When I talk about female rage- I mean Neytiri going completely mad in the 3rd act of Way of water. Hats off to Zoe Saldana to be able to convey such anger and fury through the screen- it is so believable. The way I felt genuine fear during the 3rd act anytime Neytiri was on screen. The way her eyes widen, the gutteral screams of fury from the stomach, the way she moves like an animal- completely blinded by anger to kill it's next victim is so awesome and terifying at the same time
The way that Spider hides behind the pipe when he sees her like "I'm way too human-shaped to be seen by her right now" was great. And while I want to believe that Neytiri is a better person than would kill a child... it's not something I'm willing to say that I know, least of all in that moment.
@@barrygeistwhite3474 the way you could actually see it in his eyes "ok I'm actually in trouble. There is a very possible chance of her killing me just because." And spiders intuition was right cause she would have killed him right then and there if the colonel didn't let kiri go
In the film I noticed the distinctly Māori excitement of battle, the tongues out and general growling, I enjoyed seeing that in the film, gives a bigger more cultural distinction between the Omaticaya and the Metkayina (I think I spelt that right o.O)
A note on Jake's slightly complicated relationship with his family, particularly his kids: While it's never stated, I get the feeling he never really had a dad, or at least a good or present one. It very much feels like he has no idea and no role model in regards to parenting. And so he reverts to military discipline, because that's what he figures turned him into an adult. I might be reading far too much into what the movie says and doesn't say, but it's the sense I'm getting.
I agree. Especially as he was the one to see his dead brother. And so I feel like that makes him even more complex. As he didn’t protect his (either older or younger twin) brother. And that could have made that even more difficult.
@@TaylorCharlie Yeah. I suspect that Jake and Tommy were raised in a rough environment, but Tommy was academically gifted and managed to go on to college and the Avatar programme, while Jake got into the Marines to get out of that life (it hsould be noted that Jakewas Force Recon, an elite unit, so he was probably smart as well, bbut not in an academic way). Jake was probably the one who protected Tommy, and I'm sure that he felt some kind of guilt for not "protecting" him form teh mugger that killed him.
@@Bazookatone1 I definitely can agree with that! Plus. We don’t even know how Jake lost his legs either. And so that adds more lore and trauma to him. Plus. In the deleted scene of him in earth. We see from the very beginning. He defends a woman from a man being trash. And to me that just always has made me think he had a trash father that was bad to his mother.
@@TaylorCharlie We do know how Jake got paralyzed - he got a spinal injury fighting in a battle in Venezuela. So he was forced to quit the military and was on veteran benefits.
5:52 To help clarify what is happening here on a Biological level, What Payakan is doing here is technically aggressively brushing off his body to make him more streamline. Orcas, dolphins, and other porpoise species will rub along sand to remove barnacles or parasites to reduce drag in the water. Since Payakan is the equivalent of an alien whale going on the attack, I'd say this could be reasonable.
Thanks for the cool fact, it makes more sense than just psyching himself up lol James loves the ocean and sea mammals so it's likely he did his research like you did.
Yeah, I think sometimes people forget that all of his movies have been this way. He's less interested in complex narratives or deep character studies and has always been more of a visual, experiential storyteller. It's partly why they always hit me so viscerally and emotionally. There isn't that cold, intellectual distance I often feel with many other science fiction filmmakers.
@@tronam For sure. Like if you look at Ridley Scott- he’s a phenomenal sci-fi director in terms of creativity and visuals, but in all the films of his I’ve seen, his characterizations aren’t the high point. They’re not bad, just not the focus. Cameron on the other hand doesn’t even try to do big think pieces, like Scott does sometimes. He’s very much about how stories/characters make an audience feel, but where I admire Cameron is that it doesn’t feel like pandering. I’m not sure how he pulls it off, but he consistently manages to get his actors to give genuine performances, which always go a long way to a good film.
