A lot can happen in thirteen years, particularly in film. In 2009 James Cameron’s passion project, Avatar, released to unprecedented box office numbers, going on to become the highest grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation), and begun a short-lived trend in Hollywood to make as many films as possible using 3D technology. Avatar certainly had its problems, namely an overly simplistic and somewhat problematic white saviour storyline, but on the whole it’s a technical marvel that even now holds up very well.
Cameron had always expressed his desire to make sequels to Avatar but wanted to wait until the technology was capable of achieving his vision; and after what seems like a lifetime the first of four planned Avatar sequels has arrived. Does The Way of Water live up to its predecessor’s monolithic legacy, or does it struggle to make its way out of the paddling pool?
Fourteen years have passed since Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) became one with the Na’vi people and sent humanity scurrying back to Earth with their tails between their legs.
Having started a family with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the pair have three biological children, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-li Bliss); as well as having adopted the daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine, Kiri (both played by Sigourney Weaver).
However, Earth is dying, and humans have returned to Pandora not to mine, but to colonise, and Jake is seen as their greatest threat. Fearing for his family, and the Omiticaya people, Jake and his family journey across Pandora’s oceans and seek refuge with an ocean clan, the Metkayina, in the hopes that this will avoid all out war with humanity once again.
Cameron had always expressed his desire to make sequels to Avatar but wanted to wait until the technology was capable of achieving his vision; and after what seems like a lifetime the first of four planned Avatar sequels has arrived. Does The Way of Water live up to its predecessor’s monolithic legacy, or does it struggle to make its way out of the paddling pool?
Fourteen years have passed since Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) became one with the Na’vi people and sent humanity scurrying back to Earth with their tails between their legs.
Having started a family with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the pair have three biological children, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-li Bliss); as well as having adopted the daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine, Kiri (both played by Sigourney Weaver).
However, Earth is dying, and humans have returned to Pandora not to mine, but to colonise, and Jake is seen as their greatest threat. Fearing for his family, and the Omiticaya people, Jake and his family journey across Pandora’s oceans and seek refuge with an ocean clan, the Metkayina, in the hopes that this will avoid all out war with humanity once again.
It’s difficult to know where to even begin with a film on this kind of scale and magnitude. But I think the main takeaway I had from watching The Way of Water is that despite all of the modern technology used in the creation of this film, it’s about as close to an old Hollywood epic as you can get. There is not a single aspect of The Way of Water where expense has been spared, and everything is done in service of delivering Cameron’s vision. Not everything works, but there is something admirable in seeing an auteur filmmaker working for over a decade on a passion project and being given close to unlimited resources in order to achieve that. Whilst Disney are certainly banking on being able to turn Avatar into a massive franchise, it’s important to remember that this is in a lot of ways an original IP where the director has not only created this story himself, but he has also had the final word on every creative decision. It can’t be understated how incredibly rare this is outside of entirely independent artist funded films, and I don’t think it has ever happened on this scale and budget before. The Way of Water is officially one of the most expensive films ever made with a budget estimated in the region of $400 million but based on Cameron’s own personal calculations it’s much higher, and he’s been inventing new technology in order to make the film as convincingly real as possible.
It should go without saying that no matter how much money you throw at something it doesn’t mean that it’ll be the best thing ever. However, I think people are unfairly going into The Way of Water expecting this to be the ‘best film ever’ because of its humongous budget, lengthy development time, and it being the sequel to the highest grossing film ever. Ultimately, The Way of Water is just a film, and like all films there are bits that work and bits that don’t. I think expectations are justifiably high, but Cameron hasn’t exactly shied away from the fact that his primary interest throughout this entire creative process, much like the original film, has been technology.
It is now then that I inform you that The Way of Water is somewhat thin on story, which for a film that’s three hours and ten minutes is a bitter pill to swallow. Story was the main criticism levelled against the original film and The Way of Water does definitely provide a little more meat to the bones with some slightly more complex characters and social commentary, but a character drama it is not. Mark Kermode quite bitingly called it ‘Free Willy in Space’ as a nod to the common belief that the original film was ‘Fern Gully in Space’, and he’s not entirely wrong but there are some aspects to The Way of Water’s story that did really work for me even though it was surrounded by mountains of waffle.
