First Things First…
I’m still bummed I missed this in theaters. The Avatar movies might be the best example of movies you need the theatrical experience for, that don’t hold up well at home. So we’ll see how much I like this in my living room.
I like the first Avatar, but it’s a long-ass movie and this is way longer. That’s probably kept me from watching it. But it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon as I write this, so I’m finally gonna kick back with a few Coronas and find out what the deal is with those damn whales I kept hearing about at the end of 2022.
7 Things I Like
7. This Is Why He Drinks
I can’t give Dr. Garvin a pass. He’s a major part of these whaling expeditions. He knows hunting tulkun is wrong, and he’s there anyway.
My hope is that he comes around to the good side in the future. I mean, his heart clearly isn’t in it. You can see his distaste for killing these creatures—and for his captain, Scoresby—the whole time. While the crew cheers after they finally kill a tulkun, he watches quietly and sullenly.
His respect for the tulkun comes out when he educates Spider about them, too. As they drill into the brain of the one they killed, he tells Spider—who’s also upset about the hunt—that tulkun are smarter than humans, thanks to having more neurons and pathways in their brains. They’re also deeply emotional and spiritual. That’s why he’s so against hunting so close to shore, where the tulkun are bonded with the Na’vi and considered Spirit Brothers and Sisters.
Witnessing those bonds, of course, gives us a firsthand look at how important the tulkun are, but Dr. Garvin is our best source of clinical information about them. His inner turmoil already makes him interesting in a small amount of screentime. He could be even more compelling if he’s a bigger part of the coming films.
6. Young Love
Even amidst war with the Sky People, love is in the air on Pandora.
Despite growing up like siblings—and being different species—Spider and Kiri like each other.
Then there’s Tsireya, the daughter of the Metkayina chief, Tonowari, and Jake’s younger son, Lo’ak.
It’s obvious from the first moment she comes out of the sea and they spot each other that there’s something there. And they both have moments when they act shy around one another. One of the movie’s cutest moments is when Tsireya is catching up with her Spirit Sister and tells her, simply, “I met a boy.”
Tsireya also tells Lo’ak she’s proud of him… that despite having done something “wrong” by bonding with the outcast, he’s a “forest boy” chosen by a tulkun… and she tells him “I see you” long before he finally hears those momentous words from his father.
Romance isn’t the main thing this movie has its mind set on—it’s much more about fatherhood and other familial bonds—but it’s nice to see it’s still present.
5. Spider’s Consequential Choice
As maddening as it is that Spider saves Quaritch, he has to.
I know this is an unpopular opinion. Everyone would be safer if he let Quaritch die. Quaritch has been hunting Spider’s adoptive family the entire movie and is dead set on killing Jake. He’ll never stop. And he forced Spider to help his cause, at the risk of getting tortured again.
But here’s why Spider has to save him…
Healthy or not… earned or not… Quaritch and Spider undeniably form a bond throughout the movie. Quaritch even develops enough affection for Spider that he saves his life by releasing Kiri—giving up his only leverage against Jake—so Neytiri doesn’t kill Spider.
After that, if Spider would’ve left Quaritch for dead instead of saving him when he had the chance, he’d become Peter Pettigrew.
So saving Quaritch is his only choice.
Now, here’s the good news…
I don’t expect Jake and his family to see it that way. I can’t wait to see what happens when they discover the truth. And I’m curious if Spider will tell them himself. Either way, Spider has opened himself up even more to being seen as a traitor. I just hope they don’t gloss over his choice, his reasons for making it, and the ramifications it will have on everyone.
4. Miracle Daughter
“I feel her, Dad… Eywa. I hear her breathing. I hear her heartbeat. She’s so close. She’s just there… like a word about to be spoken.”
Kiri
I don’t know if I fully understand Kiri, the daughter of Grace’s Avatar (Sigourney Weaver’s character from the first movie), but she’s really likeable.
Her father is a mystery. It seems like there might not be one? Like she might, somehow, just be a child of Pandora, born through Grace?
She certainly has a deep connection with Pandora, in a way even the other Na’vi don’t. It’s uncanny.
And it’s not just with the forest, where she’s from, but with the sea, as well. She takes to the water much faster than her siblings.
One of the film’s most emotional scenes is a vision Kiri has when she connects to the Spirit Tree. Even though it’s not real, this is the only time we see her with Grace as she tries to understand who she is, how she came to be, and what her purpose is—so she can finally understand she’s not a freak.
3. The Whales
“I know how you feel. I feel all alone, too.”
Lo’ak
I have to admit, the whales are worth the hype.
It’s clear from the way the whole village celebrates their return that the bonds between Na’vi and tulkun are special. They talk with one another and share stories, feelings, milestones, heartbreaks, and intimate details of their lives.
