christian movie review of avatar 2

Skip to main content
Skip to secondary menu
Skip to primary sidebar
Skip to footer

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Movie Review: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

NEW YORK – Given that its predecessor remains the highest-grossing feature of all time, it may seem surprising that it has taken 13 years to release the sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century). Is this second sci-fi epic worth the wait? The answer will largely depend on what priorities movie fans bring with them to the theater as well as what concerns the film’s content may inspire in them.

In crafting his follow-up, director James Cameron, the auteur of the original, shares writing credit with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Their script returns viewers to the fictional moon Pandora and continues the story of the kickoff’s two principal characters, the avatar of Earth-born ex-Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his Pandoran warrior wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).

Having chosen, for love of Neytiri, to continue life as a hybrid of human consciousness and a body in the likeness of the Na’vi – the 10-foot-tall, blue-skinned natives of Pandora – Jake has become the patriarch of a thriving family.

Besides sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), the clan includes adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and, informally, human hanger-on Spider (Jack Champion).

When earthly intruders, an earlier wave of whom were defeated and sent packing at the end of Avatar,” return to Pandora in a renewed attempt to exploit its natural resources, Jake becomes the leader of the indigenous resistance. His high-profile role makes him a target, once again, for ruthless Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) with whom he clashed in the first outing.

Torn between his urge to continue fighting and his fears for those in his care, Jake makes the decision to go into voluntary exile. After an arduous journey, the Sullys find shelter in a distant set of islands occupied by a tribe, known as the Metkayina, whose lifestyle is centered on the ocean. The locals are led by matriarch and shaman Ronal (Kate Winslet) and her husband Tonowari (Cliff Curtis).

As Kiri explores her mystical powers and hapless Lo’ak struggles to overcome his status as a perpetual disappointment to his parents, the technically innovative visual flair that helped propel “Avatar” to lasting preeminence at the box office is present in abundance across a three-hour-plus running time. Indeed, the luxuriant aquatics on display are such as might have left the late Jacques Cousteau eating his heart out.

Meanwhile, Cameron and his screenplay collaborators establish themes connecting the proceedings to environmental issues, corporate greed, the fate of Native Americans and the Vietnam War. Their points, however, are conveyed in an excessively earnest tone and via some clunky dialogue.

More significant are the problematic religious ingredients included in their narrative. Villainous Quaritch, for one thing, has been scientifically resurrected from the dead. Additionally, the Na’vi engage in a form of pantheistic goddess worship directed at a deity called Eywa. Given that such a cult is obviously at odds with Christian faith, “Way of Water” is not fit fare for the impressionable.

As for those old and well-catechized enough to dismiss Eywa as eyewash, they’ll certainly be treated to a spectacle rarely rivalled. Yet, whether the mere act of lingering in the chambers of the sea, to paraphrase poet T.S. Eliot, will fully satisfy their cinematic aspirations – given that the depths of Pandora’s oceans are not matched by a profundity of either emotion or insight – will remain a matter of taste.

Look for: Clan solidarity and love for nature.

Look out for: Nonscriptural beliefs and practices, stylized but intense and momentarily disturbing combat, partial nudity, at least one use each of profanity and rough language, a few milder oaths, about a dozen crude terms, several crass expressions and an obscene gesture. The Catholic Moviegoer’s guidance is M – suitable for mature viewers. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Movie Review: ‘Hit Man’

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘Inside Out 2’

Movie Review: ‘The Watchers’

Movie Review: ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’

Real Life. Real Faith.

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Catholic Review 320 Cathedral Street Baltimore, MD 21201 443-524-3150 [email protected]

Social Media

Archbishop Lori announces July appointments, including new pastors and administrators
Supreme Court to hear challenge to state law banning transgender interventions for minors
Govans parish has 175-year history of ‘valuing differences’
Archdiocese of Baltimore celebrates ordination of six new priests
Radio Interview: Safe Streets program counters violence in Baltimore City
Pope confirms Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be canonized ‘soon’
Florida Catholic’s Ana Rodriguez-Soto wins 2024 St. Francis de Sales Award
Apostolate to pregnant women in need poised to spread mission as lay association of faithful
How to celebrate Sunday as a Catholic

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

Get news & reviews in your inbox

Prime Video
Documentary
Producers Corner
Watch Lists
More Than A Movie Night
It’s Dove Approved – Family Movie Trivia Game
Dove Ratings
Privacy Policy

Avatar: The Way of Water

Thirteen years after the blockbuster release of Avatar , James Cameron takes viewers back to the planet of Pandora and the Na’vi people in Avatar: The Way of Water . Since the events of the first film, Jake Sully is now living fully as his avatar, along with his companion Neytiri and Neteyam, Lo’ak, Tuk, and adopted teenage daughter Kiri, the biological child of Dr. Grace Augustine. They live a quiet, peaceful life until the planet once again comes under siege from “The Sky People” who want to harvest its resources and trap the indigenous population, along with an elite resurrection squad of soldiers targeting Jake specifically. Jake and Neytiri now face the choice of protecting their family and their people or disappearing. Through their journey, they learn of new tribes, customs, and creatures, as well as learning how to function as a family. They prefer peace, but when war comes to their doorstep, they rally together to defend themselves, delivering a heartfelt and thrilling adventure for viewers.

Dove Review

In the years since the big battle where Jake surrendered his human form and took his place as a Na’vi, he has settled with Neytiri and their children in the forest among the Omatikaya clan. They are joined by friendly scientist Norm and Spider, a human child left behind who is close friends with the Sully children. The Resource Development Administration (RDA) once again targets the planet for its resources, forcing Jake to lead a resistance against it. But the RDA has a secret weapon, a resurrected, cloned to avatar version of Jake’s nemesis, Colonel Miles Quaritch, and his fighting men, intent to eradicate the Sully family. Faced with endangering their clan and family, Jake and Neytiri make a long journey to live among the Metkayina, a coastal, more amphibian clan living on a spread of islands. The children immediately have a rough time fitting in and learning the customs, while Jake and Neytiri just want to fit in and live peaceably. Their middle son, Lo’ak, in particular, faces intense struggles, sending him to the ocean to befriend a new whale-like tulkun creature, Payakan, who he communicates with.

Minor Spoilers follow:

Col. Quaritch and his team track the family to the islands and begin hunting them and the tulkun in hopes of drawing out the Metkayina tribe, who revere the creatures. Spider, who was captured in the forest, becomes a reluctant guide to help find the family, but his allegiances remain to the Na’vi over his own human counterparts. Jake and his family enlist their new friends in their efforts to defend their children and preserve their way of life.

Every frame of Avatar: The Way of Water is expertly crafted, intentionally made for high-definition 3D rendering. In fact, so much of it feels like peering in a window at a world beyond the viewers’ reach. It is a next-level accomplishment from a director who continues to challenge himself. Also, at more than three hours’ length, the film lets stories and characters breathe and not feel rushed. There is so much time devoted to the family fitting into their new surroundings and caring for each other that viewers may sometimes forget the eventual war that’s coming. When the time comes to fight, like the scenes of relationship building, it’s intense and memorable, guided by the man who gave audiences epic sequences in Titanic and Avatar .

Family is the theme of Avatar: The Way of Water , specifically how Jake earns his place among the Na’vi and how he and Neytiri raise their children to be leaders among their people. They lean on each and learn from each other and even in their rough patches, they always return to a place of respect and honor. They also ingratiate themselves with their new tribe by their innocence and humility. In a larger sense, the tribe also represents family and community, and it triumphs over those who would wish to usurp it.

The language of the film is very much in line with the original, with many PG-13 profanities thrown around, with an “F” word and others such as “a—hole,” “sh-t” and “b-tch.” Many characters and creatures are in peril and even killed, either by the soldiers or the elements, but they are not explicit or gory.

Even though Avatar was a landmark release, its sequel, The Way of Water builds on that and surpasses it in scope and story. It dives deeper into the mythology of Pandora and its inhabitants, giving more of a human connection for viewers. Because of that, the stakes feel much higher when the final, nail-biting battle arrives.

Dove Rating Details

No overt Christian message. The religion on Pandora is integrated throughout nature, through plants that respond to human contact and animal type creatures the Na’vi can communicate with.

Jake and his family are positive role models, banding together when the time is right and looking out for those who can’t defend themselves. They are regarded as leaders for good reason.

Crude and obscene language throughout film (f-ck, sh-t, a—hole, b-tch, etc).

Characters frequently engage in battle, with dire non-explicit consequences such as loss of life, and creatures being speared.

The Na’vi are CGI creatures but are dressed in tribal gear, such as loincloths and draped clothing. Spider, the human teen left behind, spends the film in a loincloth.

More Information

Film information, dove content.

Faith Film Producer DeVon Franklin Steps in Front of the Camera for ‘Jesus Revolution’

Cyrano: Love is a Verb

Redeeming Love: Grace Rising Up Out of the Dirt

Filmmakers Highlight the Hope and Heroism in “Gi...

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

For Parents
For Educators
Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

Get the app
Movie Reviews
Best Movie Lists
Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best TV Lists
Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
Common Sense Selections for TV
Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

Book Reviews
Best Book Lists
Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Game Reviews
Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Podcast Reviews
Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

App Reviews
Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

YouTube Channel Reviews
YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

Kids' Mental Health Apps and Websites for Anxiety, Depression, Coping Skills, and Professional Support

Family Tech Planners
Digital Skills
All Articles
Latino Culture
Black Voices
Asian Stories
Native Narratives
LGBTQ+ Pride
Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

Avatar: the way of water, common sense media reviewers.

Long but dazzling return to Pandora has sci-fi violence.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Messages about acceptance, unity, and teamwork. St

The women leaders of the clan are strong, brave, a

The Na'vi species is divided into clans with a var

Sci-fi action violence. Supporting characters die

Brief scene of nonsexual nudity (blink-and-miss gl

Scattered strong language includes one "f--k," "ho

No product placement in movie, but dozens of off-s

Positive Messages

Messages about acceptance, unity, and teamwork. Strong environmental, pro-peace, and anti-imperialist themes. Idea that love and understanding can trump division and violence. Shows consequences, dangers, and immorality of a corrupt government colonizing and oppressing another land and people. Stresses importance of honest communication between children and their parents.

Positive Role Models

The women leaders of the clan are strong, brave, assertive characters, and the Na'vi are all deeply connected to the land. Jake and Neytiri are courageous and loving parents and clan leaders. Ronal is the spiritual leader of her community. Spider loves the Na'vi even though he's human and is forced into difficult moral situations. Lo'ak finds a way to commune with a sacred creature.

Diverse Representations

The Na'vi species is divided into clans with a variety of cultures, traditions, and belief systems, with overt parallels to Indigenous peoples (tribal tattoos and symbiotic, spiritual relationships with nature) and Indigenous history (colonialist expansion, genocide). But the filmmakers are White, and main characters are almost all voiced by non-Indigenous actors, raising issues about cultural appropriation. The women leaders of the clan are strong, brave, assertive.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Sci-fi action violence. Supporting characters die due to explosions, bullet wounds, arrows, and dismemberment, as well as a whale-like creature's destructive movements. Several intense scenes involving combat, a ship sinking, and animal hunting that shows the killing of ancient beings. Children are held captive and at gunpoint. Bullying and pranking that leaves a teen in harm's way. Children are used as hostages. A couple of emotional deaths.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief scene of nonsexual nudity (blink-and-miss glimpse of a Na'vi woman's breasts). Adolescent Na'vi flirt and hold hands. There's a strong bond between Kiri and Spider. Jake and Neytiri embrace and kiss.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Scattered strong language includes one "f--k," "holy s--t," "bulls--t," "dips--t," "bitch," "goddamn," "damn," "piss," "hell," "oh my God," "ass," "ass-whooping," and insults like "four-fingered freak," "half-breed," "stupid," "ignorant," etc. "Jesus" used as an exclamation.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

No product placement in movie, but dozens of off-screen tie-in merchandising deals, including toys and books aimed at young kids.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Avatar: The Way of Water is the long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's epic 2009 mega-hit Avatar . The sequel returns to Pandora 15 years after Jake Sully ( Sam Worthington ) rallied the indigenous Na'vi clans against the corrupt "Sky People" (colonizing humans trying to mine and extract Pandora's resources). Jake and his mate, Neytiri ( Zoe Saldaña ), now have four children and decide to save their forest clan by seeking refuge for their family among the island dwelling Metkayina clan. Filmed mostly underwater, the three-hour-plus film is visually striking. And, like the first movie, it has sci-fi action violence, with weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and the hunting of a sacred whale-like creature. The story also features adolescent flirting, hand-holding, and crushes, as well as marital affection. Occasional strong language includes many uses of "s--t," "bitch," and "ass," as well as one "f--k." Like the first movie, this one has a strong anti-imperialist message, plus environmental and multicultural themes that stress the importance of tolerance, acceptance, and honest communication. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (41)
Kids say (109)

Based on 41 parent reviews

3 hours of extreme unnecessary violence !

More kid friendly than the 1st, what's the story.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is set approximately 15 years after the events of the original Avatar . In the forests of Pandora, Jake ( Sam Worthington ) and his mate, Neytiri ( Zoe Saldaña ), are now parents to two teen sons, Neteyam ( Jamie Flatters ) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), as well as a young girl named Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and Kiri ( Sigourney Weaver ), the teen daughter they adopted after she was born under mysterious circumstances. Jake has helped the Na'vi fight against the Sky People (humans trying to mine and extract Pandora's resources), but the onslaught of the humans' military operations ramps up when they launch a new mission: sending a select group of avatars with the uploaded consciousness and memories of the long-dead Col. Quaritch ( Stephen Lang ) and his loyal soldiers. Quaritch and his Na'vi-fied squad terrorize Jake and Neytiri's Omaticaya clan until Jake convinces Neytiri that their immediate family should leave and seek refuge with the far-off island dwelling Metkayina clan, who are a different shade of blue and boast fin-like tails and flipper-like hands. Their leader, Tonowari ( Cliff Curtis ), and his spiritual leader mate, Ronal ( Kate Winslet ), tentatively grant Jake and Neytiri's family sanctuary, but eventually Quaritch tracks them down and brings the war of the Sky People to the water clans.

