Was Avatar: The Way of Water Worth the Wait?

Avatar: The Way of Water may have been one of the most anticipated sequels to an action movie of 2022, but was it really worth the thirteen-year wait? As someone who was very young when Avatar was released, and someone who did not rewatch the movie more than twice, I went into the sequel not remembering much about the original. Even with almost no recollection of Avatar, the movie wasn’t terrible. The Way of Water follows Jake Sully, his wife Neytiri, and their four kids as an old enemy comes back to hunt Jake down. I liked the introduction of the new characters mixing with the old, which I believe makes for a good sequel. The introduction of the new characters felt natural because so much time had passed for both the viewer and the characters.

I appreciated the amount of time that was spent on explaining the backstory, but it did feel a little drawn out and there were many unnecessary scenes. You know when you have to sprint to the bathroom during a movie to not miss anything? Well, that’s exactly what I did when watching Avatar, and quite frankly, nothing happened while I was gone. This is the effect of having unnecessary scenes.

Despite this, other aspects of the movie were really good. The special effects work was done very well and the acting was good. There was always a lot going on in the background in terms of the scenery and the supporting characters, but it was very well planned, and it didn’t seem like scenic details were easily forgotten.

There were also a lot of details in the action scenes that were well done. A majority of the movie was action which I like, but because the movie was so long, it almost felt like there was too much of it. For example, there was one part of the movie that was very sad, but it ended up being overshadowed by all the action and violence. However, it was still an easy movie to follow.

It did seem like there were some oversights though. Kiri, Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter, has a mysterious past. Her mom has been in a coma since Kiri’s birth and no one knows who her father is. She tries to find him throughout the film but never discovers anything. At one point in the film, some doctors think Kiri might have epilepsy, but that’s never brought up again. Like, at all. I don’t know if that’s supposed to hint at the next movie in the series, or a spin-off focusing on Kiri and her biological parents, but if it is, it doesn’t seem like the best way to go about it. Furthermore, the unclearness and unanswered questions aren’t interesting enough to warrant another whole movie.

Overall, the movie was good, but it could’ve been better. The special effects were well done, and I really liked the characters and the action. However, there were just too many unanswered questions which didn’t make the movie fully enjoyable.