I'm with every one of the opinions who agrees that the Avatar series would have worked tremendously well as a videogame series rather than a movie. In fact, there is a videogame that is also included in this series, but Avatar from the get-go should have been a videogame series. It would have easily been on par with AAA titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us, etc... because everything in these movies are essentially videogame cutscenes.
Do not get me wrong, the dedication, production and hard work of the cast and crew are very apparent on the screen. The filmmaking process that goes into creating films like Avatar is easily more entertaining than the movies themselves.
As for Avatar: The way of Water itself, I liked this movie more than the first one. For the most part, the sequel does not really deliver much on worldbuilding. In fact, I'd say that the worldbuilding has been toned down significantly. The water tribe doesn't differ too much from the Tree dwelling tribes outside of just being far better swimmers and navigators of the seas. Essentially, the water tribes have the same exact culture as the Tree dwelling Na'vi, they even speak the same exact language, which I found odd. Worship the same deities and practice the same customs etc... the sea Na'vi just look a bit different but other than that they're very much culturally the same.
The fact that Sully's children are part human was an interesting dynamic that I wish was explored more in the movie. A major emphasis that was missed in this movie was the cultural shock, not just with the Sully family being mixed-species, but also the fact that they come from a totally different place on Pandora. For the most part, it was like the Sully family moved from Chicago to St. Louis. Basically, nothing changed but the location.
It would have been a golden opportunity to see variations in Na'vi culture. Instead of all of them being so in tune with the world, what if there was a culture that saw connecting to the Eway as something that was frowned upon, or a luxury afforded to the elite of their society? Additionally, would have been great to see an armed human faction who wasn't %100 colonist psychopaths, especially one that lived in sync with a Na'vi tribe. There was a 15-year gap between the first movie and this one, that would have been plenty of time for a human/Na'vi alliance to take root elsewhere on Pandora.
In all honestly, the characters were easily the strongest element of this story. Jake is a complex character that doesn't get a lot of love imo. He's the perfect example of a flawed protagonist whose flaws aren't the hallmark of his character like what is seen in a lot of morally gray characters. Jake's decision to relocate his family was one motivated by fear for their safety and attempting to live by what it means to be a father. Jake himself is just a typical jarhead and you see this trait on display throughout the movie, with his relationship with his family. At the end of the movie, Jake comes to realization that running away wasn't the solution to protect his family.
I can go on and on, but I'll end it here. Entertaining movie, but script I severely lacking.
Do not get me wrong, the dedication, production and hard work of the cast and crew are very apparent on the screen. The filmmaking process that goes into creating films like Avatar is easily more entertaining than the movies themselves.
As for Avatar: The way of Water itself, I liked this movie more than the first one. For the most part, the sequel does not really deliver much on worldbuilding. In fact, I'd say that the worldbuilding has been toned down significantly. The water tribe doesn't differ too much from the Tree dwelling tribes outside of just being far better swimmers and navigators of the seas. Essentially, the water tribes have the same exact culture as the Tree dwelling Na'vi, they even speak the same exact language, which I found odd. Worship the same deities and practice the same customs etc... the sea Na'vi just look a bit different but other than that they're very much culturally the same.
The fact that Sully's children are part human was an interesting dynamic that I wish was explored more in the movie. A major emphasis that was missed in this movie was the cultural shock, not just with the Sully family being mixed-species, but also the fact that they come from a totally different place on Pandora. For the most part, it was like the Sully family moved from Chicago to St. Louis. Basically, nothing changed but the location.
It would have been a golden opportunity to see variations in Na'vi culture. Instead of all of them being so in tune with the world, what if there was a culture that saw connecting to the Eway as something that was frowned upon, or a luxury afforded to the elite of their society? Additionally, would have been great to see an armed human faction who wasn't %100 colonist psychopaths, especially one that lived in sync with a Na'vi tribe. There was a 15-year gap between the first movie and this one, that would have been plenty of time for a human/Na'vi alliance to take root elsewhere on Pandora.
In all honestly, the characters were easily the strongest element of this story. Jake is a complex character that doesn't get a lot of love imo. He's the perfect example of a flawed protagonist whose flaws aren't the hallmark of his character like what is seen in a lot of morally gray characters. Jake's decision to relocate his family was one motivated by fear for their safety and attempting to live by what it means to be a father. Jake himself is just a typical jarhead and you see this trait on display throughout the movie, with his relationship with his family. At the end of the movie, Jake comes to realization that running away wasn't the solution to protect his family.
I can go on and on, but I'll end it here. Entertaining movie, but script I severely lacking.