First ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Reviews Praise its Beauty, Not its Run Time
James Cameron’s latest epic hits theaters next week. Thinking about seeing it? Check out the first batch of Avatar: The Way of Water reviews.
Avatar: The Way of Water continues the themes of the first movie while expanding the world of Pandora. The story picks up ten years after the first movie and follows Sully’s family as they have to find a new home after the Tree of Souls has been burned to ash. The Na’vi continue to battle with the colonizers who are still mining Pandora for its resources – destroying more territory and lives as they go.
The movie drops on December 16 – you can snag tickets now.
Avatar: The Way of Water Reviews
Reports last month said that The Way of Water would have to make $2 billion to break even. The first movie still sits on the top of the box office list thirteen years later, but things have changed. Post-pandemic theater attendance is down in part due to streaming and ticket cost. Beautiful CG is something we see a lot of, and IMAX and 3D are no longer exotic formats. The movie will have to rely on its story’s merits more this time and hope its visuals are enough to convince folks to go to theaters (for more than three hours) multiple times.
The critics’ reactions lean toward it making a pile of money (I still doubt it’ll make $2b). Here’s what they’re saying…
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER: Yeah never bet against James Cameron. Trying to spare hyperbole, but I’ve never seen anything like this from a technical, visual standpoint. It’s overwhelming. Maybe too overwhelming. Sometimes I’d miss plot points because I’m staring at a Pandora fish
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) December 6, 2022
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it’s an Avatar movie: slow start, big build, incredibly involving second act with a ton of world building and cool creatures that blisses you way out, then an hour of screamingly good crystal clear emotionally trenchant action to send you home full and happy
— David Sims (@davidlsims) December 6, 2022
Have now seen #Avatar twice and am overwhelmed by both its technical mastery and unexpectedly intimate emotional scope. Yes the world is expanded and sequels teased but the characters are most important. Cameron is in top form, especially in final act. Good to have him back. 🐟 pic.twitter.com/PR9drN5Zph
— Drew Taylor (@DrewTailored) December 6, 2022
With risk of sounding hyperbolic #AvatarTheWayOfWater is one of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen – JC finds a way to perfectly blend the heavy CGI with gorgeous evocative framing. 3D is mind-blowing. That runtime ain’t no walk in the park, and it will turn off some
— Anjelika (@anjelikamuhe) December 6, 2022
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Unsurprisingly, #AvatarTheWayOfWater is a visual masterpiece with rich use of 3D and breathtaking vistas. It does suffer from a thin story and too many characters to juggle, yet James Cameron pulls it together for an extraordinary final act full of emotion and thrilling action. pic.twitter.com/opr6CRyOwk
— Ian Sandwell (@ian_sandwell) December 6, 2022
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is breathtakingly beautiful with the most incredible VFX I have ever seen (I saw it in 3D); the story itself is weaker than the first and feels drawn out at 3 hours & 10 minutes, but it’s always great to look at & the last hour is amazing. #Avatar pic.twitter.com/8dEhtvRb4P
Advertisement— Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) December 6, 2022
