A soggy but stunning sequel.

Thirteen years is a fair amount of time in anyone’s book, but in cinema, it’s an eternity. For an industry so heavily invested in the advancement of technology, the film world’s landscape is constantly in flux, making it all too easy to forget the huge splash James Cameron’s Avatar made back in 2009.

Over those thirteen years, Avatar has been something of a critical punching bag, and while that status is not without merit, it’s always felt rather harsh when you consider the sizable impact it has had since its release. Yes, granted, Avatar was found wanting in the plot and character departments, however, while these elements failed to blow minds, the film’s world-building, visuals, and boundary pushing technology most certainly did.

The leaps movie technology has taken since has meant audiences have grown more and more accustomed to the kind of CGI Avatar showcased, yet this shouldn’t diminish just how far ahead of its time it was. Utilising special effects wizardry that would change the industry forever, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could fail to be impressed by what James Cameron crafted.

Of course, that was then, and this is now, and that decade-plus wait for a sequel means Avatar: The Way of Water has some serious catching up to do if it intends to make even a fraction of the impact its predecessor did.

More than a decade on from the Na’vi repelling a human invasion of Pandora, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) lives as chief of the Omaticaya clan with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their children. When a familiar foe returns to the planet to finish the job they started, Jake and Neytiri are forced to join forces with other Na’vi tribes to protect their family, their people, and their home from those wishing to destroy it.

While it’s become something of a meme through the years, it’s hard to argue that the frequently sited mantra that you don’t bet against James Cameron isn’t rooted in fact. While his wider filmography has certainly had its wobbles through the years (hello, Terminator: Dark Fate), Cameron’s work as director is as impressive as it is ballsy.

Across the likes of Aliens, Titanic, and the first two Terminator instalments, James Cameron has not only crafted some of the most iconic and profitable films of all time, he did so while pushing the kind of cinematic boundaries few in the game can touch. Although his films rarely break narrative ground, their impact on the film industry has led to Cameron becoming one of Hollywood’s greatest needle-movers.

It will come as little surprise, therefore, that Avatar: The Way of Water continues this tradition, ticking almost every box on the James Cameron checklist. Although we’re yet to see how profitable the film will be at the box office, for better or worse, The Way of Water is about as James Cameron as a James Cameron movie gets.

As such, The Way of Water feels very, very reminiscent of its predecessor. The surprise factor that carried Avatar so far back in 2009 has obviously disappeared, and the shock that came with it has faded somewhat, yet it’s hard to deny that The Way of Water is just as heady a cinematic experience, with visuals every bit as sensational as the original.

Quite frankly, The Way of Water is stunning. With its scope broadened and its world more lived-in, the film is an astonishing, all-encompassing experience that, over the course of 192 minutes, sweeps you off on an immersive cinematic ride. It’s huge, it’s awe-inspiring, and it’s all very, very James Cameron.

While CGI has now become so commonplace that there’s relatively little that surprises modern audiences, it’s to The Way of Water and Cameron’s credit that the film manages to do just that. Crisp, clear, and full of colour, the movie’s visuals blow almost every contemporary CGI-heavy blockbuster out of the water, and despite an uncomfortably high framerate, the result is worth every penny of its eye-watering budget.

As such, The Way of Water’s action really does pop, largely avoiding the kind of murky CGI messiness that constantly haunts modern big budget cinema. With an incredible level of detail and an intentionally vibrant approach, the film’s action locks you in and never dips in its steadfast commitment to delivering good, fun, highly engaging action.

However – and this is a sizeable however – for all its mind-blowing visuals, immersive action, and expansive world-building, The Way of Water fails precisely where its predecessor did, and in almost the exact same fashion. Let’s be honest, plot, character, and narrative originality were never Avatar’s strongest suits, and we’re back there once again with The Way of Water.

Lost in a sea of its own filmic splendour, The Way of Water’s other elements just cannot keep up with the high standard of its visuals, offering the thinnest of wafer-thin plots, poor writing, and a string of wholly underwhelming characters. As with Avatar, such lacklustre elements are far from crucial for The Way of Water’s ultimate success, yet it’s hard not to feel at least a little disappointed by it all.

Spread far too thinly over an unnecessarily bloated run time, the film’s plot hits many of the derivative notes of its predecessor, failing to offer anything particularly new or innovative along the way. The result is a narrative that rapidly runs out of steam, unable to sustain itself over an arduous 3+ hours and, at numerous points, seemingly content to coast along solely on its visuals.

In truth, these are failings that have followed James Cameron throughout his entire career and, quite frankly, they have never really held any of his movies back from success, however, if Avatar is ever going to make it into the full-blown five film franchise its director clearly craves, a little more work on the script would be welcome.

Despite these issues, one of the truly remarkable aspects of The Way of Water is its heart. Sure, the standard of writing could be better, the characters stronger, and the narrative’s troubling ‘white saviour’ cliches shot straight into Pandora’s sun, yet there’s a soul to the film that makes for remarkably affecting viewing.

The movie is unavoidably huge, however, despite the enormity of it all, the story feels surprisingly intimate and satisfyingly soulful. By continuing to push the resilient bond between Na’vi and the natural world around them, and by making this a family story above all else, The Way of Water strikes just the right balance between spectacle and soul, and a step above your average blockbuster in both heart and spirit.

Building on the foundation Avatar laid thirteen years ago, The Way of Water marks another boundary-pushing chapter in the book of James Cameron. Like its predecessor, and much like many of its director’s previous works, The Way of Water’s plot and characters certainly won’t be changing the game, however, there’s a fair chance the rest of it will.

Dripping with breath-taking spectacle and surprisingly soulful, Avatar: The Way of Water is a truly stunning cinematic experience. Visually, The Way of Water is every bit as ground-breaking and immersive as its predecessor, making it a crying shame that the film is so painfully protracted and that – like Avatar – its plot and characters are nowhere near as remarkable.