Is It Any Good?

James Cameron 's crowd-pleasing sequel is a spectacular technical achievement that, while overlong, manages to dazzle the senses enough to prove that the director is still a visionary. Avatar: The Way of Water isn't a movie you see for its layered, complicated plot. The storyline is simple, and the dialogue is mostly expository or cliché, particularly when Quaritch talks. But it doesn't quite matter, because Cameron puts the movie's $350 million budget to remarkable use in all of the underwater sequences, the incredible creature effects, and the overall immersive return to Pandora. It's worth seeing on the biggest screen possible, in 3D if you can. Yes, the three-hour-plus runtime is long, but it's easy to get lost in the movie's memorable world-building. The motion-capture performances are fascinating to behold, and Winslet and Curtis are welcome additions to the cast. Of the young actors, Dalton stands out as Neytiri and Jake's troublemaking younger son, Lo'ak, who befriends an outcast tulkun (the sacred alien whales). Also worth noting is Jack Champion as Spider, the human boy raised among the Na'vi but whose mask marks him as different. His bond with Kiri, who's also a little bit different, seems headed toward romance, but it's too early to tell (not to mention complicated).

Lang's Quaritch is only slightly less unhinged in this installment than he was in the first film. But he's far from the only antagonist. The Na'vi face seemingly insurmountable odds as the humans' tech gets better and deadlier. The action sequences come mostly in the third act, but there are moments of pulse-pounding peril throughout that will make audiences clutch their seats (or their partners). There's even an extended ship-sinking sequence that's reminiscent of Titanic , right down to how people grip the railing and hold their breath as areas flood. While there's no Pandoran quartet playing classical music, composer Simon Franglen uses the late James Horner's original themes to create an evocative score as the Na'vi fight for their lives. With Avatar: The Way of Water , Cameron and cinematographer Russell Carpenter have created something monumental in scope, so much so that the movie's flaws don't prevent it from being stunning.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the visual and special effects in Avatar: The Way of Water . How do they compare to those in the first movie? How has technology changed since that one was released?

What themes does James Cameron consistently work into his films? Compare aspects of Avatar to the Terminator movies and Titanic . What similarities can you find?

Discuss the difference between how humans dealt with the Na'vi in the first movie and in this sequel.

How do the different tribes from Pandora interact, work together, and use teamwork to achieve their goals? Why is that an important character strength ?

The language and culture of the Maori people indigenous to New Zealand provided director James Cameron with inspiration for the sea-based Metkayina people. What are respectful ways to acknowledge other cultures?

Movie Details

In theaters : December 16, 2022
On DVD or streaming : March 28, 2023
Cast : Zoe Saldana , Sam Worthington , Kate Winslet , Sigourney Weaver
Director : James Cameron
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors
Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Genre : Science Fiction
Topics : Adventures , Ocean Creatures , Space and Aliens
Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 192 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity and some strong language
Awards : Academy Award , Common Sense Selection
Last updated : May 15, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Ender's Game

Sci-Fi Movies

Best alien movies, related topics.

Perseverance
Ocean Creatures
Space and Aliens

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

"celebrating fathers, family and “the great mother”".

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: Bad guys want to take over a large moon instead of share it with the native population, bad guy kidnaps children and holds them hostage to capture their father, and hero’s wife threatens a boy’s life when villain holds a knife at her daughter’s throat instead of wife finding a better solution to saving her daughter’s life.

More Detail:

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel to his blockbuster movie and tells how Jake tries to protect his new wife and family on Pandora, from a cloned avatar of his nemesis from the first movie, who’s been ordered to kill Jake and stop the native resistance to Earth’s takeover of Pandora. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is filled with amazing action and settings and with strong pro-family elements that celebrate fathers, but it still contains false pantheistic theology, references and prayers to “The Great Mother” and some politically correct environmentalism.

The movie opens with Jake narrating how he and his wife, Neytiri, now have a family. Their children include two sons, Netayam and Lo’ak, their young daughter, Tuk, and an adopted teenage daughter, Kiri, whose mother was Jake’s friend, Grace (Grace died in the first movie). Often tagging along with Jake’s children is a boy named Spider, a human child who was left behind as a toddler on Pandora because he was too young to return to Earth.

Jake and his family live with their clan in the thick forest. They lead an idyllic life for more than 10 years. One day, however, the “Sky People” from Earth return. Immediately upon landing, the Earthlings burn down much of the forest. Jake’s family and the clan flee to a cave system in the Hallelujah Mountains.

However, the humans send a team of highly trained, nine-foot-tall Pandoran clones who’ve been given the memories of real humans whose DNA has been recombined with Pandoran DNA. Leading the team is Col. Miles Quaritch, a Pandoran avatar clone of the nemesis that Jake killed in the first movie. The team’s mission is to capture Jake alive or kill him, because of his leadership abilities and knowledge of Earth military tactics.

When Quaritch’s team threatens the lives of Jake’s children if he doesn’t surrender, Jake decides to move his family across the ocean to one of the water clans living in the distant ocean atolls. He seeks refuge for his family with the Metkayina clan.

However, Jake’s children have problems fitting in with the water clan. Even worse, Qauritch is still intent on tracking down Jake.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER has lots of action and jeopardy. Also, the ocean and underwater scenes are absolutely incredible. Apparently, the actors and crew had to learn how to hold their breath under water for several minutes to shoot many of those scenes. Reportedly, Kate Winslet, who plays the water clan’s Queen, learned to hold her breath for more than seven minutes!

The main theme of THE WAY OF WATER is family. Also, Jake repeatedly says a father’s duty is to “protect his family.” This theme even becomes part of the human boy Spider’s story.

Despite this, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER also contains pantheistic theology, references and prayers to “The Great Mother” and some politically correct environmentalism. Many modern radical environmentalists lean toward the pantheistic “Gaia myth” of Earth and its ecosystem. The Bible tells us, however, that the God of the Universe has ordered his human creation to establish a dominion of stewardship over Earth, not to worship it but to cultivate and develop it and its resources.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER has many cinematic wonders, but the movie’s false religion isn’t so wonderful. The movie also contains a sightly excessive amount of foul language, some partial nudity, and a lot of gun violence and combat. Also, for the record, the human bodies in the movie look realistic, but the blue and green bodies of the Pandoran natives still look like they’re animated, not real.

Avatar: the Way of Water

Review of the movie.

by Andrew Sibley

Warning! This review contains spoilers .

The Avatar blue-giants are back on the cinema screen with the first of four planned sequels. Avatar: the Way of Water was released in December 2022, and in spite of its epic 3 hours 12 minutes duration, it has proved immensely popular. Estimated to have cost over US$400m in production costs, it has already generated a global revenue of over $2 billion for the Disney Corporation and currently ranks as the fourth all-time highest grossing movie. 1 Part of the costs was in developing new computer-enhanced techniques to capture the many stunning underwater scenes.

As with the first Avatar film, released in 2009 (see Avatar movie review by Carl Wieland ), the cast includes Sam Worthington, who plays Jake Sully, and Zoe Saldaña in the role of the Na’vi princess Neytiri. The ‘new’ evolutionary religious theme of the original Avatar movie continues here and readers are encouraged to read the aforementioned review as well.

Christians thinking of viewing Avatar: the Way of Water should be aware of the many ways in which it portrays things contrary to a biblical worldview. The film has a PG-13 rating in the US, 12 in the UK suggesting the film is unsuitable for younger children. Christian parents may also want to consider whether it is appropriate for mid-teens. The main action moves from the forest to the ocean, but this science fiction film continues the themes of the first movie: transhumanism, evolution, and the exploitation of the environment. It also encourages a New Age or neo-pagan view of reality, with influence from Eastern religions—The Na’vi people worship a mother goddess, Eywa, who has forbidden stone building, metal working, and use of wheeled transport. In Hinduism, an avatar is the physical manifestation of a god, while in the form adopted by the West it is a reference to the action of taking a virtual reality character in a video game. The company Meta (Facebook) wants us all to take up our own avatar in its virtual world. 2

Overview of the film

Without giving too much away, the sky people (‘evil’ humans) return to Pandora because Earth is dying and they wish to colonise the new planet and tame its wilderness. The nature-loving natives, the Na’vi, led by converted human avatar Jake Sully, are hostile and wage a guerrilla war against the invaders. In response, the human security forces send agents who have been transformed into Na’vi ‘recombinants’ (avatars implanted with the memories of dead soldiers).

Events unfold that lead to Jake, Neytiri and their family fleeing across the ocean to the Metkayina sea people, who seem to be modelled on South Pacific islanders 3 ( Moriori hunter gatherers ). Members of this blue-green, tattooed clan spend a lot of time in the water where individuals have ‘evolved’ three-fingered hands, which are inferred to be better adapted for swimming. This community also has a close (symbiotic) connection with various fantastic aquatic animals, much as the Na’vi were portrayed as having with pterosaur-like creatures in the first movie. One of the new animals is depicted in similar form to long-necked plesiosaurs, another is like giant flying fish with fierce-looking jaws and teeth.

Some of the leaders of the clan are also able to connect with whale-like creatures, the Tulkun. Unfortunately, certain ‘whales’ are hunted by the new arrivals because of a rare and valuable brain extract, called amrita (another Sanskrit word), that greatly prolongs human life—it is the elixir of youth. Yes, ‘save-the-whales’ is one of the main messages the film delivers (though creationists would not disagree with wise whale conservation).

Encouraging sentimental environmentalism

Like the first film Avatar: the Way of Water depicts a rather simplistic, and sentimental environmentalism. While the Na’vi have a close bond with some animals, they are still shown killing fish to eat. In terms of a moral message for viewers, we might ask; why are some vertebrates more valuable than others? The lesson seems ambiguous within the New Age worldview. The hunter-gatherer existence is romanticised in the film, while the human colonisers and developers are shown in a bad light. But in reality, even hunter-gatherers still need to eat by killing animals. Also, bugs, insects, and snakes bite or sting, sometimes with fatal consequences, but these things are overlooked as, presumably, they would interfere with the simplistic ‘live close to nature’ theme.

Such a pre-industrialised existence is hazardous, and can lead to a shortened life span. In the West, the development that occurred through the industrial revolution led to an increase in life expectancy through better sanitation, and control of diseases. That isn’t to say that there aren’t ongoing problems with industrialisation—such as the burning of fossil fuels that causes increased air pollution—but access to cheap carbon fuels has benefitted humanity by allowing people to rise out of poverty (see A biblical and scientific approach to climate change ). The Christian approach to the environment is one of careful stewardship, managing the land for the benefit of human communities. This applies to food production, housing, and industry. Land may also be set aside for conservation purposes (see The root of our ecological crisis ).

Colonisation

The film also offers a rather simplistic critique of colonisation. In his review of the first Avatar movie, Carl Wieland pointed out the similarities with the story of Pocahontas . Director James Cameron has also admitted that the earlier Avatar film was in effect “ Dances with Wolves in space.” 4 In that light, the metaphor of the second film may be considered to be a further comment on the arrival of Europeans to North America over the last few hundred years, driving out the native Americans. Some of the first settlers to America were religious Puritans and dissenters who wanted to start a new way of life, away from the fighting and persecution in Europe. However, they were joined by those who wished to make a profit. Many people followed in the wake of the initial colonisation of America, searching for a new life. As social and political events unfolded, this was often to the detriment of those indigenous peoples who already lived off the land.

European colonisation also affected many other parts of the world. Western powers conquered large parts of the planet in past centuries, with the justifying purpose being to spread civilisation, commerce, and Christianity. 5 Unfortunately, many of the actions of the colonisers were far from civilised or Christian, instead descending into selfish exploitation of indigenous people and their wealth of minerals and other raw materials. Sadly, Christianity was then seen in a bad light by indigenous populations, because religious authorities were perceived to be giving approval to exploitation and the abuse of power. In that sense colonisation actually undermined the Christian witness. In contrast, the twentieth century generally saw a planned decolonisation, and a growing understanding and concern for the needs of native people.

The pressure for European colonisation was also due to a growing population, the presence of poverty, and the fear of starvation. A crowded population in Europe required access to more resources in order to live, and the colonisation of new sparsely-populated lands was arguably inevitable (there is insufficient space to discuss the pros and cons of colonialism here, but we shouldn’t assume it was all bad). 6 In the Avatar film we are also told that the reason for the colonisation of Pandora was due to Earth becoming unhabitable—so should the Na’vi have been more welcoming? The film had little sympathy for the needs of human beings, not that the invaders acted with good conduct of course (perhaps the requirements of humanity will be addressed in future sequels). We should note, however, that simplistic and sentimental approaches to the environment and to colonisation can lead to the devaluing of other human beings.

Film quality and final comments

The quality of the computer graphics is excellent, and the scenery of Pandora is visually stunning. While portraying the simple hunter-gatherer lifestyle in a sympathetic light—a people living in peace and harmony with nature—the film glamorises power, violence, and guerrilla warfare. On the plus side, Jake and Neytiri present good family values to their children (apart from the violence), who were largely respectful, even when struggling with self-esteem, rebellion, and sibling rivalry.

Regrettably, one of the characters blasphemes at one point, which is, in any case, especially out of place on a fictional planet called Pandora. Along with the promotion of a neo-pagan, New Age view of reality, the film also shows some of the characters connecting with plants and entering altered states of consciousness. Unfortunately, this might encourage impressionable young people to consider the taking of psychedelic plant-based drugs to be a positive thing.

There is a fundamental difference between the pantheistic worldview portrayed in this film, and that of biblical Christianity. Christian believers come to know and worship God as Father, the one who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Christians have been called to be good stewards of the earth; not to argue for unrestrained exploitation of the planet, but neither to argue that we should turn humanity back to a hunter-gatherer existence. Good stewardship implies having managerial responsibility of our natural environment, firstly for the benefit of human flourishing, but also seeking to provide protection for the ecosystem as far as possible.

