“Avatar: The Way of Water” floods the box office

By LUKE GERDEMAN ’23 ARTS & LEISURE EDITOR

James Cameron has done it again! Despite all the jokes about the series and its characters, the Avatar franchise continues to be an incredible success in the box office.

After a month in theaters, Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” is among the ten highest-grossing films of all time. Although there were initial doubts before release, it’s not hard to see why the film is such a huge success.

Taking place on the fictional planet of Pandora, this movie follows the story of Jake Sully’s family among the Na’vi people as life becomes more tense on this alien world. Threats of violence between Na’vi and human beings worsen and Jake is forced to move his family away from the forest to a water tribe in the first half of the film.

The story continues, and what follows is an action adventure story which deserves all the praise it gets.

While some may complain about this story as a retread of the original, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Cameron doesn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of sequels here. What he does instead is identify the essence of

“Avatar: the Way of Water” was released on December 16, 2022. PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLE IMAGES an “Avatar” movie and successfully recreate it for his audience thirteen years later. Relatable characters, reprehensible villains and an appreciation of the natural world deeply connect with the audience over its 3-hour runtime.

And that might be the greatest issue with the film. With any film more than 2.5 hours, there reaches a point in which the audience can become bored and begin to disengage. This pacing becomes an issue around the second act of the film, as the audience views several sequences in which the Sully family becomes accustomed to their new surroundings scene after scene. However, by the time the film reaches its action-filled third act, the audience finds themselves deeply immersed in its conclusion.

If you enjoy science fiction, action films, or the first “Avatar” film, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” is a must-see.