User reviews

After watching first Avatar movie I was stunned, everything was perfect. I watched the movie hundreds of times. The expectation was very high.

The visual of the movie is very fantastic. The 3D seems real. It was a great experience visually. Overwhelmed with the visual effects.

The story was missing, it seems like a very common story. It was very predictable. Some scene was elongated which was boring. Seems like watching discovery channel in 3D in the cinema.

My personal rating is 7 for this movie only for the visualisation of the Pandora's water & the animals under the water. May be for the movie I would give a 5.

We have got lot's of finest movies from Jams Cameroon. He is one of the talented directors of all time. We expect something better than this.

The visual effects are amazing. But Cameron should be better than this.

I'm a big fan of Mr Cameron. Not only for his directing skills, but also for his screenwriting skills. But this time he seemed to have missed the goal. I know he rarely does sequels. But is this the best he could do? The story has not changed anything compared to the previous episode. Repeated crises, repeated enemies, repeated conflicts,and wait a minute,WHAT? Even repeated Titanic. Are you serious?

As a director, he also did not reach his previous level. For a long time, the pace of the film felt too slow. Yes, the underwater scenes are phenomenal. But this is not the Blue Planet, this is a sci-fi action movie. At least it's what most audiences expect from the film, isn't it?

With over a decade of technology improvement, the movie provides even better visuals, more believable CGI(not that the first one didn't), it also continues the beautiful cinematography.

But, the script is far inferior to the last one. The movie tries to focus on "family", and with Jake and Neytiri already had a movie, this one focus heavily on the children. But most of the plot lines fall into the trap of being a set-up for sequels. A few plots left unanswer in the end and a few plots begin after the mid point and already wrap after just after being introduced. Some of the charcaters are downgraded into 1 dimensional and some do not learn anything meaningful throughout the story. And the focus of the movie shifts completely once entered the third act which diminishes all the set-up from before.

In conclusion, definitely a must watch, better visuals but slightly worst script.

So, one of the most anticipated sequels has finally come out. To tell the truth, I expected a more interesting, multifaceted plot, but I got what I got ... Well, my personal expectations are my problems alone.

The plot is about the new adventures of Jake Sully and his large family. He is pursued by the same Colonel Quaritch, who was in the first part. In fact, the plot completely copies the first part, only with different scenery, there is even an analogue of the character Giovani Ribisi from the first part. Some scenes are almost an exact copy of the scenes from the first part. It was depressing and I already thought that my review would be negative, but first things first.

With such a long runtime, more than three hours, the viewer is not really told how the people have managed to return to Pandora, because we remember that in the first part they were expelled from the planet in disgrace. The plot includes a huge number of children and adolescents. Some of them turned out to be just useless and had no weight in the film. In addition, it is not clear where did the children of another leader disappear at the end of the film. The film, of course, is designed for a teenage audience and is already successful, but I still expected more from Cameron.

There is no point in evaluating the quality of acting, since there are mostly CGI avatars here.

The cinematography is actually quite good. Much attention is paid to the underwater world. This is not surprising, since James Cameron loves this subject and has made several documentaries about the oceans and their depths. But the script is very lackluster. The storyline seems fat-fetched, there is no feeling of grandiosity as it was in the first part, a lot of unnecessary characters, the dialogues are not worked out, the main antagonist is not impressive, etc. The scriptwriters did not even try to hide that the main goal of releasing the franchise is to make more money. When a film brazenly shouts to the viewer "we didn't even try to come up with something new, because you will eat the old one in the second round" this is very bad. However, 2022 was a sparse year for good films, so Avatar: The Way of Water is still a top contender.

As for the good things, there is the stunningly beautiful world of Pandora and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver's character), but this is not enough for the film to receive a highly-ratef review. By the way, Kiri turned out to be a rather bright character and there is a feeling that in the third part she will have way more screen time.

Usually, when I give a film a seven out of ten, then I have an overall very positive opinion of a movie, but since I compare it with the predecessor and generally expected much more, this time I have mixed feelings about this movie.

7 out of 10.