I do think that if the brothers were hard to tell apart, it was intentional. It would really drive home just how it felt for the younger brother to be in his older brother's shadow, as well as make Jake's line mistaking the younger for older hit even harder. I could be wrong, but that feels like it just makes sense
I feel he mistook Lo'ak for Netayam during the rescue because he had already accepted death, drowned and then found himself rescued but not aware enough to realize he wasn't seeing Netayam in the afterlife.
@@JamesPalylyk Nah, I feel like it was his tone of voice. It came across as there being an extra oomph of self-confidence he didn't have before, but his brother did.
a super cool detail once you really take the time to look is that Netayam takes more after Neytiri, while Lo'ak takes more after Jake! Netayam even has 3 fingers like his mother, which was probably another part of Lo'ak comparing himself to him.
I just love how you aren't even trying for impartiality with the Tulkun hunters. "Kill 'em. Feed his body parts to the Tulkun. Don't care." That made me laugh and drop my sword on my foot during my morning practice. Worth it!
@@HowlingWolf518 However, for more of those hundreds of years is was for sustenance and resources (meat, fat, skin, bone. Just like ancient animal hunters, whalers used everything they harvested), not because we thought it was a big bad meanie boi
Personally I do find the science dude who was explaining things to spider to be good. He does see what he does as terrible, he even hates his co-workers over their nonchalance. He seems to be studying the tulkun and this is the only way given the circumstances
Loak is exactly like his father. He is the second son, his older brother dies, he has a friendship with a big boss animal, he falls in love with the daughter of the leader of the new tribe and he as stubborn as Jake.
9:57 It’s not just the kids that’s know it’s Neytiri’s arrows, it’s also Quaritch. You can see it in his eyes that he recognises the arrow that killed him.
@@danielawesome36 He definitely knows. You can see the fear in his expression and how wide his eyes get every time he sees one of Neytiri's arrows. Those are several missed wins.
@@jackbaxter2223 I think he doesn't remember being killed by Neytiri, which is why I said, "He probably doesn't know (it was Neytiri's arrows)." But what he does know for sure... Some Navi are tearing through his men, and they've got bows.
@@danielawesome36 He doesn't remember being killed by Neytiri, but he _did_ see Neytiri's arrows in his human corpse. That's how he recognizes them (apparently Neytiri has a very unique way of fletching her arrows)
A little detail I don't see many people talk about is that Neytiri cuts Spider in the same way Jake gets cut when they leave the Omatikaya. She's bluffing. I wish her relationship with Spider was explored a bit more, but they're in a really interesting spot going forward
that's such an interesting take! I didn't notice it in the first movie but after she cuts Spider her eyes squint as if she suddenly becomes aware of what she has done and regrets it for a milisecond
@@agnijabistrovaite1082I noticed that microexpression too- it's almost like there is a very brief but intense moment of realization where she thinks" I've killed him already" due to the cultural implications of having seen that ceremony before, and knowing what the cut across the chest is a stand-in for. it's fucking immaculate acting.
It actually took me three or four viewings of the movie to realize and spot that Neteyam has three fingers to Lo'ak's four. Added another layer to Lo'ak's feelings of inadequacy compared to his brother
One heartbreaking detail in the payakan saving scene is that the beacon is on someone they are "marked for death". And who is the one who carries the beacon away from others to give them a chance for escape? Neteyam. It mirros his death in many ways and makes me very uspet.
4:50, I could also see another reason: she uses a bow and arrow, while the water Navi use spears and crossbows. Bows don’t work underwater, so she stays in the air
Its gave me a good chuckle but that scene in itself was so great because it's a draw at that moment where they let the kids go and all of them, including Jake, back into the water to flee. But quaritchs declaration makes Jake stay and finish it because even if Jake left with his family, he still would've had to fight quaritch eventually
i actually have an answer for why the Ikran bonded with those jabronies, and it’s not that Jake HAD to train to bond with them, but that he was learning the Omatikaya’s ways and bonding with an Ikran was the last step in his journey to become one of the people. Quaritch had no interest in becoming accepted by the Na’vi, he just wanted an easier way to get around, so he skipped all the steps and went straight to taming an Ikran also, unrelated, but i do suspect Spider was hoping/expecting Quaritch to die in the attempt, so i don’t get why so many people wonder why he was helping them when it feels clear to me he was looking for ways to undermine them and hopefully save the Sully’s somehow by playing on the Na’vi marines’ egos and getting them killed
I was pretty sure Spider attempting to screw them over was also a goal, since I could've sworn he was smiling when it looked like Quaritch's attempt was going sideways.
