Avatar: The Way Of Water is really a wonder of the world, not just a movie

In 2009, Avatar created an earthquake on a worldwide scale. Viewers, whether movie geeks or mass audiences, have to take their hats off to the scene where the planet Pandora and the Na’vi created by James Cameron bring life to the screen with the help of technology. make 3D movies. 13 years on from that point, Avatar returns with the sequel Avatar: The Way Of Water. This is the first in a series of four planned sequels that the director cherishes, continuing to take audiences to explore the hazy horizons of the planet Pandora.

Amidst a Hollywood saturated with ideas and it seems that no new blockbuster hits theaters enough, Avatar: The Way Of Water has shouldered the expectations of both critics and fans of a new work. The product offers a unique experience like Avatar (2009) used to be. That expectation can be read by the huge investment, by the estimated gross, the award nominations that have been awarded to The Way of Water before the film officially hits theaters. The work of James Cameron’s feat finally officially hit theaters on December 16 with a respectable length – more than 190 minutes. But it’s 190 minutes that once watched, audiences will want to go back and keep coming back.

Wonders of Pandora under the ocean

Avatar: The Way of Water opens 15 years after the events of the first film. Coming out of a fierce battle with Sky Man, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have found peace together. They became husband and wife, had children and in the blink of an eye became parents of 4 children. But that peaceful life did not last forever when danger once again came from a distant star in the sky. After a painful spiritual struggle, Sully’s family had to leave their homeland in the mountains, becoming a refuge for the Metkayina tribe scattered on the Pandora coast.

At Metkayina, the Sully family must learn to adapt to a new environment, integrating into a culture that is both familiar and foreign. The Sullys family – consisting of eldest son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), second son Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), youngest daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) and adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) – quickly grow up. Fort. Quickly make friends with the children of Metkayinas and explore the amazing ecosystem under the ocean together. But in the midst of that peaceful life, Neytiri always felt that his life was just temporary, Jake was always on the lookout for the danger that was hanging over his head. His children themselves reacted very differently to the sudden exodus. The situation became even more difficult when once again Jake Sully’s arch-enemy pulled troops to the front door.

After 15 years, the war once again reached Jake Sully, forcing him and his family to leave the country (Image: 20th Century Studios)

In this comeback, James Cameron has found a formula to bring old stories, old scenes, people from the Avatar era (2009) to the big screen without creating a feeling of pressure or information overload for the audience. audience. fake. In just a few dozen minutes of the short opening of the film, the scriptwriter has completed the “ceremony” – reintroducing the old character, checking in with the new character, summarizing the old events, updating the 15-year situation, placing orders. . the problem in the new movie… – to move on to the “social” part is the exodus of the Sully family. But the impetus of the migration to that new land was the destruction of nature, a real carnage spread by the white “Heavenly Men”. This contradiction was once the backbone of Avatar and continues to be the red thread used by James Cameron to lead his new film.

Overall, the transition from Avatar to Avatar: The Way of Water was generally quite smooth thanks to maintaining a bright central theme. The sequel achieves two goals: Take the audience on a journey into wonderland – which many newspapers have been hesitant to describe with the phrase “cinematic wonder” – and tell a mysterious story. hidden. examples of people separated because of the war, of the pain of loss as well as the desire for peace.

The scene of Pandora’s coast is set up full of magic but also full of life (Image: Disney)

At the beginning of the praise, if 13 years ago, the world had to be amazed by the magical beauty of Pandora’s primeval forests, then to The Way of Water, they must once again be bewildered by the beauty of Pandora. The ocean world that James Cameron and his team have painstakingly built. Remember just a few months ago, the audience once traveled to another kingdom under the ocean in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

However, Talokan is just like a conventionally drawn background layer on the character’s back. In contrast, the coast of Pandora feels like a real land, with a diverse ecosystem, full of life. It is the space that surrounds the characters, gives birth to them, raises them, and greets them when they die. Such a comparison shows that this is not just a technology gap. It also reflects the soul and dreams of the director who molded those illusory frames.

Warm family story

It can be seen that the 13-year gap between the two Avatar movies in real life and 15 years in the film’s development has been brought closer by a generational transition. On screen, audiences not only see the changes in the lives of the once beloved characters, but also are introduced to their children and quickly bond with them. If in Avatar, the audience can explore Pandora through the perspective of the soldier Jake, then to The Way of Water, the person who brings the audience to explore the new horizons of this planet is the four Sully sisters. They inherit the courage and daring of both their parents, but have the impulsiveness, carelessness and desire to prove themselves of adolescence.

The cast of teenage characters has brought new life to the film (Image: 20th Century Studios)

Act one of the film is told from Jake’s perspective as a flashback to Avatar (2009), and depicts the changes in the character’s mentality from a soldier to a pillar. family. But when Sullys arrived at the Metkayina family, the role of narrator was ceded to his children, represented by the boy Lo’ak. Thanks to this change of perspective, the audience was able to temporarily put aside the hauntings filled with the smell of destructive smoke and fire to drop their souls into a carefree and excited fairyland.

The children brought life to the second act of The Way of Water. Audiences are swept away by their stories, letting themselves be swept away by the joys and sorrows of adolescence – developments that are sometimes predictable, sometimes a bit bookish, but still handled fairly modestly. Squid. The audience’s lack of vigilance can also be a distracting moment when in the second act of the work, he appears less often, as a mother and father struggling with teenage children. instead of a warrior wary of enemy plots.

The second act of The Way of Water can be considered as an art exhibition under the ocean combined with pure teenage family footage. But it is also the part that puzzles viewers the most because the rhythm is suddenly stretched. After all, this is still a well-deserved wait because the third act of the film, which opens with “Paradise”‘s attack on the archipelago, pushes the pace of the film back. This is the cream on the cake, to treat the audience who had accompanied the film for the previous two hours.

Avatar: The Way of Water does a good job of building up the character’s psychological development (Image: Disney)

At this time, The Way of Water transformed, taking on the look of a thrilling and breathtaking war masterpiece. The spotlight goes back to Jake, or rather he shares it with his family. Jake went to war, but the mood was different. He is no longer a warrior except for the eradication of tyranny. He is a father who does everything to protect his family. This is also the scene that gives the audience more intense emotions. Because war is no joke. This is something Jake has learned, but with his children – children born and raised in Pandora’s peace – they are forced to absorb this lesson the hard way.

Avatar: The majestic, eye-catching, value-for-money Avatar: The excellent continuation of the 2009 debut, however, is just one link in a series of films that still span many parts. . In the first part, The Way of Water certainly “cools” the audience and 20th Century Studios and Disney. But in the second part, the film posed many great difficulties for James Cameron himself and his crew.

Because The Way of Water is so visually epic and generally satisfying in terms of content – both in action and emotion – audiences walk out of the theater asking the question: What should we expect. in the next part? ? This is probably also the thought of director James Cameron when he embarked on the third part of the series and subsequent sequels. Since The Way of Water is already a big step up from Avatar (2009), the third film is certainly expected to be a breakthrough compared to the previous one, even though the second is already too complete. circle.