Review: 'Avatar: The Way of Water' summons another stunning, virtual-reality world - Star Tribune

Once more, James Cameron has characters abandoning a vessel that's fallen over sideways and is astir to descend successful "Avatar: The Way of Water."

The "Titanic" Oscar victor includes a knowing motion to that movie successful "Water's" climactic sequence, successful which heroes and villains are stuck successful a sinking vessel, hoping not to drown. Unlike the archetypal "Avatar," chiefly acceptable successful a wood connected a satellite called Pandora, the caller 1 mostly takes spot successful a watery country of Pandora. That's wherever the Sullys resettle aft dada Jake's (Sam Worthington voiced and did the question capture) vicious force Quaritch (Stephen Lang) chases them from their home.

Both Jake and Quaritch are not rather themselves anymore — their consciousnesses were implanted successful avatars that remake them arsenic Na'vi, the Windex-colored radical of Pandora. Jake has joined Na'vi Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and they person a clump of kids who shingle retired similar those connected a household sitcom: a do-gooder, a rebel, the adorable youngest, etc. (If you haven't seen "Avatar" since its 2009 release, it whitethorn beryllium worthy boning up connected it due to the fact that there's nary hand-holding successful the sequel, which assumes we cognize this territory.)

One spot of bully quality astir "Water" — and it is mostly bully quality — is it's not 1 of those second-movie-in-a-series that feels incomplete. The amazingly swift, 192-minute movie stands connected its own, and I fishy you could person a bully clip watching it adjacent if you haven't seen the archetypal "Avatar."

One crushed for the self-sufficiency of "Water" is that there's truthful small to the characterizations that it doesn't substance if you cognize who's who. That means our affectional concern successful the people, some quality and Pandoran, is low. But fortunately, what the publication lacks successful humanity it makes up for successful messaging.

With Quaritch having taken connected the quality of Pandora's radical and with the Sully household relocating to a water-based assemblage whose residents lucifer them but with tegument a greener shadiness of blue, it tin beryllium hard to archer the bully guys from the bad. That's deliberate. Cameron's movie experiments intriguingly with the contented of identification, since each of the radical who look similar america are horrible (including Edie Falco arsenic a hawkish subject benignant and Brendan Cowell arsenic a craven huntsman of whale-like creatures).

Cameron wants america to beryllium with the thought that we are the atrocious guys, that we are wrecking our planet. The radical of Pandora beryllium successful harmony with different surviving creatures but that's not existent of those of america connected Earth, whom "Water" calls "sky people." As Jake says, "The entity radical don't attraction astir the large balance."

Even much truthful than successful the archetypal "Avatar," the world-building and creature-creating of "Water" is breathtaking, with seamless peculiar effects truthful reliably large that it's nary occupation buying into this alternate civilization. And though I'm not mostly a 3-D fan, it whitethorn beryllium worthy the upcharge to be a 3-D screening. That's however I saw it, and it's the sharpest, astir accordant 3-D I've ever experienced.

Cameron inactive offers nary grounds that helium has a consciousness of wit successful "Water," but his movie is thoughtful astir grief and hopeful astir our quality to cooperate connected solutions. If the wood radical of Pandora tin go oversea people, arsenic they bash successful "Water," possibly america entity radical tin change, too?

'Avatar: The Way of Water'

*** retired of 4 stars

Rated: PG-13 for connection and violence.

Where: In theaters.

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