Avatar: The Way Of Water Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs
1. Not Enough Neytiri
Given that Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) was easily the MVP of the first Avatar, it's pretty disappointing how sidelined she feels throughout most of this movie.
Despite her seemingly prominent presence in the story as the matriarch of the Sully family, Neytiri ends up spending long stretches of the film off-screen and not really doing much of anything.
She certainly gets her time to shine during a pivotal tide-turning moment later on, and Saldana absolutely gives it her all throughout, but considering the popularity of the character and Cameron's prior success with strong heroines, it's a shame she feels like a genuine afterthought at times.
Granted, Cameron has such a huge host of new characters to endear us to, but even so, it doesn't feel like Jake's (Sam Worthington) screen time is especially minimised by comparison.
But if you can forgive these gripes, Avatar 2 has quite the sights to show you...