I think it was a bit of a mix on Spider's part-which I actually really liked. I read it *both* as he wants them gone as a problem to his adopted family; but he's ALSO getting some thrill of seeing a parental figure who seems to like him just for who he is, being successful.
@@mafiacat88 And even a little bit of "doing this turned Jake into a good guy, maybe bonding with the local wildlife will have the same effect on him".
I always interpreted his stirring up of the sand as his intense internal conflict to make the choice, yet again, to fight. The decision that made him an outcast and went against everything he believed in, and now he is here again because his only friend, the first one to end his isolation in who knows how long, was in danger. His stirring up of the sand would be like someone who feels helpless and is filled with rage wrecking a room before making a hard choice.
I would like to point out that Jake learning how to ride the skimwing makes total sense. Before going to Pandora in Avatar 1, Jake was a Marine. Marines train in water as well as on land, due to the branch being an amphibious unit. So, Jake would be comfortable fighting in water already. Also, you have to look at Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Omg I'd die if he did Spirit, it's been my favorite movie my whole life! When I was 5, I'd ask my mom to put it on multiple times a day every single day.
It seems most people were afraid of Neytiri screaming and enraged while killing humans, but I just started crying. Every time I saw it in theaters, I would sob uncontrollably. She's just so broken.
Or making that whole thing a Moby Dick reference. The whale hunter whose arm is trapped by the rope due to the whale he was hunting is the most poetic end for Scoresby.
@@jackbaxter2223 Scoreseby shares a name with a real life whaling captain who wrote a book that Melville explicitly references within the text of Moby Dick, so it feels like it has to be an intentional reference. I actually think the encounter with Payakan is a reference to Ahab's first encounter with the White Whale, though, not the fatal one at the end of the the book, since that is the one where he lost a limb. I think it lends credence to the idea that Scoresby may have survived- Ahab swore vengeance on Moby Dick because he bit off his leg and that feels like a setup for Scoresby to return in Avatar 3. Really though, I just I feel like all this might mean is that it's hard to include whaling in any piece of media without making SOME sort of reference to the canonical cultural touchstone on the subject.
7:39 I think the pods valued pacifism so much that they legitimately didn’t fight back, just tried to avoid them bc they knew they could’ve mopped the floor with the poachers.
Yep, they're so committed to pacifism that they refuse to fight, and even blame payakan as the "murderer" when he was trying to stop the whalers. I hope we see more of them in the next one, and I hope that they realise that Payakan is right, and that there is such a thing as self defence (and even "proactive" self defence where they just attack the harbours and stuff) that is justified. Both in the first film and this one, Pandora doesn't understand the *full* threat that Humanity is, that it will burn the entire planet to the ground for a single dollar of profit. Humanity therefore must be destroyed as an act of self preservation, and the Tulkun really need to learn that.
That was my understanding as well, but I do want to point out that the movie contradicts itself on the point. They talk about how they have to drive the calf away from the mother, which wouldn't make sense if the whales didn't fight back at all/ever.
@ryanjensen1945 I got the sense it was more for ease of pursuit. Specifically, they said the calf is slower and the mother would never leave her calf.
4:12 I think this scene stings even harder when you think that Lo'ak and Neteyam's last normal conversation was basically an argument and that they never got to reconcile afterwards. Which also makes Neteyam's death and Lo'ak's reaction to it that much more painful.
Avatar is a franchise I will never get bored of watching. Most films for me fall into the category of "one and done", but many aspects of this film series just draws me back.