References and notes

Box office comparison for all-time top-grossing films, the-numbers.com; accessed 31 January 2023. Return to text .
Introducing the Meta avatars store, about.fb.com/news/2022/06/introducing-the-meta-avatars-store, 20 June 2022; accessed 31 January 2023. Return to text .
Chery, S., Indigenous people slam Avatar (again) for tropes and inaccuracies, washingtonpost.com, 20 December 2022 Return to text .
Boucher, G., James Cameron: Yes, ‘Avatar’ is ‘Dances with Wolves’ in space… sorta, latimes.com, 14 August 2009. Return to text .
These three—civilisation, commerce and Christianity—have often been used to justify colonialism. The McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life, Christianity, Commerce and Civilisation? Christianity and Empire revisited: historical and contemporary perspective, on-Line conference, Faculty Of Theology & Religion, University Of Oxford, 27–28 May 2021. Return to text .
Discussing the pros and cons of colonialism is controversial. Oxford Professor Nigel Biggar has recently been refused publication of a book by Bloomsbury ( Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning ) because it discusses positives as well as negatives; that for instance “…the British Empire learnt from its errors and was increasingly propelled by humanitarian and liberal ideals, most notably through the abolition and suppression of slavery.” Ellson, A., Nigel Biggar hits out at Bloomsbury over ‘cancelled’ book on Empire, thetimes.co.uk, 28 January 2023. Return to text .

Readers’ comments

Comments are automatically closed 14 days after publication., feedback guidelines.

Be constructive & courteous. Don't attack individuals, denominations, or other organizations.
Stay on-topic. We're not here to debate matters like eschatology, baptism, or Bible translation.
Links to external sites and articles will be removed from your submission.

Privacy & Content Ownership

Comments become the property of Creation Ministries International upon submission and may be edited for brevity and clarity.
CMI may choose not to publish your comment depending on how well it fits the guidelines outlined above.
By submitting your comment you are agreeing to receive email updates from Creation Ministries International . You may unsubscribe at any time.
CMI records your real name, email address, and country as a sign of good faith. Privacy Policy
If your comment is published, your name will be displayed as " "

We have supplied this link to an article on an external website in good faith. But we cannot assume responsibility for, nor be taken as endorsing in any way, any other content or links on any such site. Even the article we are directing you to could, in principle, change without notice on sites we do not control.

John Wesley and Avatar: The Way of Water

Sarah Welch-Larson • December 20, 2022

Applying the Methodist minister’s understanding of grace to James Cameron’s Avatar sequel.

James Cameron’s Avatar movies are landmark events, showcases for eye-popping imagery and the latest in film technology. While they have also rightly been criticized for telling “white savior” stories, the films still allude to worthwhile ideas. Through the arc of their main character, for instance, we can see different expressions of the Christian understanding of grace.

The first Avatar introduced us to the world of Pandora, a distant moon inhabited by a tall blue alien species called the Na’vi. We discover Pandora through the eyes of a paraplegic former Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who can remotely pilot a Na’vi hybrid body, or “avatar,” through a mental link. His mission is to infiltrate the Na’vi and convince them to cooperate with humans, who have come to Pandora to exploit its natural resources. But when the humans attack the Na’vi, Jake joins the people he was ordered to betray. At the end of the first Avatar , Jake’s consciousness is transferred into his avatar body, making him a permanent member of the Na’vi.

Cameron treats Jake’s transfer of consciousness as a kind of rebirth, going so far as to show his human body and his Na’vi body lying on the ground next to each other in the fetal position, with vines forming an umbilical cord between the two. The 2009 movie ends with Jake opening his eyes in his new body as triumphant music swells, implying that Jake has been granted salvation in the form of a second body and a chance at a new life—a kind of grace.

This is close to, but not quite the same, as a Christian understanding of grace—justifying grace in particular. Jake seems to be given his new Na’vi body because he deserves it, but the point of justifying grace is that it can never be earned, only accepted through faith. In his sermon, “ The Scripture Way of Salvation ,” Methodist founder John Wesley refers to justifying grace as “pardon” and “the forgiveness of all our sins,” which occurs at the moment of putting faith in Christ. Once justified by faith, a person is saved. They then proceed to live out their lives under the influence of sanctifying grace, which is the ongoing process of God’s love at work in the believer’s life. (Wesley also outlines a third kind of grace in this sermon called preventing grace, which is the common desire of humankind to do good regardless of their salvation; Wesley refers to this kind of grace as “conscience.”)

Jake has been granted salvation in the form of a second body and a chance at a new life—a kind of grace.

Avatar: The Way of Water , Cameron’s long-awaited follow-up to the first film, illustrates the second kind of grace, that which sanctifies. The ongoing work of sanctification is the work of putting aside sin through God. Cameron shows that grace through Jake’s personal journey in the sequel. Jake might be a Na’vi physically, but he still holds on to pieces of his old life. He still wears a vest from his time in the human Marines. He treats his sons more like members of a military squad than like members of his own family, demanding they refer to him as “sir” instead of “dad.” Jake expects his children to behave with the discipline of soldiers as they carry out raids on the humans who still want to exploit Pandora’s resources. His oldest, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), is obedient and dutiful, but his younger son, Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), chafes at Jake’s rules and feels like an outsider in his own family. Jake, for his part, rarely demonstrates his love for his children, commanding their respect rather than expressing how he feels about them.

Jake moves from a position of authority back to being an outsider himself through the course of The Way of Water . Because they’re targeted by the human military, Jake and his family are forced to relocate to a new village in an island archipelago. They’re no longer in familiar territory; instead of the imposing trees that used to be their home, they must all grow accustomed to life among Pandora’s reefs and oceans. Jake and his family learn how to dive from their new hosts—a process that mirror’s Jake’s arrival on Pandora in the first film. They spend their days swimming in the clear waters of the reef, learning how to ride the seal-like creatures that inhabit the coastal waters. Jake’s adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) spends her days floating among the fish, her curiosity and delight about their new home lending the movie the tone of an enthusiastic nature documentary. Jake becomes a student alongside his own children, in some ways more peer than parent, learning just as much from his children about their new place on Pandora as he teaches them.

Throughout their new life on the edge of the ocean, Jake has a difficult time letting go of his identity as a disciplinarian and a former soldier. But his time on the water does soften his heart somewhat. As the movie progresses, Jake and Lo’ak begin to develop a healthier relationship with each other—a kind of sanctifying grace, grounded in love instead of fear. In exile, Jake comes to accept that he’s no longer a leader, but a guest. When their hosts accept Lo’ak as a member of their tribe, Jake finally comes to see his son as an expert in his own right, someone who can be trusted instead of being told what to do.

Jake doesn’t foster a fully restored relationship with Lo’ak by the end of the movie. He remains an imperfect parent, at times unable to see his children as anything but the soldiers he wants them to become. His demands for perfect obedience without grace or understanding had driven a wedge between him and his sons. But Jake recognizes his mistakes and repents of them, movements which speak of a sanctifying grace. He’s in the process of restoring a right relationship with Lo’ak, a process that isn’t yet complete, but that is ongoing.

Topics: Movies

Skip to main content
Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Movie Reviews

Movie review: 'avatar: the way of water'.

Bob Mondello

Filmmaker James Cameron's sequel to the biggest worldwide box office hit of all time, "Avatar: The Way of Water," has been in the works for more than a decade.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

DVD & Streaming

Avatar: The Way of Water

Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

December 16, 2022
Sam Worthington as Jake Sully; Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri; Sigourney Weaver as Kiri; Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch; Kate Winslet as Ronal; Cliff Curtis as Tonowari; Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore; Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby; Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin; Jamie Flatters as Neteyam; Britain Dalton as Lo'ak; Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuk; Bailey Bass as Reya; Filip Geljo as Aonung; Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo; Jack Champion as Spider

Home Release Date

March 28, 2023
James Cameron

Distributor

20th Century Studios

Movie Review

Pandora’s a nice place to visit. But you wouldn’t want to plunder there.

Humankind should’ve learned that lesson back in the first Avatar movie. With our own planet nearly exhausted and humans greedy for the Pandora-based metal of unobtanium, we homo sapiens set up shop on Pandora and quickly discovered the planet didn’t want us there. Lots of people died. Most of the rest were expelled. A few scientists remained (as long as they promised to be very, very nice), and a couple of them actually kinda transferred souls —telling their human bodies goodbye and becoming one of the blue, 10-foot-tall Na’vi.

But humans are a stubborn lot. Like heroes in a moderately creepy 1980s romcom, they take Pandora’s firm “no” as the planet just playing hard to get. And if Pandora’s complex ecosystems get in the way? Well, just set ‘em on fire. Burn a nice large area for humanity to mine and pave and build parking garages on in their quest to bring the whole of this lush, green land to heel.

But before that work can truly begin, the invading humans need to take care of one big blue thorn: Jake Sully.

Sully was one of folks who decided being Na’vi was preferable to being human, and that a life in Pandora was just too good to pass up. He’s got a wife now—the fierce, loving Neytiri—and a minivan’s worth of kids (though the minivan would certainly need some extra headroom). He’s also been leading a guerilla war against humankind’s latest efforts at exploitation.

Who better to lead the charge against pesky Jake than his one-time boss, Colonel Miles Quartich?

OK, so technically, the colonel died in the last movie. But before Quartich was killed, he saved (essentially) his brain on (essentially) a thumb drive, allowing to plug in his own essence into a Na’vi avatar.

Yep, that’s right: Sully might’ve gotten the best of the colonel last time around. But now, Quartich is just as big as Jake. Just as blue. Just as able to plug his braided hair into Pandora’s planetary hard drive as Jake is.

And this time, it’s personal .

Positive Elements

Sullys stick together. Such is the mantra that Jake has passed on to his four kids, and we see it play out time after time.

Jake feels the weight of fatherhood particularly heavily. “A father protects,” he tells us. “It’s what gives him meaning.” So when Jake learns that Quartich and his squad of human-brained Na’vi are after him and his family, he makes the difficult decision to move—to escape to a more watery realm on Pandora. It’s a painful uprooting, but Jake insists, “Wherever we go, this family is our fortress.” And when the Sullys do settle into an unfamiliar village that operates in unfamiliar ways, The Sully kids have each other’s backs—sometimes at huge personal risk.

An example of the family’s cohesive camaraderie: When some local teens pick on Kiri—Jake and Neytiri’s dreamy, adopted daughter—brothers Neteyam and Lo’ak fly to her defense. And while neither Jake nor Plugged In condone the violent way that defense is made, we still applaud that sort of loyalty.

But eventually—and through a lot of hard work—Jake, Neytiri and their children become integral parts of their new community, too. The entire village shows a willingness to fight and sacrifice for each of its members (including its non-Na’vi members). And even neighboring villages do their best to protect Jake and his family at great personal and communal cost.

We should note that most of Jake’s kids—in the early stages of adolescence, it seems—are processing their own roles within the family and community. Lo’ak, Jake’s second-oldest son, often feels like a disappointment to his ever-demanding father. Kiri feels like an outcast. But in many ways, these two characters form the bedrock on which The Way of Water is built, with each bringing special skills and moxie to the narrative party. The message the movie seems to be sending: Not fitting the norm can be a pretty good thing. All of us are different, and those differences can make us stronger.

Spiritual Elements

Pandora’s culture is deeply spiritual—but it’s not at all Christian. Rather, the planet’s inhabitants worship and sometimes pray to Eywa, a sort of an environmentally based goddess (think of it almost like Mother Nature on spiritual steroids). Neytiri, for instance, thanks the “Great Mother” when her son avoids a fate that could’ve been a catastrophe. Others pray in life-threatening situations. Pandora’s whole religious system feels pantheistic: Everything on the planet is connected to Pandora’s central spiritual heart, simultaneously separate and part of a whole spiritual being. The Na’vi literally plug into Pandora’s environmental motherboard to connect more closely with its creatures and even experience memories and visions.

We also hear some vaguely spiritual talk predicated on water, repeated almost like a mantra. “The way of water has no beginning and has no end,” it begins. The planet’s water gives and receives, it is “before birth” and “after death.” A scientist tells us that some of Pandora’s biggest inhabitants—whale-like creatures called tulkun —are said to have huge spiritual centers in their brains (to go along with their superior intelligence).

The movie also hints at some sort of divine or immaculate conception. Kiri, Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter, was the birth daughter of (and I realize this sounds a bit confusing) the avatar of Dr. Grace Augustine, who kinda-sorta died in the last movie and whose Na’vi avatar still floats floating in a capsule of liquid. That avatar got pregnant—no one’s sure how. Now, Kiri seems to have an extra-special connection with Pandora, manipulating creatures in ways that no one else can do.

We hear references to Sully and his kin as having “demon blood.” The closing song makes reference to sin.

Sexual Content

As mentioned, Grace’s avatar is floating in what looks like a capsule of water, and at one juncture we see her breasts (including a bit of nipple).

But let’s be honest: The Na’vi are not known for their modesty, and there’s a lot of blue skin on display. Critical bits are mostly covered by tiny bits of fabric or leather or hair (or strategic camera angles, since tiny kids sometimes wear nothing at all), but viewers will be exposed to an unrelenting stream of blue CGI buttocks throughout.

Also of note: One character, Spider, is a human teen boy living the Na’vi lifestyle. He wears, essentially, a loincloth throughout the entire movie.

When the Sullys move to their watery new home, Lo’ak develops a crush on Reya, the village chieftain’s daughter. When Reya’s trying to teach Lo’ak and his siblings how to slow their heartbeats (in order to breathe underwater longer), she places her hand on his stomach to help calm him. It has just the opposite effect: “Your heart is beating fast,” Reya says, as Lo’ak’s brother and sister look at each other knowingly.

When a bad guy captures, Kiri and tells her to “move along, buttercup,” Kiri responds by saying, “I’m not your buttercup, perv.”

Sully and Neytiri enjoy a brief moment of canoodling together sans kids on a “date night,” as they call it—until, that is, the arrival of human spacecraft interrupts them. Elsewhere, a grown female Na’vi is very pregnant, though that hardly slows her down or keeps her from fighting when the time comes.

Violent Content

The Way of Water , like the first Avatar movie, is essentially a war flick, and we see plenty of violence. Indeed, the last hour of the film is one constant battle.

