‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ review: Dir. James Cameron (2022)

There’s something very surreal about sitting down for Avatar: The Way of Water with a pair of 3D glasses on as the first few frames whisk us back to Pandora. Perhaps it’s because almost a decade and a half of waiting and delays and development hell made the likelihood of ever seeing this film as much of a fairytale as the Na’vi themselves. But 13 years later, it’s finally happening and the magic is still there: it’s as if we never left.

Some years after the events of the first film, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have settled down and started a family. The days of the Toruk Makto are behind them but when an old threat resurfaces, Jake and his family are forced to flee the forest and seek refuge with the Metkayina clan – water Na’vi – in the Pandoran ocean. Here, the Sully’s find themselves in the face of new adversities as they navigate the way of the water.

After the phenomenon of the first Avatar, 3D was everywhere – so much so that it quickly became more gimmicky than enriching, mawkishly overused by directors that didn’t know what they were doing with it. Immediately though, the 3D feels as new and exciting in The Way of Water as they did back in 2009; James Cameron is one of few filmmakers that knows how to use the tool well, and the stunning vistas and action are all heightened with the depth and splendour of 3D. In the same way, Avatar felt so cutting-edge all that time ago, ‘The Way of Water’ is just as spellbinding now. Whether it’s the 3D or the precisional use of high frame rate storytelling to embellish this world and the action or the game-changing underwater VFX and motion capture, it’s that rare cinema experience that has you rattling your brain trying to figure out just how they pulled this off. Which, in today’s oversaturated CG market, seems like quite the feat. The array of visuals are a marvel to watch, awe-inspired and consistently jaw-dropping. Even the action is visceral and propulsive; Cameron helms tight, dynamic sequences that are imaginative and tense and the finale, in particular, is amongst the year’s very best.

But what The Way of Water has that the first Avatar didn’t is a genuine sense of nuance and emotion underpinning it all. The story feels grand and mythical and helps Pandora feel like a tangible world but it’s the characters – specifically, the Sully children and their family dynamic – that elevate this above its predecessor. There’s a sense of investment here that outweighs most blockbusters on a thematic level and Cameron skillfully juggles it all to deliver quite the moving epic. Not all of the threads coalesce (some subplots seem like sequel setup and other narratives aren’t as thoughtfully explored) but James Cameron delivers blockbuster spectacle at its very best. And in a year where Top Gun: Maverick and The Batman have already reinvigorated what big-budget entertainment can look like, Avatar – yet again – raises the bar and then some.

This feels like the kind of rare Hollywood movie that they just don’t make anymore – where every second in the wondrous grasp of Pandora is to be savoured. If the future does indeed promise more Avatar sequels, I’m confident that James Cameron will continue to push the boundaries of filmmaking with the sense of panache and heart that makes The Way of Water truly soar as not only an incomprehensible technical feat but a rousing story of family and the lengths we’ll go to protect them.