Image via Disney
Imagine betting against James Cameron. The director redefined how audiences view big franchise sequels in Terminator 2 and Aliens, while standalone offerings like True Lies and Titanic cemented him as one of cinema’s finest crafters of blockbuster entertainment. Yet, there was doubt when Cameron debuted the original Avatar in 2009, a staggering 13 years ago. Despite the skepticism around 3D at the time and its cost ($237 million for production, plus another $150 million for promotion, The Wrap reported at the time), Avatar became the then-highest-grossing movie of all time at the global box office. A lot can change in a few years, let alone over a decade, so the world in which Cameron’s anticipated sequel arrives is vastly different now.
Doubt is understandable—and perhaps even warranted—but save your jokes, assuage your fears, and remove your suspicions: Avatar: The Way of Water is the real deal. Picking up about a decade after the events of the first movie, jarhead-turned-native Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are now happily surrounded by four Na’vi/human hybrid children of their own. But it’s Kiri, the child of the late Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, who also plays Kiri), whose birth takes on a biblical air of mystery.
Weaver isn’t the only face coming back from the dead, as it’s quickly revealed in Water’s opening prologue that Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is back, thanks to a handy bit of narrative retconning that saw the space marine’s consciousness backed up to a Na’vi avatar of his own. Without a human body to return to, the hunter becomes what he once hunted as the “sky people”—the humans and their militants—return to Pandora still hell-bent on colonizing the planet.
Realizing his presence amongst the jungle tribe is putting them in harm’s way, Sully, Neytiri, and their family head out into open water and find refuge in the aquatic Metkayina tribe. It’s here where the Way of Water rounds into form. The first hour might feel like a weak retread of the first Avatar, but then the audience gets thrown into the wondrous deep.
As Cameron explores the seas of Pandora, much like he’s explored our oceans, the movie reveals itself as a sort of depository for all of the director’s interests in environmentalism, his decidedly anti-militaristic sensibilities, and familial tales. Where the first Avatar feels like a redux of Kevin Costner’s Best Picture-winning 1990 western Dances with Wolves, Way of Water expands to be a family story—one that feels decidedly human despite the decidedly otherworldly creatures at its center.
As the Sully children swim amongst the world’s fish and encounter the awe-inspiring, whale-like tulkun, it’s hard to imagine Pandora isn’t a real place. The magic starts from the beginning, where Cameron glides the camera through blades of leaves before settling on a slightly distant (and very pregnant) Neytiri. Cameron pulls you into the frame in a way that makes you feel like you’re an active participant. The spectacle on display here is transportive, especially when bolstered by the film’s technology, and whenever it dives beneath the waves, that technology begins to soar.
I attended a screening with Dolby 3D high-frame-rate projection that often turned Peter Jackson’s Hobbit prequels into motion-smoothing monstrosities, but Cameron executes it much better here, smartly applying the effect to kinetic sequences to enhance the 3D. As such, Way of Water’s combination of 3D, the awe-inspiring rendering of this entirely digital world, and the high frame rate makes Water feel like it’s unfolding around you: One doesn’t watch Way of Water; one experiences it.
That’s to say nothing of how the motion capture articulates the little details in the performances; Worthington is the best he’s ever been here, and Saldaña’s Neytiri remains one of her finest roles. But the real standout is Weaver, whose Kiri has an inquisitive nature about the beating heart of Pandora that eventually becomes the film’s centering force, as her sense of astonishment and love of this world mirrors our own.
Our attachment to Kiri’s wonder is especially grounding as Quaritch and the other humans remaining on Pandora begin to close in on the Sully family’s new life among the Metkayina—threatening the tribe, the Sully family, and the tulkun in the process. The inevitable battle in the third act is titanic in its stakes and scope, bolstered by the emotional connection forged for Kiri and her family throughout the film.
The Way of Water emphatically proves the self-professed king of the world remains a singular, unimpeachable talent. Cameron’s storytelling dreams are simply too big for this world, maybe even this galaxy, so he simply went out and created a new one. The first Avatar remains a suitable proof of concept, but his masterful follow-up is an expertly crafted refinement that improves on the original in every conceivable way possible and sets up this franchise to plumb new depths for years to come.