Hello movie lovers, it’s me, Slick Dungeon! I’m back to review yet another Oscar contender for 2022, the biggest, most expensive, and bluest film of last year, Avatar: The Way of Water. There will be some spoilers below so if you have not seen the movie, clone yourself, upload your consciousness to a body who has seen the film, and come on back here to read the review.

Avatar: The Way of Water continues the story of Jake Sully from the first film. Jake is living his life with the Navi, now a respected leader, with a loving family. Things won’t stay peaceful, however, as Earth is dying and humans have decided they need to colonize Pandora in order to survive. This puts Jake and his family in danger and at odds with an entire planet of people who have better weapons and technology than the Navi. Jake will have to reprise his role as a leader of military might and join up with a new clan and learn their ways in order to turn back the invaders.

The film looks absolutely fantastic. The visuals are stunning beyond belief. This film should win every technical award under the sun. It’s a spectacle for the eye to see that should be enjoyed in 3D on the largest screen you can find. It’s well worth the experience.

The acting is decent. There are moments where you may find yourself tearing up a little and despite everyone walking around as big blue aliens, emotions do come through well.

However, the story is nothing we haven’t seen before. It doesn’t have anything here you couldn’t predict from watching the first film or even just the preview of this film. While the film gets every point for innovative visuals, it gets none for original story. There are moments where you will forget what the story is even about because your eyes are just wandering around the screen. I’m not saying it’s not worth watching. It’s totally worth watching, just don’t expect anything but your eyes to be surprised. Your heart and mind won’t be.

This is a mediocre story living inside an incredible looking film. It’s good, it’s fun, it’s a theatrical experience you cannot forget. It’s just not that great of a story. It’s unfortunate because if this told a story that was maybe thirty percent more original this could have been one of the best films ever made. Instead it’s the best looking film ever made.

There are times when the cast seems too large and it can be hard to keep track of who is who and what exactly is happening. Also, the big bad guy here is just a sort of recycled big bad guy from the last movie which felt really uninspired. That’s not to take away the achievement of this film. It’s an incredible visual feat that only James Cameron could have pulled off. It just deserved a better story.

If you love sci-fi action and big visual effects with tons of spectacle, this movie will be right up your alley. If you need a great story to go along with all of that you’ll be a little disappointed but you should watch it anyway because it really does look incredible.

Awarding-ly yours,

Slick Dungeon