Avatar: The Way of Water Review: James Cameron Gives Us the Biggest ‘Video Game Movie’ Ever
Avatar 2 movie review: With The Way of Water, James Cameron pushes filmmaking technology again, blending high-frame-rate 48fps with standard 24fps to create a wholly unique (and jarring) presentation. But while the return to Pandora — and its new environs — are gloriously filmed, Cameron once again falls short on story and characters. Avatar 2 releases in India o...
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Avatar: The Way of Water — now playing in cinemas worldwide — has a gargantuan task on its hands. (And I'm not even talking about the sequel's need to earn over a billion dollars at the box office to turn a profit.) James Cameron, the returning director, co-writer, co-editor, and co-producer on the second Avatar movie, must prove to audiences that his world of Pandora is worth revisiting thirteen years on. The original Avatar was both a showcase of 3D cinema and otherworldly visuals. One of them is on its last legs, while VFX and scale are seemingly everywhere these days. The spectacle alone — Cameron had little to offer on the story and characters front back then — cannot carry Avatar: The Way of Water. It needs more.
Additionally, the first sequel is an audition for more Avatar sequels — slated to open every alternate December between now and 2028 — one of which has already been filmed, one that has a script in place, and another with a figment of an idea. Cameron doesn't just need you to be invested today for Avatar: The Way of Water. He has to sell you on the grand plan he's been cooking for over a decade. But all that is moot if this new chapter doesn't work. (That's where the commercial aspects come in more, with Cameron attempting to buy himself cover ahead of release, by noting that he's prepared to end on the trilogy mark should the new film underperform.)
For better and for worse, Avatar: The Way of Water is crafted along the lines of its predecessor. It's built structurally like the original, with an initial heavy exposition dump, followed by an immersion into a new culture, leading to a major confrontation between mankind and Pandora's natives. The finale is better than everything that comes before it. There are even callbacks to the first film, not that anyone will spot them given the massive time gap and Avatar's lack of re-watchability. And the sequel's visuals are paramount, with Cameron seemingly pouring more VFX money into certain scenes than the entire budget of Bollywood movies. Avatar: The Way of Water is a fascinating dive into alien waters, with every aspect of the new world shining gloriously.
