Movie review
December 14, 2022 · 192 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The movie pushes anti-colonial and environmental activist themes the whole way through. The Sully family fights human colonizers from the RDA corporation who invade to destroy Pandora’s oceans and hunt sacred tulkun whales for profit. Na’vi live in perfect spiritual harmony with nature and Eywa while humans are shown as greedy exploiters ruining everything. James Cameron frames pregnant Na’vi warriors as female empowerment. The narrative engine is constant resistance to capitalist resource extraction and colonial violence.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Avatar: The Way of Water.
Woke representation / casting
Diverse mocap cast for Na’vi aliens fits the fictional world.
Woke political dialogue
Dialogue calls out human greed and entitlement.
Identity-driven story themes
Na’vi family resists colonizers while embracing nature spirituality.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Strong condemnation of capitalist corporations, colonial invasion, and environmental destruction by humans.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Some anti-woke criticism for the environmental and anti-colonial messages.
Creator track record context
James Cameron’s history of environmental activism and anti-imperialist framing in the Avatar films.
Production
