Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Around the third hour, I realized I cared more about a whale than about Jake Sully’s entire family. That whale, Payakan, an outcast tulkun with a beat-up fin, is the best character James Cameron has written in years. The rest of the 192 minutes is a gorgeous, overlong family vacation. The Sully kids mostly exist to get captured, sneak off or say bro. Quaritch is back in a fresh blue body, which is a cool idea on paper and mostly an excuse for the same chase scenes. Kate Winslet’s Ronal deserved way more to do. But the water. The reef, the free-diving, the light coming down through the waves, it’s the best underwater footage ever made for a fiction movie, and the last hour is Cameron’s signature sinking-ship action. It made $2.33 billion worldwide on a reported budget of $350M to $460M, so the swim paid off. A 6.9 because the visuals deserve a 10 and the script deserves a nap. $556 says you take a bathroom break and spend the whole time worried you missed the whale.

What works: The underwater world, the reef clan’s culture, and Payakan the whale, who is easily the movie’s best character.

What doesn’t: At 192 minutes the family plot is thin, and the Sully kids mostly exist to get captured.

Who it’s for: People with a big screen, a comfy seat and a strong bladder who love underwater worlds.