As the long-awaited sequel to director James Cameron's 2009 megahit sci-fi/fantasy blockbuster, "Avatar: The Way of Water" has been one of 2022's most anticipated releases. And, for the most part, it's a visually stunning and modestly entertaining piece of cinema. But is it the masterpiece everyone has been anxiously waiting for? Hardly. While the film is long on style (it truly is gorgeous to look at), it comes up short on substance. The script is the main problem here, telling a tale that's not overly engaging or insightful (certainly much less so than its more compelling predecessor) and full of story threads that either regurgitate material from the original or borrow from a variety of other sources, both narratively and visually. Then there's the runtime, coming in at a whopping 3:13:00, far, far longer than it needs to be, especially in the overly protracted closing hour. The action sequences become a bit tiresome and gratuitous after a while, and other segments feel like a polished travelogue for the Pandora Chamber of Commerce. What's more, there are storylines left unresolved, making this a picture that can't fully live up to being a standalone entity (one of my moviemaking pet peeves). To its credit, though, the picture's pacing is surprisingly tolerable for a film of this length, and it makes excellent use of its 3D technology (perhaps better than any other movie in which I've seen it employed in recent years). Still, for an offering that's been 13 years in the making, I expected something a little fresher and more inventive than this. But, for those who can't get enough of this franchise, this installment should satisfy nicely. And, if not, fans can look forward to three more sequels scheduled to be released over the next six years (though I'm not sure how many of them I'll be seeing).

Visuals are the main highlight. Saw it in 4dx 3d. Incredible CGI and effects. Story was a let down. Old wine in new bottle. Felt like they were reusing the first story at many places. They had like 13 years and still couldn't develop the story properly. Found some plot holes which contradicts the first movie. There were also many cliché scenes. And felt like the "humours" guys in the boat were bad actors. Took me out of the movie. Runtime was too much coz I felt bored. Overall it's an average movie. Still one time watchable. First movie is better in terms of story n visuals. This movie didn't have that balance.

This movie is defintely worth a watch. The visuals in this movie are absolutely stunning - so much so that you actually tend to forget how incredible it is while watching it since it is so masterfully done throughout.

I rewatched the first Avatar the same day as I went to see this one, and even though there are some obvious changes made to the story and the universe itself, it isnt done with too much consequense to the overall experience so all good there.

The only real criticism I have to give is regarding the story/plot - or the lack thereof. While the first movie had an extremely simple and unoriginal story at least there was one. Avatar: The Way of Water seamingly has no plot or considerable storyline at all and sets out mainly to show off its visual superiority which makes it seem a bit hollow. Naturally this is a shame but I will still recommend this movie for the visuals and the delightful reunion with the universe of Pandora.

It's a good movie overall but certainly not the emotional epic that it seems its director wants to believe it is. The visuals are stunning but the story is heavy handed again and lacking in depth. If your story includes dialogue like the following then it lacks emotional depth: "BRO. We've got to go now!" "I know cuz, I'm coming!" "Ok bro!" It's still worth seeing in the theater for the visuals and the action sequences. And honestly the movie doesn't feel like it's over 3 hours. It's just disappointing that they couldn't come up with better dialogue and story than this in 13 years. I'm hoping now that they have the effects in place for the next films, maybe they can spend their time crafting effective stories and dialogue to accompany the fantastic visuals. This is a good but not great movie and one that I probably won't go out of my way to see again. Contrast that with Top Gun: Maverick, a film that was made with half the budget but lots of heart and fantastic action. I'd love to see that one again.

As a highly anticipated sequel, Cameron did depict a fantasy world which is not inferior to its predecessor. Excellent technical power was used just right. Surrounded by fluorescent creatures and exoskeleton, we seemed joined a species war far away from home actually.

Even so, the movie is still inundated with a bunch of Hollywood routine. Father-son relationship, evil-greedy human beings, remorseful scientist, inspiring all-member-charging and so on.

Besides, a number of the plots were nonsense. Ridiculous decisions made by characters only in order to import another plot. Won't discuss more details here.

Firstly, don't get me wrong. Avatar: The way of water is a very good movie. Is it better than the first? Not for me. The original Avatar was a beautiful film that had a simple narrative construct that was uncomplicated and panned out well, whereas this one was a bit frustrating in a sense.