Bullets rattle out of machine guns and sometimes find their mark, leading to bloody injuries and painful deaths. While the Na’vi use these more modern-day weapons, many use more indigenous tools: Neytiri’s favorite is her bow, from which she shoots arrows with distinctive, telltale fletching. Several find their mark—sometimes the heads of opponents, sometimes through vehicle windshields on the way to the chest. Knives and axe-like weapons are also favorite implements: One man suffers a spike-blow to the head. Several characters are impaled by spears.

Various machines and vehicles explode, sometimes killing or injuring others in the process. People might fly up and out of said vehicles, surely pulled by gravity to their dooms. (One man is thrown from a boat and has his arm severed for good measure: We see both fly.) A number of people drown or nearly drown, and at least one man is crushed by what appears to be a gigantic anemone. Someone has what appears to be an epileptic seizure underwater and nearly dies.

But perhaps the movie’s most jarring death isn’t that of a human or Na’vi at all, but rather a whale-like tulkun. Hunters pierce the animal’s hide with skewers carrying fast-inflating balloons, which bring the animal to the surface. Then it’s smacked in the chest with a massive explosive harpoon. The tulkun tries to flee, but eventually exhausts itself and dies. The hunters later go inside the beast’s cavernous maw and drill into its brain, draining a valuable liquid from the creature. (The rest of the carcass is apparently wasted.) Later, we discover that the tulkun’s calf also died.

The tulkun are assaulted with sonic cannons and depth charges. (We’re told that the creatures have never “even lifted a fin” against their attackers, but one tulkun decides to go against the species’ pacifistic ethos with devastating consequences.)

Sully’s kids fight with other teens. Fists are thrown and tails are pulled. The fight leaves Lo’ak and Neteyam bloodied, but the other teens (a Sully boy insists) suffered much worse. (When Sully later makes Lo’ak apologize to the other teen leader, he does, after a fashion: “I’m sorry I hit you—so many times,” he says.)

An animal is shot and killed; we see its carcass floating in the water. Countless more die on the humans’ return to Pandora, caught in an overwhelming inferno. Knives cut into the chests of a couple of people—ceremonial deaths, it would seem (even though the flesh wounds aren’t particularly serious).

Village buildings are set on fire. The lives of several people and Na’vi are threatened. Someone is strapped into a sort of torture device, leaving him with a bloody nose after the ordeal. A gigantic fish-like monster tries to gobble up a swimmer before it is killed itself. A tulkun sports a metallic hook of sorts in its fin, which a Na’vi friend kindly removes. A shark-like undersea creature relentlessly hunts one of the Na’vi.

Crude or Profane Language

One f-word and about 15 s-words. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “crap,” “g-dd–n,” “d–n,” “h—” and the British profanities “bloody” and “bugger.” Jesus’ name is abused once. We hear some name-calling, too, including one sibling calling another “penis face.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

A tulkun hunter tells a marine biologist on the team that his hunting pays for the scientist’s research. “That’s why I drink,” the scientist tells him. Someone makes a quip about someone else owing her a beer.

Other Negative Elements

Colonel Quaritch, the movie’s most notable big bad, is a proud and fierce U.S. Marine, as is the rest of his team. They do some pretty despicable things during this movie and form the spear point of humankind’s desire to plunder and colonize Pandora. And while the colonel’s character takes on some subtler shades as the movie goes on, The Way of Water certainly casts the military in a poor light.

Whatever else you think of James Cameron, let’s acknowledge at least this: The guy knows how to make a buzz-worthy movie.

His greatest strength lies in world-building—bringing moviegoers into exotic realms and making them feel as though they’re there. Be it the long-lost elegance of the Titanic or the gritty confines of a blue-collar spaceship in Aliens , Cameron invites you in—making it all feel so real. (In the case of the Avatar movies, the 3D doesn’t hurt.)

But while Cameron is a first-class tour guide in his own made-up worlds, those worlds are not necessarily ones that should be visited.

Avatar: The Way of Water swims into its PG-13 rating by the skin of its oddly pronounced incisors. Language alone pushes the envelope. The occasional blood spatter or flying limb doesn’t do the film any favors, either. And then, of course, there’s all that CGI skin. Yes, it’s all fake, but I hesitate to think of all the Rule 34 Na’vi GIFs that might be floating out on the internet. Nor would I be that surprised if the impossibly lithe, impossibly thin Na’vi (who, after all, make their human counterparts look like clumsy Minecraft figures) might unintentionally inspire an eating disorder or two.

But even if all that’s navigable, I’d encourage you to consider two more points before toting the whole family to watch. One, the tulkun hunt—a jarring scene for any young animal lover (especially one with a love of whales). And two, Pandora’s spiritual system that pushes away Christianity and hugs a nature-based pantheism. Forget the biblical model of stewardship: It sidesteps the Creator and instead worships the creation. And that is pretty much the definition of idolatry.

Cameron has a way of upending Hollywood expectations. The original Avatar is still the highest-grossing movie worldwide of all time—and it is said that The Way of Water will have to exceed that to make a profit. It could do just that.

But while Pandora is as beautiful as ever, The Way of Water might not be the way that many families would care to go.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Latest Reviews

Trigger Warning

The Exorcism

The Bikeriders

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black writers week, avatar: the way of water.

Now streaming on:

James Cameron wants you to believe. He wants you to believe that aliens are killing machines, humanity can defeat time-traveling cyborgs, and a film can transport you to a significant historical disaster. In many ways, the planet of Pandora in " Avatar " has become his most ambitious manner of sharing this belief in the power of cinema. Can you leave everything in your life behind and experience a film in a way that's become increasingly difficult in an era of so much distraction? As technology has advanced, Cameron has pushed the limits of his power of belief even further, playing with 3D, High Frame Rate, and other toys that weren't available when he started his career. But one of the many things that is so fascinating about "Avatar: The Way of Water" is how that belief manifests itself in themes he's explored so often before. This wildly entertaining film isn't a retread of "Avatar," but a film in which fans can pick out thematic and even visual elements of " Titanic ," " Aliens ," "The Abyss," and "The Terminator" films. It's as if Cameron has moved to Pandora forever and brought everything he cares about. (He's also clearly never leaving.) Cameron invites viewers into this fully realized world with so many striking images and phenomenally rendered action scenes that everything else fades away.

Maybe not right away. "Avatar: The Way of Water" struggles to find its footing at first, throwing viewers back into the world of Pandora in a narratively clunky way. One can tell that Cameron really cares most about the world-building mid-section of this film, which is one of his greatest accomplishments, so he rushes through some of the set-ups to get to the good stuff. Before then, we catch up with Jake Sully ( Sam Worthington ), a human who is now a full-time Na'vi and partners with Neytiri ( Zoe Saldana ), with whom he has started a family. They have two sons—Neteyam ( Jamie Flatters ) and Lo'ak ( Britain Dalton )—and a daughter named Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and they are guardians of Kiri ( Sigourney Weaver ), the offspring of Weaver's character from the first film.

Family bliss is fractured when the 'sky people' return, including an avatar Na'vi version of one Colonel Miles Quaritch ( Stephen Lang ), who has come to finish what he started, including vengeance on Jake for the death of his human form. He comes back with a group of former-human-now-Na'vi soldiers who are the film's main antagonists, but not the only ones. "Avatar: The Way of Water" once again casts the military, planet-destroying humans of this universe as its truest villains, but the villains' motives are sometimes a bit hazy. Around halfway through, I realized it's not very clear why Quaritch is so intent on hunting Jake and his family, other than the plot needs it, and Lang is good at playing mad.

The bulk of "Avatar: The Way of Water" hinges on the same question Sarah Connor asks in the "Terminator" movies—fight or flight for family? Do you run and hide from the powerful enemy to try and stay safe or turn and fight the oppressive evil? At first, Jake takes the former option, leading them to another part of Pandora, where the film opens up via one of Cameron's longtime obsessions: H2O. The aerial acrobatics of the first film are supplanted by underwater ones in a region run by Tonowari ( Cliff Curtis ), the leader of a clan called the Metkayina. Himself a family man—his wife is played by Kate Winslet —Tonowari is worried about the danger the new Na'vi visitors could bring but can't turn them away. Again, Cameron plays with moral questions about responsibility in the face of a powerful evil, something that recurs in a group of commercial poachers from Earth. They dare to hunt sacred water animals in stunning sequences during which you have to remind yourself that none of what you're watching is real.

The film's midsection shifts its focus away from Sully/Quaritch to the region's children as Jake's boys learn the ways of the water clan. Finally, the world of "Avatar" feels like it's expanding in ways the first film didn't. Whereas that film was more focused on a single story, Cameron ties together multiple ones here in a far more ambitious and ultimately rewarding fashion. While some of the ideas and plot developments—like the connection of Kiri to Pandora or the arc of a new character named Spider ( Jack Champion )—are mostly table-setting for future films, the entire project is made richer by creating a larger canvas for its storytelling. While one could argue that there needs to be a stronger protagonist/antagonist line through a film that discards both Jake & Quaritch for long periods, I would counter that those terms are intentionally vague here. The protagonist is the entire family and even the planet on which they live, and the antagonist is everything trying to destroy the natural world and the beings that are so connected to it.

Viewers should be warned that Cameron's ear for dialogue hasn't improved—there are a few lines that will earn unintentional laughter—but there's almost something charming about his approach to character, one that weds old-fashioned storytelling to breakthrough technology. Massive blockbusters often clutter their worlds with unnecessary mythologies or backstories, whereas Cameron does just enough to ensure this impossible world stays relatable. His deeper themes of environmentalism and colonization could be understandably too shallow for some viewers—and the way he co-opts elements of Indigenous culture could be considered problematic—and I wouldn't argue against that. But if a family uses this as a starting point for conversations about those themes then it's more of a net positive than most blockbusters that provide no food for thought.

There has been so much conversation about the cultural impact of "Avatar" recently, as superheroes dominated the last decade of pop culture in a way that allowed people to forget the Na'vi. Watching "Avatar: The Way of Water," I was reminded of how impersonal the Hollywood machine has become over the last few decades and how often the blockbusters that truly make an impact on the form have displayed the personal touch of their creator. Think of how the biggest and best films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg couldn't have been made by anyone else. "Avatar: The Way of Water" is a James Cameron blockbuster, through and through. And I still believe in him.

Available only in theaters on December 16th.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Now playing

Just the Two of Us

Sheila o'malley.

Janet Planet

Jourdain searles.

Simon Abrams

Glenn Kenny

Film credits.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity and some strong language.

192 minutes

Sam Worthington as Jake Sully

Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri

Sigourney Weaver as Kiri

Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch

Kate Winslet as Ronal

Cliff Curtis as Tonowari

Joel David Moore as Norm Spellman

CCH Pounder as Mo'at

Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore

Brendan Cowell as Mick Scoresby

Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin

Jamie Flatters as Neteyam

Britain Dalton as Lo'ak

Trinity Bliss as Tuktirey

Jack Champion as Javier 'Spider' Socorro

Bailey Bass as Tsireya

Filip Geljo as Aonung

Duane Evans Jr. as Rotxo

Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge

Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel

James Cameron

Writer (story by)

Amanda Silver
Josh Friedman
Shane Salerno

Cinematographer

Russell Carpenter
Stephen E. Rivkin
David Brenner
John Refoua
Simon Franglen

Latest blog posts

The Most Intriguing Festival Films Still Seeking U.S. Distribution

Suicide by Proxy: An Interview With the Filmmakers of The Devils' Bath

Furiosa Doesn't Feel Like Any Other Mad Max Film, and That's What's Wonderful About It

DC/DOX -- Washington DC's Documentary Film Festival in its Second Year

clock This article was published more than 1 year ago

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’: Long, loud, eye-popping and forgettable

The highly anticipated sequel to James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ is a sometimes-beautiful bore

It’s been 13 years since the original “Avatar,” one of the most overrated and forgettable “important” movies of the 21st century. So forgettable that viewers will be forgiven for not quite remembering who’s who and what’s what in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” a sequel few people asked for, outside of the franchise’s obsessive auteur, James Cameron, and pandemic-era theaters desperate to lure audiences back into the habit of big-screen moviegoing.

As “ Top Gun: Maverick ” proved earlier this year, as long as a sequel is smart, well-written, beautifully cast and stylishly executed, it can take all the time it needs getting here. “The Way of Water” doesn’t necessarily check all those boxes, but what it does right will offer spectators moments of awe, full-body immersion and genuine beauty. Cameron, co-writing here with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, from a story he collaborated on with Jaffa, Silver, Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno, has never been known for his subtle narrative or sophisticated dialogue: “The Way of Water” is frequently clunky and ham-handed in its storytelling, and the words spoken by its characters — human, humanoid and in between — aren’t particularly memorable. But there’s no denying the power of images that can only be described as transporting — literally and figuratively.

“The Way of Water” catches up with “Avatar’s” protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a decade after he’s decided to retire from service with the Marines and take up residence on Pandora (the planet he was sent to colonize), become a member of the native Na’vi tribe and marry Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). As “The Way of Water” opens, we’re introduced to Jake and Neytiri’s spirited children: sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), as well as a little girl named Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). They’ve also adopted Kiri, a sensitive adolescent whose mother, Grace Augustine, was played by Sigourney Weaver in the first “Avatar.” Here, by way of both digital wizardry and her own vocal gifts, Weaver delivers an impressively convincing portrayal of her younger self as a curious, tuned-in girl with profound powers to connect with the universe.

Meet the people who never stopped thinking ‘Avatar’ was cool

Kiri is one of the fully realized characters in “The Way of Water,” which centers on Jake’s efforts to save his family when rapacious forces once again threaten the peaceable kingdom of Pandora. The gung-ho leader of that hegemonic mission is another familiar face: Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Jake’s ally turned nemesis who was vanquished but has been reconstituted to resemble the towering blue-skinned ectomorphs who inhabit Pandora.

For the first 45 minutes or so, “The Way of Water” busies itself with introducing, reintroducing, explaining and setting up — and also establishing the idyllic family life Jake is trying to hard to preserve. Once he’s forced to flee the forest, the Sullys take refuge with the Metkayina people, whose seaside redoubt resembles the Maldives with way more fantastical flora and fauna.

