Avatar: The Way of Water first reactions call it ‘bigger, better, more emotional’ than first film, advise audiences to ‘pee beforehand’

Uproxx’s Mike Ryan wrote, “AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER: Yeah never bet against James Cameron. Trying to spare hyperbole, but I’ve never seen anything like this from a technical, visual standpoint. It’s overwhelming. Maybe too overwhelming. Sometimes I’d miss plot points because I’m staring at a Pandora fish.”

“Happy to say ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is phenomenal,” wrote Fandango’s Erik Davis. “Bigger, better & more emotional than ‘Avatar,’ the film is visually breathtaking, visceral and incredibly engrossing. The story, the spectacle, the spirituality, the beauty – this is moviemaking & storytelling at its absolute finest.”

Josh Horowitz, the host of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, wrote, “James Cameron once again shows filmmakers how it’s done. I’ve said it a thousand times. Never doubt him. ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is how you do epic blockbuster-ing. Emotional, visceral and as big as movies get.”

Perri Nemiroff of Collider wrote: “#AvatarTheWayOfWater is pretty incredible. I had faith James Cameron would raise the bar w/ the effects but these visuals are mind-blowing. One stunning frame after the next. But the thing I dug most is how the technical feats always feel in service of character & world-building.”

Yolanda Machado of EW tweeted: “James Cameron is a technology master… and his direction is at its most precise here. The film as a whole, while a technological marvel with a breathtaking world, is just …. Dances with Wolves and Free Willy for Gen Z! Pee beforehand.”

The Atlantic’s David Sims tweeted, “AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER absolutely owns bones. I was slapping my seat, hooting, screaming for the Na’vi to take out every last one of those dang sky people …it’s an Avatar movie: slow start, big build, incredibly involving second act with a ton of world building and cool creatures that blisses you way out, then an hour of screamingly good crystal clear emotionally trenchant action to send you home full and happy.”

IndieWire’s David Ehrlich wrote in a series of tweets, “Avatar The Way of Water: lol imagine being dumb enough to bet against James Cameron. or teen alien Sigourney Weaver. or giant whales subtitled in papyrus. light years better than the first & easily one of the best theatrical experiences in ages. streaming found dead in a ditch. I was, uh, not exactly chomping at the bit for an Avatar 2 (even if ‘James Cameron + wet’ tends to work out pretty well). now I can’t *wait* to see Avatar 3. that’s basically all I wanted out of this and it delivered in a big way.”

Cameron has said that he needs The Way of Water to succeed — and by succeed, it needs to make around $2 billion globally — in order for the franchise to continue beyond the third film, which has already been shot. He initially had plans for five movies, but they’ll only be given the green light if films two and three are successful. Avatar: The Way of Water arrives in theatres on December 16.