‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ – Deep Dive Into Without Spoilers
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is prepping to bring some additional oxygen to movie theaters this weekend- a whole lot
Toni Gonzales
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is prepping to bring some additional oxygen to movie theaters this weekend- a whole lot of it. The looong awaited sequel comes 13 years after its original and expectations along with the anticipation and the hype is higher than the Sky People’s orbit.
Taking on a sequel is daunting for any Hollywood director. But James Cameron is as far from an average director as a Starbucks is from Pandora – which is to say, they aren’t even in the same universe. Cameron is not only one of the most successful directors of this generation, he is one of the most successful sequel directors. Two of his most adored sequels of all-time are “Aliens” and “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” are blockbusters in their own right.
But, before we talk about whether you should wade through the waters of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” or submerge you in some truly impressive numbers about this sequel, let’s dive into the shallow end shall we?
Spoiler Free Setup
Ready the wet suits, check our oxygen tanks and prep to go underwater to the reefs of Metkayina. That is after a pitstop in Pandora. We begin with the Sully family.
Sam Worthington returns to the leading role of Marine turned Na’vi leader
Jake Sully and at his side is his love Zoe Saldaña, the Na’vi warrior Neytiri. The two find themselves blissfully raising a family of four.
Movie audiences have become accustomed to character resurrections, particularly in sequels, so it came as little surprise that both Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang returned. We won’t spoil how they came back, or even if they reprise their original roles, but we will say that it is certainly inline with the story’s tone.
In keeping with the spoiler free setup we won’t say why the Sully family has to leave Pandora but they do. Not surprisingly they seek refuge underwater and are forced to either become allies or enemies of the Metkayina people, a.k.a The Reef People. The Metkayina’s are led by Kate Winslet who portrays Ronal, the Tsahik or Shamanic Matriarch of the Metkayina clan, and Cliff Curtis who is Tonowari, her other half and the Olo’eyktan of the clan.
Two-thirds of “Avatar: The Way of Water” is spent in the water. Not shocking since Cameron has a love of the ocean like few others do. “For one, our director James Cameron knows more about the ocean than anyone,” says Production Designer Dylan Cole. Referring to both Cameron’s record-breaking solo dive to Earth’s lowest point in 2012, and also to his life-long passion for the sea.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” – Deep Dive on Numbers
Generally speaking, numbers aren’t the focus of any movie review or report. But the ones on “Avatar: The Way of Water” are soaked with some staggering ones. Let’s start by showing you the money.
For context, a quick refresher on its predecessor, “Avatar.” The 2009 film had a reported budget of $237 million dollars. When all was said and done it grossed almost $3 billion. That includes a re-release earlier this fall that included more than $75 million to its bottom line.
The sophomore installment has a reported budget of $350,000,000. Forecasters put the overall gross as high as $525 worldwide and $325-million on the low end opening weekend alone. As of the posting of this article, domestic pre-sales are already nearing $40-million for Thursday – Monday showings.
In all, five separate “Avatar” films have been announced. Each installment has a targeted release date, though as we saw with the pandemic, they remain just that – a target. That said they are as follows:
Avatar 3 December 20, 2024
Avatar 4 December 18, 2026
Avatar 5 December 22, 2028
Four films were written before production began on “Avatar: The Way of Water” even began. Cameron wanted to have the screenplays set in place saying, “We had to write four movies before I could start on the first sequel.” Then adding, “I wanted to map out all the stories and then get the economy of scale of capturing the actors across multiple films and then filming the live action. The thinking was we could consolidate the different stages of production together—performance capture, live
action and then post-production.”
Speaking of the performance capture, the production of that part of the film began in the fall of 2017. It would take approximately a year and a half to complete. Simultaneously, Cameron and the cast worked on scenes for all four of the sequels.
“For the actors, it’s a very pure process,” says Cameron. “They’re not distracted by anything. We just roll. Sometimes we’ll record for 10 to 12 minutes straight. It’s a creative sandbox, and I find as a director, I’m much more attuned to the actors’ emotional states,” Cameron says.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” REVIEW
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is a stuffed three hours and 20 minutes (fade up to fade down and no after credit scene). It is a mammoth of a film. Does it feel like three hours and 20 minutes? No. Could it have been cut? Yep. But after seeing it, it would be a considerable exercise to actually execute a timely edit.
It’s difficult to find a single word that describes the utterly exceptional experience that is “Avatar: The Way of Water.” We would be well within our rights to use “marvel,” “epic,” “spectacular,” and “astonishing” to describe “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Technically speaking it is a masterpiece. We can’t say enough about the adventure that Cameron delivers.
In the same way Cameron revolutionized (literally) the movie going experience in films like “Terminator” and “Titanic” he does so again here, by leaps and bounds. For fans of both of those movies, there are visual callbacks to both films and a few others buried in “Avatar: The Way of Water” that will make a Cameron fan giddy. If possible, see it in 3D, like we did. We stop short of saying, “We guarantee you’ll love it or your money back,” because critics aren’t paid by the word. But if we were, we would. Take the fact that “Avatar: The Way of Water” got several noms from the critics speak to the majesty of the film.
That is technically speaking. As for the story. Well, hmm, let’s just say it’s dramatic. Everyone has that one friend who is always in peril, always at defcon 1, always in need of time or money, or even both. That is this movie and then some. The drama helps keep the pace tight (and it is paced pretty evenly). But, like our previously discussed dramatic friend, it gets old and tiring fast.
Unruly kids who are disrespectful more times than not really gnaw at ya. That is so not the way of the Na’vi and broke with the convention so deeply rooted in the first film. Add to that an at times blindly led matriarch in Neytiri – several times the question arose, “girl is he (Jake) worth all this?” Simply put, the story is less spectacular than the visual effect.
(L-R): Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.Several answers are left hanging at the end of this second film. We can only hope they will have interesting reveals in the following installments. Judging from the way some characters were brought back in this latest, there is no reason to think there won’t be.
Should you race to theaters to see this one? Oh hell yes. I would encourage no food or drinks and instead use that money to spring for a center seat in a 3D showing.