Avatar 2
Avatar 2: A film to be savored with a glance, which reminds us of the vitality and importance of cinema. Avatar: The Way of Water contrasts a basic plot with unparalleled spectacularity.
Spectacular and immersive, this is how the vision of Avatar – The Way of Water (or Avatar 2, if you prefer), could be defined, the colossal film directed by James Cameron and in cinemas from 16 December 2022 with 20th Century Studios.
Fueled by a budget of approximately $250 million, enriched by a stellar cast, and sealed with stratospheric special effects, Cameron's work – based on a screenplay written by the director himself together with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver – replicates the visual grandeur of the first film, manifesting itself with the majestic and glittering fury befitting Pandora.
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| Jake Sully in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. |
If Avatar, released in 2009 and adamant from the top of the highest-grossing films, had staked everything on 3D and on a rather basic story, this sequel, which reaches theaters after thirteen years, applies the same strategy. The story is almost trivial, the plot doesn't count, Avatar 2 makes us perfect Na'vi and, once we wear the goggles, that alien blue world becomes ours too. Yet!
A universe that outside the cinema would not be tangible, would not be conceivable and this, however, is the miracle that lights up the moment James Cameron takes up the camera: the Canadian filmmaker knows the recipe for transcending the laws of the seventh art, transmigrating artificiality into stark entertainment.
The images explode naturally before our eyes, in a fantastic dimension that always pays attention to hooking reality just enough not to get dragged into the abyss.
Abysses, yes, this is fundamental! In a saga in which an alien planet dominates, it goes without saying that the fulcrum of everything is the exploration of the same. If Avatar and the first part of this sequel are set in forests (the comparison with Disney's fairy tale Pocahontas is self-evident and very popular), Avatar is mostly concentrated in the marine world (in terms of animated films, could we perhaps trivially talk about a link with The Little Mermaid?!).
Because by now those lianas, that vegetation, those animals, and those songs are familiar to us and would not have any charm, so the key to everything is to escape from that environment to explore another one unless you have first created a link with the previous film, having built a stable narrative bridge for escape.
Avatar 2: an almost banal story to justify the creation of a spectacular world
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| (L-R): Ronal, Tonowari, and the Metkayina clan in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. |
If at the end of the first chapter we had left Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) alongside his beloved Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), completely integrated into the local culture, in this second chapter the love story turns into a family affair.
The couple has four children – three natural and one adopted, Kiri (born to the unconscious avatar of Dr. Grace Augustine, played by Sigourney Weaver), who is also often joined by a human boy left behind by the settlers (Spider, played by Jack Champion): a kind of Tarzan who tries to blend in with the Na'vi by painting his body and imitating them in all respects.
What can break the idyllic context created if not a new invasion by the inhabitants of the sky? The villain par excellence, namely Colonel Miles Quaritch played by Stephen Lang was shot down, but his memory was preserved and an avatar was created in place of his old human body.
And so yes, the battle concocted by humans eager to grab the riches of pristine land, turns into Avatar - The Water Way in a battle driven mostly by personal revenge: the colonel wants to find and punish Jack and the latter, thinking that his departure is enough to safeguard his people, convinces the entire family to take refuge on the remote islands, where the water clans live.
With this pretext begins the exploration of a different species compared to the one to which Sully and his family belong, a species that has also adapted physically to live in contact with the marine world, changing the shape of the hands, strengthening the tail,
learning to ride animals capable of both flying and swimming and to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the local flora and fauna. In this world, the Sullys are foreigners, "monsters" and the difference is also evident from the different colors of the skin: the universe that we are about to fathom ceases to be blue to turn blue and green.
Ocean Exploration in the Service of the Seventh Art: Avatar – The Water Way is a feast for the eyes!
In this way, Cameron has created the ideal conditions to amaze spectators once again, placing at the service of cinema an incredibly realistic and compelling representation in which the spectacular lets itself be eviscerated by spirituality and beauty, making use of the best of digitization and 3D. The latter is dosed with parsimony and wit, used to bring out the depth and details of scenes and faces.
In short, the technical work is impeccable! Whether it's a fight scene or an immersion to discover strange wonders, everything is outlined with maniacal accuracy and with the right cinematic spectacularity to stimulate the WOW effect.
When you immerse yourself in the waters of this alien world, in many ways (and rightly so) similar to our earthly paradises, you almost have the pleasant impression of watching a documentary and in this regard, it is legitimate to underline the link between James Cameron and the oceanic research, the same one that prompted him,
in 2012, to dive into the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean. If at the time he said he was hopeful of continuing to cultivate both of his passions, now we can say that in Avatar - The Water Way his intention seems to have been fully realized.
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| Ronal in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR 2. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. |
Obviously, this new context also favors the entry into the cast of new characters, such as Cliff Curtis in the role of Tonowari, the head of the Metkayina reef clan, and Kate Winslet in those of her partner, Tonowari. A figure, the latter, which is equal to that of Neytiri, outlines the cornerstones of a society anchored to patriarchal and ancestral logics.
This a detail that ultimately does not affect the storyline, while other nuances that the plot leaves open could be further developed, such as the hunt for huge marine animals that possess a serious ability to block the human aging process ( a reference to whaling that could have inflamed the animal-loving public) or the function of the remaining human colonists on Pandora.
Still turning on the graphic question, it is incredible to notice how Cameron's mastery and authority translate into an astounding self-quotation that makes us relive – especially towards the end – the scenic epicness of masterpieces such as Titanic but scattered here and there are also Aliens – Final Clash, Terminator, The Abyss.
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| Ronal in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR 2. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. |
The plot of Avatar – The Water Way, as we mentioned, disappears in comparison to what coagulates before our eyes. There is undoubtedly a lot of spirituality, there is generational confrontation, and a pinch of environmentalism, but everything seems to be basically not very cohesive and not at all impactful.
This second chapter is net of everything, a film to eat with your eyes, a work to be enjoyed in the intense darkness of the cinema, a film that reminds us why art week exists. In a certain sense, it is as if Cameron kept in mind the amazement of the spectators who for the first time saw a moving train shaking on the big screen (we are referring to The arrival of a train at La Ciotat station, by the Lumière brothers) and drew from that marvel, enriching it however with modern technology.
The film, produced by Cameron and Jon Landau, also stars Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver (in the double role of Kiki and Dr. Grace Kate Winslet), Britain Dalton, Bailey Bass, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Bliss, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans Jr. and CJ Jones.
