When I recently ranked the Best Picture nominees of the last Oscars, I ranked "Avatar: The Way of Water" at the bottom of the list without much of an explanation. However, after rewatching the film a few days ago, I thought that this wasn't fair. I actually liked "The Way of Water" more than the original "Avatar," and it's far more interesting than the majority of blockbuster films released last year. Just because I wouldn't put it among my favorite films of the year doesn't mean that it's not a significant accomplishment in filmmaking and it deserves its share of kudos.
So, when last we saw Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), he had left his human body behind and started a family with the Na'vi, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), on the alien world of Pandora. It's now many years later, and the two have four kids - boys Neteyem (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), and girls Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). Kiri is the Na'vi daughter of Sigourney Weaver's character from the previous film, who the Sullys have adopted. They're all friends with Spider (Jack Champion), a human boy raised by the few remaining scientists from Earth, who wasn't able to leave with the other humans after the Na'vi ejected them. The invaders haven't given up, however. Renewed efforts to take the planet commence under a new leader, General Ardmore (Edie Falco), who creates a new squad of Na'vi avatars, including one implanted with the memories and personality of Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang). He's out for revenge, naturally, and targets Jake Sully and his family.
The Sullys decide to leave their forest home and take refuge with the Metkayina clan, who populate the islands of Pandora and are close to the sealife of its oceans. A good portion of the film is spent watching the Sullys learn to adapt to this new way of life. They learn to ride the dinosaur-like Ilu, and Lo'ak befriends one of the intelligent, whale-like Tulkun, who the humans hunt. The alien oceans are a more visually interesting environment than the forests, and give the special effects team the chance to design more alien creatures and ecosystems. As with the first "Avatar," the effects work is absolutely gorgeous and immersive, and it's difficult to tell which elements are live action and which are digital. The Na'vi characters are convincing to the point where I often forgot that I wasn't watching the live actors.
I only wish that the story of "The Way of Water" lived up to the monumental efforts that were expended to bring it to the screen. Jake Sully is a better protagonist here as a father trying to parent his teenage children through a rough transition, but he's still a remarkably dull sort of everyman stand-in, and I wish so much of the movie hadn't revolved around him. Plenty is repeated from the first "Avatar," especially Colonel Quaritch once again leading ultra-aggressive military forces to disrupt the harmonious lives of the Na'vi, echoing the oppression of indigenous humans by colonizers. The environmental allegory is also very blunt, with the Tulkun essentially being whales with an extra set of eyes, a few more fins, and the ability to psychically communicate with the Na'vi.
I can't find much fault with the new characters, except that they're all very bland and very predictable. Lo'ak is the screw-up son, Kiri has a mystical spiritual connection with the planet, and Tuk is the standard cute kid. Sigourney Weaver performing Kiri occasionally gave me the oddest sense of dissociation, because Weaver mostly sounds like herself, but she's playing a fourteen year-old girl. Spider is one of the more compelling characters because he's so visually unusual - a human who grew up with the Na'vi, even adopting their customs and behaviors - but is kidnapped by Quaritch's forces early on and spends most of the movie cordoned off with the baddies. Likewise, Zoe Saldana is one of the better performers in the cast, but gets far too little to do as Neytiri until it's ass-kicking time in the last act.
Probably the most surprising thing about the film is that it's not just repeating parts of "Avatar," but also some of James Cameron's other films. The finale involves many of the characters trapped on a sinking ship, and some of the action sequences are awfully reminiscent of "Titanic," while others recall "The Abyss." It all makes for a very exciting movie, so I'm not really complaining. However, this confirmed for me that while "Avatar" might be showing off many new technological feats, poke around beneath the surface level, and you'll find Cameron playing all the old hits.
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