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James Cameron's Avatar 2 is presently running in theaters all across the globe. The film has currently grossed over $881.3 million worldwide, which is only expected to grow as weeks and months pass by.
As the sequel to 2009's hit film Avatar, Cameron's film saw former spy Jake Sully and his family struggle to survive the onslaught of the Sky People, particularly his former superior, Colonel Miles Quaritch, and his fellow soldiers. Fearing for the safety of his family and the N'avi race, Jake and his family sought refuge with the Metkayina tribe, a water-based N'avi.
Upon its theatrical release, Avatar 2 drew a mixed reception from the audience, who praised aspects of the film but criticized other elements. In this listicle, we will be looking at four things the film nailed and four other factors where it fell flat.
Disclaimer: This listicle solely reflects the writer's opinions and contains spoilers from Avatar 2.
Cinematography and 3 other things Avatar 2 nails
1) Cinematography
Much like the first film, director James Cameron perfected the visual aspect of Avatar 2 with Russell Carpenter's brilliant cinematography. Various panoramic shots and a bird's eye view splendidly captured the lush forests of Pandora as well as the gorgeous Metkayina seas.
2) CGI and action sequences
The CGI in the film was extraordinary to the point of being realistic, ranging from the skin color and texture of both the N'avi and Metkayina tribes to the seamless blending of computer-generated creatures and brilliantly crafted set pieces.
The action and fight sequences were yet another aspects of the film that Cameron nailed. The sequences were fast-paced and immersive in nature, for example: when Jake and other N'avi started shooting at enemies while riding the Ikran, Toruk, and other creatures native to Pandora, the Metkayina's use of Ilu (seal-like creatures), and Tsurak's (a seal-eagle hybrid) travel across the seas, and Jake and Miles Quaritch duking it out at the end of the film.
3) Character interactions
Although the writing and narrative of Avatar 2 left a lot to be desired, it succeeded when it came to character interactions. An example of this was when Neytiri tried to get Jake to be less hard on his sons. Another brilliant moment between the characters' interaction that touched the hearts of the audience in a deft manner was when L'oak shared his frustrations with Tsireya about being hated by the N'avi and his father's favoritism towards Neteyam.
4) The third act
Despite having a sluggish first and second act, the film ended the three-hour runtime with a spectacular third act where character tensions reached a tipping point. The climax saw Jake and his family giving everything they got against Miles Quaritch and his men. In a typical fashion generic to epic films, the importance of family and friends was once again instilled throughout the last act.
Screenplay, characterization, and two other things Avatar 2 fails at
1) Narrative and screenplay
The narrative of Avatar 2 felt sluggish and aimless. Throughout the viewing time, it was difficult to follow where the story was heading and what the characters would do next.
The script of the film was rather poor, with stereotypical video-game-like dialogs for the most part. Some characters also posed a complication as they were hard to follow, such as Spider's character inconsistency, where one moment saw him with nothing to do with his estranged father, Quaritch, and at another moment, he was surprisingly nice to him.
2) The villain
Miles Quaritch had an interesting arc in the first film, where he wanted revenge on Jake Sully for betraying him and his crew. However, he had some depth to his character since he was only a soldier following orders and believed himself to be in the right, despite his shady tendencies.
Meanwhile, in Avatar 2, the conflict between him and Jake was mostly a rehash of their tension in the latter part of the first film, making him even less interesting. He was nothing more than a man who wanted revenge on Jake because his ego was crushed by his previous defeat.
3) Jake Sully's characterization
Much like Quaritch, Jake Sully also had an interesting and emotional arc in the first film. He went from being a spy for the Sky People doing his job to someone who finally realized his guilt in playing a part in the N'avi's attack by the Sky People. Thus, he actively worked with the blue-skinned race to stop his fellow soldiers.
However, in Avatar 2, Jake was nothing more than a military-dad-like figure with no depth whatsoever. Even though his motivation to keep his family safe from danger was clear, there was nothing apart from it to keep his character seem interesting. Moreover, much of the story was mostly centered around his younger son L'oak instead of him, which reduced the significance of his character to the plot.
4) The first and second acts of the film
Unlike the final act, the first two acts of the film did not serve any purpose and could very well be considered filler content. Besides, it was unclear what the overarching plot was. The sub-par writing of the film was also dominant here, which only added to the incoherence and disjointedness of the two acts.
Were there other aspects of Avatar 2 that the film failed at, or was there any other feature about Cameron's movie that you found different from the first film? Let us know your thoughts down below.
