It took more than a decade to return to Pandora in Avatar: The Way of Water and as the sequel makes waves in theaters, is it worth watching and does it have the same magic as the first one? Check out our review for the film directed by James Cameron.
Warning: Some portions may contain a few spoilers for Avatar: The Way of Water. Read at your own risk!
Is Avatar: The Way of Water Worth Watching?
Avatar: The Way of Water hits the theaters in the most majestic way, introducing a new perspective of Pandora whilst facing the same threat as before -- the Sky People. Now that Jake and Neytiri have a family, fighting becomes twice as hard and as important.
The film starts introducing the family of Jake Sully and Neytiri, the main focus of Avatar: The Way of Water as they reveal each of their children bringing joy to their growing household with Neteyam, their eldest, Lo'ak, their second, and Tuk, their youngest whose whole name is Tuktirey.
They also had two adopted kids, Kiri, who is a miracle Na'vi child sprung from the Na'vi version of Dr. Grace, still in stasis and preservation, and Spider, who is another surprise, the child of Miles Quaritch, and grew up in the lab where the human allies of the Na'vi are.
Their life was quite simple, that is, until, the reveal of Colonel Miles Quartich being alive in a space station just outside Pandora and the Sky People storms Pandora once more with the thought of colonizing the place as the second Earth. But for Quartich, he's fixed on vengeance on Jake Sully.
This is the main plot of the movie, one which led to Jake and Neytiri's family having to leave their home to evade the threat of Quartich's search and transfer to the Metkayina Clan, the Na'vi people living by Pandora's reefs, and they led by Tonowari and Ronal, with the ilus as their creatures for transport.
While it may be difficult for the children as they live in a new environment where they are treated quite differently given that they are hybrids, it all ended up well as they found a new place to stay, one they could also call their home.
Kiri is a standout character, her mere existence is a mystery and her abilities are nothing like the others. Living with the Metkayina clan, she realized she could summon creatures at will, leading her to question her mother, Dr. Grace, who her father is when she connected to the spirit tree, then collapsed.
Another is Spider, whose alliance seem to be firm at first but upon meeting his father, well, technically, he couldn't bear witness him die, and still, he is now part of the family of Jake and Neytiri as Jake now calls him his son.
The twist in the end works so well, too, because it is a painful thing to watch seeing one of their kids like that, and it shows the meaningful connection of fathers and sons doing their best to take each other to safety, and again, Kiri's abilities continue to stun everyone.
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The part of Lo'ak having the struggle of being the middle child and having connected with the outcast Tulkun, it shows how he feels and thinks, but in the end, it pays off especially after the tragedy that happened, he gets to embrace a bigger role in the family.
Being directed by James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water's cinematography and editing remain as the crowing glory of the Avatar movies. Everything about it is aesthetically pleasing, especially when it comes to the Metkayina clan reefs, which is shot in the beautiful waters of New Zealand.
Avatar: The Way of Water presented a new perspective of Pandora. Avatar introduced Neytiri's clan, and those lived in floating rocks and forests, and the Metkayina clan is totally different in all aspects. Neytiri's clan are lean and with slim tails, while the Metkayina clan have bigger eyes, muscular bodies, and broader tails.
The presentation of their location is absolutely stunning and the underwater world of Pandora is so mesmerizing, you'll get it why Kiri is drawn into it as if she wouldn't need to breathe. If you'd be there, with that kind of wildlife, you wouldn't come out of the water, too.
The editing is impeccable, James Cameron didn't disappoint! He always made sure that to the littlest details, everything is perfect. From the CGI of the characters, down to the effect, everything fits into place especially in the narrative.
Speaking of CGI, even with it, the acting of the cast goes through the screens and it will literally move the audience with the emotions that they carry. Props to Zoe Saldaña for delivering a heartfelt performance because one could really feel her being a mother to her kids.
Stephen Lang remains to be a powerful villain as well. His character could make you want to kill him every time he shows up on screen, and that is a good thing because it means he delivered a really effective performance! Kate Winslet, too, moved everyone with her role, Ronal.
All in all, waiting for 13 years and having been served Avatar: The Way of Water in a silver platter is definitely worth every single year they put in to prepare for the return to Pandora. The long wait even contributed to the excitement of everyone to see the sequel, however, some thought the film could have been shortened, too.
Avatar: The Way of Water just sets a whole new look into the narrative and it opens the franchise into a bigger perspective that could go on for years and years, even possible to have some spinoffs, hopefully, in the future.
If you'd ask if it is worth watching, the easy answer is yes! James Cameron continues to live up to his promise of bringing Pandora to life in the most stunning ways one could ever imagine and that deserves all the praise.
Avatar: The Way of Water makes waves in theaters worldwide.