Avatar: The Way of Water Sinks, Not Swims

At three hours and twelve minutes, Avatar: The Way of Water doesn’t make it easy to continue the journey of Jake Sully and the Na’vi. The fourteen-year age gap between the first installment and this latest one making a run for Best Picture doesn’t make the trek any easier. These two facts might be excused, even ignored, given the 2.3 billion worldwide box office gross. However, that impressive number is still less than its older sibling’s worldwide gross. Money doesn’t necessarily correlate to accolades, and I don’t believe it will be much of a factor here.

Avatar: The Way of Water is an aesthetically pleasing movie and is moderately entertaining at times. If this were in the Best Animated Category, my review would be different, but we’re not. Avatar is up for Best Picture of the Year, and it doesn’t have enough to take it all the way to the win.

Bloated is the only word that keeps popping into my head for Avatar 2.

Too many characters were vying for the audience’s attention. Jake and Neytiri’s individualism was flattened into the stereotypical gender roles of subservient mother and overprotective father, even though the Na’vi tribe didn’t necessarily subscribe to our patriarchal system. Given the insertion of old foes and struggles back into Pandora, there wasn’t enough time to explore their relationship dynamic.

With a budget of 250 million, the writers couldn’t have been thrown a few extra bucks to come up with a few new villains rather than rehash with Na’vi bodies? The whaler they commandeer and the scientist tagging along with him are interesting characters that could have added something to the movie. Ultimately, they hit the trope pile and were reduced to shades of Quint and Hooper in favor of the same old baddies with the same old attitude.

The relationship between the Sully children was set up to be just as basic as their parents. However, Kiri’s origins hinted at an exciting storyline but never really came to fruition. Cameron and the writers are setting this up as a larger plot point in later films, but audiences don’t need three hours of exposition. The majority of the kids’ storyline was constantly following the plucky teenage angst trope from a mountain of other movies. After three hours, I should have cared for someone, but ultimately, I didn’t.

Ok. When The Outcast crested onto the whaling vessel and accomplished what Jaws couldn’t, he brought all the feels to the screen. A bigger boat wouldn’t have helped those maurading Sky People. But that’s about it. There should be more of those moments in a movie this long.

Anyone who even casually follows the Awards season knows there is a problem with audiences tuning into the ceremonies. And there are many reasons why people don’t tune in or care. Avatar: The Way of Water’s nomination highlights one, maybe two, of the many issues- pity, or makeup, nominations, and tent pole nominations. I can’t decide which contributed to this movie making it into the race.

I don’t think the first Avatar deserved to be in contention for Best Picture back in 2009, let alone win. Yes, I know Dances With Wolves took the 1991 Best Picture Oscar. If we’re all honest with ourselves, the Avatar franchise is closer to Fern Gully, and that didn’t make any awards list. And it should have.

Given the lineup this year, maybe Avatar isn’t poised for a pity nomination and this is a case of including a big-budget, popular spectacle movie in the hopes of people tuning in on Sunday. Spoilers, one or two “mainstream” contenders in a field of otherwise heady and often “artsy” films won’t generate the attention you’re trying to achieve.

But this is just one Nerd’s opinion. What are your thoughts? Comment below.