Avatar: The Way Of Water Review - 7 Ups & 3 Downs

5. It's More Emotional Than The First Avatar

One area where The Way of Water assuredly triumphs over its predecessor is on the emotional side of things. The story is surprisingly far smaller-scale than the first film and focused quite intently on the Sully family to unexpectedly affecting ends.

The key advantage of Cameron spending so much of the first act with Jake, Neytiri, and their children is that the stakes when their family unit is threatened feel genuinely palpable rather than throwaway.

Combined with the film's environmentalist focus, particularly on humanity's treatment of our oceans and how this affects the animals living in it - here embodied by the whale-like tulkun creatures - it makes for a story that unapologetically wears its heart on its sleeve.

And after three exhausting hours, Cameron arrives at a conclusion that's genuinely emotionally gratifying in ways that the original wasn't - and, in fairness, wasn't really trying to be.