Warning: spoilers ahead

Avatar, the Way of Water was released Dec. 14.

The first movie, Avatar, was released 14 years ago. 

So, here is a bit of a refresher: Jake Sully was the brother of a Marine who was set to do a tour of Pandora (a planet with native humans and lacking oxygen in the air), but he died before he was able to. So, Jake went in place of his brother. 

On the tour, he was looked down on by other Marines at the Pandora camp because he was paralyzed from the waist down.

On Pandora, a scientist named Grace Augustine was leading an experiment to help the humans get intel on the life of the native species of Pandora, the Na’vi, in order to take the unobtanium from them.

The unobtanium was a very valuable material that cost $20M a kilo on Earth and it only existed on the land that the Na’vi people resided on. 

In this experiment, the human test subjects would lie in a link bed (it looks most similar to a tanning bed), with a bunch of gear connected to them. They would “sleep” and their minds would take over an “avatar” that resembled the Na’vi people. The “avatar” was essentially a human and Na’vi hybrid. 

Jake Sully, being one of the test subjects, was set to do this. 

During one of the trials he got stuck in the Pandora forest and was forced to survive there during the night.  

In the middle of the night, he meets Neytiri, a woman of the Na’vi people who saves him. She slowly warms up to him and the tribe eventually accepts him in. 

Fast forward, Sully ultimately betrays the Na’vi people to help the Americans retrieve the unobtanium. However, he mends this betrayal by fighting for the Na’vi people and their land, near the end of the movie. 

The humans do not succeed in retrieving the unobtanium, so they retreat back to the camp on Pandora. 

Neytiri and Jake end up falling in love. So, Sully metamorphosizes into his “avatar” body and no longer needs to lay in the link bed to function. This way, he can live with Neytiri and the Na’vi clan in his “avatar” body. 

The story doesn’t end there…

This time, the Americans are going after Jake Sully. Colonel Quaritch wants revenge on Sully and plans to destroy all of Pandora to kill him if he has to. 

Sully now has three children, so he has more people to protect. 

He decides to rescind his position as clan leader or Omaticaya Olo’eyktan. 

Sully and his family join the Metkayina clan. 

Avatar: the Way of Water explores his journey as clan leader, a father, and an avatar. 

If you plan to go to the theaters to watch Avatar: the Way of Water, I recommend booking reclining seats because this is a long one. 

The music was also great to listen to through studio grade speakers at the theater. 

The riveting music built up the intensity of big fight scenes.

While the music was quite captivating, some scenes are rather lengthy and unnecessary. Seeing that the movie is three hours and 12 minutes long. I think some scenes could have been cut or shortened. 

In comparison to the first movie, I believe they are both equally enjoyable. The first movie follows Jake Sully’s journey as a paralyzed Marine learning the ways of the Na’vi people and the second is Sully’s journey after his transition. 

This progression is very interesting to see. 

In Avatar: the Way of Water, when Suñly is forced to leave his Ba’vi clan to protect his family and clan, it is interesting to see the switch in power.

Sully still maintains a leadership role in his family, but he walks a tightrope with the Metkayina clan leader. 

The plot was so skillfully with the first and second movie.

Characters come back in at the perfect time and children of former characters stir up the drama.

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To end the movie, the producers add a subtle hint of a third Avatar movie in the future. 

Overall, I would give this movie 4.5/5 stars. The movie was quite enjoyable and was fabricated just as well as the first, but some of the scenes were rather long and probably unnecessary.