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Movie Name: Avatar: The Way of Water
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Kate Winslet
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Release Date: 16 December, 2022
Running Time: 192 Minutes
Rating:
Budget: $ 250 million
Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the planet of Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na’vi race to protect their planet.
Avatar: The Way of Water (colloquially known as Avatar 2) is an upcoming American epic science-fiction film directed by James Cameron and produced by 20th Century Studios. It is the second film in Cameron’s Avatar franchise, following Avatar (2009). Cameron is producing the film with Jon Landau, with Josh Friedman originally announced as Cameron’s cowriter; it was later announced that Cameron, Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Shane Salerno took a part in the writing process of all sequels before being attributed separate scripts, making the eventual writing credits unclear. Cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, and Matt Gerald reprise their roles from the original film, with Sigourney Weaver returning in a different role. New cast members include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Michelle Yeoh, Jemaine Clement, Oona Chaplin, Vin Diesel, and CJ Jones.
Cameron, who had stated in 2006 that he would like to make sequels to Avatar if it was successful, announced the first two sequels in 2010 following the widespread success of the first film, with The Way of Water aiming for a 2014 release. However, the addition of three more sequels (to the first one) and the necessity to develop new technology in order to film performance capture scenes underwater, a feat never accomplished before, led to significant delays to allow the crew more time to work on the writing, preproduction, and visual effects. Preliminary shooting for the film started in Manhattan Beach, California, on August 15, 2017, followed by principal photography simultaneously with Avatar 3 in New Zealand on September 25, 2017; filming concluded in late September 2020, after over three years of shooting, despite production being interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The film’s theatrical release has been subject to eight delays, with the latest occurring on July 23, 2020; it is currently planned for a release on December 16, 2022, with the following three sequels to be released, respectively, on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026 and December 22, 2028.
Avatar: The Way of Water – Movie Trailer
Movie Review:
James Cameron’s film is immersive, but with a basic storyline
Apart from the stunning visuals (blue-green is the warmest colour) and the standard plot, what runs through one’s mind while watching James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is the story of stories. While The Way of Water does not boast of intricate, mind-bending Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman-style storytelling, (perish that thought), it does remind one of the whirlpool of stories swirling around in our collective subconscious that bubbles up as myths, legends, novels, plays, comic books, and movies.
Not a particularly revolutionary thought, but it still crosses one’s mind when watching the avatar of wicked Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) consider his skull. One is reminded of the long conversation a certain gloomy Dane had with poor Yorick, and when the skull is crushed (not underfoot), one remembers Cameron’s own Terminator series.
‘ Jonah and The Whale’ comes to mind when Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) goes into the mouth of the rogue cetacean, Payakan, and though the greedy Scoresby (Brendan Cowell) is hunting the tulkun (whale-like creatures) for filthy lucre, there is a whiff of Ahab in his chase. The process of getting the anti-ageing amrit — it does not get more legendary than that — is reminiscent of 19th whalers. Ahab also finds echoes in Quaritch’s pursuit of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington).
James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ sequel has stunning visuals that get elevated on a big IMAX screen. However, the plot is less than engaging, the dialogues are clunky, and you wish it was shorter
The great, big vessel turning turtle with the lights going off and people clambering over chairs on the ground that has suddenly become the roof is reminiscent of… My heart can surely go on and on…
As mentioned before, Way of the Water has a basic plot with the necessary lashings of revenge, family, love, acceptance and healing thrown in. More than ten years after the events of 2009’s Avatar, Jake is living in Pandora with his Na’vi mate, Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). They have two sons, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo’ak, and a daughter, Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss).
They have adopted Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), a miracle baby born of Dr Grace Augustine’s (Weaver) avatar and Spider (Jack Champion), Quaritch’s son who was too young to be put in cryo-stasis to be transported back to earth. Incidentally, what is with Weaver and alien babies? In Alien 3, her Sgt Ripley sensibly chooses death to delivering the Alien Queen and in Alien Resurrection she is a clone carrying an alien embryo.
Back to The Way of Water, as the earth is dying, ravenous corporates turn their eyes once more to fertile Pandora for resettlement. With Jake leading the Na’vi attempts at disrupting the supply chain, Quaritch fronts a team of equally dreadful soldiers to neutralise the threat and get his revenge.
Jake and his family flee to the sea where they are given refuge by the reef people led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet). After initial skirmishes, the youngsters settle down. The Sully island paradise is not safe for long as Quaritch and company are hot on their heels setting up for the mandatory big battle.
While the marine world of the Metkayina is eye-popping and one can easily lose oneself in the tulkun’s expressive eyes and the gossamer wings of the sea creatures, it is the military vehicles that are truly mind-boggling. The brutal lines of the industrial designs in the choppers, trains and marine vessels are oddly seductive. Watching The Way of Water in 3D IMAX gives a new meaning to the term immersive.
And yes, Cameron will be back, hopefully with a shorter film — three hours plus seems a tad long especially when you have dragged yourself out of bed for a 7 AM show on a cold December morning — less clunky dialogue, and a slightly more engaging plot.