The way me and my friend think about Avatar is that it’s more a world building project rather than a movie for the stories sake. That way the whole almost documentary like shot mid part of the movie makes sense. It takes it’s time because the Team behind the Movie took YEARS to develop the world, so might as well fully show it off
What I felt like happened when Lo’ak found Jake in the ship and Jake said ‘Neteyam’ was that Jake thought he had died or was seeing his son just before he was going to die. Dunno if that’s how it was meant to be portrayed or not
I thought the same. It wasn’t that Jake forgot Neteyam was dead or that he wished Lo’ak was the son that died if one had to, he thought he was dead and seeing Neteyam again. If it had been Spider or human Norm that saved him, he might have said “Tommy,” thinking he was seeing his brother.
It's worth watching the behind the scenes footage to see Sigourney Weaver in her mo cap suit acting like a child among the actual children which is adorable!
I don't know if anyone noticed but when jake grabs quarich's Ikran and swings him in the water it's almost the exact move he did with Toruk in the first movie
there are TONS of shots like that. i've watched the first one often enough that each time a repeat shot like that showed up i could recognize it, and a laaarge portion of shots in this sequel were almost complete reflections of ones from the first. it was one of my small gripes with the movie bc there were just so many. nvm that the whole boat scene was just titanic all over. it definitely felt a lot like cameron was trying to remind everyone how many popular/groundbreaking movies he's made at times lmao. it's not a bad thing per se, but it's noticeable which slightly draws one out of the immersion
@Elizabeth Price although I noticed some of them as well I just liked it because both times jake was riding a creature fit for a warrior and the first time he did it, it was with a helicopter and the second was with quaritch himself I just loved it
Yeah there’s a lot of mirrored shots/lines from the first, but I liked them tbh. Another one that comes to mind is when the general is telling quarich they have to test their new avatars the hard way and quarich says “outstanding” it’s mirroring the first movie where grace tells Jake in the stand off with the rhino things “if he doesn’t, he’ll kill you” and Jake says “outstanding” with the same smile
There’s some others I can’t think of off the top of my head but I liked them tbh, kinda an homage to the OG film, I think It works cause of the time gap between the two films, kinda reminds us of where it started
@@HeyElizabethPrice I think that the parallels were simply because James cameron was like"I really liked this shot from this movie I did, but I want to change it slightly. let's put it in" and nobody gave him any early feedback on if that was diving too deep down the 25 year nostalgia hole
When James Horner's theme started playing when the Tulkun died in the whaling scene, the music gave me shivers as it was the same theme that played when the Home tree was burning...
I still don’t get it why many people criticize this movie for not having a story. It does have a story! It’s about what it truly means to have a family, putting them first, protecting them from danger no matter what! That’s what Jake did, and now that Quaritch is back, he’s more dangerous than before since he’ll do things more personally this time, he won’t hesitate to kill any of Jake and Neytiri’s kids, I mean look at what happened to Neteyam 😢
I've not seen anyone criticize the film for not having a story, I think people's issue is that its beat for beat the same story as the last. Jakes an outcast trying to fit in, has to learn new skills to fit in with tribe, sky people are attacking, big final battle where Jake saves the day. The settings changed and theme being more centralised on family but what generally happens in the film is the same as the first which is what I've seen people complain about.
Some take issue with the complete lack of resolution. Humans are still on the planet and intend to take it over. Still don't know who Kiri's sperm donor was, or what her deal is with eywa. Main bad guy got saved by his bio-son who shouldn't be on his side ever, and he gets to fly away to fight again later. I found the movie to be absolutely gorgeous, loved every visual...but it feels unsatisfying in a way. I would have liked better to see the bad guys take losses that weren't mostly machinery and unnamed NPCs. A whale's death was more of an impact, by far, than any losses the bad guys took.
it’s because people these days often confuse story with plot. it barely has any plot, but the story is front and foremost, always. it just happens to be a very simple story, told VERY well!