Here are the movies everyone will be talking about this holiday season

It’s at this point that the visual wonders of “The Way of Water” come fully into frame, with Cameron and his visual effects team creating gorgeous underwater vistas of corals, undulating filaments, neon-colored plant life and creatures that float, soar, lunge and balletically breach. The most exhilarating moments of the film come by way of Kiri’s explorations of her new habitat and the adventures of her siblings, who befriend similarly feisty but finned and green-skinned Metkayina kids (their parents are played by Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslet). “Finding Nemo” has nothing on the world that Cameron builds undersea, with a far more vibrant color palette and arresting detail than he evinced in the first installment.

The irony of “The Way of Water” is that, for all its kid-centric action, it’s most likely far too intense for anyone under 10. While the Sullys learn how to hold their breath and Lo’ak befriends a whalelike leviathan who’s just as misunderstood as he is, Quaritch is on their trail, leaving nothing but suffering and destruction in his wake. Once he colludes with a greedy boat captain, played with sleazy relish by Brendan Cowell, the twin evils of militarism and capitalism create a thrashing, deeply disquieting tableau of gruesome cruelty and carnage — violence that reaches its peak in a loud, protracted fight sequence that forms the movie’s cacophonous climax.

If wanton destruction punctuated by moments of psychedelic visual splendor and New Age-y philosophizing is your bag, “The Way of Water” provides plenty of value. But as far as the computer-generated techniques have come in the intervening years, there are sequences that are shockingly unattractive, especially live-action scenes whose high frame rate gives them the cheesy, motion-smoothed look of a bad soap opera.

Opinion: Does the world really want an ‘Avatar’ sequel?

The action in “The Way of Water” is ultimately overwhelming, betraying an uncomfortable truth about Cameron: He might preach environmentalism and balance, calling on Indigenous peoples for their gentle worldviews and material culture. But at heart, he’s just as aggressive and all-commanding as the bad guys he portrays with such oorah swagger. As the annihilation reached its punishingly fevered pitch at a recent screening, the crashes and rumbles and explosions weren’t just deafening, they were palpable to the point that I wondered who was kicking my seat. Then I realized: It was James Cameron all along.

PG-13. At area theaters. Contains sequences of strong violence and intense action, partial nudity, and some strong language. 192 minutes.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Inside Out 2 Link to Inside Out 2
The Bikeriders Link to The Bikeriders
Fancy Dance Link to Fancy Dance

New TV Tonight

The Bear: Season 3
That '90s Show: Season 2
My Lady Jane: Season 1
Orphan Black: Echoes: Season 1
Land of Women: Season 1
Savage Beauty: Season 2
WondLa: Season 1
Zombies: The Re-Animated Series: Season 1

Avatar: The Way of Water

Where to watch.

Watch Avatar: The Way of Water with a subscription on Disney+, Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Narratively, it might be fairly standard stuff -- but visually speaking, Avatar: The Way of Water is a stunningly immersive experience.

Avatar: The Way of Water 's story is predictable, but the visual effects are so spectacular that it hardly matters.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

James Cameron

Sam Worthington

Zoe Saldana

Sigourney Weaver

Stephen Lang

Cliff Curtis

Movie Clips

Avatar: The Way of Water review: A whole blue world, bigger and bolder than the first

Thirteen years on, James Cameron takes Pandora under the sea in an astonishing, at times overwhelming sequel.

In The Terminator , Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg assassin is famously sent back from 2029 to rain death and cool Teutonic one-liners on the good people of 1984. For nearly four decades now, that film's creator, James Cameron , has also seemed like a man outside of time, an emissary from a near-future where movies look like something we've only imagined them to be: liquid metals, impossible planets, boats bigger than the Ritz. Avatar: The Way of Water (in theaters Friday) brings that same sense of dissociative wonder. What fantastical blue-people oceania is this? How did we get here? And why does it look so real ?

The answer to that first question, as several hundred million fans of the original 2009 Avatar already know, is a mythical place called Pandora. The next two land somewhere between vast technology, sweat equity, and God (and, at this New York press screening at least, a slightly smudgy pair of 3D glasses). The Way of Water is, indeed, spectacularly aquatic, though not quite in the way that the six-time Oscar winner's eerie deep-sea thriller The Abyss was, or even the vast, ruthless North Atlantic that swallowed Leonardo DiCaprio and 1,500 other doomed souls in his Titanic . This is circa-2022 James Cameron, which is to say he makes it seem a lot like 2032 — a world so immersive and indubitably awesome, in the most literal reading of that word (there will be awe, and more awe, and then some more) that it feels almost shockingly new.

It's also very much a Cameron movie in that the plot is, at root, blood simple: good, evil, the fate of the free world. Former Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington ) has permanently shed his human form to become full Na'vi, the extreme ectomorphs with Smurf-colored skin whose peaceful pantheistic ways have long clashed with their would-be conquerors from Earth, the rampaging, resource-greedy "sky people." There's still an American military base there, led by the brusque, efficient General Frances Ardmore (a bemused Edie Falco , incongruous in a uniform). But the Na'vi largely run free, hunting and cavorting and swooping through the air on their dragon-bird steeds, singing the songs of the rainforest and raising little blue babies with swishy tails.

Jake and his Na'Vi princess, Neytiri ( Zoe Saldaña ), now have three offspring of their own, along with an adopted teenage daughter named Kiri ( Sigourney Weaver ), the child of the late Dr. Grace Augustine (whom Weaver plays once again in flashbacks), and an orphaned human boy called Spider (Jack Champion), a loinclothed Mowgli they treat more like a stray cat than a son. Jake is the stern patriarch, still a soldier to the bone, and Neytiri is the gentle nurturer; the children, beneath their extraterrestrial skin, are just happy, jostling kids. But when the DNA imprint of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is recovered by science after his fiery defeat in the first film and poured into the healthy body of an Avatar, the resurrected officer vows revenge: While Ardmore & Co. continue to efficiently strip-mine Pandora, he will settle for nothing less than his former protegé's dishonorable death.

And so Sully and his family are forced to flee, hiding out among the reef-people clan of Metkayina. The taciturn chieftan ( Fear the Walking Dead 's Cliff Curtis ) and his wary wife (congratulations if you can tell that's Kate Winslet ) are reluctant to let strangers into their world, especially when they come trailing danger and forest dirt behind them. Socially, most Metkayina are only as welcoming as they strictly need to be, and the Sully family soon finds that living in harmony with the sea also means a steep learning curve for land-bound Na'vi — new customs, new modes of transportation, new ways of breathing.

But that, of course, is where Cameron and his untold scores of studio minions get to shine: The world both above and below the waterline is a thing to behold, a sensory overload of sound and color so richly tactile that it feels psychedelically, almost spiritually sublime. The director, who penned the script with married screenwriting duo Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver ( Jurassic World , Mulan ), tends to operate in the grand, muscular mode of Greek myth (or if you're feeling less generous, the black-and-white clarity of comic books). The storytelling here is deliberately broad and the dialogue often tilts toward pure blockbuster camp. (Not every word out of the colonel's mouth is "Oorah," but it might as well be; Jake speaks fluent Hero Cliché, and the Na'vi boys say "bro" like they just escaped from Point Break .)

And yet the movie's overt themes of familial love and loss, its impassioned indictments of military colonialism and climate destruction, are like a meaty hand grabbing your collar; it works because they work it. The actors, performing in motion capture, do their best to project human-scale feelings on this sprawling, sensational canvas, to varying degrees of success. Saldaña's mother-warrior makes herself ferociously vulnerable, and Weaver somehow gets us to believe she's an outcast teen; Worthington often sounds like he's just doing his best to sound 10 percent less Australian. Even the non-verbal creatures — bioluminescent jellyfish as delicate as fairy wings; whales the size of aircraft carriers, with four eyes and flesh like an unshelled turtle's — have an uncanny anthropomorphic charm, stealing several moments from their speaking counterparts.

By the third hour, Cameron has shifted into battle mode, and the movie becomes a sort of rock opera, or a sea-salted Apocalypse Now ; the "Ride of the Valkyries" thunder rarely feels far behind. The scale of mortal combat in those moments is, one could say, titanic, though it turns out to be a more personal reckoning for Sully and his family too. The final scenes are calculated for maximum impact and not a little bit of emotional manipulation; at 192 minutes, the runtime is almost certainly too long. It's strange, maybe, or at least wildly uncritical, to say that none of that really matters in the end. The Way of Water has already created its own whole-cloth reality, a meticulous world-building as astonishing and enveloping as anything we've ever seen on screen — until that crown is passed, inevitably, in December 2024, the projected release date for Avatar 3 . Grade: A–

The Wordview Behind Avatar and a Christian Perspective on Movies / Film

I n case you missed it, Avatar is breaking all sorts of records (worldwide) at the box office. As many have pointed out, very cool special effects, and 3-D. But what is the worldview embedded or displayed in this film. Worldviews are not expressed in pop-culture as propositions in a syllogistic argument; rather they are “incarnated” and show you a way to be human and think about your world. Every artistic from does this. We aren’t merely entertained at the movies, we are instructed–whether that is fireproof , invictus , or avatar . So it is always appropriate to ask what did I learn (consciously or subconsciously) by viewing this film?

For example, here is what Cameron said at the film’s London premiere: “We have this tendency to just take what we want. And that’s how we treat the natural world as well. There’s this sense of we’re here, we’re big, we’ve got the guns, we’ve got the technology, therefore we’re entitled to every damn thing on this planet. That’s not how it works, and we’re going to find out the hard way if we don’t wise up and start seeking a life that’s in balance with the natural life on Earth.” (for more click here)

Here is a review that my friend Sean McDowell (teacher, author, and apologist) wrote about the Worldview of Avatar and then below is a resource for watching film in a whole new way.

“The year is 2154, and humans are attempting to mine the valuable mineral unabtanium from the planet Pandora. Humans have virtually destroyed their own planet and desperately need extra-planetary resources to survive. Jake Sully, a wounded marine, is assigned to infiltrate the seemingly hostile indigenous aliens (the Na’vi) to win their trust and talk them into relocating their colony, which happens to be situated right atop a massive amount of unabtanium.

If he can successfully infiltrate the Na’vi people and negotiate their relocation, then the humans will not have to force them to move through military intervention (those of you who are observant already notice the political insinuations about the U.S. allegedly only going to war in Iraq for oil).

To infiltrate the Na’vi, Jake transposes his consciousness into an Avatar body under the supervision of Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver).

Once inside Pandora, Jake meets Neytiri, a female alien who saves his life and introduces him to the rest of the Na’vi, who eventually accept him as one of their own. Neytiri plays the role of the mentor (ala Obi-One Kanobi, Mr. Miyagi, and Gandolf) who shows him all the ways of the Na’vi.

Through his experience with the Na’vi, Jake’s loyalty begins to change. He becomes a true Na’vi, which raises the question: which side will Jake choose? Avatar really tells the same story as movies such as The Last Samurai, Brother Bear, and Dances with Wolves—where a foreigner has preconceptions about an “alien” culture, yet upon spending time with them and learning their ways, realizes that his new “home” is truly the more benevolent, and that his original ways were really inhumane.

From the perspective of a 3-D film experience, Avatar is truly remarkable. I completely forgot that I was wearing glasses for most of the film! This is a huge step beyond the 3-D glasses with red and blue lenses (anyone remember Jaws 3?). The scenery on Pandora is nothing short of breathtaking. There are floating mountains, beautiful water falls, fascinating creatures, and luminescent plants that react to touch (Heaven?). Even though I think the film has potential to cause considerable spiritual confusion, I can’t help but give Cameron credit for his storytelling and creativity. Now, on to the worldview analysis…

ANTI-CAPITALISM

Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) plays a slimy, sleazy, flippant corporate “pig” only interested in the monetary bottom-line. His character is reminiscent of Paul Reiser from Aliens. He has no concern for the life on Pandora and is gladly willing to destroy them to obtain unabtanium unless a diplomatic solution can be reached. At one point Parker says to Grace, “What do they want? We’ve tried money and education, but nothing works.” The inference is clear: these nature-loving creatures don’t want anything that Western corporate capitalist culture has to offer. In fact, it’s the capitalists who need to learn a lesson from the Na’vi.

It might be possible to chalk this character up as a criticism of corporate greed rather than a criticism of capitalism per se. However, I’m just not convinced because this portrayal seems to go along too consistently with the anti-capitalist fervor that has been resonating in our culture recently. It’s certainly ironic that Avatar has a central character negatively portraying (and stereotyping) capitalists when it’s already grossed over 1 billion dollars! But this is a minor theme in the movie.

PANTHEISTIC SPIRITUALITY

It would be virtually impossible to miss the not-so-subtle pantheism that pervades the entire film. The Na’vi are spiritually connected to their entire world, including the plants and animals. Their home is a humongous tree, which is clearly representative of the idea of Mother Earth. The Na’vi are so connected to nature that they say of prayer of gratitude, and sometimes even cry, when they kill an animal for food. The audience is given a virtual lesson in pantheism while Neytiri mentors Jake into their way of life. A pantheistic explanation is given for EVERY aspect of life including what they eat, how they pray, how they worship the planet, and how they relate to each other. Avatar is filled with rituals that are overseen by a Shaman (there is a scene of tree worship that is so realistic my wife almost walked out. In her words, it was demonic).

The pantheistic worldview doesn’t simply play a background role to make the film plausible, like the Force does in Star Wars. Rather, pantheistic spirituality is literally preached to the audience through the characters and their interactions.

But there is a subtle difference that sets it apart from other pantheistic movies (such as Lion King, Pocahontas, or Star Wars).

