Sam Worthington's Fluid Narration In 'Avatar: The Way of the Water'

Water shifts and transforms - it adapts. It fills every crevice and void, lends shapelessness to form, and formlessness to shape. Water sits, and water flows; it’s never the same twice, even when appearances may suggest otherwise. So when we examine the narrations in James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar sequel, The Way of the Water, they reflect precisely that - the way of the water. 

**This article strives to remain spoiler-free, but in case you missed the first one, Avatar: The Way of the Water is the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster ‘Avatar,’ directed by James Cameron and released in 2022. Click here for the previous Narration in TV and film column on the first Avatar**

Like the first movie, Sam Worthington’s narration in Avatar: The Way of the Water does much more than track central plot points throughout the story. It guides us through the prologue and lets us know where we are and what sets the story off. He fills us in on everything we’ve missed since the last movie and takes the audience by the hand to learn what’s about to unfold. Every time Jake has a genuinely significant thought he wants to share with the audience - lessons he’s learned or changes he’s noticed - he expresses it through narration. But in terms of content and depth - it's entirely different from the last movie. 

Any similarities we hear in Worthington’s narration between this movie and the last are just on the surface. Just like water. He uses his voiceover to talk about the customs of his people - living as one of the Navii and building a family - leading a community and understanding the burdens and joys of responsibility. 

When he speaks, he speaks not as a man from another world but as a leader. He talks with authority and a wiser age that sounds less like a marine and more like a father. What’s noticeably different about his narration between this film and the last is that he has something to lose. At the beginning of the previous movie, Jake had absolutely nothing to lose - so much so that he’d leave his parents and world behind for a chance at a fresh start. In the sequel, he talks about the pitfalls of loving a world too much - the dangers of being too happy. Of having too much love in your life, only to lose it. He worries that time moves too fast and everything changes or grows the second he takes his eyes off it. 

He expresses his concern that happiness can disappear in a heartbeat - and to that effect, as he says it, it does. Because that’s the thing about water - it can be still for a time, but eventually, and suddenly, it turns. It’s the underlying theme that runs throughout the entire movie - change. 

Another significant difference between the first installment of the Avatar franchise and its sequel is that there’s more than one narrator. Although Tsireya (Bailey Bass)’s narration isn’t as prominent as Jake’s throughout the movie, it’s no less essential to the plot and story development. The narrations seem to flow almost into one another, seamlessly yet noticeably. She guides Jake’s family and the audience alike through the philosophies of her people. Tsireya even goes so far as to explain the film's namesake - The Way of the Water. 

The Way of the Water is more than an indication of the plot moving our characters to a new locale but is part and parcel of the underlying themes and narrative style throughout the film. Her narration represents more than a shift in storyteller, but a shift in both ideas and ideals. When her voiceover begins, so does the next leg of the story. Tsiraya’s narration is as calm and peaceful as the lessons she speaks about. Her speech is fluid - a manner of speaking - no doubt used to facilitate, illustrate,  and add depth to Cameron’s multi-tiered narrative.

The original Avatar film, released in 2009, was the highest-grossing film of all time until it was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame in 2019. After working simultaneously on the sequel and its following installment, Cameron finally released The Way of the Water more than a decade (and half a billion dollars) later. Despite an underwhelming first weekend at the box office, Avatar 2 brought in more than 2 billion dollars internationally as of writing this column - reclaiming the franchise’s top spot of the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Avatar: The Way of the Water has already been nominated for 22 awards, including multiple Golden Globes. So far, the film has only seen two wins, an AFI Movies of the Year and the second a Critics Choice Award for Best Visual Effects.

The Colonel's journey in The Way of the Water is a small (but essential) narrative easter egg that might be lost on anyone not looking for it. In many ways, it ties back to the movie’s theme about the nature of water - always similar but never the same. 

His transition into a revived avatar body acts as a callback to Jake’s own start at the beginning of the first movie. He even jokes about being a narrator through his predecessor’s video diary. In many ways, he’s the perfect foil to Jake’s narration and reflective of the same process that Worthington’s character underwent. And while the Colonel might not explicitly have his own narration at any point in the movie, the tongue-in-cheek callback is worth mentioning in a column dedicated to the narration. That said, the Avatar franchise is highly effects-driven, and most of the characters we see or hear are brought to life through the magic of CGI and voiceover.

Kim Handysides is an award-winning voice artist, and coach. Among her 20K+ narrations you have heard her on Discovery, Netflix, and the major networks, in iMax, the White House and the Smithsonian.