But first, a note about watching the film in 3D...

I was excited to get the full 3D experience everyone talks about, yet from the get go felt that the glasses dimmed the whole experience, like I wanted to dial the brightness up. Lifting the glasses up and down it's clear that the original content balance and grade is just compromised with the glasses. Because each lens has to block out certain colours, that's the way it works. Those beautiful, vibrant blues of the water for example just felt a bit washed out. If I had known about this a little more I would have 100% watched it in 2D and I've already recommended this to several people. It may be personal taste but I also found that a some of the layers created with depth of field just aren't great as there is a lot of unusual fringing and out of focus elements that sort of gets in the way of the overall scene. I love photography and technical aspects of this sort of craft, but seeing it again in a modern 3D film just had me paying more attention to these elements rather than just passively taking it all in.

Finally, onto the plot... or more so, the overall impression.

Without giving away any spoilers, what I will say is that for me on reflection, 24 hours after seeing the movie, I keep thinking about many aspects that are just too far fetched. There is an over-reliance on Quaritch as the chief villain and how his character unfolds. This sense of frustration doesn't quite leave me wanting more just yet, more so wishing it panned out differently.

Will I watch it again? Absolutely, but not in 3D and not in a rush. Very good movie though and a solid 7/10.

I have to say that is was worth seeing this movie on the big screen as visually, it was magnificent and I couldn't take my eyes off watching it. Possibly the best movie I have ever seen visually. Here comes the but...

But, where this movie excels visually, it has come up short in the story/plot. It just felt a bit repetitive and was too similar in a way to the first Avatar movie.

It felt that James Cameron's main focus was on making a near perfect movie visually but has unfortunately had a negative impact on the plot. Overall, it gave the movie a real unbalanced feel to it so I hope for Avatar 3 he can bring a stronger story/plot which will make it more unpredictable and enjoyable.

One final point I have to make. Why did they feel the need to have Sigourney Weaver play the voice of her daughter that is still a child? Everytime she spoke, it just didn't come across right at all. Why is a child talking like a 70 year old woman?! What benefit did they get from this seriously? What a strange decision. If you have a female child character then cast a child actress. Simple as that!

James Cameron is an intelligent man. He says if he did not make it in Hollywood he would have gone to university and studied engineering. He has also said several times that Avatar released in 2009 was to showcase the technology and not about the plot. But it took me several years to figure out that Avatar is Pocahontas in space because it is well directed and a visual spectacle.

The sequel follows the same trajectory and it is underwhelming. I am not even convinced if it was necessary. Maybe that's why it took 13 years to be released because James himself might have not been sure about a sequel. The visuals are out of this world probably the best yet. I kept reminding myself that it is CGI and not real. James has set the benchmark once again. That's how good the visuals are. But the story is sub par. I was expecting a better story since five writers including James wrote this screenplay including the couple who wrote the recent Planet of the Apes films.

Despite the weak plot, I cannot give this movie a 6 as it means below average. I give it a 7 because James did a great job creating Pandora. The fauna and flora seemed like what animals and vegetation would look like on other planets. The spirituality of the Nav'i and their close links to their animals is something Mankind should learn from.

Let's jump right in and talk about the visuals. They are, to the full extent of the word, unbelievable. I was in complete awe throughout the movie. The details are ridiculous. A new standard has been set.

I have to gush a little more. The original Avatar had groundbreaking visuals, but The Way of Water is MILES ahead. I couldn't imagine how much better it could get. And there are hundreds of stunning shots and beautiful images. As South Park taught us, James Cameron is always raising the bar.

As for the overall movie, I thought it was pretty awesome, but not as good as the first (8 stars). I was more emotionally invested in the story for the original. I remember being legitimately angry at the sky people.

And while the first one is so fast-paced, this one slows down drastically in the middle portion. It's still enjoyable but we stray from the main story and fill it with less important stuff like bullying drama. I think it was also slowed down by maybe showing off a little too much with the visuals. The original had a great balance of story and showing off.

