A PANDORA’S BOX

That the sequel to the original Avatar would be a mind-blowing visual experience was always a given and that it would be a very long movie was also a given. Director James Cameron has never been known for economy or brevity. You wonder what a conversation with him over dinner would be like. It might run to breakfast.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is a three-hour testament to the magic that computer-generated imagery can add to the theater-going experience. Even better, the CGI this time around reflects the advances that have been made in the 13 years since the original.

Unfortunately, I likely won’t be able to witness just how jaw-dropping this film is in 3-D. Like many moviegoers who don’t reside in big cities with access to 3-D technology or, for that matter, IMAX, I had to settle for 2-D. But it was memorable anyway, offering a truly immersive experience.

Once again, we are exploring the dream world of the planet Pandora and encountering the blue-skinned, ten-feet-tall Na’vi. With the planet Earth dying from humanity’s extravagant environmental indifference, earthlings, dubbed “The Sky People,” have set their sights on Pandora for colonization and plundering yet another resource-rich environment.

And this time the Holy Grail is a substance extracted from the brains of a species of whale that leads to immortality.

That’s the setting. But the heart of the story is a search-and-destroy mission of another kind. Colonel Miles Quaritch, though dead at the end of the first movie, has been resuscitated as a living Na’vi warrior. He and his similarly recombinant henchmen are hell-bent on finding and killing the hero Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington).

Jake and his Na’vi wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are made aware of this latest threat and, with their three children, race to seek refuge on another part of Pandora, with a distinctly different tribe who populate a series of islands.

These “Water People,” the Metkayina, have evolved to the extent that they can breathe for long stretches underwater. The sudden arrival of the Sully family is met with disdain and a realization that these refugees might bring trouble in their wake.

The teal-colored beings have elaborate tattoos, much like the Na’vi, and there has been a fresh spate of criticism from those who see their usage by Cameron as cultural appropriation—unwelcome at a time when we’re all supposed to be sympathetic to the plight of indigenous peoples everywhere.

From an art direction perspective, however, the tattoos, suggestive of the Maori culture of New Zealand, where much of the movie was shot, certainly add to the exotic nature of these alien creatures, so I will leave the appropriation arguments to those with more at stake.

Another criticism being leveled at Way of Water is how much the story echoes what we saw in the first movie. I thought about that while watching it and decided Cameron had no choice, since he was telling a story that first unspooled 13 years ago, and that moviegoers, young and old alike, might not have seen or even remember.

But this time around, the Avatar focus is more on the teenagers from the two tribes, a departure from the original. You could make the argument that Avatar 2 is really a YA (“Young Adult”) story, laden with teen angst. About the only thing missing is acne.

So, in sum, this newest Avatar is best appreciated as a giant leap in movie-making and less as a totally new adventure. Cameron, with fingers crossed, promises that will happen in the third installment he’s already shot called “Avatar 3: The Seed Bearer,” scheduled for release in 2024.

Sure, it might be a fool’s errand for the Disney folks to hope that Avatar 2 measures up to the success of the first. After all, that one was released before streaming even existed, and still ranks as the box office champ of all time.

But you would be hard-pressed to name any movie in the past few years that offers as much heart-stopping spectacle and that rewards moviegoers with a thrill ride that doesn’t end until the credits roll.

Just remember to double down on the popcorn.