too.
Like the first Avatar, the themes of saving the environment, being one with nature, and the sadness of being an outcast are all on display here. A cool subplot is when Sully's youngest son, Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), is befreinded by a tulkun, the Pandora version of a whale.
Yes, at 192 minutes, it all does go on a bit too long, and the dialog is often stilted and lame, but the movie stays focused and keeps you invested in this world.
