It’s been 13 years. Director James Cameron brings back the original characters adding new ones and a water world for this 3 hour visually stunning imaginative epic. The watery world Cameron takes us to is astounding and magnificently conceptualized, but the story is missing the emotional draw that would have made this film an unqualified masterpiece.
Criticized for the writing the first time around, Cameron wrote this one with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. But the story still isn’t what everyone will be talking about. It’s rather repetitive. We noticed some scenes harkening back to some of Cameron’s other films including Titanic, The Abyss, and Aliens.
There is plenty of tension and action, but the dialogue is lacking and sometimes very confusing. Whenever the writing team is stuck for a line they just have the Na’vi spit out a hiss. It’s often hard to keep up with all of the characters, all their relationships and who they have to fight to survive.
Cameron uses several different special effect techniques to accomplish what he wants the film to look like in a film budgeted at over $250 million. And there are more on the way. Cameron has already finished Number 3 and there are 2 more in the works. One is already done. He uses live action, motion capture and character caption to show incredibly fluid movements in the water which create extraordinary images of the principle characters in motion, as well as the abundance of unique sea life in their surroundings. Cinematographer Russell Carpenter (Titanic, True Lies) collaborates with Cameron again on this film.
Set some 200 years in the future, Jake Sully, (Sam Worthington) the former paralyzed Marine, is more than a decade into his life transformed as a blue-skinned Na’vi leader and family man on Pandora, the moon in the Alpha Centauri star system. Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) is by his side in the Omatikaya clan who thrive on land. They now look after their large family that includes Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), Tuk (Trinity Bliss), Kiri (Sigourney Weaver as a moody teen) and quasi member of the family, wild child, rebellious Spider (Jack Champion) who is a full human.
Sully and Neytiri have more than enough to worry about keeping the kids in line when their worst fears come true. The sky people from Earth led by the Sully’s former compatriot, now enemy, Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang). He returns to Pandora as a Na’vi, making him an even more lethal villain hunting Sully and his family down.
The family is forced to flee life in the forest, and Sully seeks refuge with the Metkayina, a sea-based clan. Ronal, the spiritual lead (Kate Winslet) is hesitant, but her husband and leader Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) relents taking in Neytiri and Sully and their brood. A major adjustment for the family, this is one of the more entertaining parts of the film. Watching them being schooled on how to adapt to flying over and under waves, holding their breath becoming a fun and necessary skill. But it isn’t all sweetness and light.
Bullying from other kids, family disagreements and dysfunction, insensitive parental control, along with adjusting to their new life becomes a mashup in the script. When Sully’s younger son Lo’ak goes off on his own, something wonderful happens. He ends up bonding with a kindred spirit, another fascinating and engaging Cameron creation for a whale of a tale. It’s a tulkun, which is a massive whale-like intelligent being with expressive eyes and the ability to communicate with humans. The relationship they develop is endearing. But there’s always the threat from returning Earth invaders, the “Sky People”, looking for Sully and everyone he loves.
In the meantime, we get to know some of the other kids better. Sigourney Weaver is back, but as 15-year old Kiri who was born of Weaver’s avatar in the original. Weaver did her research hanging around young teens to get the attitude and language transforming from scientist Dr. Grace Augustin to the teen. She becomes the otherworldly child who loves nature and creatures, finding them magical. And she is magical herself. Her sparkling yellow, bright-eyes, and smiling face stand out from the rest and is one of our favorite characters.
Weaver and Kate Winslet had to train holding their breath underwater for their motion capture scenes. Both actresses admitted it was a challenge, but pride themselves on having achieved incredible lung capacity. Weaver clocked in at over 6 minutes and Winslet at 7 minutes 14 seconds, proud of beating Tom Cruise’s record in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.
At 3 hours plus, this film is relentless, constantly building tension as all fight for their lives amidst Michael Bay level billowing flames and explosions. Cameron has definitely succeeded in illuminating breathtaking images with characters and creatures flowing so dazzlingly through water, but it all comes back to story, which could have flowed better.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 3 Hours 12 Minutes PG-13
