James Cameron’s Avatar series has evolved over the years: from an unprecedented box office smash to semi-forgotten cultural artifact to most anticipated follow-up of the year. Early reactions to Avatar: The Way Of Water indicate the sequel definitely delivers, with one message becoming clear from early audience members: “Never bet against James Cameron.”
One of the film’s biggest cheerleaders is Pinocchio filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro, who echoed one of modern cinema’s preeminent philosophers when he tweeted, “I say it again: Avatar 2 - seeing it you realize how long it has been since you saw a MOVIE-MOVIE (like that, in caps).” Previously, he had shared that the film is “A staggering achievement,” adding that it’s “chokefull [sic] of majestic Vistas and emotions at an epic, epic scale. A master at the peak of his powers…”
Cameron’s mastery is a frequent refrain for critics who have seen the movie. Entertainment Weekly’s Yolanda Machado called the director “a technology master” whose “direction is at its most precise here.” Drew Taylor of The Wrap wrote of being “overwhelmed” by The Way Of Water’s “technical mastery and unexpectedly intimate emotional scope.” Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri said that it’s Cameron’s “sweetest, gentlest, most personal film. Possibly even his most emotional. It revisits all his greatest hits, but it’s always totally sincere.” Ebiri added: “He is never leaving Pandora. He loves this family.”
“[It’s] an Avatar movie: slow start, big build, incredibly involving second act with a ton of world building and cool creatures that blisses you way out, then an hour of screamingly good crystal clear emotionally trenchant action to send you home full and happy,” tweeted The Atlantic’s David Sims. IndieWire’s David Ehrlich called the movie “light years better than the first & easily one of the best theatrical experiences in ages,” saying he was not particularly eager for an Avatar sequel but now “can’t *wait* to see Avatar 3.”
There is some criticism to be found amidst the fawning praise. Storywise, Machado wrote that the film “is just ….Dances With Wolves and Free Willy for Gen Z!” The lengthy runtime was noted by several audience members (It “feels drawn out at 3 hours & 10 minutes,” producer and critic Scott Mantz noted), while Empire’s Amon Warmann tweeted that “many of the storylines feel like they have to stop and start, and the high frame rate was hit & miss for me.” Even in a largely positive reaction, Uproxx’s Mike Ryan joked that the film was “[maybe] too overwhelming,” because “Sometimes I’d miss plot points because I’m staring at a Pandora fish.”
Fans can decide for themselves if the return to Pandora is worth the wait when the film gets its wide release on December 16, 2022. But based on these impressions from the first wave of viewers, it seems that hitmaker James Cameron has indeed made another hit.