I did, for example, love the way that race issues are addressed. The original Avatar is unfortunately little more than a white saviour storyline, and though that is still somewhat present in The Way of Water it is overshadowed by the Sully children now officially being mixed race. Half human-half Na’vi, they may look like Na’vi at first glance but the fact that they have too many fingers for instance makes them stand out amongst the natives. This is then amplified when they move to join the ocean tribe and they have a different colour skin and a tail that is designed more for climbing trees than propelling them through water. A Spike Lee film this is not, but The Way of Water does handle matters of race in a considerably more sophisticated way than the original film which is something I must admit I was surprised by.
Family and lineage are the film’s central themes, and there is a side-plot involving a young human boy named Spider (Jake Champion) who has been raised by the Na’vi. Spider is wrestling with his family’s abandonment of him, and so has this internal conflict between staying with his adopted family who have never fully accepted him as one of their own or leaving to be with the new human colonists because ultimately, he is one of their kind. If this sounds all too familiar, yes this is Tarzan to the letter, but unfortunately Spider is not compelling enough of a character, nor is he given enough screentime to make this something you care an awful lot about.
It should go without saying that no matter how much money you throw at something it doesn’t mean that it’ll be the best thing ever. However, I think people are unfairly going into The Way of Water expecting this to be the ‘best film ever’ because of its humongous budget, lengthy development time, and it being the sequel to the highest grossing film ever. Ultimately, The Way of Water is just a film, and like all films there are bits that work and bits that don’t. I think expectations are justifiably high, but Cameron hasn’t exactly shied away from the fact that his primary interest throughout this entire creative process, much like the original film, has been technology.
It is now then that I inform you that The Way of Water is somewhat thin on story, which for a film that’s three hours and ten minutes is a bitter pill to swallow. Story was the main criticism levelled against the original film and The Way of Water does definitely provide a little more meat to the bones with some slightly more complex characters and social commentary, but a character drama it is not. Mark Kermode quite bitingly called it ‘Free Willy in Space’ as a nod to the common belief that the original film was ‘Fern Gully in Space’, and he’s not entirely wrong but there are some aspects to The Way of Water’s story that did really work for me even though it was surrounded by mountains of waffle.
I did, for example, love the way that race issues are addressed. The original Avatar is unfortunately little more than a white saviour storyline, and though that is still somewhat present in The Way of Water it is overshadowed by the Sully children now officially being mixed race. Half human-half Na’vi, they may look like Na’vi at first glance but the fact that they have too many fingers for instance makes them stand out amongst the natives. This is then amplified when they move to join the ocean tribe and they have a different colour skin and a tail that is designed more for climbing trees than propelling them through water. A Spike Lee film this is not, but The Way of Water does handle matters of race in a considerably more sophisticated way than the original film which is something I must admit I was surprised by.
Family and lineage are the film’s central themes, and there is a side-plot involving a young human boy named Spider (Jake Champion) who has been raised by the Na’vi. Spider is wrestling with his family’s abandonment of him, and so has this internal conflict between staying with his adopted family who have never fully accepted him as one of their own or leaving to be with the new human colonists because ultimately, he is one of their kind. If this sounds all too familiar, yes this is Tarzan to the letter, but unfortunately Spider is not compelling enough of a character, nor is he given enough screentime to make this something you care an awful lot about.
As with the original film, the environment is a huge part of the story in The Way of Water, and how humans will thoughtlessly destroy and kill anything in their path to build a shiny concrete jungle. A large portion of the second act is dedicated to the middle Sully child, Lo’ak, befriending a Pandoran equivalent to a whale. As such, a lot of time is spent trying to communicate to the viewer just how intelligent the creatures are, how social they are, and how they are equally deserving of life as the creatures at the top of the food chain. This is of course entirely in service of Cameron going on a whaling crusade in the third act, and anyone who’s seen Blackfish will certainly feel in familiar territory. It’s heavy handed and entirely unsubtle, but you know what? I actually quite liked it. I can absolutely see some people decrying that Cameron is pandering to woke vegans and painting meat-eaters as murderers, but in reality, it’s actually got some real emotional weight to it, and it only villainises the corporations and the hunters. If this is a film that will get young people on their feet and fighting for real action on climate change and animal rights then I’m all for it. It’s rare to see such a massive blockbuster tackle a subject like that and have such a firm stance on it. Now obviously what kind of environmental impact did the creation of this film have? That may then render Cameron’s point a bit moot, but you certainly wouldn’t see this kind of thing in a Marvel or Star Wars film, and certainly not making as bold a statement as The Way of Water does.
