3 hours was not justifiable when the plot was as bad as it was. Just because it was nice to look at does not mean it was a good movie. We get the same characters from the first movie thrown back at us with an absurd amount of exposition to introduce the new characters, who were largely underdeveloped outside of maybe the two main kids. The themes were completely played out, the motivations were not strong. I honestly think the only reason people enjoyed it was because of the animation. But, again, that does not justify three hours of a weak storyline just to get some cool scenes of avatars in the water. There were so many plot points that were completely brushed off, I'm guessing to make us want to see the next movies, but it was completely unsatisfying the way they were introduced and then essentially ignored. There was nothing about this that made me want to see more. All I wanted was for it to be over.