SCIENTIFIC NATURALISM

While Avatar clearly portrays pantheistic spirituality in a positive light, I think it may be subtly subverting it with a naturalistic worldview. The naturalist in the film is clearly Grace Augustine (whose name is taken from St. Augustine who wrote, “The City of God”). She is the scientist who is constantly looking for a natural explanation for their spiritual behavior. While the Na’vi talk in spiritual terms (they describe “seeing” as looking into a person’s depth), there does seem to be a physical explanation lurking beneath all their behavior. Below the ground are cords that connect all the trees on the planet, like a giant network of computers. To “connect” with the animals, the Na’vi have to physically connect their hair to the animals’ manes. And to hear from their ancestors, they have to physically connect to the trees, not unlike connecting to the Internet. This is significantly different from the Star Wars films, for example, in which Luke, Yoda, and Darth Vader are capable of manipulating reality from a distance.

So, what is the moral of the story? Here’s my take: People ought to forsake greedy Western capitalism and embrace pantheistic spirituality, even though such practices have a perfectly natural explanation.

There is much more that could be discussed about in this film (e.g., environmentalism, or the way it portrays the military). I had great discussions in my classes this past week and have had many discussions with other young people as well. Even though this movie will likely cause considerable spiritual confusion, it provides a great opportunity for parents and youth workers to engage young people in worldview conversations…..” ( Read the rest on his blog )

For an excellent training guide on how to watch films with discernment, see Hollywood Worldviews by film-maker Brian Godawa.

Product Description

“Do you watch movies with your eyes open?

You buy your tickets and concessions, and you walk into the theater. Celluloid images flash at twenty-four frames per second, and the hypnotic sequence of moving pictures coaxes you to suspend disbelief and be entertained by the implausible.

Unfortunately, many often suspend their beliefs as well, succumbing to subtle lessons in how to behave, think and even perceive reality. Do you find yourself hoping that a sister will succeed in seducing her sibling’s husband, that a thief will get away with his crime, that a serial killer will escape judgment? Do you, too, laugh at the bumbling priest and seethe at the intolerant and abusive evangelist? Do you embrace worldviews that infect your faith and then wonder, after your head is clear, whether your faith can survive the infection?

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition of his popular book, Brian Godawa guides you through the place of redemption in film, the tricks screenwriters use to communicate their messages, and the mental and spiritual discipline required for watching movies. Hollywood Worldviews helps you enter a dialogue with Hollywood that leads to a happier ending, one that keeps you aware of your culture and awake to your faith.”

Avatar: Movie Review

Jesse Carey

Share This article

Watching Avatar , it’s easy to see why it is probably the most expensive movie ever made. That may be an unusual way to start off a review, but the sheer visual magnitude of the new movie from James Cameron makes everything else—plot, character development, dialogue, message—seem secondary. Though it’s being billed as a “3-D” film, our idea of 3-D movies don’t do it justice. Forget the headache-inducing paper glasses and gimmicky scenes of stuff popping out of the screen at you; this is a completely new kind of movie experience.

There are rumors that Avatar took almost 15 years to make—this is only sort of true. In actuality, the technology necessary to make the film reality is what has been years in the making. Cameron and his technical team actually helped develop a completely new kind of camera, one with two lenses, that mimics the way the human eye interprets spatial dimension. While watching the movie, you feel as though fictional world of Pandora (the distant planet the movie takes place on) is actually in the same room—not just an image being projected onto a movie screen.

The movie tells the story of a disabled former Marine named Jake Sully who has been recruited to take part in the very expensive “Avatar” project on Pandora. Along with being the destination to find the most valuable natural resource in the universe, Pandora is also home to a native population of humanoid creatures called the Na’vi. (They’re the 10-foot-tall, scantily clad blue aliens you’ve seen in all the commercials and posters). In order to help a massive corporation’s mining operations go smoothly, they’ve recruited scientist to develop “Avatars” to help them learn, and eventually negotiate with, the Na’vi. Essentially, Avatars are the bioengineered bodies of Na’vi that can be controlled by humans when they are connected into computer-operated brain-scan devices that look like high-tech tanning beds.

Jake, who goes between the world of the Na’vi in his avatar and the corporate outpost of the mining company in his own body, is being convinced to serve the heavy-handed political desires of the security firm used to protect it by the evil Colonel Miles Quaritch. Despite promises of fortune by the Colonel in exchange for military intelligence, Jake soon becomes immersed in Na’vi culture. It’s here where the story begins to mirror a Pocahontas-tale of love and colonization: he becomes close to the princesses (after being saved by here), begins to sympathize with the native population, and starts to question his own values in light of the community he meets in the new world.

The Na’vi are an intensely spiritual community. They believe that all of nature is connected through an unseen deity called Eywa. To the Na’vi, all life is valuable, and by connecting with life in the natural world, they can know their god in a deeper way. (And I mean “connecting” literally. They each have a ponytail-like spiritual appendage that allows them to tie into the “tree of souls” to pray).

Though the Na’vi practice a completely fictional religion, it’s clear that Cameron took cues from real-life faith ideas (including some from Christianity). There are constant references to being “re-born” and born again. There’s a scene where small, glowing seeds from the tree of souls descend upon and encompass Jake that seems like a reference to the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The idea of the Na’vi’s ability to connect to the spiritual world physically is also an interesting metaphor about the reality of prayer. But, there’s also plenty of other worldviews mixed in. Transcendentalism, a new ageish reliance on nature and energy, and even shaman-led chanting all make up elements of the Na’vi religion.

But while Jake and the audience start to understand the delicate way of Na’vi life, the conflict becomes clear as humans begin to destroy parts of the planet to mine in search of resources. Here is where Cameron’s metaphor for pre-emptive war and colonialism get a little heavy-handed.

Yes, a look at Western history reveals a startling reality about the horrible violence and depravation of rights that greedy societies are capable of. (And this is a subject that there is value in looking at further—if for no other reason than to prevent evils of the past from being repeated.) But, obvious references to current military conflicts come off as preachy, stereotypical and cheapen an interesting storyline. Taking a political stand isn’t always a bad thing, but because Avatar lacks any attempt at nuance or moral-conflict, it over-simplifies its message to the point where it discredits itself.

Unfortunately, this distracts from the broader story—one that could be more compelling if it allowed the audience think for itself. The larger metaphor could be seen an allegory for conflicts within the context of Western history, and is one that is worth exploring (and is done more effectively in films like Dances with Wolves and Terence Mallick’s New World ). As Focus on the Family’s Plugged Online put it, “Cameron’s message in Avatar is something like this: Genocidal plunderers are devoid of spiritual enlightenment and driven by their compulsive lust for another people’s resources.”

Overall, Avatar is visual masterpiece with lots spiritual, social, and political undertones that though, they come across somewhat heavy-handed, do offer some interesting consequences for Christians.

About The Author

Jesse Carey is a contributing writer for CBN.com and has a background in entertainment and pop-culture writing. He offers his insight on music, movies, TV, trends and current events from a unique perspective that examines what implications the latest news has on Christians. More

You are signing up to receive general newsletters from CBN. By signing up, you are consenting to our privacy policy . You can specify preference after sign-up and opt out at any time.

Popular Resources

Walking With Anxiety

Rekindled Marriage Found After Prayer

The Unbelievable Hope of Christmas

Reviewed by: Daniel Thompson CONTRIBUTOR


Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Genre:
Length:
Year of Release:
USA Release:

Copyright, Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

EARTH’S ENVIRONMENT—Should Christians be concerned about the environment? Answer

What is man’s responsibility to the environment? Answer

How might rain forest destruction affect our weather? Answer

What does the Bible say about intelligent life on other planets? Answer

Are we alone in the universe? Answer

Does Scripture refer to life in space? Answer

Questions and Answers about The Origin of Life

War in the Bible

What is the Biblical perspective on war? Answer

Featuring	(Jake Sully) (Neytiri) (Dr. Grace Augustine) Stephen Lang (Colonel Miles Quaritch) Joel Moore (Norm Spellman), (Parker Selfridge) (Trudy Chacon) (Eytukan)
Director
Producer
Distributor	, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company

E xpectations for James Cameron’s “Avatar” have been through the roof for several reasons. Claimed to be more than ten years in the making, Director Cameron came out at this year’s Comic Con and made the statement that the film would be a ‘game-changer’ for movies from a technological standpoint. Also, rumors circulated that it’s the most expensive film ever made, with budget projections anywhere from 250 to 500 million dollars. Add to that Cameron, the director of the highest grossing film of all time, “ Titanic .” The fact that he only directs a film every ten years or so adds to a hype machine that’s already at full power. Unfortunately, while “Avatar” dazzles on a technical level, it falls woefully short on a dramatic one.

On Pandora, a planet light years from Earth, there is a substance called unobtainium that is so valuable that humans have traveled to Pandora to retrieve it. The Pandora natives are called the Na’vi, and a group of them are living directly on top of the biggest unobtainium deposit on the planet. Parker Selfridge ( Giovanni Ribisi giving the best performance of the film) is in charge of removing the Na’vi from the area and retrieving the unobtainium. Militarily, war crazy Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) thinks the best course of action is to remove the Na’vi by force. Conversely, scientist Dr. Grace Augustine ( Sigourney Weaver ) suggests a more diplomatic solution. She has developed a method that takes human DNA and creates Na’vi avatars that are basically humans in Na’vi bodies. Augustine feels that if these avatars can earn the trust of the natives, they can talk them into moving off of the wanted land. One of the avatars is former marine Jake Sully ( Sam Worthington ), who successfully infiltrates the Na’vi population and is able to learn their ways.

While this sounds quite dense, it’s actually quite the opposite. The plot for “Avatar” is a basic one that’s been injected with a few new elements, as well as some Sci-Fi jargon. It boils down to Jake originally learning from the Na’vi solely to make them move, only to find out that he has a connection with the people, realizing that it’s the humans who are really in the way. He is specifically drawn to their way of life, love of nature, and their belief in the deity Eywa, who is in charge of balancing nature.

From a technical aspect, “Avatar” soars. Created specifically for 3D viewing, the world of Pandora comes to life. Rich colors and creative creatures fill the screen and wow the eye. The Na’vi were created through extensive motion capture and green screen filming. For the most part they look real, aside from a few moments where they come into contact with humans or make sudden movements. It’s only then that they look animated. But overall the film, which is 60% computer generated, looks and feels like the real thing, and for this Cameron and crew should be applauded.

It’s a shame that the movie itself didn’t nearly live up to the visual effects. Several big problems keep “Avatar” from being the epic masterpiece that Cameron envisioned. While the performances are mostly good across the board, they suffer greatly from the script. It’s not a good sign when there is loud laughter in the theater during emotional moments in a movie. Some of the lines are downright absurd and create some of the worst dialog this side of a George Lucas film. Also, the length of the film was an issue to me and seemed to be with almost everyone in the sold out theater. Clocking in at almost three hours, the visuals only take the film so far before things start to get tedious. Several people left early. While there is definitely an epic feel to “Avatar,” the characters just don’t resonate enough emotionally to sustain the film over the entire running time. While a massive battle scene at the end is quite a sight to behold, it’s just too little too late.

The content in “Avatar” fits safely within the PG-13 rating and does not push any boundaries. The language is heavy, but fairly standard for a movie involving the military. God’s name is misused a number of times as well as some other profanities. The violence is heavy in some parts of the film, but mostly bloodless. The Na’vi wear very little clothing, and while their bodies do resemble that of humans, there’s nothing graphic, explicit, or even really sexual about their appearance. Also, the Na’vi religion is very naturalistic, as their god Eywa is basically mother nature, and this is lauded in the film.

Special Effects in movies have come quite a long way, and “Avatar” is another giant step forward from a visual perspective, but a disappointment otherwise. While other epic films like “The Lord of the Rings” or “Star Wars” films have indelible characters and great story to go along with the effects, “Avatar” does not. If you must go, you’re better off paying the extra money to see it in 3D, as the visuals alone are almost worth the price of admission. But if you’re looking for some substance with your style, don’t believe the hype and steer clear of “Avatar.”

Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

Young people
Non-viewer comments

Tickets & Showtimes
Trending on RT

Avatar: The Way of Water First Reviews: A Magical, Visually Sublime Cinematic Experience Well Worth the Wait

Early reviews of james cameron's long-in-the-making sequel say it feels like an immersive theme park thrill ride with interesting characters, breathtaking action, and a better story than the first..

TAGGED AS: First Reviews , movies , news

The first of Avatar’ s sequels is finally here, 13 years after the release of the record-breaking original. For those who’ve been anxiously looking forward to Avatar: The Way of Water and those who have been doubting its necessity, the good news is that the movie is worth the wait and another work of essential theatrical entertainment from James Cameron. The first reviews of the follow-up celebrate its expected visual spectacle as well as its slightly improved script and new cast members. You’re going to want to return to Pandora after reading these excerpts.

Here’s what critics are saying about Avatar: The Way of Water :

Does it live up to expectations?

The Way of the Water is a transformative movie experience that energizes and captivates the senses through its visual storytelling, making the return to Pandora well worth the wait. – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant

Spending more than a decade pining for Pandora was worth it. Cameron has delivered the grandest movie since, well, Avatar . – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

This latest and most ambitious picture will stun most of his naysayers into silence. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Is it better than the original?

Like all great sequels, The Way of Water retrospectively deepens the original. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Avatar: The Way of Water is as visually exhilarating and sweepingly told as its predecessor; the plot is more emotionally vigorous. – Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

So it’s not just more of the same?

Any “been here, actually do remember this” déjà vu washes all the way off the minute the action finally plunges under the surface. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

[It is] meticulous world-building as astonishing and enveloping as anything we’ve ever seen on screen. – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

The brand-extension imperatives that typically govern sequels are happily nowhere in evidence. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Does it have a better script?

The sequel’s story is spread a bit thin, though there is certainly more depth than the first film. – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant

In terms of narrative sophistication and even more so dialogue, this $350 million sequel is almost as basic as its predecessor, even feeble at times. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

The story is still just okay. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Will we care enough about the story and characters regardless?

Avatar: The Way of Water is such a staggering improvement over the original because its spectacle doesn’t have to compensate for its story; in vintage Cameron fashion, the movie’s spectacle is what allows its story to be told so well. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

The movie’s overt themes of familial love and loss, its impassioned indictments of military colonialism and climate destruction, are like a meaty hand grabbing your collar; it works because they work it. – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

Watching The Way of Water , one rolls their eyes only to realize they’re welling with tears. – Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair

I’m sorry, but as I watched The Way of Water the only part of me that was moved was my eyeballs. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Are there any standout performances?

