Despite the fact that it's been almost a decade since James Cameron debuted Avatar, the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water more than lives up to audiences' expectations that sequels will inevitably be worse in quality.
Cameron, together with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, returns to Pandora with more breathtaking graphics, a more intimate, emotionally engaging plot, and astonishing underwater sequences that put all previous films' technical achievements to shame.
The Avatar sequel is gorgeous, with lush world-building and characters who give depth, but the tale is too lengthy and thinly stretched.
Two decades have passed after the events of the first film, and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are doing well.
Jake and Neytiri's family has grown over the years to include five members: adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), biological daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), and Spider (Miles) who was left behind on Pandora and raised with Jake and Neytiri's children.
Jake and Neytiri's joy is cut short when they see Colonel Miles Quaritch's (Stephen Lang) avatar, which is loaded with the memories of Quaritch's clone.
Jake and his sister Neytiri are forced to seek refuge with the Metkayina, a water tribe, after Quaritch becomes obsessed with exacting vengeance on Jake and his family.
Cameron, rather than remaining in the wilderness, seizes the chance to learn about the other inhabitants of Pandora.
In the long run, this helps prevent the Avatar sequel from becoming stale.
The film mostly focuses on the younger Na'vi generation, which frees up time to go more into Pandora and the Na'vi, without relying as heavily on Jake's point of view or introducing the customs.
Rather, the addition of the Metkayina provides the plot a new perspective and gives Neytiri and Jake's family plenty of material to deal with, as well as some challenges to conquer.
Since both the elders and the teenagers are strong-willed and determined in their own ways, this also lends the drama a true push-pull dynamic.
The return of Colonel Miles Quaritch as an antagonist brings a feeling of continuity to the sequel without rehashing old material.
Despite this, Avatar: The Way of Water delves deeply enough into new plot beats and ramps up the stakes for its characters via tension to warrant a continuation of the tale from the previous film.
Returning to Pandora was well worth the wait thanks to The Way of the Water, which is not only one of the year's most visually stunning films, but also one of the most interesting and entertaining.
Cameron, together with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, returns to Pandora with more breathtaking graphics, a more intimate, emotionally engaging plot, and astonishing underwater sequences that put all previous films' technical achievements to shame.
The Avatar sequel is gorgeous, with lush world-building and characters who give depth, but the tale is too lengthy and thinly stretched.
Two decades have passed after the events of the first film, and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are doing well.
Jake and Neytiri's family has grown over the years to include five members: adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), biological daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), and Spider (Miles) who was left behind on Pandora and raised with Jake and Neytiri's children.
Jake and Neytiri's joy is cut short when they see Colonel Miles Quaritch's (Stephen Lang) avatar, which is loaded with the memories of Quaritch's clone.
Jake and his sister Neytiri are forced to seek refuge with the Metkayina, a water tribe, after Quaritch becomes obsessed with exacting vengeance on Jake and his family.
Cameron, rather than remaining in the wilderness, seizes the chance to learn about the other inhabitants of Pandora.
In the long run, this helps prevent the Avatar sequel from becoming stale.
The film mostly focuses on the younger Na'vi generation, which frees up time to go more into Pandora and the Na'vi, without relying as heavily on Jake's point of view or introducing the customs.
Rather, the addition of the Metkayina provides the plot a new perspective and gives Neytiri and Jake's family plenty of material to deal with, as well as some challenges to conquer.
Since both the elders and the teenagers are strong-willed and determined in their own ways, this also lends the drama a true push-pull dynamic.
The return of Colonel Miles Quaritch as an antagonist brings a feeling of continuity to the sequel without rehashing old material.
Despite this, Avatar: The Way of Water delves deeply enough into new plot beats and ramps up the stakes for its characters via tension to warrant a continuation of the tale from the previous film.
Returning to Pandora was well worth the wait thanks to The Way of the Water, which is not only one of the year's most visually stunning films, but also one of the most interesting and entertaining.
