The second Avatar film is more than just a visual spectacle. It is a beautiful tale filled with amazing characters and a ton of heart.
Overview
Let me start by saying I was never an Avatar person. I didn’t even watch the first film from 2009 until 2023 because I had it in my head that it was some generic blockbuster designed to have the widest audience appeal without any real substance. When I did finally watch it, I found it to be much better than I’d given it credit.
Even still, I was not prepared for the wonderful sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). When I first watched it, I was so blown away that, despite the film being over 3 hours long, I watched it two more times within a month because I just couldn’t get enough of it. Not all media benefits from bringing in a group of teenagers to the sequels, but in this case, this was definitely the right call. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is fine, but the new characters introduced in this film are some of my favorites, and they face some incredible storylines.
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Kiri
I love Kiri (Sigourney Weaver). It could have been an odd choice to cast an older actress to play the role of a teenager, but Sigourney is such a talented actress that she made it work flawlessly. She is the daughter of Grace’s (also Sigourney Weaver) Avatar, but no one knows who her father is. They haven’t fully explained it yet, but the movie provided enough clues that I think it’s fairly safe to assume that there is no father–I believe she was conceived during Grace’s failed mental transfer from her wounded human body to her Na’vi body, because Grace was connected to Ewya at that moment. Although she was not strong enough to survive the process, theoretically, Ewya used Grace’s last energy to create a new person endowed with some of Ewya’s own energy. This is why Kiri is able to manipulate plantlife and wildlife and claims she can literally feel Ewya’s presence. During the finale, she basically becomes a fairy princess, and it’s amazing–she wears a glowing winged plant on her back and directs luminescent creatures through the water to guide her family to safety. I cannot wait to see more of her in the next few movies, and discover her full potential now that she has embraced her unique abilities.
Lo’ak and Payakan
It probably seems strange to say that one of my favorite characters in a movie was a whale, but Payakan is a great addition to the film. He doesn’t show up until about halfway through, but even from the start, he leaves a strong impression, and he only gets better the more you learn and see of him. He also really elevates the arc of Lo’ak (Britain Dalton)–who, up until then, had been just a troublemaker who constantly got his family into dangerous situations. Once the pair meet, they feel a connection, even before officially bonding, that helps both characters. Lo’ak is the only one to give lonely Payakan a chance, and Payakan gives Lo’ak a sense of belonging in this foreign land. When push comes to shove, Payakan helps protect the Sullys and defeat the humans in the most epic way.
Spider and Quaritch
Spider (Jack Champion) is not my favorite character, but I do enjoy his plotline. Here is a guy who grew up without parents but with the knowledge that his dad, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), was an awful person. He’s also raised with the Sullys as the only family he knows. Then his dad comes back, sort of, though technically it’s a Na’vi clone. He’s forced to work with this semi-dad to track down the people he loves, knowing Quaritch means them harm, all while Quaritch has basically told him they aren’t truly family since he’s not the original Quaritch. But along the way, they do start to form a tentative familial bond anyway. Then when they all come together in the end, Quaritch threatens Kiri–who Spider is implied to have a crush on–and Spider tries to stop him, only to be threatened and cut by Neytiri himself. Neytiri never trusted Spider the way the rest of her family did, but still, she was part of Spider’s surrogate family, so that must have been difficult for him when she turns on him, especially since he knows how intense she can be. Ultimately, Quaritch chooses to save Spider and release Kiri, and in return Spider ends up saving Quaritch’s life when he could have left him to die. All in all, that’s quite a journey for both Spider and Quaritch.
Neytiri
While Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) is in the first film, this one just further shows how amazing she is. The thing that I love most about her is that although she is a tough warrior, she is also allowed to be deeply emotional. In a lot of media, these strong warrior women types are often callous and stoic. Neytiri, on the other hand, openly wails when a person or place dear to her is hurt. Her love is just as fierce as her rage, and she will stop at nothing to protect her people and her land. I hear that the final film is supposed to involve her going to Earth and I’m so stoked to see how that goes.
The Reef
One of my favorite things about this one is the introduction of the reef. The forest was cool and all, but there’s just something way more captivating about this location. I appreciate how the Na’vi are physically different in different areas based on what they need to best navigate–the sea Na’vi have wider tails and arms to assist with swimming, compared to the forest Na’vi who are more simian and feline in design, which is helpful for climbing trees. We also spend time experiencing the underwater region along with the children, as opposed to the first film, where we mostly just had a montage of Jake learning about the forest while he narrated the highlights. This version really puts us in the children’s shoes instead of rushing us through the exposition needed to get on with the story. Plus, it’s just gorgeous, especially the sequences with Lo’ak swimming with Payakan and Kiri saving Neytiri and Tuk in the end. Clearly, James Cameron has a passion for water settings, given several of his prior films, but I think he really nailed it with this one.
Also, there’s just something special about the scene where the Na’vi and tulcuns reunite to share stories and songs. These two species share a unique connection beyond what we’ve seen so far on Pandora, and it’s very sweet. Of course, that just makes it more devastating when the poachers attack, but it also adds to our understanding of Payakan and his past heartbreak.
Another thing I love about this one is the way the children save the parents at the end. After spending all this time watching the kids learn how to hold their breath and swim better, not to mention what sea creature can be bonded with to allow them to breathe underwater, we then get to see two separate but simultaneous instances of them using this to save Jake and Neytiri, who skipped all of that. It’s such a beautiful moment when Lo’ak shares with Jake the mantra he learned so that he will be able to hold his breath long enough to swim to the surface while Kiri, in all her glory, brings support to Neytiri. It’s the perfect ending to the story and it gives me chills every time.
Conclusion
This is a truly incredible film from start to finish, all 3+ hours. I feel like the first film paved the way, but with the large gap between it and the sequels, it gave Cameron a chance to develop it into something special. I’m so glad the next three will be out within a few years, instead of having to wait for over a decade, and you better believe I’ll be in the theater for the rest. I’m already kicking myself for missing both installments so far.
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