“A life ends, and another begins…”
That was the line narrated by Jake Sully when he accepted to take over the place of his deceased twin brother. The destination of this mission was Pandora, the remote extra-solar moon that had become vital for the survival of an Earth left without resources.
This very line is quoted again by Jake Sully in the new Avatar movie, when him, Neytiri and their new family are forced to move to another region of the moon. That seems the best decision for everyone’s safety, when the sky people come back, angrier than ever and full of vengeful feelings. This journey will lead the Sully family to interact with a new Na’vi tribe, which leads a different life than the previous one. From the forest to the sea, but still in the name of perfect symbiosis and harmony with the surrounding environment.
If Avatar 1 was an allegory of how humans exploited indigenous populations and destroyed every land left, Avatar 2 is an allegory of how humans destroyed the sea and its wonderful creatures. James Cameron put in this movie all of his love for the sea and everything it encapsulates. It is a 3-hour-long love letter to marine life!
In this marine journey, you will meet new captivating characters and you will find out that the Na’vi are not the only highly intelligent creatures on Pandora. You will meet a sort of local cetaceans capable of singing, playing, saving lives, and even composing songs! Their curse is that their highly intelligent brain contains a special substance which humans deem “the most valuable thing on Earth!” due to its anti-aging properties!
**Unobtainium **wasn’t the only precious resource that the sky people were after on Pandora…
Using a fictional biosphere, rendered with the most sophisticated CGI technologies available, to depict the brutality of whale hunting is highly poetic.
If you wonder about technology, Avatar: The Way of Water marks a considerable leap forward from the first instalment. The 3D is way more fluid, there is more depth, a higher definition of the details, and your eyes won’t feel swollen as it happened to many with the first chapter.
When I saw the underwater sequences, I can understood why this movie was delayed so many times. Motion-capture technology is very complex, as it is delicate. Capturing face movements on land is already a challenge. If you try to capture it underwater, that can become impossible for most directors. But hey! Jim is that director whose mission is to make the impossible, possible!
If you wonder about the plot, I can tell you is as exciting as the first chapter. Of course there will be less wonder effect. The surprise of seeing the alien invasion genre reversed (humans attacking aliens) is no longer here. We already know that humans brutally invaded the home of Na’vi. However, I could enjoy a more original and complex plot. If Avatar 1 was basically a Pocahontas remake, Avatar 2 has its own original story, built up by intriguing new characters that add depth to the script, characters different strata of the audience can identify with. Watch out Kiri! She’s awesome as the work behind her role. Despite Kiri is a teenager Na’vi, she’s played by Sigourney Weaver, in her shining 70s! Well, Cameron revealed that Weaver managed to resume her teenage years so much that she behaved as such for all of her permanence on Avatar set! She literally got younger!
Thank you Jim Cameron for these 3 hours of pure wonder and for making me remember to work on my (very) rusty free-diving skills! It’s time I manage my breath properly again. How long can Kate Winslet hold her breath? 7:14 minutes??? Let’s see if I beat her by the time Avatar 3 will be in theatres! ;-)
My rating: 8.5/10