Saldaña and Winslet have poignant moments…and Dalton and Champion are standouts among the young newcomers. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

The most dynamic portrayal probably belongs to Lang, whose Quaritch is so relentless in his pursuit of Jake that he becomes a force of nature. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

How is the action?

The open-water clash that dominates the final hour is a commandingly sustained feat of action filmmaking. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Any hack can make stuff blow up real good; Cameron makes stuff glow up real good. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Are the visuals as spectacular as they’re supposed to be?

One can’t say enough good things about the film’s visuals — each frame is more breathtaking and magical than the last. – Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant

The world both above and below the waterline is a thing to behold, a sensory overload of sound and color so richly tactile that it feels psychedelically, almost spiritually sublime. – Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

What’s most astonishing about The Way of Water is the persuasive case it makes for CGI. – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

But how is that high frame rate?

It’s a rather soulless feel, as it was in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films. But it can make you feel like you’re sharing the same space with the characters. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

While the approach can sometimes prove distracting, the film is far more persuasive than Ang Lee’s recent experiments in the form. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

The use of high frame rate (a sped-up 48 frames per second) tends to work better underwater than on dry land, where the overly frictionless, motion-smoothed look might put you briefly in mind of a Na’vi soap opera. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Does it feel like more than just your average movie?

At times you don’t feel like you’re watching a movie so much as floating in one. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

There are times when it can seem as if there isn’t a screen at all, and that the action is unfolding right in front of you. – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

It’s truly a movie crossed with a virtual-reality theme-park ride. – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Do we need to see it in a theater?

It’s the most rapturous, awe-inducing, only in theaters return to the cinema of attractions since Godard experimented with double exposure 3D in Goodbye to Language . – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Will it leave us excited for Avatar 3 ?

Where it will flow next is a mystery, and it’d be disingenuous of me to suggest I’m not eager to find out. – Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Avatar: The Way of Water opens everywhere on December 16, 2022.

On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News .

Related News

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

Weekend Box Office: Inside Out 2 Becomes Highest-Grossing Film of the Year with Monster Second Weekend

Muppet Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

10 Films and TV Shows to Watch on Juneteenth

Hacks Creators Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs Discuss That Scene from the Emotional Season 3 Finale

Hotel Cocaine : A Look Behind the Scenes at “The Studio 54 of Miami”

Movie & TV News

Featured on rt.

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

June 25, 2024

June 24, 2024

All 73 Disney Animated Movies Ranked

Top Headlines

Best Movies of 2024: Best New Movies to Watch Now –
25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming –
30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming –
All 73 Disney Animated Movies Ranked –
All Adam Sandler Movies Ranked –
Box Office 2024: Top 10 Movies of the Year –

Corrections
Campaign 2024
Putin's war in Ukraine
Business & Economy
Media Spotlight
Waste, Fraud & Abuse
Inside the Beltway
Inside the Ring
Higher Ground
Entertainment
Just the Headlines
Photo Galleries
Dive Deeper
40 years of The Washington Times
Threat Status
Energy & Environment
Banking & Finance
Health Care Reform
Second Amendment
Immigration Reform
Homeland & Cybersecurity
Aerospace & Defense
Taxes & Budget
Law Enforcement & Intelligence
Transportation & Infrastructure
Commentary Main
Charles Hurt
Cheryl K. Chumley
Kelly Sadler
Jennifer Harper
Tim Constantine
Joseph Curl
Joseph R. DeTrani
Billy Hallowell
Daniel N. Hoffman
David Keene
Robert Knight
Clifford D. May
Michael McKenna
Stephen Moore
Tim Murtaugh
Peter Navarro
Everett Piper
Scott Walker
Black Voices
To the Republic
Sports Main
Washington Commanders
Thom Loverro
Horse Racing
NASCAR & Racing
District of Sports Podcast
Sports Photos
Health Care on the Hill
Invest in Portugal
Health Care 2022
Africa FDI Edition
Immigration 2022
Future of Clean Energy
The Baltic States 2022
Invest in Ireland
ESG Investments
U.S. & South Korea Alliance
Transportation 2023
Invest in Malta
National Clean Energy Week
Victorious Family
Energy 2024
Infrastructure 2024
Reinventing after Globalization
The Chiefs Forum: The Next 100 Days
Harm Reduction and Public Health
Subscriber Only Events
Higher Ground Events
All Podcasts
The Front Page
Politically Unstable
History As It Happens
Bold & Blunt
The Higher Ground
Court Watch
Victory Over Communism
District of Sports
Capitol Hill Show
The Unregulated Podcast
The Rebellion Podcast
Play Sudoku
Crossword Puzzle
Word Search

On Bold & Blunt: Author Craig Huey Christians who don’t vote are to blame for darkness

Listen: Confronting the axis of authoritarians The Threat Status podcast

New today: Palestinians and international law The failure of the ‘rules-based’ order

Plugged in review: pixar delivers with ‘inside out 2,’ avoids major pitfalls for christian families.

“Inside Out 2” is fun. It’s thoughtful. And it’s a fantastic conversation starter. And it avoids the major content concerns for Christian parents. “Ultraman: Rising” isn’t perfect. But as far as positive messages go, it definitely earns the title of “ultra.”

Subscribe to have The Washington Times’ Higher Ground delivered to your inbox every Sunday.

Read on to get Plugged In on what’s beyond the movie titles and trailers for faith-filled and family-first reviews from Focus on the Family’s Plugged In .

Inside Out 2 – In Theaters

For a long while, Pixar could do no wrong.

From 1995’s “ Toy Story ” to 2015’s “ Inside Out ,” the studio churned out a steady stream of critical and commercial hits. In that 20-year span, Pixar released 15 films — and a staggering 11 of them scored 90% or better on Rotten Tomatoes.

While Pixar has still churned out its share of critical and commercial darlings since then, it’s suffered a few misfires, too — perhaps highlighted (or lowlighted?) by 2022’s “ Lightyear ,” considered the first real financial flop on Pixar’s ledger.

Be sure to listen in to The Plugged In Show , a weekly podcast with lighthearted reviews for parents and conversations about entertainment, pop culture and technology:

Many conservative Christian families steered clear of “Lightyear” because of its LGBT content, but that’s only part of the story of why the movie failed. Truth is, Pixar’s storytelling has also been a bit uneven — at least for Pixar. And those factors — and likely others — led many to eye “Inside Out 2” with caution. “I loved the original,” you might be asking. “But will the sequel match up? Will Disney/Pixar spoil it with ‘woke’ content?”

The answers to those two questions, in order, is yes, and no.

When I reviewed “Inside Out,” it was almost a revelation to me. Not only was it funny and emotional and deeply resonant, but it provided moviegoers with practically a whole new vocabulary to consider their own emotions and those of their kids. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about my own Islands of Identity or used the language of “Inside Out” to discuss my kids’ own thoughts and feelings with them. The sequel continues on that trajectory and gives moviegoers plenty to think about — and talk about. And with so many teens struggling with various forms of mental illness, “Inside Out 2” feels quite timely.

“Inside Out 2” isn’t perhaps the creative and emotional tour-de-force that the original was. But it again introduces us to (pardon the pun) heady emotional concepts with wit and wisdom. It offers some really fun, seemingly throwaway scenes that, when you think about them on the way home from the theater, you realize they had more heft than you thought. It takes you into the mind of a 13-year-old girl and reminds you that maybe you and Riley aren’t all that different.

Riley’s battles with Anxiety reminded me of when I was 13. And they reminded me of when I was 33. Yeah, puberty reliably overturns everyone’s apple cart. But bumps in the emotional road? They know no age limit.

And while the film has some issues (as every film does), it doesn’t come with red, blaring alarms or sirens in terms of its content. And that can allow many a parent’s own version of Anxiety to settle in a nice, comfy chair and take a deep breath.

“Inside Out 2” is fun. It’s thoughtful. And it’s a fantastic conversation starter. It might not be among Pixar’s very best, but that’s a high bar to clear.

And I’ll not lie: It had me smiling even as I wiped away a tear.

Read the rest of the review here . Watch the trailer here .

Ultraman: Rising – Streaming on Netflix

Were you to have told me that the kaiju film subgenre would release some of the most positive messages about life and family I’ve seen since I started my career at Plugged In, I’d have laughed in your face.

When “ Godzilla Minus One ” was released, for instance, I expected little more than a giant monster stomping around a city. And while such stomping did happen, I deeply enjoyed the depth of the story’s positive messages about the value of life.

“Ultraman: Rising” is the latest release in the kaiju category. And, like “Godzilla Minus One,” it’s yet another monster film that comes, somewhat surprisingly, with a lot of positive messages.

As Ken grapples with raising the orphaned baby kaiju, we see him slowly turn from being a self-absorbed baseball player to becoming a sacrificial and loving adoptive father. Of course, this baby kaiju isn’t human in any regard — but as Ken struggles with all of the baby monster’s needs, mishaps and more, we catch a glimpse of the difficulties and triumphs of parenting.

And that’s intentional. Director Shannon Tindle tweeted , “The film was inspired by my experience becoming a parent.” And in another interview , Ms. Tindle described the movie as an “honest approach to family” and “a celebration of the iconic [Ultraman] and my experiences as both a son and a father.”

That’s not to say that “Ultraman: Rising” is perfect. As much as we appreciate its positive messages, the story’s frequent misuse of God’s name remains a big strike against the family-centric film, one that parents will want to think about carefully before they decide whether to watch.

But as far as this film’s positive messages go, “Ultraman: Rising” is just about as “ultra” as it claims.

Plugged In is a Focus on the Family publication designed to shine a light on the world of popular entertainment while giving families the essential tools they need to understand, navigate, and impact the culture in which they live. Through our reviews, articles and discussions, we hope to spark intellectual thought, spiritual growth and a desire to follow the command of Colossians 2:8: “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Reviews written by Paul Asay and Kennedy Unthank .

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide

Top of the Times

Cast & crew

Kalki 2898 AD

A modern-day avatar of Vishnu, a Hindu god, who is believed to have descended to earth to protect the world from evil forces. A modern-day avatar of Vishnu, a Hindu god, who is believed to have descended to earth to protect the world from evil forces. A modern-day avatar of Vishnu, a Hindu god, who is believed to have descended to earth to protect the world from evil forces.

Amitabh Bachchan
Kamal Haasan

Ashwatthama

Supreme Yaskin

Commander Manas

Rajan - Bhairava's Landlord

All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

Trivia Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Hassan to work together after 39 years since Geraftaar (1985).
Soundtracks Bhairava Anthem (Telugu) Music by Santhosh Narayanan Lyrics by Ramjogayya Sastry Vocals by Deepak Blue & Diljit Dosanjh
When was Kalki 2898 AD released? Powered by Alexa
June 27, 2024 (United States)
Kalki 2898-AD
Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Vyjayanthi Movies
See more company credits at IMDbPro
₹6,000,000,000 (estimated)

Technical specs

Runtime 3 hours
IMAX 6-Track
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Digital

More to explore

Inside Out 2 review: An emotional support movie for those who still have faith in Pixar

The inside out sequel may be pixar’s best film in years, but that’s not really saying much.

When it comes to sequels, Pixar’s track record has been mixed, to say the least. At the upper end of the quality scale there’s Toy Story 2 , not only one of the best sequels to come from Pixar, but one of the best sequels ever made. Following closely behind it is Toy Story 3 , completing an impeccable trilogy that probably should have stayed a trilogy. Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum we have Cars 2 , a tedious, lackluster retread that fundamentally misunderstood what people liked about the first one. Although it was financially successful, Cars 2 signaled the lowering of standards that would eventually lead to Pixar’s creative decline. It didn’t happen all at once, though. There were a few films released in the subsequent years that still had evidence of the old spark, like 2015's Inside Out , a fun and—there’s no other way to say it—emotional story set mostly inside the head of an 11-year-old girl named Riley.

It makes sense that Pixar would go back to the well that yielded $858 million at the box office and an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. And so here we are, a decade later, revisiting Riley and her emotions in Inside Out 2 . Compared to other Pixar sequels, it lands somewhere in the middle of the pack, but closer to the higher aspirations of Toy Story than the superficiality of Cars . Inside Out 2 has a lot going for it right out of the gate that other sequels don’t. It doesn’t have to work hard to justify its existence and it doesn’t have to undo any of the progress or character development from the original. It works because Inside Out left room to grow. Throughout the first film we saw Riley’s childhood constructs being torn down to make way for more adolescent preoccupations, but that transition wasn’t completed by the end of the film. It concludes with the arrival of a new, expanded console, sporting a giant red button marked “puberty” and Joy ominously observing, “After all, Riley’s 12 now. What could happen?” The purpose of Inside Out 2 is to answer that question, to complete her coming-of-age arc.

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Your subscription makes our work possible.

We want to bridge divides to reach everyone.

Deepen your worldview with Monitor Highlights.

Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads .

Select free newsletters:

A thoughtfully curated selection of our most popular news stories and podcasts.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

Hear about special editorial projects, new product information, and upcoming events.

An update on major political events, candidates, and parties twice a week.

Twice a Week

Stay informed about the latest scientific discoveries & breakthroughs.

Every Tuesday

A weekly digest of Monitor views and insightful commentary on major events.

Every Thursday

Latest book reviews, author interviews, and reading trends.

Every Friday

A weekly update on music, movies, cultural trends, and education solutions.

The three most recent Christian Science articles with a spiritual perspective.

Every Monday

‘Inside Out 2’ offers all the feels – and a great time at the movies

By Cameron Pugh Staff writer
Troy Aidan Sambajon Staff writer

June 17, 2024

“Inside Out 2” opens with our protagonist in her natural setting, playing ice hockey with her friends. With the emotions audiences grew familiar with from the first film working in unity, Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) is a dazzling talent. But when life becomes more complicated, Riley struggles to cope with the pressure – and a new cast of characters emerges. They’ll be familiar to anyone who has made it through the teenage years.

