In 2009, “Avatar” broke box office records and became the highest grossing film of all time, and anyone who was alive and seeing movies in 2009 can tell you about the insane buzz  this movie generated. I distinctly remember going to see this movie as an 8-year-old, staring at the screen slack-jawed throughout the entire runtime. I had never seen a film look that good before, with visuals that impressive; it was the kind of film that only comes around once every decade or so, one that people compare all other films to to judge their success. However, when more information about its sequel started to be released and we finally got a trailer, I’ll admit I was skeptical that the second film would be able to reach the same sensational heights as its predecessor. Financially speaking, those doubts have been proven wrong as the film has become a smash hit at the box office, currently one of the top 10 highest grossing films of all time worldwide. But what about the film’s quality? Does “Avatar: The Way of Water” live up to the reputation of the original, or was this franchise just a fluke? I’ll put it this way: There are certain film franchises that are considered must-sees just for the sheer spectacle of viewing them, like “Star Wars,” “The Avengers” or “Fast and Furious.” With “The Way of Water,” the “Avatar” franchise has proven itself worthy of joining those ranks.

I’ll start by answering the big, burning question people likely have for this film: How good are the visuals? Unsurprisingly, the film looks amazing. I can easily say that this is the best looking movie I’ve seen since the original. Every single frame is visually spectacular, and much like the first movie, it’s these visuals that make me recommend this film as required viewing. The amount of detail is absolutely staggering, and I never stopped feeling impressed until the credits. The oceanic setting of this entry in the series is one of the best looking I’ve seen, with easily the best looking CGI water in any movie. The alien life that inhabits these environments looks so good that it’s hard to even imagine how the team that worked on them made them look that realistic, as with one species of sentient whales the movie introduces called Tulkun. One aspect of the visuals that I think deserves particular praise in this one is how it makes CGI characters look so believable next to non-CGI actors, and how the non-CGI actors are able to just blend into the backgrounds. The first film achieved this as well, but only in shorter scenes, and for the most part it felt like the CGI was kept separate from any of the real humans on screen. In “TWOW,” real actors are visually present in these environments for long periods of time, and the environments and aliens in this movie look so good that none of these elements ever stand out from one another, which is an issue that even some of the biggest blockbusters today sometimes have trouble making look convincing. There’s no doubt in my mind that this film will stand to be the best looking movie of the 2020s, and if any other films were to outclass it, it would be the upcoming sequels. In the realm of special effects, Avatar” still remains king.

So yes, this film is a visual knockout, but visuals alone don’t make a good movie. For me, this was particularly present in none other than the first film. In the original, it felt like everything else present was included simply to justify showing us such amazing effects—from the characters to the dialogue to the story and themes. That’s not to say these elements were particularly bad, though there were a few lines that were laughably corny here and there, but none of it felt particularly special, and most importantly, none of it ever felt like the focus. Even when that film tried to reach emotional heights, they mostly fell flat due to the lack of character, leaving me not feeling as much as I should be when some kind of loss or suffering was being depicted. One of my biggest hopes for this movie was that it would come with a more worthwhile story, better dialogue and better developed characters. After leaving the theater, I left with a somewhat positive mixed bag.

Before we analyze those aspects, let’s lay out the basic plot. After winning the war for the moon Pandora in the first movie, Jake Sully, now fully a member of the Na’vi race, starts a family with his partner Neytiri and is forced to leave his home in the forests after the humans return and start hunting him, retreating instead to the coastal islands of Pandora. At the same time, the villain from the last movie, Colonel Quaritch, is leading the hunt against them after a copy of his personality is imprinted into an avatar body. While all of this is going on, we also have a whole new selection of side characters in Jake Sully’s new family, such as his overly ambitious son, his daughter who has mystical powers and an orphaned human teen named Spider, all of whom have their own character arcs set up in this film.

So yeah, this film is juggling a lot of character development at once, far more than the first film, and it’s here that the film starts to become a mixed bag for me. While some of these plotlines are handled well, some feel a little half-baked and like they weren’t able to effectively balance the time spent on each of them. This is most notable with the character of Spider, who has a back-and-forth inner conflict about wanting to side with the humans and wanting to side with the Na’vi, and considering how much we establish his hatred of the humans and his love for the Na’vi it feels like he sways too far into siding with the dark side at times. As for Sully’s son, his actions have severe ramifications for the entire cast, and there’s very little focus on the major impact it causes, with just a brief single scene analyzing it before moving on. Lastly, Sully’s daughter’s storyline is established only to not have any real answers or moving insight provided in this installment, instead saving it for the upcoming films, so there’s very little to currently analyze about it in this movie. I feel that if the film had decided to cut one of these plotlines in this film to be saved for a future installment then more time could have been allotted to focus upon and develop just a couple further because they currently feel a bit messy. With that being said, the characters are all still likable enough, the performances are decent and the dialogue is passable. However, it’s these potentially interesting character arcs they’ve set up that really interest me. And while they’re not perfect here, they were just intriguing enough that I’m now left curious for how they’ll push them further in the upcoming films.

Overall, I think “Avatar” is the only film franchise where the visuals and setting truly make a movie worth seeing. While I don’t allow other films to get away with being visuals over all else, the “Avatar” films have a way of sucking you into their world unlike any other. The experience and sensation of watching these films is one of a kind, and it’s my one exception where I think the visual experience truly saves a movie. “Avatar: The Way of Water” is a must-see film, and if the doors it opens with these new characters aren’t shut before they can be properly developed, I think we may have an all-time great sci-fi film series here. James Cameron, please don’t let me down.