AVATAR: The Way of Water

Opening in theatres today from director James Cameron and 20th Century Studios is the
continuing adventure with AVATAR: The Way of Water.

Things have been quiet for the Na'vi since expelling the sky people with the help of
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is now chief. Now, he and Neytiri (Zoe
Saldana) have an ever expanding family they are raising. Sons Lo'ak (Britain
Dalton) and Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and daughters Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and
Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). In addition to their family is a teenage human boy
names Spider (Jack Champion) who is fluent in the ways of the Na'vi and spends
all his time with the Sully family.

As the attacks against the forest people continue, the sky people are expanding their
base and taking more resources than ever before. Knowing his family is being
hunted, Jake decides it is time for them to go in order to save the Omaticaya
people. Planning to get as far away as possible, they seek refuge with the
Metkayina sea people. Chief Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) listens to the plea for
help but it is his wife Ronal (Kate Winslet) who see's pain and heartache in
their future.

Trying to embrace this new culture, the boys finds themselves constantly in trouble, Tuk
is enjoying the water and all the creatures and Kiri begins to understand that
although different, she easily embraces the sea life. Lo'ak, trying to make
friends with the chiefs son Aonung (Filip Geljo), finds himself once again in
trouble but is helped by a Tulkun names Payakan. Looking on at the encounter is
the chiefs lovely daughter Tsireya (Bailey Bass) who realizes there is
something special happening.

Now, for the hard part, As Pandora becomes more and more colonized, the company RDA has
found a way to create Na'vi people without needing a human host but yet
transferring their essence. One of these is Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who has a
score to settle with Sully. Having no conscience previously, he makes it clear
that he has no qualms about killing the Sully family and anyone that gets in
his way.

The battle is on once again for the world Jake has come to love and the people in it. The
Na'vi may be different tribes but one thing is clear, when you attack one, you
attack all! As Quaritch comes closer and closer, it is clear that he and those
with him are out for destruction.

Worthington as Sully returns and now is a father of quite a brood. He has trained his sons
to be warriors but they have his disregard for orders and rules. Trying to find
saftey for his family, Sully packs up and tries to find the farthest place
anyone would look for them. Like life, problems have radar and will always find
you. Sully has become a respected member of the Omaticaya people and they look
to him for guidance during their time of peace. When it becomes clear that
peace is over, he knows what has to be done and does so with a broken heart.
Worthington picks up right where he left off without a misstep in his character
portrayal of the blue Na'vi Sully.

Saldana is now a mother lioness who is not about to let anyone hurt her children (too bad she needs to worry more about what they are doing than others are doing). She is not happy to be joining the sea tribe but makes the best of it and remains supportive of Sully. Like other
mother lioness', Saldana's Neytiri does a lot of hissing in this film and when her angry rears its very tall head, stand back because the rage is on.

Curtis as Chief Tonowari is unsure from the beginning about the Sully clan hanging around
but knows that they are Na'vi and that means something. Curtis gives his
character a quieter leadership than Sully but that changes when the sky people
decide it's time to do their damage. Winslet as Ronal is also a mother lioness
and pitted against Saldana's Neytiri get a little tense at times. She wants the
best for her family which includes son Aonung and beautiful daughter Tsireya
and once her belief system is on the verge of destruction, Winslet sets her
vocal Ronal loose.

Dalton as son Lo'ak is trying to fit in as the youngest boy in the family. Ready to
fight, he makes mistakes and does not listen to his father's orders and that
continually gets him in trouble. Dalton gives us a fierce warrior kid who also
has a softer side for whale-like creatures and feels a kinship with their
plight. Flatters as Neyeuam is the older son who sees the wisdom of his
father's orders but does make a mistake here and there. Once he is in fighting
mode, it is easy to look at Flatters portrayal and think 'yep, he acts like the
son of Jake Sully!'. Bliss as young Tuk is nothing short of adorable and loves
adventure in any shape and form. She understands what is at stake with the
family and comes very close a time or two of becoming a sad story in this tale
but she is fiery and I love it. Weaver as daughter Kiri feels like the outsider
of the Sully group (although I associate that with being a moody teenager) but
discovers with the sea people that she has a gift. There is a story here that Weaver
is trying to tell and I am sure there will be more answers in the next AVATAR
installment.

Lang as Quaritch is back to his old tricks again. Trying to be a warrior for the sky
people and the military, let's face it, the guy is just nuts. There are a few
surprises in this film for him as well. Bass as Tsireya does not see a reason
to be unsure about the Sully clan, in fact she embraces and teaches them
quickly and with a smile. She fights with the Sully clan with heart, soul and
wisdom and that's quite beautiful. Champion as Spider is a human boy who has
lived with the Na'vi since he was born. Accepting their ways and being a part
of the Sully clan is a bit confusing for him but he knows what's wrong and
makes it clear he is not that person. Geljo as Aonung is a chiefs son and he
behaves with all the problems that can come with that. Hey, Na'vi will be
Na'vi!

Cast also includes Joel David Moore as Norm, Jermaine Clement as Dr. Gavin, CCH Pounder
as Mo'at, Brendan Cowell as Scoresby, Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, Giovanni
Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, and Edie Falco as General Ardmore.

AVATAR: The Way of Water comes flooding into theatres at almost three hours and
thirteen years after the original AVATAR. That being said, you could easily cut
out an hour and the film would be fine. There is a mish-mash of storytelling
here and that began to lose my interest a bit. There are scenes that are just
too darn long because personally, I don't need to watch 10-15 minutes of people
torturing a sea animal, don't need to see 10 minutes of playing with sea
creatures followed by a few minutes of soldiers making threats and then back to
10 more minutes of playing with sea creatures. I looked around at the audience
and they were not comfortable sitting for that length of time in very
uncomfortable seats AND it's not like you can stop the film to run to the
facilities. Should have saved this long version for Bluray, just a suggestion.

Cameron's reasoning behind the almost three hours is, "The goal is to tell an
extremely compelling story on an emotional basis, I would say the emphasis in
the new film is more on character, more on story, more on relationships, more
on emotion. We didn't spend as much time on relationships and emotion in the
first film as we do in the second film, and it's a longer film, because there's
more characters to service. There is more story to service."

All the scenes underwater are really pretty but the length is just unnecessary and I
saw it in 3D. Not sure what Cameron is trying to prove with the time, other
than spending an obscene amount of money totally around $400 million - that's
M. Does he realize he could give 350 people a million dollars and still have 50
million left over to make a film? Just checking. The good news is that the
characters returning to their original roles offered something comforting about
seeing the film. I think Worthington, Saldana, Weaver and Lang are the films
safety net although I do not think Weaver and Lang's story lines have a lot to
offer other than a way to get butts in the seats at the next installment.

It will do alright simply because there is not a lot in theatres right now so choices are
limited and it's colorful. People are still wanting an escape and Cameron gives
it to them while throwing in lessons about hurting sea creatures, bad guys do
bad things and misunderstood teenagers who out of control (unfortunately that's
my pet peeve in films, mouthy and whiny teenagers). This is a family film for
sure but not for the small ones and only because of the time issue. It is a BIG
tub of popcorn type of film that does not hold to many surprises but instead
plants seeds for the next film. Hopefully not in 13 years.

In the end - they are a family!