Film & Television

Beautiful but bloated Avatar sequel drowning in empty mythology

It’s been 13 years since Avatar broke box office records, and with cinema audiences down and Marvel movies dominating the landscape, director James Cameron has his work cut out if The Way of Water is to recoup its huge production budget

Sam Worthington as Jake Sully in Avatar: The Way of Water: the sweeping landscapes and jaw-dropping vistas leap off the screen. Picture: 20th Century Studios

Avatar: The Way of Water

Directed by James Cameron

Nationwide, 12A

Rating: ***

Remember Avatar? That’s okay, I don’t either. Arriving at the height of the 3D boom, 13 years ago, James Cameron’s visually stupendous sci-fi fantasy epic went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, amassing €3 billion internationally.

But for all its record-setting box-office and technical spectacle, all anyone recalls is that the aliens were ten foot tall blue cats, had ...