The return of ‘Avatar’

Old foes battle for land once again, but for the last time

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Photo courtesy of IMDb

“Avatar: The Way of The Water” was released to theaters on Dec. 16, 2022

Leah Pickhinke, Staff Reporter

On Dec. 16, 2022, “Avatar: The Way of The Water” was released to the public after 13 years of waiting for a second movie to come out, fans and viewers alike have mixed feelings about the return of  “Avatar”.

(Contains spoilers)

Avatar being famously known for its spectacular cinematography and beauty of the mesmerizing land of Pandora did not leave audiences upset, but instead was drawn into the movie the whole time. The length of the movie seemed a bit daunting but it was paced really well with only a few slow parts in the beginning. 

The movie begins on Pandora, with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) recapping his life since joining the Na’vi as chief of the Omaticaya clan. He and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have become parents to Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton)  and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), along with an additional adopted daughter, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), who is the biological daughter of Grace Augustine’s Na’vi Avatar.

The children additionally spend time with a human boy, Spider (Jack Champion) , who was left behind with the human scientists afterwards the previous group of humans evacuated Pandora since babies couldn’t be put into cryostasis. whereas the kids see Spider as something of a cousin, Neytiri feels the boy would be greater off with other humans because of her own hatred of the “Sky People” (humans).

While everything appears great, Jake’s happiness is quickly shattered when shuttles of RDA ships appear on the land of Pandora, destroying enormous parts of the forest and slaughtering the wildlife. Jake and Neytiri manage to get their kids and the other Na’vi to safety, but Jake holds his wife as they view in awe at the devastation left behind.

One year later, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) wakes up resurrected in his own Avatar body. While he attacks his previous teammates, all now in their own Na’vi skins, Quaritch soon realizes what occurred after viewing a video log he left himself before their preceding attempted task to take down the Na’vi’s Tree of Souls before he and his squad were all killed. After collecting their new machinery and weapons, Quaritch decides to lead a squad onto Pandora with one goal in mind: killing Jake.

The RDA has colonized Pandora and created a mining bottom and a settlement titled Bridgehead town. Jake leads multiple Na’vi to fly their Ikran to attack the human aircraft and provide lines. Neteyam and Lo’ak try to join the fight, almost receiving severely injured in the procedure. Jake receives them to safety but is upset at them for putting themselves in the line of blaze.

The group returns back to their camp with the rest of the clan and Jake discusses with Neytiri how these changes are affecting their children’s lives. At the same time, Spider joins Lo’ak and Kiri as they go to the human’s research facility where Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) and Max Patel (Dileep Rao) keep going to work. Kiri talks to Grace’s Avatar as her body lies in the container. Spider then notes that his Na’vi friends at least know their parents, while he knows and resents who his dad was, Quaritch.

I was really tense during the whole movie because so much was happening and I knew that if the movie continued how it was and ended like it did in the first movie that it would be a really stressful watch while they battle.

Soon the villains locate the children and realize they’re Jake’s children because they have five fingers. Quaritch meets Spider and realizes he’s the boy’s dad. Quaritch calls in Ardmore and her team to approach down while he takes the other children as hostages. Jake and Neytiri are called to the scene, and both are apprehensive to see their nemesis alive and in a Na’vi body. Neytiri kills several of Quaritch’s squad before they begin to blaze. She and Jake administer to get their children backside, but Quaritch and his surviving teammates draw back, taking Spider with them. Ardmore subjects the boy to a torture process to get him to divulge details on the clan’s region, but Quaritch stops her and opts to try and get closer to Spider to earn his trust. He convinces Spider to join beside him on their task, or else the scientists will totem on him.

Jake tells Neytiri to stay with the Na’vi tribe while he ventures off to get Spider back. Quaritch and his squad take Spider over the forest, with Spider becoming their translator for the Na’vi language that the squad is still trying to grasp. Quaritch additionally copes to linking himself to his own Ikran more forcefully than the Omaticaya did.

The rising action in the movie felt like a really big build up to the battle between Quaritch and Jake, but I was hooked almost the whole time.

The end of the movie concluded after Jake, Quaritch, Neytiri and Tuk wind up trapped inside the sinking vessel but Jake strangles Quaritch into unconsciousness and is saved by Lo’ak and Payakan. Kiri summons sea animals to aid her rescue Neytiri and Tuk. Spider finds and rescues Quaritch, but renounces him for his cruelty and rejoins Jake’s family.

I thought the movie was really long but still managed to be entertaining. In my opinion I thought the first movie was better but the build up in this movie had me more hooked. The cinematography and scenery was beautiful and I was in amaze the whole time I was watching it. The plot itself was really interesting and I felt I could relate and put myself in the shoes of all the characters.

 

3.5/5