No doubt ahead of its predecessor both visually and technically, with compelling stretches of action and world immersion, but its storytelling depth and character development are unexpectedly shallow.

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Reviewed on IMAX 3D.

The loss of composer James Horner can be sorely felt in this hotly-anticipated sequel thirteen years in the making.  Despite its rather conventional narrative, the first Avatar (2009) was able to soar largely thanks to Horner’s top-tier scoring, one that effortlessly connected the sprawling story together and produced the requisite emotions even when the characters struggled to elicit them. 

The Way of Water doesn’t come close to the experience I had with the first movie, but it remains a tour de force in blockbuster filmmaking and on the grandest scale imaginable. 

It is no doubt ahead of its predecessor both visually and technically, with its world-building and immersion many notches above what we have experienced from Hollywood over the past decade. 

“We cannot allow you to bring your war here.”

This sequel is best described as the ‘Water Edition’ of the same film, coming very close to what Scorsese had lamented about the state of Hollywood’s ‘theme park’ movies, but this is, ironically, its iron-clad defence in the best possible way, the ‘movie experience’ par excellence. 

I generally enjoyed The Way of Water and there are a number of compelling stretches of sea action, particularly in its final hour which sees Cameron very much in his element. 

However, I can’t say I left the cinema feeling all the more energised or richer a person—some have explained this to be the post-Avatar depression syndrome, though it could just be the film being unable to ground audiences in the unexpectedly shallow narrative and scant character development. 

The themes of family, environmental destruction, and militarism don’t stick as well as in the first movie.  In fact, I cared more about the fate of a large outcasted fish than anyone rendered in blue. 

Grade: B

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