While I won't critizie it for not having a story I feel the story is lacking, not bad, just lacking and I feel that's because the CGI/framing/all the rest of it is just that good that the story falls flater than the rest. It doesn't wholy detract from the movie but some of it comes of naive/stunted in ways that can't simply be explained by the naivety of the Na'vi, and more just not spending as much time in developing it as the rest of the movie. (not when we take into account this is a 3 hour movie that is) I'm not a fan of James's work but I do always find is visuals/pacing is excellent but his characters are kinda a sub plot? Not that he doesn't care for them, just that I feel he really really likes the boundaries of film that he can push, and there is nothing wrong with that. Overall, Avatar Way of water is a pretty solid piece, pacing is good and the story holds itself together enough not to fall flat on it's face, no body was phoning it in, and maybe in the end it's more dialog over actual story? Cause everyone brought their A games if you ask me, even the bad guys.
Renal is my hero! She reminds me of my wife so much because of the way she is unstoppable and unyielding. Such an amazing woman. That simple line of "NO! I RIDE!" And her husband stepping out of her way was perfect.
i say Kiri is just Eywa reincarnate. Eywa needed a body, but she needed someone willing that is connected to her. And grace was just absolutely willing you can tell. Just a walking goddess, no big deal
Eywa bridges the gap between a god and a neural network. what is a god but a larger consciousness than ours? and in the vastness of space, what could be a bigger consciousness than a sentient, networked planet?
It's a shame that so many of Michelle Rodriguez's character moments in Avatar '09 were cut from the theatrical release, including her romantic relationship with Norm which would've done a much better job of helping explain her "switching sides".
@@DarthBiomech You’re not wrong. It’s just that many of those deleted scenes also better explained her close camaraderie with Jake, Grace and Norm and a willingness to put her life on the line for them.
One thing I heard, don’t know if it’s canon, but when a Na’vi die their spirit goes to the spirit trees, but they can only remember the memories they had the last time they connected to a spirit tree. So the reason Neteyam is so oblivious to why Jake is upset is because he doesn’t remember his own death.
My best assumption for what I see you means, based off a quick line from Norm teaching Jake Na’vi in the first movie. I see you means “I see into you, I see all of you, I see every side of you and I love and understand you for all you are,” the greeting is very similar but more like. “I see all of you friend, and I give it all good regards.” Something like that.
I just can't get over how real the world in this movie feels. Or rather, how immersive it feels. The characters, the CGI, the cinematography and innovative tech involved, and not to mention the WATER! Just amazing work! This movie is a breath of fresh air after a decade of superhero movies. I can't wait to see what more Cameron and all the great people working with him has in store for us!
I loved this film, but I hated how little time we spent with Netayam. I didn’t feel much for him at his death because I felt like we didn’t have enough character development or screen time to feel more for him. I would’ve loved if he was more involved. I also had the same issue about telling the brothers apart for a while until after netayam’s death. Some things could’ve been shown better, but overall I really liked it
When I watched the first time, as soon the third act started I bet with my friends that Netayam would die, it got obvious with how little development he had.
@@Braga_Rcb it was obvious even before the movie came out. All the marketing material was focused on everyone BUT Neteyam, which made it pretty clear there was very little footage of him to use. I knew he was dead going into the theater, the only question was when it would happen.
This movie is great and better than the original. Entertaining sequel that builds upon what the first one did. Zoe And Stephen crushed it and the visuals are the best in a film ever. Can't wait for Avatar 3 and hope Michelle returns.
The Viper wolves are what gave Quaritch his scar, and I just love how they almost killed Jake too in the first movie if it wasn't for Neytiri. My fav lil buggers.
Quaritch took me by surprise when I saw this. Seeing how his journey sort of mirrors Jakes in the first movie and he had more depth this time around. I actually wanted to see more of what he was doing and was a little sad when he wasn't on screen. I can't wait to see what happens to him next movie.