Most special of all in this story is the bond between the outcasts, Lo’ak and Payakan.
Their relationship starts with one of the film’s most intense scenes, when Lo’ak is underwater for an impossible amount of time, trying to evade a shark and stay alive.
Payakan saves him, and it turns out they have a lot in common. Lo’ak isn’t an outcast in as literal a way as Payakan, but they understand each other.
2. Surprising Main Character
I came into this movie not even knowing that there would be a time jump, and that Jake and Neytiri would have kids, let alone that one of them would essentially be the main character.
It was a bold move to put a kid front and center, but Lo’ak is compelling, even if his story is predictable. He messes up again and again. Even when he tries to do the right thing, like covering for Tonowari’s kids who almost got him killed, his father is still hard on him. It’s pretty tough when Jake tells him, “You brought shame to this family,” even though Lo’ak is actually the victim and voluntarily takes the blame anyway.
You could even argue Lo’ak is to blame for his big brother’s death.
But in the end, he saves his father’s life, and Jake finally tells him, “I see you.”
1. Expanding Pandora
“The sea clans are a world unto themselves. Thousands of islands. An unknown territory into which we could just vanish without a trace.”
Jake Sully
Until I watched the movie, it never occurred to me what The Way of Water might mean, even though I’ve known it’s part of the title all this time. I had no idea Jake and his family would spend the bulk of the movie with a water clan.
I love the differences in their cultures and lifestyle, and in their appearance. It makes sense that Pandora isn’t limited to the forests, or to Jake and Neytiri’s clan.
The funny thing is, this movie could be much shorter. We spend a lot of time luxuriating in this new setting, watching the Sullys learn a new way of life. And even though some of this could’ve been cut, it’s my favorite part.
This is also the main thing I’m looking forward to from the three movies to come. I want to see what other wonders Pandora holds, and to meet even more Na’vi clans.
1 Thing I’m Mixed On
1. Resurrecting a Psycho
“In case you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re Colonel Miles Quaritch. Only younger, taller, bluer, and not nearly as good-lookin’.”
Quaritch
Stephen Lang is great. And seeing him turned into the thing he hates is cool. But I’m always a little leery with this sort of thing. It’s not a retcon, but it’s kind of a cop out. It makes his death in the first movie feel less impactful, knowing they just uploaded his consciousness from prior to his death into an Avatar, and now he’s back, just in a different form.
3 Things I Don’t Like
3. The General Disappoints
It took me a second to realize that’s Edie Falco as the general. She’s a tremendous actress. But for as great as she was as Carmella Soprano, it doesn’t come through here.
I don’t think it’s her fault. There’s just not much to her character. She’s not fleshed out, so casting her feels like a wasted opportunity.
But there’s a little more to this point here. She’s the one who tells Quaritch…
“Earth is dying. Our task here is to tame this frontier. Nothing less than to make Pandora the new home for humanity.”
That seems like a critical piece of information, and like a main motivation for the movie’s villains. Yet it never comes up again.
Even worse, something else comes up that seems like it could also be a major motivator going forward in these films, but it’s not given enough time, either…
2. Anti-aging Serum Is an Afterthought
It’s possible that Amrit, the serum being mined from the tulkuns’ brains and that we’re told stops human aging in its tracks, becomes the focal point for the remaining movies. That would continue to bring people back to Pandora, despite the danger. But we don’t even learn about it until the last hour of the movie. It’s odd for something so monumental to feel like an afterthought.
Also, why does Scoresby only take one bottle’s worth from the tulkun he kills? That’s so wasteful. And as much as being wasteful paints him as an uncaring moron, he just said that one bottle is worth $80 million. So if he can get more than one bottle from one tulkun, the idea that he’d flush away any of it just to be like, “Eh, I don’t give a shit about these weird animals on this alien planet” doesn’t make sense.
1. Neytiri Gets Benched
I’m a big Zoe Saldana fan, and Neytiri is a badass in the first movie. She’s a great warrior, she’s smart and capable.
Frankly, she’s far better than Jake.
But in this movie, she doesn’t get a whole lot to do.
Even worse, she’s completely disrespected.
Quaritch calls her crazy a few times, even referring to her as Sully’s “batshit crazy wife.” And then, as if to prove his point, she does act kind of crazy at times, in ways that feel out of character.
But that’s not even the worst disrespect she suffers…
It’s disgraceful when Jake says “I apologize for my mate” to Ronal, First Lady of the Metkayina. He then continues with the apology even as Neytiri says not to apologize for her.
I get that the father/son relationship is more critical to this story, but they didn’t need to sideline and disrespect Neytiri so thoroughly.
Tim Matassa
