After a long anticipated wait, Avatar 2: The Way of Water finally hit theaters Dec 16, 2022, and has already grossed $1.5 billion in the box office. Avatar fans around the world have seemed to have mixed feelings about the newest movie, with questions like “How could it take this long to make? and “Does it live up to the hype?”

Avatar fans who have seen the first and second movie have various opinions on which movie they liked better. “Honestly, they are very similar. Obviously it is later and they have kids – but the plot hasn’t significantly changed.  I did like the addition of thinking more about the role of animals – the whale-like animals – in the second movie,” social studies teacher Cheryl Kingma-Kiekhofer said. 

Other fans who’ve seen the first Avatar movie said they loved the new incorporation of the two worlds in the second movie, which provided more of a plot they didn’t know was possible before seeing the second movie. “I liked that they added the aquatic aspect to the movie. It was a lot more interesting because they had to adapt-rather than in the first movie,”  sophomore Betsy Potkay said.

People who had seen the first and second movie had positive reviews. “I’ve seen both the first and second movie. I thought Avatar 2 was good and overall I could see more Avatar movie franchise movies being made,” junior Alexandra Pegelow said. 

On the other hand, some people who’ve only seen the second Avatar movie were confused. “Overall I thought the movie looked a little unnecessary and nothing in the movie seemed to make sense. Honestly, I just couldn’t comprehend a single scene in the movie and what was going on,” junior Hana Awad said. 

Others feel that the second movie gave the audience what they wanted, and complimented the movie well. “Avatar 2 somehow topped the first one. The visuals were absolutely amazing, and I did not feel like I was watching a 3 hour movie at all,” junior Hannah Mellock said. 

If there doesn’t end up being any more Avatar sequels, James Cameron fans feel his genius filmmaking and creative mind will forever have a place in the film universe.