The 13 year wait is over - Avatar: The Way of Water has arrived in cinemas across the land.
At three hours ten minutes long... will the fans be entertained on the trip back to Pandora?
I'll be honest, 13 years feels like a lifetime ago and there have been a lot of movies under the Hollywood bridge since Avatar blew our minds back in 2009 with its groundbreaking FX work.
Can James Cameron and his Na'vi do it all again?
Turns out yes. Yes they can!
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has made Pandora his home alongside his fierce and formidable mate Neyteri (Zoe Saldana) leaders of their clan and their growing brood.
Avatar:The Way of Water is all about family and family for all species on Pandora. It's also the key to a more emotional experience in the cinema.
Cameron dials up the extraordinary sensory experience here, opening us up to new worlds on Pandora and repatriating the Sullys.
They are taken in by the Metkayina, the reef people, who are headed up by Tonowari (played by our very own Cliff Curtis).
That can mean only one thing: Water.
We are by the water, on the water and gloriously under the water. It's a phenomenal feeling to be immersed in it all.
Of course, once again, the Na'vi are forced to fight for their very survival. The Sky People return and they want far, far more than just mining for unobtainium; they've got total domination on their to-do list and have brought in the big guns to tick it off. They will stop at nothing.
Avatar: The Way of Water was a quite simply a magnificent way to wind up the cinematic year and celebrate the singular joy of the big screen experience with an Avatar as good if not better than its predecessor.
I'd recommend you see it no other way than 3D and immerse yourself in the sweeping visual spectacle of it all while soaking up a far richer story with far more at stake.
Five stars.
