It doesn’t happen a lot that a movie leaves such a lasting impression on audience that they wait for it’s sequel for more than a decade. But when the director is James Cameron and the movie is Avatar, the expectations just like the experience of the movie is not going to follow the mainstream. Avatar touched the ceiling of grandeur but yet people around the world knew that the next installment would be even grander. Again, it’s James Cameron, it took him thirteen years, if something like Avatar could be pulled off ten years ago then technology has only advanced since then – all fair points to fuel the hype and yet, Avatar – the ways of water, disappointingly fails to deliver. More disappointing was the fact that yes it had all the ingredients to make a perfect recipe, something everyone was expecting, but it fizzled out at the fundamental – a good story. The first version of Avatar resonated so well with the people because a great story was matched with even better effects. This time, it felt like the same story was repeated with the same level of effects. There is a colonel (Colonel Mile back into an Avatar) , Jake Sully and his family learn the water ways, there is something precious the sky people are after, Jake Sully tries to avoid the fight, and at the end he ends up fighting and defeating the colonel again – it’s Avatar WoW in summary. Sounds familiar? The way Neytari cries at the landing of those big space-crafts, the training of Jake Sully and his kids, Colonel controlling Ikran, the Metkayina clan discussing whether to take Jake Sully and his family in, Na’vi people fighting with sky people – it all felt like it had been seen earlier and the outcomes were predictable. Even the life-threatening encounter situations and it’s timing seemed to be a repeat, it was the Thanator the last time and that big Pandora version of Shark this time. Again, the outcome was predictable. But even this same story could have been told better but the movie moved so fast that it wouldn’t let me connect with the characters like I had experienced the journey of Jake Sully and his gradual transformation from a spy to a savior in the first version. Or the connect of Na’vi people with Eywa or their pain when their home tree was destroyed.
On the positive side this movie does have great effects and the cinematography is wonderful. It has some moments that lit the experience and are promising. The 3D effects are wonderful which create a great experience to watch the world underwater and the battle at the end does impress and live up to the moment. The background scores stick to the core theme of Avatar franchisee mostly and do sound good. The actors have done a great job trying to do justice to this legacy. Sam Worthington delivered an impactful performance and Zoe Saldana complimented him well. All other co-actors have done their jobs well. However, the characters could have been explored at a much greater depth but rather all the characters were touched at surface and a great opportunity was squandered because of the lack of effort or just poor editing. The character of Colonel Miles and his side story with his son didn’t touch the sentiment the way it was intended to and could have provoked more emotions. Even the character of Kiri, who seemed to have a special connect with Eywa had an intriguing start but just to fizzle out later on and I don’t even understand the meaning of that conversation where Jake Sully was told that Kiri will die if she goes under water again. The Metikayina clan leader Tonowari could have been shown more powerful but where does he and his clan disappear at the climax leaving Jake Sully and his family to fight alone remains a mystery.
At the core of the story were two main plots – Jake Sully trying to protect his family from a revengeful and relentless colonel and the conflict of interest on the mysterious creatures Tulkuns which were revered by Metkayina clan but were needed by the sky people for Amrita to stop aging. None of them could hit the chord really. Anyway, the movie is cashing in on the reputation of the franchise and making waves all around the world. With a huge fan following of Na’vi people, it is a box office success already, reaping huge benefits globally even with a couple of controversies and calls of boycott which couldn’t dent its march to become a blockbuster. People have waited too long for Avatar’s next installment with great hopes, so I can understand if no bad reviews could deter the audience from watching it. It isn’t that bad either but just that it was expected to be one amazing movie to take the legacy to even greater heights. Anyway, the colonel is not dead yet, and we have two more movies coming as part of Avatar franchise so let’s not lose hope just yet. I will recommend everyone to watch this movie just out of my love for the first Avatar and to continue to be a part of the journey of Jake Sully and Na’vi.