If I ever traveled to Avatar world, I would invent arrow proof cockpit glass for the helicopters and become rich.

3 hour movie that felt like a 5 hour movie and could easily be edited down to 1 hour without losing any plot points. Took a lot of looking around to find a screening that had comfy seats that wasn't in 3D. Visuals go from being stupidly realistic (ie, amazing) to looking like clear animation and back again throughout the movie. I had someone comment to me "visually stunning. But. Has James Cameron even met an indigenous person?? And all those plot holes. California wellness and cultural appropriation all over the place." and I can't fault that. And towards the end [spoiler] when the fire comes around ON TOP of the water, 5 whole people suddenly forget the whole 2.5 hour sequence where they learnt to free-dive and hold their breath? They can't swim under the flames? Have to swim away and towards the sinking boat? I understand the characters need to be ushered in to the sinking boat for the next sequence but surely there was a better way. That's like scientists taking their helmets off the moment there's anything remotely resembling breathable air on a completely alien planet then sticking their heads inside giant eggs. [/spoiler]

The visuals and the message -anticolonialism, protection of nature, sovereignty of indigenous people- are great, but the plot is just bad: poor, repetitive, with many clichés, very predictable... Much worst than the first, I couldn't connect. But it's arguably worth it to see it in 3D just for the visuals.

Sure, it's beautiful. That's said. But what else ? Not much. The story itself is a 95% copy of the first one, and can't say it was original either at the time. There's a whole universe there, but that was what came from the first one. There's basically nothing new here, except what they once did in the forest they now do in the water. It basically brings nothing new. Even the bad guys, that were dead, are the same. Instead of soldiers we mostly follow the adventures of the kids, which adds a lot of annoying stupidity to what happens. The only "new" thing the movie brings might be what's happening with Kiri, but it's obviously been kept for future releases and barely scratched here. Is it at least entertaining ? Meh. It could have been, but EVERYTHING is too long. You could cut 5 to 10 minutes of absolutely every single sequence. All of them, be they exposition, adventure, contemplation or even action scenes. Everything is too long.