What’s It About

Jake Sully and Ney’tiri have formed a family and are doing everything to stay together. However, they must leave their home and explore the regions of Pandora. When an ancient threat resurfaces, Jake must fight a difficult war against the humans.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

It took James Cameron 13 years to make a follow-up to his initial movie “Avatar.” He was able to repeat nearly all of the errors present in his first film with “Avatar: The Way Of Water.” This film was released earlier this month, and yes, the water was absolutely beautiful. The underwater sequences were very realistic. The ocean animals were animated beautifully. There were many bright colors in the reef. But once again, Cameron wrapped a white savior story in gorgeous special effects and hoped we wouldn’t notice. This time, Jake and Neytiri have kids. They’re living peacefully in the forest until the “sky people” (humans) come back to colonize Pandora again. Colonel Quaritch returns, too, now in a Na’vi body, still hunting Jake for revenge. Jake decides to protect his family by leaving his clan and hiding with the Metkayina, a reef-dwelling Na’vi tribe. The family has to learn new ways of living, and eventually they fight back against the humans who are killing tulkun (intelligent whale-like creatures) to harvest their brain fluid for anti-aging products. Let’s talk about what that means. Humans are literally killing sentient beings to help rich people stay young longer. They’re destroying an entire species for vanity. This resembles exactly what colonizers have always done. White colonizers killed millions of buffalo to starve Native Americans. They harvested rubber in the Congo so brutally that millions died. They overfished the waters around colonized islands until local people starved. Throughout history, colonizers have treated nature and native peoples as resources to extract, not lives to respect. Cameron clearly wants us to see this connection. The Metkayina storyline should feel familiar because it’s basically the first movie again. Jake’s family arrives as outsiders.  Initially, the reef people do not have any confidence in them, and as a result, Jake’s children can be harassed and ridiculed. Through time, Jake’s children learn the ways of the ocean and create a close relationship with many animals in the ocean. They have shown themselves to be very honorable. When danger arrives, they come to everyone’s assistance. The story follows the same pattern of how an outsider joins an insider and helps solve an urgent issue; however, it now includes an aquatic setting and different variations of blue “people” than in the initial version.Here’s what really bothers me, though: Jake Sully is still the center of everything. He’s been Na’vi for over a decade now, but the story still revolves around him and his choices. He decides to leave the forest. He puts the Metkayina in danger by bringing Quaritch’s hunt to their home. He makes the final call about fighting back. Even in a movie that’s supposed to be about Na’vi people, a white consciousness in a Na’vi body gets to make all the important decisions. And we need to talk about Spider, the human teenager who was raised by the Na’vi. He’s basically Tarzan, a white kid who grew up in an “exotic” culture. The movie treats his identity crisis seriously, like we’re supposed to feel bad that he doesn’t fit in perfectly with either group. But this is another white savior adjacent story. Spider ends up saving Quaritch’s life and having this complicated relationship with him. Meanwhile, the actual Na’vi kids are supporting characters in Spider’s personal journey. Once again, white feelings and white choices take up space that should belong to the people whose land is being destroyed. The Metkayina people encounter the same issue as every other Indigenous group depicted in these films in that, as wise, spiritual beings who have an innate connection to the earth, they are relying on Jake’s military experience to protect themselves. While the Metkayina people have been living on the ocean for hundreds of years, they have an intimate understanding of their environment and have their own warriors and leaders; in the end, they’re told that Jake’s Marine Corp. experience outweighs the Metkayina peoples’ knowledge from generations of living on the ocean prior to Jake arriving to assist them. That is an outright insult! It suggests that Indigenous wisdom isn’t enough without Western military thinking. Cameron does try to fix some problems from the first movie. Neytiri gets more screen time and more emotional substance. We see her as a mother, not just a love interest. Ronal, the Metkayina’s Tsahìk, is fierce and powerful. She’s pregnant and still fights in the final battle. Tonowari, the clan leader, shows strength and wisdom. These characters feel more developed than many Na’vi did in the first film. But they’re still all reacting to problems that white people created and that a white consciousness helps solve. The Tulkun storyline hits hard emotionally. These creatures are intelligent and peaceful. They have families, memories, and culture. It is emotionally distressing to see animals being exploited by humans for financial benefit. This is meant to draw connections between animals being decomposed for financial gain and the exploitation of whales through whaling practices, as well as the history of colonizers taking what they do not comprehend or value, which was what led to the loss of many animals and almost all of the whales. However, the issue of Indigenous peoples and people of colour saying that they have been fighting against environmental degradation and cultural genocide since the beginning is a continual fight. We don’t need a white director to explain colonialism to us through expensive CGI. The movie also keeps using this chosen one narrative. Lo’ak, Jake’s son, bonds with a special tulkun outcast. Kiri, Jake’s adopted daughter who was born from Grace’s avatar, has a mysterious spiritual connection to Eywa. These kids aren’t just Na’vi. They’re special Na’vi with unique powers and destinies. Even the Na’vi children need to be exceptional to matter in their own story. Regular Na’vi people stay in the background while the Sully family takes center stage. Cameron is not being progressive. Although he promotes environmental awareness and respect for indigenous cultures during interviews, he does not show true respect by allowing others to have their voices heard. Instead, he focuses on himself through his films. Cameron spent over three hundred million dollars and thirteen years making this movie, and he still couldn’t imagine a story where the Na’vi people save themselves without a transplanted white consciousness leading them. The movie does succeed technically. The underwater motion capture technology is groundbreaking. The reef ecosystem feels alive and real. The action sequences in the film are thrilling but poorly constructed. The emotional moments between family members occasionally work well. However, the technical aspects of the film do not help to overcome the narrative problems. The images of water may look amazing, but they cannot mask the problems associated with the “white savior” mentality. This film is likely to be another box office success like its predecessor, and audiences will admire the visuals and get emotional when things get sad, yet the story will still be about how colonised people rely on others to save them while white people continue to remain central to the story. When you view the oceans from a distance, they look stunning. However, when you watch the actual film, you will see that it continues to perpetuate the very same “white savior” storyline as before, unimaginatively re-presented with an updated water effects technology. Cameron had the opportunity to provide us with something new after a thirteen-year hiatus on this franchise; however, he has proven that he is unwilling to provide us with anything more than the same.

OUR RATING – A CASH-GRABBING 4

MEDIA

• Genre – Fantasy
• Street date
• Digital – June 7^th, 2023.
• DVD/Blu-Ray/4K/3D – June 20^th, 2023
• Video – 1080p
• Screen size – 1.85:1
• Sound – English 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 DTS-HDMA, English 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles – English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras

• Inside Pandora’s Box (HD 2:32:14)
  • Building the World of Pandora
  • Capturing Pandora
  • The Undersea World of Pandora
  • The Challenges of Pandora’s Waters
  • Pandora’s Returning Characters
  • Pandora’s Next Generation
  • Spider’s Web
  • Becoming Na’Vi
  • The Reef People of Pandora
  • Bringing Pandora to Life
  • The RDA Returns to Pandora
  • The New Characters of Pandora
  • The Sounds of Pandora
  • New Zealand – Pandora’s Home
• More From Pandora’s Box (HD 28:06)
  • Casting
  • Stunts
  • The Lab
  • The Troupe
• Marketing Materials (8:51)
  • Nothing is lost – Music Video
  • Theatrical Trailer 1
  • Theatrical Trailer 2