December 13, 2022
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) got married and now had two teenage sons Neteyam (James Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), and a daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). They had also adopted Dr. Grace Augustine's daughter Kiri (also played by Sigourney Weaver). A human boy left behind on Pandora nicknamed Spider (Jack Champion) also grew up with the Sully family.
One day, a new troop of avatars from Earth returned to Pandora to claim and conquer it once again. The leader of the recombinant avatars was given the memories of the late Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who still held a big grudge against the Sullys. To keep his family alive, Jake decided to leave the forest and move to live with the Metkayena reef Navi, led by their leader Tonowari (Chris Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet).
The setting was shifted from the lush rainforest to the open seas, introducing different cultures and different creatures. However, the story of this sequel was pretty much a rehash of the story of the 2009 film -- about the abuse and destruction of colonization. It was the story of Pocahontas all over again, for which the first one was already roundly criticized before. As they were in the first film, these unsettling scenes were painful and maddening to watch.
Furthermore, they added a prolonged, sadistic and harrowing scene of men ganging down on and killing a giant sea creature. The whole scene was dismal and disgusting in its graphic display of methodical cruelty to animals, reminding viewers of all the unnecessary and wasteful hunting of elephants and rhinoceroses that happens to this day. Seeing the nasty head poacher get his deserved (albeit grisly) comeuppance was a satisfying thrill.
There is now a rich aspect of family relationships and adolescent psychology involved in the story giving this more dramatic weight. about the struggles experienced by the middle child, the adopted child, the different child, a child who does not know who his father was, a child whose father people despised, a child pressured with too much expectations. It was a familial conflict that would figure in the climactic confrontation.
James Cameron's estimated budget of the whole film passed USD350M, and all the spectacular special effects all that money went to can clearly be seen onscreen. This film is practically an animated film already, with all the motion-capture Na'vi characters there instead of the actual actors. Aside from Edie Falco as the General, the only real human characters we see were those nameless soldiers who get killed in the battles.
The biggest innovation in this film was the technology for motion capture for underwater scenes, something that has never been done before. Cameron really went all the way in creating a CGI marine biosphere for these Na'vi creatures to interact with water creatures big and small, sacred and mystical. Seeing the callous ways humans invade and destroy such natural beauty and balance sent out a potent pro-environment message. 8/10.
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