Avatar: The Way of Water
192 minutes
December 6, 2022
Avatar: The Way of Water is a 2022 American epic science fiction film directed and co-produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver from a story the trio wrote with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. Distributed by 20th Century Studios, it is the sequel to Avatar (2009) and the second installment in the Avatar franchise. It features Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao and Matt Gerald reprising their roles from the first film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in an additional role[6] and Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Trinity Bliss, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, and Jack Champion joining the cast. It follows a blue-skinned humanoid Na’vi named Jake Sully (Worthington) as he and his family, under renewed human threat, seek refuge with the aquatic Metkayina clan of Pandora, a habitable exomoon on which they live.
Cameron said in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar if it were successful, and he announced the first two sequels in 2010, following the widespread success of the first film, with the first sequel aiming for a 2014 release.[7][8] However, the addition of two more sequels, for a total of five Avatar films, and the necessity to develop new technology to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, preproduction, and visual effects.[9] The filming process, which occurred simultaneously with a currently untitled third film, began in Manhattan Beach, California, on August 15, 2017. The filming location moved to Wellington on September 25, 2017, which ended in late September 2020 after three years of shooting. With an estimated budget of $350–460 million, the film is one of the most expensive films ever made.
After repeated delays in release, Avatar: The Way of Water premiered at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on December 6, 2022, and was released in the United States on December 16. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the visual effects and technical achievements but criticized the plot and lengthy runtime.[10] It was a major box office success, breaking multiple records, and grossing $2.320 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2022, the highest-grossing film since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the third-highest-grossing film of all time. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named The Way of Water one of the top-ten films of 2022. Among its many accolades, the film was nominated for four awards at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Visual Effects. Three further sequels are in production, with the next film set to be released in December 2025.
Avatar: The Way of Water Plot
Sixteen years after the Na’vi repelled the Resources Development Administration (RDA) from Pandora,[a] Jake Sully lives as chief of the Omatikaya clan and raises his family with Neytiri, consisting of two sons Neteyam and Lo’ak, his daughter Tuktirey, and adopted daughter Kiri (born from Dr. Grace Augustine’s inert avatar). Miles “Spider” Socorro, son of the late Colonel Miles Quaritch, frequently visits their children while being raised by human scientists who stayed on Pandora.
The RDA returns to colonize Pandora. Among their ranks are Recombinants, Na’vi avatars implanted with the memories of deceased human soldiers, with a recombinant Quaritch as their leader. Jake leads a guerilla campaign against the RDA occupation. During a counterinsurgency mission, Quaritch and his subordinates capture Jake’s children. Jake and Neytiri arrive and frees them, but Quaritch manages to capture Spider, subsequently recognizing him as his son. After the RDA unsuccessfully interrogates Spider for additional information, Quaritch decides to spend time with Spider to gain his favor. In return, Spider teaches Quaritch about Na’vi culture and language.
Aware of the danger posed by Spider’s knowledge, Jake and his family relocate themselves from the Omatikaya to Pandora’s eastern sea, inhabited by the Metkayina clan. There, the family assimilates with the Metkayina: Kiri develops a spiritual bond with the sea, Jake and Neytiri assist Chief Tonowari and his wife Ronal, while Lo’ak befriends Tsireya, their daughter. Following an altercation between Tonowari’s and Jake’s sons after the former mocked Kiri, Lo’ak apologizes at Jake’s insistence due to initiating the fight. Aonung, Tonowari’s eldest son, and his friends then entice Lo’ak to a hunting trip, stranding him in a sea predator’s territory. Lo’ak is saved from the predator by Payakan, a Tulkun—an intelligent and pacifist whale-like species whom the Metkayina consider their spiritual brethren—and befriends Payakan. Upon his return, Lo’ak wins Aonung’s friendship by accepting blame for the trip but is told that Payakan is an outcast. Later, Kiri links to the Metkayina’s underwater Spirit Tree and meets Grace in a vision but suffers a seizure during the link-induced trance and nearly drowns. Jake summons Norm Spellman and Max Patel for help, diagnosing Kiri with epilepsy and warn that she cannot connect to the Spirit Tree again.
Eventually, Ronal heals Kiri, while Quaritch tracks Norm and Max’s aircraft to the Metkayni’s archipelago. Bringing Spider with him, Quaritch joins forces with the RDA’s marine operations and commandeers a whaling vessel hunting Tulkuns. Quaritch’s squads begins raiding the archipelago but fail to find Jake after interrogating various tribes. He decides to massacre villages and kill Tulkuns in order to draw Jake out. Lo’ak mentally links with Payakan and learns he was cast out because he attacked human whalers who killed his mother, resulting in many Tulkun casualties.
When the Metkayina learns of the Tulkun killings, Lo’ak goes to warn Payakan, followed by his siblings and friends. Finding Payakan being hunted, Quaritch captures Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Tuktirey. Jake, Neytiri, and the Metkayina then confronts the humans and rescues the kids. Quaritch forces Jake to surrender, but Payakan attacks the vessel, initiating a battle between the Metkayina and the humans. Spider cripples the vessel, while Neteyam rescues Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Spider, but is fatally shot by one of Quaritch’s men. Traumatized by Neteyam’s death, Jake and Neytiri resolve to save their daughters, who were recaptured. Jake faces Quaritch, who holds Kiri hostage, but desists when Neytiri does the same with Spider. Jake, Quaritch, Neytiri, and Tuktirey are trapped inside the sinking vessel. After a tense skirmish, Jake strangles Quaritch unconscious and is rescued by Lo’ak and Payakan, while Kiri recovers Neytiri and Tuktirey. Spider saves Quaritch from death but rejects him and rejoins Jake’s family.
After Neteyam’s funeral, Jake informs Tonowari of his decision to leave the Metkayina. However, Tonowari identifies his family as being part of the clan out of reverence and welcomes them to stay. Jake’s family accept their new lives at sea but vow to continue their struggle against the RDA.
Avatar: The Way of Water Cast
Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri te Tskaha Mo’at’ite
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch
Kate Winslet as Ronal
Cliff Curtis as Tonowari
Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman
CCH Pounder as Mo’at
Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore
Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby
Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin
Britain Dalton as Lo’ak te Suli Tsyeyk’itan, Jake and Neytiri’s 14-year-old son.[36][37]
Chloe Coleman as young Lo’ak.
Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuktirey “Tuk” te Suli Neytiri’ite, Jake and Neytiri’s 8-year-old daughter and their youngest child.[36][37][40]
Jack Champion as Miles “Spider” Socorro, the 16-year-old son of Quaritch born in Hell’s Gate (the human base on Pandora in the first film) who was raised by scientists who stayed back on Pandora and wears Na’vi attire and an oxygen mask when outside a building. He is inseparable from Jake and Neytiri’s children.[36][37][41]
Bailey Bass as Tsireya “Reya”, a graceful and strong free diver of the Metkayina and Tonowari and Ronal’s daughter[36][37]
Filip Geljo as Aonung, a young male hunter, a free diver of the Metkayina, and Tonowari and Ronal’s son[36][37]
Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo, a young male hunter and free diver of the Metkayina[36][37]
Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the former corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation, who appears in a recording made for Quaritch’s Recombinant.[42][43][44]
Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a former Avatar program scientist who allies with the Na’vi.[45]
Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet
Where to watch Avatar: The Way of Water
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