The technology is the meat and gravy of the experience though, I mean, if you’re hung up on The Way of Water’s story being a bit so-so then you’re going out of your way to hate the film because that’s never where Cameron’s focus was, and he has been very open about that.
As I previously mentioned, the original Avatar was a pioneer for the modern 3D revival in the late 00’s. Prior to Avatar, 3D had been a gimmick that was predominantly used in low budget horror, sci-fi, and creature features and largely died out during the 80’s. It was always a gimmick, and it was never made out to be anything but that. But with Avatar, Cameron changed that. He spent millions developing new 3D technology for the film, and theatres around the world upgraded their projectors to show Avatar in the intended format. Obviously, Hollywood jumped on the opportunity and released every major film in 3D just to charge more in ticket prices and fatigue quickly set in as few films used the format effectively. But Avatar was widely considered to be the golden standard for 3D, and so The Way of Water seeks to make those same technological leaps today.
In the west, 3D died a quick death, so to be going to a newly released 3D film was a strange experience, and because of the high technological standard of The Way of Water I went to see it at the BFI IMAX in Waterloo. A film that touts such ground-breaking special effects requires the best viewing experience and I wanted to see it the way Cameron had intended. So, with that in mind, some of what I say may not be applicable to your local cinema, or even particular screens within your cinema. Because there’s clearly a lot of ways to see The Way of Water, and some of them may be different to others in very significant ways.
The technology is the meat and gravy of the experience though, I mean, if you’re hung up on The Way of Water’s story being a bit so-so then you’re going out of your way to hate the film because that’s never where Cameron’s focus was, and he has been very open about that.
As I previously mentioned, the original Avatar was a pioneer for the modern 3D revival in the late 00’s. Prior to Avatar, 3D had been a gimmick that was predominantly used in low budget horror, sci-fi, and creature features and largely died out during the 80’s. It was always a gimmick, and it was never made out to be anything but that. But with Avatar, Cameron changed that. He spent millions developing new 3D technology for the film, and theatres around the world upgraded their projectors to show Avatar in the intended format. Obviously, Hollywood jumped on the opportunity and released every major film in 3D just to charge more in ticket prices and fatigue quickly set in as few films used the format effectively. But Avatar was widely considered to be the golden standard for 3D, and so The Way of Water seeks to make those same technological leaps today.
In the west, 3D died a quick death, so to be going to a newly released 3D film was a strange experience, and because of the high technological standard of The Way of Water I went to see it at the BFI IMAX in Waterloo. A film that touts such ground-breaking special effects requires the best viewing experience and I wanted to see it the way Cameron had intended. So, with that in mind, some of what I say may not be applicable to your local cinema, or even particular screens within your cinema. Because there’s clearly a lot of ways to see The Way of Water, and some of them may be different to others in very significant ways.
First up let’s talk CGI and visual effects, because the film is bursting with them. There are large portions of The Way of Water that are essentially entirely computer animated aside from the actors who are filmed with motion capture technology. There are so few true human performances in this film as the characters are predominantly Na’vi, and so making them look as lifelike as possible is the key to buying into the story. To put it simply I have never seen anything quite as technologically impressive as The Way of Water, and I don’t think anything will match this standard for a very long time aside from its own sequels.
