This film runs 3:12: There’s less than an hour of plot, several hours of cool creatures and places, then one battle at the end. The story is set 10 years after the original. The Sully family lives happily in their beautifully natural world, until the “sky people” (Earthlings) descend on Pandora to mine its resources. Meanwhile, a soldier from the last mission is after the family (in his new hybrid half-Na’vi form). This drives the family to seek refuge with their neighboring waterborne tribes. Since the first film was so visually dazzling, we’re expecting more of that here. There is certainly lots of appealing imagery, but it’s not as impactful. Even with the excellent motion capture, it’s hard to relate to the blue creatures on an emotional level. Still, this tells a compelling story with a strong final battle and plenty of visual appeal. NOTE: To hear my interview with TyRuben Ellingson, who was a designer on the first Avatar, click here. 
(4 / 5)
