Avatar: The Way of the Water came to theaters on Friday13 years after the original blockbuster wowed moviegoers with its amazing 3D visuals. Director james cameron is back for more adventures in the lush world of Pandora, with original stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña returning as Na’vi heroes Jake Sully and Neytiri.

“The parental angst and engaging journeys of the young characters give The Way of Water emotional weight,” said CNET’s Richard Trenholm in his exam. “The sci-fi action is cathartic and thrilling, the environmental message is compelling, and the visuals are simply amazing.”

Movies Disney+ the release date has yet to be announced, but the first movie is available there if you want a trip to Pandora right now.

Jake Sully and Neytiri’s family is key to the sequel’s ending, after the colonialist humans of the Resources Development Administration, or RDA, return to Pandora and wreak havoc on the world’s native life as they were looking for a replacement for the dying Earth. They also launch a hunt for the human traitor-turned-Na’vi Sully, leading us to the film’s final conflict.

It takes place 15 years after the originaland there’s a lot to digest, because this film throws a lot of terminology and events at you over its three hours and 17 minutes (and no, it does not have a post-credits scene). Let’s dive into the gorgeous blue of the Avatar sequel DISCLOSURE waters.

The next generation

After being killed by Neytiri in the first film, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and a group of his Marine henchmen were resurrected in Na’vi bodies with a backup of their human counterparts’ memories. The Quaritch clone was surprised to learn that Miles “Spider” Socorro (Jack Champion), a human who grew up with Sully and Neytiri’s children, was the son he left behind in his old life.

Having been tasked with killing Sully for the RDA, Quatrich uses Spider to learn Na’vi ways and hunt his prey, but he clearly becomes enamored with the teenager despite his claims of indifference. It seems to me that the Na’vi protest too much.

The late RDA scientist Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) served as a bridge between the humans and the Na’vi, in addition to leading the avatar project that allowed Sully to become one of the blue aliens. We find out that her avatar was pregnant when she died and gave birth to Kiri (also Sigourney Weaver, who is incredibly convincing as a teenager). She was adopted by Sully and Neytiri, is a teenager at the time of the sequel, and has some sort of special connection to the Na’vi deity Eywa.

In addition to these two adopted children, Sully and Neytiri have three children of their own, eldest son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), young Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and 8-year-old daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) .

Fleeing Quaritch, Sully, Neytiri and their children take refuge with the Metkayina clan, a group of cool-looking ocean-going Na’vi, and try to learn their ways of sailing. Lo’ak also befriends Payakan, an outcast tulkun (super-intelligent whale-like sea creatures worshiped by the Metkayina).

Death in the family

Neteyam – who appears to be Sully’s favorite child – is shot and killed during the first confrontation of the final battle, which takes place on a Marine fighter ship commandeered by Quatrich. His family cries briefly but leaves to face their adversary one last time.

Kiri and Tuk manage to get captured again, with Quatrich holding a knife to Kiri’s throat as Sully confronts him. Sneaky Neytiri gives the villain a taste of his own medicine by threatening Spider. Quatrich briefly pretends not to care about his son somehow, but eventually relents and lets Kiri go.

This leaves Sully and Quatrich having an intense one-on-one confrontation as the ship sinks (it even rears up like the Titanic). Kiri and Spider manage to flee in the water, while Neytiri and Tuk attempt to escape through the bowels of the ship before becoming trapped.

It’s a close call, but Sully manages to defeat Quatrich in their nasty underwater fight and leaves him for dead. Sully escapes with the help of Lo’ak and the breathing technique he learned with Metkayina, with tulkun friend Payakan for the home stretch.

Kiri uses her connection with Eywa to create a path of bioluminescent fish for Neytiri and Tuk, allowing them to swim to safety.

Spider makes the morally decent but logically questionable decision to save the unconscious Quatrich before he drowns. The villain flies away on his ikran as he is to return in a sequel, while Spider returns to his Na’vi family. Character development for everyone.

Say goodbye

After the battle, Sully and Neytiri drop their lost son Neteyam into the ocean. His body is embraced by seaweed, hinting that he is returning to Eywa. Following their loss, the family is also accepted by the ocean-dwelling Metkayina clan as their own.

Sully and Neytiri travel to the Cave of the Ancestors and connect to the Metkayina Spirit Tree, allowing them to commune with Eywa. This allows them to see Neteyam, who oscillates between his teenage years and a child as he talks to Sully. This suggests that the being they encountered is a mixture of Neteyam’s spiritual energy and the memories his parents have of him.

Sully accepts that they can’t keep running from the human invaders – they have to fight. I guess it will happen in Avatars 3, 4 and 5 (expected release in 2024, 2026 and 2028). The final shot sees Sully open his eyes, mirroring the end of the first movie.

Is there a post-credits teaser?

You don’t need to watch the lengthy credits sequence of Avatar: The Way of Water for a clue about the third movie, there’s no mid- or post-credits scene. There are some nice renditions of some footage from the film in the initial credits sequence though, so it’s worth sticking around for that.

You may also want to go to the bathroom or get fresh air after sitting for more than three hours.

Unanswered Questions

• What’s wrong with Kiri? She has a meltdown when she connects to Grace through the tree – probably because she and her late mother share the same soul or something – but seems to have a deeper connection to Pandora’s flora and fauna than the other Na’vi.
• Did Spider let Sully and Neytiri know he had saved their murderous enemy? It’s likely that Quaritch will grow considerably in further sequels, as he has developed a bond with his son and embraces some of the Na’vi ways.
• Why was the introduction of the wonder substance that can halt human aging so offhand? It’s far more intriguing than unobtanium, the precious mineral the GDR was after in the first film.
• What happened to Ian Garvin (Jemaine Clement), the marine biologist who seemed sympathetic to the natives of Pandora, after the whaler was destroyed? He seemed like a potential ally for the Na’vi.
• Why do we see so few human invaders? General Frances Ardmore (Edie Falco) is quite intense but is basically forgotten after giving Quaritch his mission. She also appears in Higher Ground prequel comicwhich is based on Cameron’s first draft for the sequel, and reveals more events between the films.
• What does Earth look like in this universe now? We only get a glimpse of it in the first movie, but it must be pretty bad, since the RDA is trying to make Pandora a new home for mankind.