Whilst I may not find it as stunning as something like last year’s Dune, largely due to the cinematography, but The Way of Water is in an utterly different ballpark in terms of how convincingly real the CG effects are. The motion capture performances really do capture the most miniscule of details, and I have never seen movement so smooth and natural from motion capture. There has always been a level of disconnect with mocap performances in the past because the movement has never looked the same as a real human being, but The Way of Water has overcome that barrier and there are moments where I forgot that the Na’vi weren’t actually real. When you compound this with the spectacular environments that are gorgeously rich in colour and highly detailed beyond comparison, Pandora truly is alive and looks like a real place. The way light in particular interacts with the environment is far beyond anything I have seen before, and there are times where I was questioning whether it was CGI or a real location, I know the answer is CGI but even when I’m looking for the immersion breaking low quality texture somewhere I just couldn’t find it, and that’s extremely impressive.
Water plays a massive role in the film, in case the title didn’t give it away, and the shoot was by all reports gruelling. The majority of the film sees our characters underwater and beyond Cameron’s work on The Abyss and the opening of Titanic (both of which pale in comparison to The Way of Water) I have never seen underwater sequences of this calibre. Combine this with the extensive CGI and mocap usage and The Way of Water does feel otherworldly. There were a number of moments that left me in awe at what I was seeing, and even as someone who knows a fair amount about how films are made, I am unsure as to how they achieved a lot of what I saw in The Way of Water.
The 3D is, as one would hope, spectacular. Unfortunately, you can’t mitigate the inherent problems of 3D such as wearing those horrendous glasses and having a headache as your eyes adjust to reality after taking them off. But after years of seeing sub-par 3D effects in blockbuster films it really was quite breath-taking seeing how Cameron used 3D in new and interesting ways once again. It’s all the time too, rarely is there a moment where the shot isn’t given depth either coming out of the screen or going into it and sustaining that effect for over three hours is extremely impressive. The Way of Water is intended to be seen in 3D so I would recommend it, I know 3D is an ugly thought nowadays, but I would argue it will remind you of what the technology is actually capable of when used properly and it does give the film another layer of ‘wow’.
It's also the kind of film that deserves the biggest screen possible. Cameron frequently makes a point of showcasing just how massive things are in comparison to the characters, and a format like IMAX really allows for that scope to be felt. If IMAX isn’t possible then I’m sure a HDR format like Dolby Vision will provide its own grandeur with a wider range of colours. But similarly to Dune last year, The Way of Water really deserves a big screen to appreciate the scale of the visuals, and I’m sure that the experience will not be the same at home on a TV, or dare I say a laptop or even phone.
Whilst I may not find it as stunning as something like last year’s Dune, largely due to the cinematography, but The Way of Water is in an utterly different ballpark in terms of how convincingly real the CG effects are. The motion capture performances really do capture the most miniscule of details, and I have never seen movement so smooth and natural from motion capture. There has always been a level of disconnect with mocap performances in the past because the movement has never looked the same as a real human being, but The Way of Water has overcome that barrier and there are moments where I forgot that the Na’vi weren’t actually real. When you compound this with the spectacular environments that are gorgeously rich in colour and highly detailed beyond comparison, Pandora truly is alive and looks like a real place. The way light in particular interacts with the environment is far beyond anything I have seen before, and there are times where I was questioning whether it was CGI or a real location, I know the answer is CGI but even when I’m looking for the immersion breaking low quality texture somewhere I just couldn’t find it, and that’s extremely impressive.
Water plays a massive role in the film, in case the title didn’t give it away, and the shoot was by all reports gruelling. The majority of the film sees our characters underwater and beyond Cameron’s work on The Abyss and the opening of Titanic (both of which pale in comparison to The Way of Water) I have never seen underwater sequences of this calibre. Combine this with the extensive CGI and mocap usage and The Way of Water does feel otherworldly. There were a number of moments that left me in awe at what I was seeing, and even as someone who knows a fair amount about how films are made, I am unsure as to how they achieved a lot of what I saw in The Way of Water.
The 3D is, as one would hope, spectacular. Unfortunately, you can’t mitigate the inherent problems of 3D such as wearing those horrendous glasses and having a headache as your eyes adjust to reality after taking them off. But after years of seeing sub-par 3D effects in blockbuster films it really was quite breath-taking seeing how Cameron used 3D in new and interesting ways once again. It’s all the time too, rarely is there a moment where the shot isn’t given depth either coming out of the screen or going into it and sustaining that effect for over three hours is extremely impressive. The Way of Water is intended to be seen in 3D so I would recommend it, I know 3D is an ugly thought nowadays, but I would argue it will remind you of what the technology is actually capable of when used properly and it does give the film another layer of ‘wow’.
