Avatar: The Way of Water

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER (2022)

When I first heard they were making a sequel to this optical behemoth I, like many others, rolled my cynical eyes and thought “who needs this?”. And after 3 hours I realised that nobody needs this.

In 2009 James Cameron introduced us to the luscious rainforest moon of Pandora and its indigenous long-limbed blue people, the Na’vi.

As is our want, humans, identified something that doesn’t belong to us and naturally attempt to take ownership. Oh and also annihilate the locals. Paraplegic marine Jake Sully falls in love with a native and betrays his commander. I think that’s what happened anyway.

We all agreed that it was visually breathtaking and a huge advancement in technology. It broke box office records and was nominated for a bunch of Oscars. But while the majority of us felt instant buyers’ remorse and quickly forgot about it, Cameron decided we were all wrong and spent the next 13 years working on its sequel.

And here we are. Another astonishingly beautiful film with basically the exact same storyline. But with Jake’s kids. And an unrecognisable Kate Winslet back with her Titanic boss. (They exclusively work together in water).

It’s a fun adventure. And you take for granted that it’s all CGI. The SFX so pristine it feels no different to watching David Attenborough’s Blue Planet. Fans of the original will not be disappointed. It’s technically excellent. But to be honest I’ve already forgotten about it. Why doesn’t it sink in deeper? (Pardon the pun).

7 Pointless Thumbs Up! 👍🏻