The Way Of Water’ A ‘Grand Slam’ And ‘Hugely Entertaining’ Ahead Of Debut

Topline

Ahead of Avatar: The Way Of Water’s long-awaited theatrical release this weekend, many critics applauded the movie as a worthy sequel and a technical marvel, setting it up to compete with its predecessor, which remains the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Ride ’em, cowboy: Jake Sully, portrayed by Sam Worthington, in “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

Key Facts

The Hollywood Reporter called The Way Of Water “hugely entertaining” and said it’s “a big movie, monumental even, that justifies its three hours-plus of screen time and its mammoth financial investment,” citing the film’s nine-figure production budget.

The Atlantic said the movie is a savior to hungry moviegoers and praised its “decadence,” writing, “for cinemas that have been starved of authentic spectacle, finally, here’s a gorgeous three-course meal of it,” and that the film’s emotional and visual aspects “blew me away.”

Variety disagreed slightly, and hailed the movie just for its technical feats, noting “there is almost zero dimensionality to the characters. The dimensionality is all in the images.”

Though it’s “occasionally indulgent,” Deadline called The Way Of Water a “pioneering film that excites by bringing something to the screen that has never been seen in quite this way before.”

“I still haven’t entirely wrapped my head around the fact that none of this stuff actually exists,” Vulture’s critic wrote; “It’s hard not to lose oneself amid the gentle, flowing cadences of this exquisitely created undersea universe, where the water enveloping the characters gradually becomes a metaphor for the interconnectedness of all living beings.”

Entertainment Weekly dubbed it “a sensory overload of sound and color so richly tactile that it feels psychedelically, almost spiritually sublime,” and graded the film an A-.

Contra

Not all critics were pleased. “Cameron’s undersea world is like a trillion-dollar screensaver,” wrote The Guardian. “What do we find aside from the high-tech visual superstructure? The floatingly bland plot is like a children’s story without the humor; a YA story without the emotional wound; an action thriller without the hard edge of real excitement.”

Big Number

83%. That’s Avatar: The Way Of Water’s rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 81 reviews. The first Avatar is rated 82%, based on over 330 reviews, and has a 82% audience rating.

Key Background

The first Avatar was released in 2009, and has since grossed over $2.9 billion worldwide, more than any other film in history. It’s estimated that The Way Of Water cost between $350 million and $400 million to make. Director James Cameron said the sequel needs to be “the third- or fourth-highest-grossing film in history” for it to break even. Last month, the movie was given the green light to open in China, a crucial market that could propel it to box office success. It’s projected to have an opening weekend between $150 million and $170 million, putting it on par with other top openings this year, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, according to The Wrap. Avatar: The Way Of Water received two Golden Globes nominations Monday, for Best Motion Picture, Drama and Best Director.

What To Watch For

Avatar: The Way Of Water opens Friday.