Avatar: The Way of Water

 And this weeks Friday night movie has been.... Avatar: The Way of Water!

Original image located here. Accessed 25th September 2026

For me, James Cameron is one of those people who everyone has a differing angle upon: He's a filmmaker who can produce action movies with some intelligence. He's a guy who's seems passionate on underwater exploring to the point of obsessive. He's someone who really wants to push the envelope on visual effects in cinema and what they can accomplish. He's the traitor who made action movies (Aliens and Terminator 1+2) only to go onto something more romantic (Titanic). He's a madman with a vision like no other. He is infamous for being a dictatorial presence on set. He's a guy willing sink an astronomical amount of money to make a five movie series like Avatar to happen. 

Much has been written about Avatar as a series: Very long movies, huge production costs, doing gangbusters at the box-office, exercises in style over substance and The Last Airbender was better. Such assessments would make this series easy fodder as a punchline - not unlike Titanic - but is it enough to colour my view of it?
Admittedly it has been a while since I first saw the first one and I do recall enough of it to leave an impression. So enough beating around the bush: What did I think of The Way of Water?

Obviously this key strength of this movie lies in the visual: The world-building. The lore. The mechanisms that look unfeasible but still come across as possible. The staggering action sequences. The designs of the inhabitants of Pandora. There has been a lot amount of effort being put into this movie and it shows - thus giving the impression that this series is the one entry in Cameron's filmography that he put the most effort into (favourite child much?). 

However is it really style over substance? Well maybe. But then again, as is often the case, it's not what the story being told but how it's told. Certainly it is compelling to see Jake and Neytiri with a family in tow and facing the challenges that comes with it. 

But in the end, this was a fun watch and I had a great time with it. And there's certainly some potential for this film series.