“Inside Out 2,” which had the biggest opening of any movie since “Barbie,” harkens back to a gold standard for Pixar. After recent direct-to-streaming disappointments like “Luca” (2021) and “Turning Red” (2022), “Inside Out 2” is a welcome return to form. It offers a refreshing perspective on mental health that draws in new audiences while reminding the rest of us why we continue to watch the studio’s films.

The sequel picks back up with Riley, now 13 and a rising high school freshman, prepping for a three-day hockey camp with her two best friends, Grace (Grace Lu) and Bree (Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green). Inside her neurological control center, the colorful crew of Sadness, Disgust, Anger, Fear, and Joy have mastered co-piloting. Then, a brand-new crew of emotions, brought on by puberty, arrives. Meet Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and the aloof Ennui.

Why We Wrote This

“Inside Out 2” doesn’t rise to the heights of Pixar’s greatest classics, like “The Incredibles.” But it’s well worth a trip to a movie theater – a rarity these days. And who couldn’t use a little more Joy in their lives?

In the first movie, 11-year-old Riley faced a series of challenges that were earth-shattering for her, but fairly mundane for the audience: a big move, a disappointing tryout, and a fight with her parents. But in the sequel, the drama doesn’t just play out in the heroine’s head. Riley is breaking into her coach’s office, dyeing her hair, and falling out with her best friends. Some themes, like emotional repression, are familiar chords from the first film. But the follow-up also tackles topics like teenage social dynamics, dealing with change, and self-acceptance.

The new multicolored characters are fun, with hairstyles and clothes that feel true to the emotions they represent. Anxiety (Maya Hawke), for example, has a mess of frizzy hair that makes it easy to imagine she spends her nights planning rather than sleeping. Embarrassment is a gentle giant who hides in his hoodie. And the elusive Ennui is French.

While en route to hockey camp, Riley learns her two besties are headed to a different high school at the end of summer. The news sends Riley into an anxiety-driven tailspin, pushing her to rebuff her friends to impress a group of popular girls.

What’s refreshing is that these girls aren’t a repackaging of popular tropes. They aren’t mean girls or bullies who act as foils to Riley’s kind and understanding best friends. They’re perfectly nice. They respect and encourage Riley, and at various moments, even sympathize with her. Riley’s struggle to be cool is an internal one, and it’s familiar for anyone who’s struggled to carve out a place in the vast and intimidating social environment of early adolescence.

A new feature within Riley’s neurological command center is her glowing sense of self, made up of her memories and personal beliefs. As the story unfolds, and Riley’s sense of self changes, Joy (Amy Poehler) and her crew struggle to let go of the version of Riley they’ve worked so hard to build.

This comes with some poignant lessons, both for Riley and her emotional stewards. As the old emotions search the recesses of Riley’s consciousness for her lost sense of self, Joy can’t quite maintain her native optimism. “Maybe that’s what happens when you grow up,” she says. “You feel less joy.”

But she, and Riley, emerge from the trial more well-rounded and resilient. Joy realizes that she can’t protect Riley from even her most negative emotions, and Riley comes to accept that she can make mistakes, even while striving to be the best version of herself. The message is an important one, though it’s not very surprising. Still, compelling visuals and skillful performances from the voice actors make it heartwarming and effective.

The strongest feature of “Inside Out 2” might just be its relatability. For children and teenagers, the similarities are enough to make you cringe. For parents, Joy’s realization that she can’t protect Riley from everything will tug at the heartstrings. For the rest of us, Riley’s triumphs and pitfalls will inspire many emotions, from delight to heartache. And as we learn from Joy, it’s probably best to let yourself feel them.

“Inside Out” was heralded as an instant classic in 2015, and it’s hard for a sequel to live up to that mantle. The new movie can’t recreate the novelty of getting a peek inside the mind of a preteen.

“Inside Out 2” doesn’t rise to the heights of Pixar’s greatest creations, like “The Incredibles.” And there’s nothing in it that matches the indelible first 10 minutes of “Up.” But it’s well worth a trip to a movie theater – a rarity these days. And who couldn’t use a little more Joy in their lives?

“Inside Out 2” is rated PG for some thematic elements.

Help fund Monitor journalism for $11/ month

Already a subscriber? Login

Monitor journalism changes lives because we open that too-small box that most people think they live in. We believe news can and should expand a sense of identity and possibility beyond narrow conventional expectations.

Our work isn't possible without your support.

Unlimited digital access $11/month.

Digital subscription includes:

Unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.
CSMonitor.com archive.
The Monitor Daily email.
No advertising.
Cancel anytime.

Give us your feedback

We want to hear, did we miss an angle we should have covered? Should we come back to this topic? Or just give us a rating for this story. We want to hear from you.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

Subscription expired

Your subscription to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. You can renew your subscription or continue to use the site without a subscription.

Return to the free version of the site

If you have questions about your account, please contact customer service or call us at 1-617-450-2300 .

This message will appear once per week unless you renew or log out.

Session expired

Your session to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. We logged you out.

No subscription

You don’t have a Christian Science Monitor subscription yet.

COMMENTS

Avatar: The Way of Water
Neutral —If, like me, you enjoyed the original "Avatar" movie for the 2/3s highly creative, imaginative, visually rich and beautiful world and people of Pandora, in "The Way of Water" you get a visually stunning new region, undersea life, and interesting people and culture with the Reef people. But only for about 1/4 to 1/3 of the movie.
Avatar: The Way of Water (Christian Movie Review)
Well, mission accomplished on both fronts. Avatar: The Way of Water is a triumphant return, a spectacular display of classic cinema and a masterclass in filmmaking by director James Cameron. Before taking the plunge, family audiences should be aware of some content elements. The movie maintains its PG-13 rating by the (blue) skin of its teeth ...
Movie Review: 'Avatar: The Way of Water'
The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 - parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The "Way of the Water" script returns viewers to the fictional moon Pandora and continues the story of the kickoff's two principal characters, the avatar of Earth-born ex-Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington ...
Avatar: The Way of Water
Thirteen years after the blockbuster release of Avatar, James Cameron takes viewers back to the planet of Pandora and the Na'vi people in Avatar: The Way of Water.Since the events of the first film, Jake Sully is now living fully as his avatar, along with his companion Neytiri and Neteyam, Lo'ak, Tuk, and adopted teenage daughter Kiri, the biological child of Dr. Grace Augustine.
Avatar: The Way of Water Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 41 ): Kids say ( 109 ): James Cameron 's crowd-pleasing sequel is a spectacular technical achievement that, while overlong, manages to dazzle the senses enough to prove that the director is still a visionary. Avatar: The Way of Water isn't a movie you see for its layered, complicated plot.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
The Family and Christian Guide to Movie Reviews and Entertainment News. Watch LITTLE WOMEN (2018 PBS) ... In the story, Jake must protect his new wife and family on Pandora from a cloned avatar of his nemesis from the first movie. A new army of Earth invaders has ordered the cloned soldier to capture or kill Jake, to stop the native resistance ...
Review of Avatar The Way of Water, director James Cameron
Christians thinking of viewing Avatar: the Way of Water should be aware of the many ways in which it portrays things contrary to a biblical worldview. The film has a PG-13 rating in the US, 12 in the UK suggesting the film is unsuitable for younger children. Christian parents may also want to consider whether it is appropriate for mid-teens.
Avatar: The Way of Water
Read our written review here: https://thecollision.org/avatar-the-way-of-water-christian-movie-review/TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro2:07 About The Film6:52 Content to...
John Wesley and Avatar: The Way of Water
Avatar: The Way of Water, Cameron's long-awaited follow-up to the first film, illustrates the second kind of grace, that which sanctifies. The ongoing work of sanctification is the work of putting aside sin through God. Cameron shows that grace through Jake's personal journey in the sequel. Jake might be a Na'vi physically, but he still ...
Movie Review: 'Avatar: The Way of Water'
Movie Review: 'Avatar: The Way of Water' Filmmaker James Cameron's sequel to the biggest worldwide box office hit of all time, "Avatar: The Way of Water," has been in the works for more than a decade.
Avatar: The Way of Water
Movie Review. Pandora's a nice place to visit. But you wouldn't want to plunder there. Humankind should've learned that lesson back in the first Avatar movie. With our own planet nearly exhausted and humans greedy for the Pandora-based metal of unobtanium, we homo sapiens set up shop on Pandora and quickly discovered the planet didn't want us there.
Avatar: The Way of Water movie review (2022)
Cameron invites viewers into this fully realized world with so many striking images and phenomenally rendered action scenes that everything else fades away. Advertisement. Maybe not right away. "Avatar: The Way of Water" struggles to find its footing at first, throwing viewers back into the world of Pandora in a narratively clunky way.
'Avatar' Franchise Expands Ideas About Spirituality Beyond A Western
(REVIEW) The "Avatar" franchise — created by blockbuster director James Cameron — contains two of the highest-grossing movies in history. "Avatar" was released in 2009, and after earning $3 billion in sales, it became the highest-grossing movie of all time. "Avatar: Way of the Water," which made its debut in December 2022, is ...
Review
5 min. ( 2 stars) It's been 13 years since the original "Avatar," one of the most overrated and forgettable "important" movies of the 21st century. So forgettable that viewers will be ...
Avatar: The Way of Water
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, "Avatar: The Way of Water" begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them ...
Avatar: The Way of Water review: A big, bold sequel
Avatar: The Way of Water review: A whole blue world, bigger and bolder than the first. Thirteen years on, James Cameron takes Pandora under the sea in an astonishing, at times overwhelming sequel.
'Avatar: The Way of Water' reviews: Critics on James Cameron's sequel
Critics say James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water," is a stunning piece of cinema. It scored a "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
A review of James Cameron's Avatar: The Way Of Water
Avatar: The Way Of Water review: James Cameron returns to the seas with a celebratory theatrical event Dazzling, epic, and yet surprisingly intimate, Cameron's Avatar sequel expands on this ...
The Wordview Behind Avatar and a Christian Perspective on Movies / Film
Here is a review that my friend Sean McDowell (teacher, author, and apologist) wrote about the Worldview of Avatar and then below is a resource for watching film in a whole new way. "The year is 2154, and humans are attempting to mine the valuable mineral unabtanium from the planet Pandora. Humans have virtually destroyed their own planet and ...
Avatar: Christian Movie Review
That may be an unusual way to start off a review, but the sheer visual magnitude of the new movie from James Cameron makes everything else—plot, character development, dialogue, message—seem secondary. Though it's being billed as a "3-D" film, our idea of 3-D movies don't do it justice. Forget the headache-inducing paper glasses and ...
Avatar (2009)
Positive —This movie, "Avatar," was a disappointment to me for 4 reasons… 1. The Na'vi tribe wore little to no clothing. The woman wore tiny coverings to conceal their 'areas', and itty-bitty loincloths. 2. This film had some offensive language in it, and the Lord's name was used in vain quite a lot. 3.
Avatar: The Way of Water
The first of Avatar's sequels is finally here, 13 years after the release of the record-breaking original.For those who've been anxiously looking forward to Avatar: The Way of Water and those who have been doubting its necessity, the good news is that the movie is worth the wait and another work of essential theatrical entertainment from James Cameron.
Avatar movie review from a Christian perspective
This is a New Age philosophy and it is not good for this country or anyone's spiritual walk. some disturbing undertones of which you must be made aware should you decide to see it. Avatar is a science fiction movie with new age philosophy. In the film, there was a physical connection between the alien humanoids and the planet/creatures.
James Cameron's Avatar Closely Copied 2 Other Movies Released 8 ...
The groundbreaking film Avatar shared uncanny similarities with The Last Samurai and Pocahontas. Despite narrative tropes, Avatar's visuals, world-building, and themes made it a commercial hit.
Family friendly movie review: 'Inside Out 2' and 'Ultraman: Rising
"Inside Out 2" is fun. It's thoughtful. And it's a fantastic conversation starter. And it avoids the major content concerns for Christian parents. "Ultraman: Rising" isn't perfect ...
Kalki 2898 AD (2024)
Kalki 2898 AD: Directed by Nag Ashwin. With Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone. A modern-day avatar of Vishnu, a Hindu god, who is believed to have descended to earth to protect the world from evil forces.
Inside Out 2 review: An emotional support movie for Pixar fans
Meanwhile, in the outside world, Riley is invited to attend a hockey training camp with the local high school team. She desperately wants to fit in with the older, cooler girls, especially Val ...
'Inside Out 2' review: All the feels
In the first movie, 11-year-old Riley faced a series of challenges that were earth-shattering for her, but fairly mundane for the audience: a big move, a disappointing tryout, and a fight with her ...

Movie Review: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

Read More Movie & Television Reviews

Movie Review: ‘Hit Man’

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘Inside Out 2’

Movie Review: ‘The Watchers’

Movie Review: ‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’

Our Mission

Social Media

Get news & reviews in your inbox

Avatar: The Way of Water

Dove Review

Dove Rating Details

More Information

Faith Film Producer DeVon Franklin Steps in Front of the Camera for ‘Jesus Revolution’

Cyrano: Love is a Verb

Redeeming Love: Grace Rising Up Out of the Dirt

Filmmakers Highlight the Hope and Heroism in “Gi...

Or browse by category:

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

Common Sense Selections for Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

Kids' Mental Health Apps and Websites for Anxiety, Depression, Coping Skills, and Professional Support

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

A Lot or a Little?

Positive Messages

Positive Role Models

Diverse Representations

Violence & Scariness

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Products & Purchases

Parents Need to Know

Where to Watch

Community Reviews

3 hours of extreme unnecessary violence !

Is It Any Good?

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Suggest an Update

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Ender's Game

Sci-Fi Movies

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

What You Need To Know:

More Detail:

Avatar: the Way of Water

Overview of the film

Encouraging sentimental environmentalism

Colonisation

Film quality and final comments

References and notes

Readers’ comments

Privacy & Content Ownership

John Wesley and Avatar: The Way of Water

Movie Reviews

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Avatar: The Way of Water

Content Caution

In Theaters

Home Release Date

Distributor

Movie Review

Positive Elements

Spiritual Elements

Sexual Content