It has been over ten years since the “Avatar” film came out and did exceptionally well, beating Director James Cameron’s previous blockbuster, Titanic, and becoming the highest-grossing film ever made. To this day, no other film has made $2.9 billion at the box office, and it remains to be seen if Cameron will outdo himself again.
The original Avatar film was described with words like bedazzling, immersive, incandescent, and glowing. Judging by the movie standards of the time, the forest and Pandora’s floating mountain landscape gave viewers a shimmering fairy tale like no other.
The sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” uses modern technology to enhance the visual effects of Pandora. The 3D images in the movie can be described as hyper-clear, with a quality that can be attributed to high frame-rate shooting.
The new film makes you feel like you share the same space as the blue-skinned Na’vi warriors, who are super tall and have the speed of gazelles and the eyes of mountain lions. The film also introduces a new Na’vi subculture of the reef people, who have their evolutionary adaptations and fantastical scenery.
One thing about the two movies is that their storylines and plots are pretty unremarkable. One might argue that they are entirely predictable. However, Cameron includes themes of imperialism, family dynamics, and environmentalism constructed in an entertaining yet educational way.
SPOILER ALERT: The sequel “The Way of Water” picks up years later after the original story, and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his wife, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), enjoy their married life and have four kids. The film begins with the couple making time for date nights and gushing about how content they are with their life. But like every movie, no good thing lasts forever, and “sky people,” i.e., people from planet Earth, show up on Pandora to lay siege to the peaceful and beautiful paradise.
This time, the siege is because the sky people have polluted the Earth beyond repair, and it has become virtually inhabitable, so they are seeking new places to settle.
Jake, who believes it is his responsibility as a father to protect his family, seeks refuge with a new water clan, and their king and queen welcome him. Although fleeing delays the inevitable fighting, it gives the viewers a chance to know the new rich culture and allows the children to deal with the pettiness that comes with becoming the new kids on the block.
The film is significantly longer than the original “Avatar,” clocking 192 minutes. Cameron has previously said that he will make more sequels, and there are three more coming out in 2024, another in 2026, and the final one in 2028.
The sequel cost a staggering $350 million, and compared to the original, which cost $237 million, it would have to be among the top four grossing films of all time to break even. The biggest challenge is whether it will surpass the 2009 Avatar and make over $2.9 billion.
