Avatar: The Way of Water

Even after all these years when the hype had completely dissipated, I still enjoyed James Cameron's Avatar when I rewatched it not long ago. The film was not perfect and the effects were showing small signs of age but it was still a visual splendour, and demonstrated Cameron's ability to direct on the biggest of scales with ease as an accomplished master. Yet, I let the theatrical release for the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, pass me by and so here I am catching up to see what I missed. All three hours and twelve minutes of it.

Set around 14 years after the first film, Jake Sully (in Na'vi form) is enjoying a peaceful life on Pandora with his wife and family. Amongst his family is the daughter of Sigourney Weaver's character in Na'vi form and the human son of Stephen Lang's villain from the last film, the latter who has chosen a life almost exclusively without other humans. But this harmony is thwarted when a new armed force arrives, hunting for Sully, and so the family must flee to the sea Na'vi tribes before they lose everything.

I wasn't sold on the idea of a sequel to Avatar when it was announced and that Cameron was hoping to make five; it seemed like such an investment from the talented filmmaker and I wanted to see other projects from him. However, here we are in the industry that had practically abandoned 3D but Cameron wasn't ready to let that go or his planet of blue people. 

Watching this in 2D while dreading that running time as I pressed play, it didn't take too long before I was hooked into another sci-fi adventure of epic proportions and all cynicism was swept away. There were some decisions with who the villain would be etc that I knew to expect and which I wasn't particularly keen on but Cameron's ability as a storyteller really won me over. The visuals are also fantastic once more as he uses CGI to enhance his story and the cast are also great, particularly the young newcomers Britain Dalton and Jack Champion who form the heart and drama of the story as Sam Worthington's Jake takes more of a backseat. 

If I had any quibbles though, Sigourney Weaver's Na'vi character, who is the daughter of her human character, feels kind of forced in and sits apart from a lot of the story. There are also a few odd cuts here and there, hinting at a few deleted scenes but none of this is enough to unbalance the overall experience which has just enough going for it to sustain the three hour running time. And composer Simon Franglen does an admirable job taking over from the late James Horner in the music department to keep adventure in full swing.

Avatar: The Way of Water really exceeded my expectations and was far more enjoyable than I had hoped. Cameron clearly isn't one to rush his work and he uses his time well here to land the emotional beats, and provide some thrilling action-packed set-pieces. I think three films might be best for this franchise, as number three is already in the can, but if his passion will take him to five then I'm here for the ride.