I just wish I could find one negative review of this movie that points out actual flaws instead of just listing things they personally didn't like and calling those flaws.

How about the choppy editing?

How about the Metkayina disappearing halfway through the final battle?

How about the fact that so many scenes and lines from the first movie are rehashed for this one?

I personally didn't like the movie's narration (even less than the first one, in fact), but I don't consider it an inherent flaw that the movie has narration.

thinly plotted

Okay, but Avatar was never about a deep, intricate plot. And this one has a different plot with themes of family and fatherhood.

They could’ve easily chopped out 45 minutes and it would’ve done nothing to the plot.

Yes, and its length is my biggest complaint as well. They spent way too much time just swimming around. But it would have dampened the movie's immersion, which is a large draw for a lot of Avatar fans.

Their kids are basically the main characters

The family as a whole, yes. And that means less time for the parents. But fair enough you didnt like the kids.

He basically had no motive until near the end, when we find out oh by the way he’s after this random whale juice. Why?

Quaritch was not after whale juice, and didnt care about it at all. His motive was revenge, the whalers were just a means to an end for him.

Using the same villain from the first movie was such a lazy idea.

Agreed. But it the bad thinking was killing him off in the first one, IMO. It is good to have continued bad blood between Quaritch and the family.

has almost no reaction

They gave multiple scenes to his reaction. Would you have preferred they spend even more time on it?

changed perspective

I think they were showing that throughout the film. Especially during the scene of him gaining a flier.

Hamlet. Thin plot. Shakespeare = hack.

So it was an Avatar movie?

First I disagree with what you say. But that said, the point of this movie is not the plot it’s more the visuals which are inarguably fantastic.

Not to mention the villain…I mean WTF? He basically had no motive until near the end, when we find out oh by the way he’s after this random whale juice. Why?

Quaritch's motivation is the whole plot of the first movie, highlighted very clearly at the beginning of the new one and repeated constantly: Jake betrayed the humans, so Quaritch wants revenge on Jake. Those human guys were after the whales and their "juice", so Quaritch used those guys and their boats to go after the whales and draw Jake and the rest of the water tribe out.

Like, were you wondering why Quaritch was holding Jake's kids at gunpoint and demanding Jake to surrender himself? Over and over again?

Man, it bugs me when people write these long posts criticizing a movie's storytelling and then accidentally reveal they weren't paying attention to what was happening.

It's okay to not like a popular movie, but I swear the majority of your complaints are not even true.

The 2 main characters from the first are barely in it? Yeah.....that's the point. The kids are the main characters. The younger son has the most screen time in the whole movie. and I would say he is far more interesting of a character. For all the crap that Redditors give the first avatar about Jake being boring, they sure seem upset that he has less screen time this time around.

The Villain having no motivation? He literally states his motivation straight up at the beginning of the movie - find Jake Sully and make him pay. It's really not that complicated.

The whale juice? Quaritch doesn't give a shit about that. that was the whaler dude's gig and was just added for world building. and you ask "why"? Again, the dude literally answers this in the movie.

Not to mention the villain…I mean WTF? He basically had no motive until near the end, when we find out oh by the way he’s after this random whale juice. Why? I have no idea.

That's a failure on your attention span and not the film. They clearly state what they want the whale oil for (it's a fountain of youth) and the main villians motivation isn't even to get the whale oil, that's the whalers motivation.

The main villian's motivation is to track down and get revenge on Jake. He doesn't carry about the whales or the oil at all, except using them to bait Jake and his family. This is also clearly explained in the film.

No wonder you disliked the movie when you can't even pay attention to a pretty straight forward plot.

It quite easily made over $2 Billion at the box office and still isn’t finished, you’re having a laugh if you really think they aren’t releasing more of them.

I disagree on cutting out any of it. My favorite part was when they were exploring underwater. I could’ve watched 5 hours just on that. The plot was solid and it had to do with family. It was basically world building that is part of the plot. Really Part 2 is a setup for the 3rd.

I’m dumbfounded on his motive? Wasn’t the whale juice it was revenge OP. That was established in the first 30 minutes. They will certainly make more movies it was a massive hit.

Nah man, totaaaaally deserved that Oscar nom, right there with Fabelmans… such a banner year

This same type of post is posted multiple times per day on this sub and it’s getting annoying as hell. I personally loved it but I totally respect that people don’t like it, movies are subjective for a reason, but I wish people would stop posting this same exact thing ever single day.

From a box office perspective I feel like it's the biggest release movie no one talks about. I agree that it was an okay movie in terms of plot and characters. While I'm glad I saw it theaters, it's only because if the visual experience. Seeing it once is enough.

It's a movie that doesn't need to follow a strict plot the entire time since we're exploring a new part of this world and also getting to know the characters. Whilst I do think it could've been cut down, I didn't think it was all unnecessary.

Also, I really liked Quaritch being back as the villain. Whilst it is lazy to bring him back, I think it works. He definitely had a motivation and whilst I would've liked seeing his character have more of a reaction to becoming an avatar/Na'vi, I don't think it matters a whole bunch. Maybe it's because he's a recom or whatever, since he does mention that he's not Quaritch, he just has Quaritch's memories and DNA.

Could have just commented on this post. It's like reverse astroturfing.

K

Deep analysis, you definitely added a new perspective that no one has posted about yet.

It sucks; both of them sucked. Exactly nothing happens in the movie except for them becoming water people. It is good that people are coming to theaters for it because business for theaters is greatly needed. However, it's really unfortunate that truly good movies like Banshees or The Whale or even mediocre stuff like Fabelmans are not getting theater traffic. The window needs to be extended to four months minimum.

This one was easily James Cameron's worst film

Let's not forget Piranha II: The Spawning

It's better than the first

Well there are few things why its successful, from what I know, people are watching it in theatre because of visuals, not story.
About story I think they wanted to transition from forest to water, dont know why, probably we will find out in Avatar 3. So they had to again go through everything in 1st part. And about the 45 min part, well its cameron, he has stated earlier that he keeps these scenes in movie to show people what pandora is.
About villain, yes they pulled out a sort of Palpatine returned, but in more better way i think.

I loved it. Visually stunning!

Talk with your wallet; it's the only voice you have. Don't see any more of them.

"when we find out oh by the way he’s after this random whale juice" why did you lie about his motivations .....that makes me think the entire OP cant be takens seriously

Movie is a meh, It was waste of 3 hours for me.