"The way of water has no beginning and no end," says one character in Avatar: The Way of Water, which as well as being the Metkayina's belief could just as easily be applied to the wait for Avatar fans.
13 years have passed since the release of Avatar and the sequel was affected by so many release-date changes that it started to feel like a myth. In the years since, Avatar and its planned sequel have become an easy target for mockery, but the first movie remains the biggest movie of all time.
One factor behind that movie's success was its groundbreaking visual effects and use of 3D, delivering a cinematic experience that few had seen before. Though 3D has largely receded in recent years, if anybody can bring it back, it's James Cameron, who again has pushed the boundaries of technology for the sequel.
But has it all been worth the 13-year wait for Avatar: The Way of Water? It's certainly a visual masterpiece that's often beautiful to behold, but one that doesn't always have the substance to go with its considerable style.
As much as Avatar: The Way of Water is a sequel to Avatar, you might be better viewing it as the opening act of a new saga. It's the first of four planned sequels that, when viewed together, will tell one epic story about the Sully family – which has expanded significantly.
In the decade or so since the events of Avatar, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) have had three children: Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). They've also adopted teenager Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and their children hang out with Spider (Jack Champion), a human left on Pandora.
Their new life is interrupted by the return of the RDA to Pandora, but for a while, the Omatikaya (their tribe of Na'vi) successfully fight back, thanks to Jake's military expertise. When it becomes clear that Jake himself is the target, he makes the tough decision to step down as leader and seek refuge elsewhere on Pandora.
It's a breathless first act that doesn't make allowance for anybody who doesn't have Avatar fresh in their minds. Cameron appears to be setting up a chase movie as Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), now a recombinant (a Na'vi avatar with the memories of a human), relentlessly hunts the man he blames for his death.
But Cameron isn't interested in delivering the movie you think you're going to get, which ultimately ends up to the detriment of the sequel.
When the Sully family arrive at the home of the Metkayina clan, led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet), Cameron switches his attention to the children. We spend more time with the likes of Neteyam, Kiri and Tsireya (Bailey Bass), Tonowari and Ronal's daughter, than we do Jake or Neytiri.
On top of establishing the new culture of the Metkayina, the sequel also tries to flesh out each of these new characters who will become central to the series. It's most successful with Kiri who is intriguingly different, although the decision to have Sigourney Weaver voice a teenager doesn't work (even if there is a logical in-world reason).
Even with a runtime of more than three hours, establishing all of these new characters sidelines the strongest characters from the original: Neytiri and Quaritch. Neytiri pops up every now and then when the children do something wrong, while Quaritch is off on his hunt across Pandora, which we see sporadically.
Zoe Saldaña and Stephen Lang were the stand-out performers of the first movie and they excel again here, both given different edges to their characters to explore. They're just not given enough time to do so, and you'll be left wanting a movie just with Neytiri and Quaritch going head-to-head.
It results in a sequel that feels similar to the first movie: rather than developing the characters we know, we're watching new characters explore a culture on Pandora, much like Jake did in the first movie. Specific beats are even repeated albeit with slight changes, such as Lo'ak bonding with a tulkun, a whale-like creature important to the Metkayina.
What saves the movie is the craft that's gone into this new corner of Pandora. At times, it's more like watching a nature documentary as we delve into the oceans, the sheer scale brought to life with superb use of depth in the 3D. It's frequently breathtaking and truly immersive, unrivalled this year as a cinematic experience.
The visual effects are flawless too, a considerable step up from the first movie with the motion capture showcasing even minute expressions. If you see the sequel with variable frame rate though, it's hit and miss as there are times when you feel like you're watching a TV with motion smoothing on, something that's especially apparent whenever humans are on screen.
As astonishing as the visuals are, your tolerance of the meandering middle act will depend on how much you love being in that world. Plot-wise, it's thin as Cameron focuses on an emotional response, such as in a hard-to-watch hunting sequence which doubles down on the environmental themes of the first movie.
In another echo of the first movie, the sequel builds to a final showdown between the Na'vi and the RDA. Here though, you'll allow the familiarity as Cameron delivers an extraordinary final act full of thrilling action and emotion. It's every bit the equal of Top Gun: Maverick's climax in terms of blockbusters this year.
Cameron knows how to please a crowd and the climax has several beats, including a Titanic homage, that would count as the money shot in other movies. What's most impressive though is that even though we know more movies are on the way, there are stakes here and you never feel like any character is safe.
With the origin story for this expansion of the Avatar world complete, the finale will leave you excited for what's to come in Avatar 3. Our return to Pandora is far from perfect, but there's nobody out there doing it like James Cameron.
Avatar: The Way of Water is out now in cinemas.
![Avatar Extended Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1665650766-51Fc2LeVmTL._SL500_.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=320%3A%2A "Avatar Extended Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]")
