‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ review – beauty at its blandest

As visually ambitious as its predecessor, The Way of Water follows in its flawed footsteps as Cameron still believes that a film can solely be carried on the back of its alien realism.

2/5 stars.

I was nine when my father took me to the theatre to watch Avatar. I remember my anticipation when buying the tickets – and anxiety as I was afraid I wouldn’t be allowed in to see a PG-13 film – the awe I felt as I stared at the looping trailer while we waited in line. The showing was early on a weekday so the theatre was empty, the 3D glasses sliding off my prepubescent nose as I neurotically pushed them back into place. And then the film started, and it was ineffable.

For almost three hours, I sat there in silence as my inexperienced mind was shattered, reordered, and glued back together, unable to accept that what I was witnessing wasn’t real. It seemed more plausible that Cameron had discovered Pandora and documented their war instead of the CG alternative.

Smash cut to 2022; I am 22, have taken film from a hobby to a passion to a career, and I am sitting in a sparse theatre on an early weekday showing of Avatar: The Way of Water – minus the 3D glasses. My childlike wonder didn’t...