It's also the kind of film that deserves the biggest screen possible. Cameron frequently makes a point of showcasing just how massive things are in comparison to the characters, and a format like IMAX really allows for that scope to be felt. If IMAX isn’t possible then I’m sure a HDR format like Dolby Vision will provide its own grandeur with a wider range of colours. But similarly to Dune last year, The Way of Water really deserves a big screen to appreciate the scale of the visuals, and I’m sure that the experience will not be the same at home on a TV, or dare I say a laptop or even phone.
One aspect of the technical design of The Way of Water I simply couldn’t understand or get on with, and actually detracted from the overall experience, was the use of high framerate. Almost all films are shot at 24 frames per-second and over the years there have been many attempts to go beyond that for smoother looking motion in the image. Most famously was the first Hobbit film, and most recently was the Will Smith spy thriller Gemini Man. The Way of Water has had multiple sequences shot at 48 frames per-second, double the rate at which audiences are used to, however not everything is shot at this higher speed.
A lot of the film was actually shot at 24 frames per-second and then doubled in the post-production process, so the projector will always be showing 48 frames, though your eyes are unlikely to process the bits that were filmed at 24 frames as anything other than 24 frames. It’s all a bit technical but the long and short of it is that some bits of The Way of Water look ‘normal’ and other bits, specifically those shot at 48 frames per-second, look like a video game. They also actually begin to peel back the curtain on the special effects too, and the effect is like seeing the strings on a puppet, suddenly the illusion of all this majesty is lost. Not all cinemas will be capable of showing the film at 48 frames per-second though, and I doubt that this is something that’ll plague the home release.
The Way of Water is a monolith of a film, and there’s both a lot to like and a lot to dislike. Overall, I think the film is generally good, I’m glad I saw it in the way I did, and I do feel like many people are purposely hating on the film for no other reason than the long production time and the aftermath of the hangover from 3D caused by the original film. I can’t see The Way of Water topping anyone’s best films of the year list, but I do think this is a film people should check out because there really isn’t anything else like it at least technically. The story is by the numbers and unremarkable, but technologically this film is years ahead of the curve. I think if we can give Top Gun: Maverick a pass because of it’s amazing stunt work outshining the underwhelming story then I absolutely think the same can be said for Avatar: The Way of Water. It may have been over a decade in the making, but The Way of Water was worth the wait, and I am eagerly awaiting my next trip to Pandora.
A lot of the film was actually shot at 24 frames per-second and then doubled in the post-production process, so the projector will always be showing 48 frames, though your eyes are unlikely to process the bits that were filmed at 24 frames as anything other than 24 frames. It’s all a bit technical but the long and short of it is that some bits of The Way of Water look ‘normal’ and other bits, specifically those shot at 48 frames per-second, look like a video game. They also actually begin to peel back the curtain on the special effects too, and the effect is like seeing the strings on a puppet, suddenly the illusion of all this majesty is lost. Not all cinemas will be capable of showing the film at 48 frames per-second though, and I doubt that this is something that’ll plague the home release.
The Way of Water is a monolith of a film, and there’s both a lot to like and a lot to dislike. Overall, I think the film is generally good, I’m glad I saw it in the way I did, and I do feel like many people are purposely hating on the film for no other reason than the long production time and the aftermath of the hangover from 3D caused by the original film. I can’t see The Way of Water topping anyone’s best films of the year list, but I do think this is a film people should check out because there really isn’t anything else like it at least technically. The story is by the numbers and unremarkable, but technologically this film is years ahead of the curve. I think if we can give Top Gun: Maverick a pass because of it’s amazing stunt work outshining the underwhelming story then I absolutely think the same can be said for Avatar: The Way of Water. It may have been over a decade in the making, but The Way of Water was worth the wait, and I am eagerly awaiting my next trip to Pandora.