Avatar: The Way of Water movie hits $1bn at box office after 12 days

The blockbuster sequel to the world’s highest-grossing movie of all-time is set to make a new record after hitting a rare milestone just 12 days after its release.

As a genuinely epic cinematic spectacle, Avatar: The Way of Water makes one big, impressive splash.

Against sizeable odds, this blockbuster sequel to the world’s (and indeed, Australia’s) highest-grossing movie of all-time keeps finding triumph where most were expecting folly.

In just 12 days, the ambitious sequel is well on track to following its predecessor at the box office – hitting $US1bn just 12 days since its release and is just the fourth film since the pandemic to hit the eye-watering figure.

Bear in mind, it has been 13 years since the first Avatar’s enjoyed its record-breaking reign over the box office. Marvel was yet to take over the movie business, one brand-name superhero at a time.

Our review is below:

Avatar: The Way of Water (M)

Director: James Cameron (Titanic)

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet.

Rating : ****

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So to belatedly revisit Avatar’s blue-skinned Na’vi freedom fighters on the sumptuous solar moon of Pandora in 2022 – via a 3-hour movie in 3-D – could have been a recipe for disaster. Or, at least, wide-scale disappointment.

Thankfully, neither outcome befalls The Way of Water. The movie is never less than very good, and often becomes great for sustained periods.

In terms of plot, the action picks up after years of relative stability for the Na’vi amid the ecological oasis of Pandora.

Former Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has embraced Na’vi traditions with respectful gusto, and raised several children with wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana).

Jake Sully and Neteyam in Avatar: The Way of Water. Picture: 20th Century Studios.

Spider in Avatar: The Way of Water. Picture: 20th Century Studios.

However, with an ailing planet Earth looking to annex the whole of Pandora – not just as a mining hub, but as a population centre – the idyllic times for Jake and his clan will soon end.

This impending doom is swiftly accelerated by the intriguing arrival of Jake’s bitter foe, Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Though actually dead, Quaritch’s essence as a brutal soldier has been revived with the same ‘Avatar’ technology that first brought Jake to Pandora all those years ago.

Now enhanced with the same characteristics as the most elite Na’vi warriors, Quaritch leads a special unit on a mission across Pandora to track down Jake and terminate him.

To evade capture, Jake, Neytiri and their children – all evolving warriors in their own right – are forced to leave their beloved forest forever and take refuge with a seafaring tribe on an island far from their longtime home.

The success of this production is destined to be attributed to the truly stunning way in which it fills a frame. The visual effects in The Way of Water are not just next level. They remain at the level after next level throughout.

There are certain placements of the camera, changes of perspective, choices of colour and capturing of light – a majority of them unprecedented – that are going to be closely pored over by filmmakers for some considerable time to come.

It will take even longer for them to catch up to Way of Water director James Cameron as a true innovator of the moving image.

Neytiri and Jake Sully in Avatar: The Way of Water. Picture: 20th Century Studios.

Neytiri and Jake Sully in Avatar: The Way of Water. Picture: 20th Century Studios.

Just to emphasise Cameron’s contemporary dominance as a visual maestro, The Way of Water once again breaks much new ground in the supposedly fallow field of 3-D, a format that has been teetering on the brink of extinction for almost a decade.

So let the record show that as a complete screen experience, The Way of Water surpasses its predecessor by a clear distance.

However, the new movie’s chances of out-grossing the original Avatar are less clear. That mammoth running time does present a challenge to viewers, particularly those who are unfamiliar with (or have forgotten key elements of) the first movie’s cluttered mythology.

If anything, The Way of Water adds more complexity to its storytelling this time around, largely via the introduction of several new featured characters (one played by a returning Sigourney Weaver; another by new recruit Kate Winslet) and a whole new Na’vi native maritime culture to learn and explore.

Not all of the new movie’s lofty ambitions in the screenplay department are as effective or necessary as they might have been, and are definitely the reason why The Way of Water runs at least a half-hour longer than it should.

However, with so much pure cinematic magic in the air here – and the potential for another mesmerising scene never far away – there is little choice but to throw all misgivings overboard, and simply go with the mighty flow of Avatar: The Way of Water.

Avatar: The Way of Water opens in cinemas nationwide from 6pm this evening (Wednesday).