I had a great time with this chapter and look forward to more. I'm not entirely sure 3D is worth it, but IMAX is a must since the entire movie has an expanded aspect ratio. (2 viewings, opening Thursday IMAX 12/15/2022, IMAX 2/7/2023)

When the first movie came out, it was hailed as a technical marvel but was criticized for having a pretty cheesy and shallow plot. Well, this movie has both of those attributes dialed up to 11. The visuals, if possible, are even more impressive than those in the first movie. When I say the characters and environments are photo-realistic, that is not an exaggeration. This is one of the most visually impressive movies I've seen. That said, the plot is somehow even MORE bare-bones and cheesy than the first. Again, it's not exaggerating to say that about halfway through, I lost track of what the story was even about. You get so wrapped up in the visuals and the world that it's easy to get lost in it. That is both a good and a bad thing. Characters are, for the most part, pretty one-dimensional, especially the villains, who are about as shallow as you can get. The only exception to the bad guys is Stephen Lang's Quaritch who is a bit more fleshed out than his initial incarnation. The problem is there are so many new characters that it's difficult to give each one their proper due, although to be fair, the movie makes decent use of the time it has. Speaking of time, this movie is LONG. While the first one was long, this one drags on way longer than it needed to. By the end, even with the all the action going on, I found myself saying "Ok, let's wrap this up!".

A couple other aspects I found refreshing: despite James Cameron's weird comments on "testosterone", this movie depicts fathers and fatherhood in a positive light. Also, it doesn't rely on awkwardly-inserted quips to force a laugh out of the audience *cough* MARVEL *cough*, but instead lets the drama unfold on screen. In summary, if you loved the visuals of the first movie, you'll definitely enjoy the ones here. If the lack of a plot from the first ruined it for you, then you might want to avoid this one.

The beauty of scenes and action in this movie is very impressive, but the story itself is quite bland. Sometimes it seems like dialogues were there just to fill in the space, leading nowhere. Also, there's no epic standoff, just one clan against a fishing vessel. The movie basically about kids getting constantly into trouble. It's not Matrix disaster sequels, but Avatar 2 is weak comparing to the first movie story-wise and epic-wise. Also some parts of the plot, like Spider being a son and of the colonel, or Kiri being a daughter of Sigourney Weaver's character seem to be illogically incorporated into the story.

The long awaited sequel has finally arrived. Avatar: The Way of the Water is a great movie, and far from a disappointment. It has stunning visuals, some of the best I've seen this year. Engaging action scenes, which feel real and impactful. An interesting plot that keeps me interested.

The only downside is that the story drags on, and we get long and unnecessary 20-30 minute scenes of just watching them swim, watching the animals. It feels like watching a nature documentary at times. You could cut out all of those scenes and not lose anything.

Another thing that could have been better was the plot. It was interesting, it was good, but it had quite a few holes and a lot of things that didn't really make much sense. The story was also really predictable and unnecessarily dragged out.

Overall it's a good movie, would recommend, but it could be a lot shorter.

Do you absolutely need to see this movie? No.

The 3D, the CGI, the Action are excellent, yes. In the past 13 yeast we had however seen similar. I feel like the reviews claiming that this is an esential blockbuster spectacle are exaggerated. Given the run time of 3+ hours, nice CGI really isn't enough to keep you engaged.

The storytelling is problematic. I went into the movie expecting a simple story and there is nothing wrong with that. Top Gun Maveric was simple, but it worked. The story is simple, the characters are interesting, likeable. The problem is with the plot, which suffers from a couple of convenient deus ex machinas that were not set up before hand. On the other hand there are some 'problems' in the climax that could have been solved pretty easily by the new skills the characters had acquired, yet they do not do it because... reasons. The movie then suffers from resolutions that don't really feel earned, but also drama that feels fabricated just for the sake of tension.

Though I had a good time, I absolutely do not feel like I need or want to see this movie again in the cinema again, nor do I feel compelled to send there my friends and family. I have seen The Batman, Top Gun Maverick and The Northmen twice in cinema this year. Avatar 2 was good, but didn't really feel essential.

Oh, there is no after credit scene, so no need to wait.