December 22, 2025 – While the plot is not aging well, the visuals are, again, a feast for the eyes. Shooting for this movie began in New Zealand in 2017 and was completed in 2020. At a cost of over $400 million, it is said to be the most expensive film ever made. More sequels are planned, depending on the success of this one, and it looks strong so far.

This movie picks up the plot where the last one left off on the world of Pandora with both a whaling ship captain, Scoresby (played by Brendan Cowell, reprising his role) and Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang, reprising his role) still seeking revenge against Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, reprising his role) and his wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña, reprising her role). The plot of this movie is very similar to the previous film.

This time, the Sully clan is up against more than just those two. General Frances Ardmore (Edie Falco, reprising her role) is back with more troops and this time. Quaritch has found some Na'vi allies, the Mangkwan tribe (Ash People) led by the fierce tsahik Varang (Oona Chaplin of “The Longest Ride”) who is more than happy to help the humans evict the Na'vi from the places they want to exploit. Varang feels betrayed by the Na'vi holy entity, Eywa.

As in the last film, this movie continues to explore the relationship of Spider (Jack Champion, reprising his role) to his two violently opposed father figures, Quaritch and Jake Sully. It also continues to explore the nature of Sully's adopted daughter, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver, reprising her role) who has a profound connection to this planet. Developments in this movie make Spider a person of great interest to the humans.

This movie is three hours long, but it is well paced, and there is plenty of action, with captures, escapes and numerous battles. There is also a lot of negotiating with Eywa and the powerful whales (called Tulkun on Pandora) to persuade them to fight the invaders, who have the crazy idea of wiping out all of the Tulkun, despite their high value.

This movie has some new creatures in it. Some look a lot like very large cuttlefish, and there some things that look like seals, but with arms and hands. There is also something like an energy tornado called a magnetic flux that looks very dangerous. If you are familiar with Pandora through hours of movies, this is mostly familiar, as is the plot of this movie.

The story is good enough, and the visuals, especially in 3D, are spectacular. This movie is a huge spectacle, full of visual imagination and new world building. It rates a B.

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