I Saw 'Avatar 2: The Way Of Water' & Here's My Honest Take On Whether You Should Too

It took James Cameron 13 years and a Titanic boatload of money to make his new Avatar sequel, The Way Of Water. And while you can see that time and effort in the visuals on screen, the story threatens to sink the whole thing.

Avatar 2 is gorgeous to look at, occasionally boring to watch, self-serious throughout and a jumble in terms of the storytelling. But if you're showing up for the spectacle, you will not be disappointed -- especially if you see it on the biggest screen possible.

Cameron has done some dazzling stuff with the motion-capture Na'vi and the underwater creatures he's created, and there's plenty of joy to be found in just watching his fish float around underwater. He's also delivered a movie that looks completely real, even though 90% of the characters and much of the scenery is CGI.

However, I found myself thinking "alright, I get it" during a fish scene at the 1:20 mark, with nearly 2 hours remaining in the film. I also chuckled a few times at the hissing Na'vi, though I can't say for sure if there were any actual jokes in the movie.

Avatar 2 picks up 15 years after the last film, as our Na'vi heroes Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have now assembled a whole brood of children on Pandora, including three of their own and two they've adopted.The Sullys are being hunted by a squad of human-turned avatars led by the revived Colonel Quaritch, so they run off to the sea and shack up with an aquatic tribe of Na'vi.

This new tribe teaches the family the way of water and then things get messy and go boom, as they so often do.

The 3-hour, 12-minute film starts and ends with a focus on family, although a "save the whales" quest sidetracks the whole thing. The humans in the movie are also completely terrible, and this time they're obsessed with gobbling up a resource called Amrita.

And no, Amrita is not an Indian woman in this case; it's a special goo.

The action is fun and the climax of the movie is certainly dramatic, especially since it gives Zoe Saldana a chance to shine. However, she doesn't get enough opportunities to be awesome in this movie, and Sam Worthington remains a bit of a dud as Jake. Kate Winslet is also lost under her CGI as Ronal of the water tribe.

However, it's the younger characters who really take the spotlight in this one, even if one of them is played by 73-year-old Sigourney Weaver in a motion-capture performance.

Weaver plays Kiri, the superpowered teen daughter of the scientist that Weaver played in the first movie. Kiri is one of the more compelling kids in the bunch and Weaver does a fantastic job playing young, but she repeatedly gets sidelined for other stuff throughout the film. It's pretty clear she's being set up for one of the sequels, although I would've preferred to see that now.

Weaver is joined by Jamie Flatters, Brian Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss and Bailey Bass as the charming younger generation of Na'vi, and it seems like we're be seeing a lot more of them in future Avatar films.

However, Avatar 2 drops the ball when it comes to Spider (Jack Champion), the Sullys' adopted human son who looks like he's on his way to Burning Man. He's got dreadlocks, a loincloth, daddy issues and a distinct Tarzan vibe, although his Na'vi family won't be singing You'll Be In My Heart anytime soon. Instead, they really don't seem to care what happens to him, even though he actually gets a rough ride in this movie.

I could keep picking the story apart, but that's not why you go to an Avatar movie. You go for the spectacle, and this movie absolutely delivers on that.

So should you see it in a theatre? Absolutely, if only because you won't get the same experience at home. It looks incredible, and the big-screen experience is a huge part of the appeal.

Also, here's a pro tip: you need to take a bathroom break, you can go right at the 1-hour and 2-hour marks and you won't miss a beat.

Avatar: The Way Of Water opens exclusively in theatres on December 16.

3/5 stars