‘Way of Water’ an epic ‘Avatar’ follow-up

At this time of year in 2009, an extraordinary cinematic experience was released. After that happened, movie-goers couldn’t get enough of the world of Pandora, as ‘Avatar’ eventually became one of the biggest hits ever.

Now, after a very long wait (due to development setbacks and release date changes), a sequel has finally hit the big screen. And, let’s just say, the 13-year wait was worth it. In the sequel, Jake Sully and Ney’tiri have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, as an ancient threat resurfaces, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. And, in doing so, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans. Alright, it’s not a drill. The long-awaited ‘Avatar’ sequel is finally in theaters and is really mesmerizing. ‘The Way of Water’ delivers a lot of amazing visual effects and some emotional action.

When you see how stunning the film looks, you can see why it took so long to make it. The visual effects are simply breath-taking and all of the underwater sequences will surely blow you away. The CG Avatar characters look a lot better in this follow-up and even look more realistic.

All of the action is top-notch as well. The action sequences are also visually incredible and can be a little emotional at times since some of the action involves Jake’s children and the return of a villain. There are several adventure-filled moments that you will easily enjoy and really get into. James Cameron really knocks it out of the park with this sequel that everyone has been waiting for. The film is also very fast-paced which is great since it’s kind of on the long side (three hours and 12 minutes to be exact). This visually stunning return to the world of Pandora is mesmerizing entertainment, and, like the 2009 original, it has to be seen on the big screen.

So, make sure not to miss ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ while it’s on the big screen. Filled with stunning visuals, compelling action and great emotion, this long, long awaited sequel delivers. Now, I just have to figure out where to place it in my annual top films of the year list — which I’m currently putting together.

The cast: Sam Worthington as Jake; Zoe Saldana as Ney’tiri; Sigourney Weaver as Kiri; Kate Winslet as Ronal; Cliff Curtis as Tonowan; Joel David Moore as Norm; CCH Pounder as Mo’at; Edie Falco as General Ardmore; Brendon Cowell as Scoresby; Jermaine Clement as Dr. Garvin; Jake Champion as Spider and Stephen Lang as Quarditch, among many others. ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (both writers of the recent live-action remake of ‘Mulan’) and co-written and directed by James Cameron, who recently worked on the documentary ‘Aliens of the Deep,’ wrote the sci-fi flick ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ and, of course, directed ‘Avatar’ and its upcoming sequels.

‘The Way of Water’ is rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity and some strong language and has a running time of 192 minutes.

Make sure to keep on checking my Facebook page (Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews by Matt Palmer) to see what I will be checking out next, any interesting trivia for the films I review and what did you think of the first of few planned sequels.

https://youtu.be/d9MyW72ELq0