This is James Cameron's ninth feature. His filmography isn't that long, but he has the distinction of being the director of the two biggest, original films in terms of worldwide box office. Titanic (1997) grossed $2.2 billion and Avatar (2009) grossed close to $3 billion. Unlike other sequels that Cameron has directed, including Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Cameron took a long time before releasing this one. He took seven years between Terminator sequels. The time between Avatar sequels is almost double that amount.
A lot of that is due to the time it took to develop the technology to film the way that Cameron wanted. Cameron wanted to film at a high-frame-rate (HFR) and wanted to film performance capture underwater. That technology wasn't readily available. Cameron's team had to develop or invent that technology and that took time.
In 2012, Cameron became the first person to do a solo descent to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. He spent about seven hours underwater. From Titanic and going back to The Abyss (1989) and even Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), Cameron has always had a fascination with the water and the ocean. His previous films have focused on the terror and the danger that can come of it. This film is probably his first to focus on the beauty and the majesty of the water, really conveying what must be Cameron's love of the sea.
The 2009 entry was nominated for nine Oscars at the 82nd Academy Awards, including Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. All three, it won. Given the boundaries Cameron broke with his utilization of 3D imagery, those awards were very much deserved. Cameron similarly breaks boundaries with his utilization of underwater photography here that nominations and even wins at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards will likely also be well deserved. The underwater imagery is gorgeous here.
Recent blockbusters like Aquaman (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) have created underwater civilizations. Each have used various techniques to bring those submerged worlds to the big screen in live-action form. By comparison, those films were dark and murky. By comparison, those films were not visually pleasing. By comparison, those films were not eye-popping. Cameron's below-the-surface images are bright, colorful and more realized than any film has ever done before. The 3D is fine but perhaps not as impressive.
Sam Worthington (Clash of the Titans and Terminator Salvation) reprises his role of Jake Sully, a former Marine who was human but his mind or consciousness was transferred into an alien body, known as an avatar. The alien body is that of the Na'vi, a race of tall, blue bipeds. He uses his skills in this new body to help the Na'vi fight the human military that comes to the alien planet of Pandora in order to mine it for resources and ultimately colonize it.
Zoe Saldaña (Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Trek) reprises her role of Neytiri, a native born person of Pandora. She's not human. She's a Na'vi and she's a very strong and even fierce warrior. She falls in love with Jake and works with him to fight against the human military. This sequel seemingly occurs a decade or more in Pandora's time since the events of the last film because Neytiri is now a mother to five children, three biological and two adopted, her eldest being a teenager either 16 or 17.
Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe and Public Enemies) also reprises his role of Miles Quaritch, a colonel who led the human military that was trying to colonize Pandora. He engaged in harsh and brutal tactics with no regard for the Na'vi, their land, their culture or civilization. His character was killed in the previous film, but, like Jake, Miles' consciousness got transferred into an avatar, which resurrects him. Now, Miles wants revenge and spends the whole film going after Jake and his family.
What makes this film so long is the time that Cameron takes introducing us to Jake and Neytiri's children. When Miles goes after those children and those children have to fight back, Cameron wants us to know and care about them. Cameron only succeeds really with endearing us to three of those five children. One is Lo'ak, played by Britain Dalton, the youngest of Jake and Neytiri's sons. The other is Kiri, played by Sigourney Weaver (Aliens and Ghostbusters), the eldest of Jake and Neytiri's daughters who's actually adopted. The film doesn't have time to delve too far into her biological parentage, but, being portrayed by Weaver does help to endear us to Kiri in an intrinsic way.
Jack Champion plays Miles Socorro aka "Spider," the only child of Jake and Neytiri who not only is adopted but also is the only human among them. His story is basically akin to Mowgli from The Jungle Book (1967). He could also be seen as a young Tarzan-like character. For the most part, his role underscores this trans-racial idea with which Cameron's 2009 film and this one are attempting to grapple. Really, it's an trans-species idea, a human being identifying as another species. It's a human identifying as Na'vi. The first film was about a human transferring his consciousness into a Na'vi, so these ideas were always there. For Spider, he was raised in an non-human culture, so his experience could also be akin to the experiences of DACA or what's known as "Dreamers."
The experiences of Dreamers are that of immigrants and refugees, which essentially Jake and his family become. We basically see Jake and his family travel to the water-based society of Metkayina and have to learn to live there. The middle chunk of the film involves Jake and his family having to deal with issues of integration and assimilation that many immigrants have to face. The water-based society gets a lot of set-up and Cameron spends a lot of time establishing this area, which is important for the final act, but it can feel a little slow and dragged out. However, the third act, which is all intense action, make up for any slowness.
For fans of Cameron's films, a lot of it will be familiar. The military technology looks reminiscent of the technology from Aliens. That final act involves a large boat or ship that begins to sink, and Cameron follows that ship until it totally goes down. Forget being a sequel to Avatar, it felt like a sequel to Titanic at that point.
Rated PG-13 for strong violence, intense action, partial nudity and language.
Running Time: 3 hrs. and 12 mins.
In theaters.
