I think my 5 biggest issues were:
extremely pointed, anemic dialouge that felt too scripted, too underwhelming (Neytiri.... my god say something girl); too many catchphrases and quips.
Scenes that felt rushed or clipped, pacing that felt awkward
Narrative wrapped in bubble wrap, extremely predictable, surface level themes and tropes
The Mangkuan's depiction as power hungry, savage heathens mad at god and wanting world domination (Varang as the seductress witch... Quarang forced and unnecessary. 'Fire and death!' –please tell me i misheard those chants)
Rehashing A2 (too many parallels im sorry)
To balance it out, 5 things I liked
Mycellium symbiosis was revealed too soon and not as expanded upon (perhaps other films or game lore will reveal later), but the concept is very interesting in itself and lead to questioning the future of colonization of Pandora, esp as the big city is populated w remaining RDA workers and is still fortified somewhat, though damaged.
Quaritch's charisma was entertaining. His loyalty to mission work is interesting to his character and altho im not very interested in his relationship w Spider, it was interesting seeing his focus faulter trying to reserve a relationship w him
Hearing Neytiri (barely) actually say how she felt about humans. Im glad she was able to say she hated them. Idc what Jake said abt her hating him and her kids deep down cuz ofc he would. She had every right to hate humans for what they did and the end goal of it all anyway was to kill them all and drive them away sans a handful. Ofc killing them all was bc the majority of humans chose to be hostile against the Na'vi clans for exploitive purposes rather than just their being human. But Neytiri being Na'vi, she has no reason to align with humans at all and it would make sense if she got fed up with trying to defend them for her former allegiences and relationships; everything they wrought upon her people, her world, and herself is just beyond despicable and horrible. Neytiri got to hate humans on screen (she does so in the comics too a little) and, altho she was faulted for it, it was ok to me. That sort of hate isnt irrational, its warranted. Shes home, humans arent.
As much as the movie tried to make the Mangkuan seem creepy, cultish, and extreme, it didnt, and made their fire purity beliefs and lifestyles seem more interesting to me. I didnt quite follow Varang's logic of figuring out the specific purity of fire after mastering it. But ig in response to volcanic destruction, viewing controlled fire as pure came with coping with its destructive power. I wanted to know what their style meant, what creatures the bone totems were made from, why certaim (largely unnamed??) Mangkuan clan members had certain piercings over others. We never rlly got to know ofc, but they intruigued me. And i wonder if the little Na'vi we heard them speak w each other was dialectical. Anyway, I liked their fire and their aesthetic, just hate that it ended up being a massive stereotype instead of something more than surface lvl.
We did get to hear more Na'vi (Quaritch and Jake speaking Na'vi to each other!!!), and we also got to see a LOT more of the sign language which is great!!! It seemed neglected for a long time but its got fresh new words and phrases that were frequently used by Lo'ak, Tsireya, Aounung, Rotxo, Tonowari, and iirc Ronal. Really fleshes out the Metkayina culture more
