The much-anticipated sequel, "Avatar: The Way of Water", has been 14 years in the making from James Cameron. The original "Avatar" movie is the highest-grossing film of all time with the sequel at four today and climbing to over $2 billion. Read why!
Visuals! Visuals! Visuals! This is a stunning movie to behold. The CGI is outlandishly impressive. The actors dawn their stop-motion suits, and their avatar bodies are almost flawless. You forget that you are looking at CGI bodies very quickly. Some films make the mistake of CGI characters being overexaggerated in their movements whereas this movie does not fall prey.
The new setting of the island nations provides more unique experiences. They blend the animated sea creatures with real water when filming underwater. It is no wonder that looks so good. The actors had to hold their breaths. In fact, everybody held their breath. That includes the cameramen and some producers. The bubbles developed from scuba gear would mess up the shots, so everyone told special classes and precautions to make it work. That is commitment.
The visuals alone are enough to watch the movie, but what about the story? Many criticisms of the original are that the story is unoriginal. Compare it to "Dances with Wolves" or "The Last Samurai." While some say the same for "The Way of Water", I did think the story was better than the first. Was it groundbreaking? No, but it does not need to be. You do not need to reinvent the wheel to make something good.
None of the acting is award-worthy necessarily. However, it is still very good. Zoe Saldana's role is diminished, but she still gives a solid performance as does Sam Worthington as our main character.
Will this win best picture at the Academy Awards? No. It was nominated though and deserves that. It is a film worth watching, so grab a couple of friends and go to the movies. My film rating is an A+.
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