13 Years Later

Finally on Dec. 16, after a long and anxious 13 years, “Avatar” fans can finally sleep at night knowing that “Avatar: The Way of Water” is out and in the movie theaters. Fans were excited to see what happened to Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) after opening his eyes and becoming a permanent avatar. Little did fans know, however, how much could have changed over a 13 year wait.

When watching the movie and the characters for the first time in 13 years, fans are anxious about whether the second movie will live up to the hype of the first. The plot of the movie definitely helped achieve this goal. All of the old characters from the first movie were on screen and this made the movie have a heavy nostalgic feel. The setting of the movie had a big change in direction, however. Instead of the movie taking place in the forest where Sully got to experience being an avatar for the first time, it took place in the ocean. This difference in setting definitely helped make the movie more interesting to watch because just like Sully and his family, the viewers were experiencing ocean life in the world Pandora for the first time. 

On top of the setting and plot of the movie, the acting and effects were phenomenal. James Cameron, the director of the “Avatar” movie helped make the movie as realistic as possible. When fans watch the movie, they start to feel emotionally attached to Pandora especially when it is being destroyed. For three hours fans become a part of the movie and Sully’s family. Fans never feel weirded out by the movie or have a second where they remember the movie is not reality.

Even though there were some great aspects of the movie, it lasted too long. Each fighting scene in the movie took way too long and felt really drawn out. Instead of the movie getting to its point, it kept on going and made fans very antsy the whole time. There were some benefits to the length, however. Fans really were able to remember what Pandora feels like and they were able to get a feel for the ocean life of Pandora too. Fans also felt like they were in the same timeline as Sully’s family because of the length of the movie. 

Overall, “Avatar: The Way of Water” definitely held up to its expectations. Usually sequels are worse than the first movie but this one did not feel like a sequel, more of a continuation. The plots, acting and effects definitely all had a lot to do with the success of the movie. Even though the length of the movie was a big downfall, it had many beneficial parts and was needed in some ways. On top of these points, the end of the movie was fantastic. It ended with another great cliffhanger making fans angry that they might have to wait another 13 years to see how Pandora and the Sully family are doing.