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A gorgeous looking film with a handful of strong character moments that is derailed by its long runtime and a plot that mostly repeats story beats and action sequences from the previous “Avatar” film. Like the earlier films in the franchise, the visuals are just stunning, especially with the creature designs. As expected, the special effects are usually flawless. (However, everything, including the real people, has a hyper-real quality that makes things look a bit off, although this may be partially due to the 3D.) Unfortunately, the plot is quite weak this time around. While it is meant to be a direct continuation of “The Way of Water,” it mostly just feels like a rehash. Too many moments in the film, particularly the action sequences, are way too similar to that last film. And the overall plot just feels more like a bunch of stuff happening until the big finals act battle, instead of the story feeling like it’s building towards something. Add this to the three-hour plus runtime, and the movie often feels like its spinning its wheels. The character stuff is fine and takes everyone’s arcs slightly forward, with a few compelling moments. Returning villain Quaritch can’t seem get the balance right between cartoony bad guy and a conflicted antagonist. And finally, even though the new villain Varang does add something new and potentially compelling the franchise, she comes close but never quite elevates the film.
*** out of *****