For the Metkayina not being there/helping during Jake and Neytiri’s fight on the ship, I’m probably not gonna be phrasing this as well as someone on IG pointed it out but it’s more then likely that the Metkayina return to the village to get more spears or other weapons to continue the fight. Given a spear travel well under water and are what the Metkayina are most accustom to. They could probably use a bow and arrow but is wouldn’t travel as well underwater and would slow them down. Plus, once a body would be impaled onto the spear, it would be hard to travel with. So discard it and grab another, same with throwing that spear, it can’t be used again and the Metkayina aren’t like Jake and Neytiri in that they fought the humans before nor are as quick to shake bodies off there weapons. Hence Ronal carrying multiple spears with her (and most likely other Metkayina too) in to battle and heading back to gab more, missing the final fight on the boat.
2:32 I don't ever cry, watching movies.. but I had tears streaming down my face. I was red hot with anger and embarrassment (at those unexpected tears.. and not being able to wipe them off fully because of buttered popcorn allover my fingers!) All I kept thinking was - we are doing this. We are doing this on this planet, in this reality!!
I’m a firm believer that if a movie is 2 and a half hours long or longer, it should have an intermission. In the old days the intermission was for practical reasons: the operators had to physically replace them film to continue the movie, but it was also a chance for the audience to get up and stretch their legs, go to the bathroom, get refills on drinks and snacks. Zack Snyder’s Justice League had title cards between scenes that were a great chance to pause and step away for a moment, and I wish more films would follow that example.
I just love thw little details but also how people missed completely that this movie is a sidquest story and not the actual story. The main plot is in the background.
Cameron says that he has already filmed all principle photography for _Avatar 3_ and half of _Avatar 4,_ so we won't be waiting for over a decade for the next films.
I really like that Quarich survived. I don't know if I'd call it a redemption arc, but he is becoming a more complicated character and it would be a waste to end that arc now. He doesn't have to become a good guy, but a third party always spices things up.
2:13 The multiple meanings of "I see you" is actually explained in the first movie. They say it's basically a translation error and that it has LOADS of meanings, all of them emotionally charged in different ways.
I love these films tbh. And I'm excited for more. I never had the "got depressed after watching the first film" thing. I just enjoy these. That simple.
10:17 i SWEAR that closeup on Nitiri has GOT to be some kind of practical effect. some animatronic or puppet or something. it just looks too real / uncanny to be CGI! Seriously that one moment looks so strikingly different then every other time we see her.
I think the reason we didn't see an eclipse in the first film is because this film takes place at a different season and that eclipses don't appear across the whole Pandora year.
The connection that the Metkayina have with the Tulkun truly shows what we humans are missing out in the oceans, like we can have these connection with whales and it’s possible. The best whale I can think of is the Humpback and it’s altruistic behaviors.
Fun fact and win: When Neteyam dives from the ship into the water, you can see he has a hand on his chest, foreshadowing he got shot moments before we actualy know. I noticed it first time i watched the movie and it had me through many emotions at that point.
Jake's character arc in this film embodies the meaning of (Neytiri's dad) Eytukan's line from the first film concerning Jake's adoption into the Omaticaya "It is hard to fill a cup that is already full."
One thing worth noting is when the were hunting the Tulkun mother Spider is starring at the guy in charge of the instrument of the ship, at first you think it's just because he's never seen advanced tech before like the Na'vi but when the kids are in danger he destroys the same instruments! That was his plan all along
Anyone else notice during our scenes they're a bit more greyed out while the others' scenes are more colourful and vibrant? It's not just my eyes playing on me I think James tried to differentiate our perception beyond just framing. Fun.
I’m positive the fight between Payakan and the poachers shows how much payakan has probably been replaying the events of his past over and over again- how could I have knows and prevented what happened and it is so satisfying to see him turn the tables on the poachers
Neytiri is my favorite character and she goes from my favorite to my worst fear in act 3. Zoe Saldana's acting is incredible. Jake also evolves as a character, he can't move on from his military past and be his more childlike self we see parts of in the first movie. He has to be hard on his kids, and treat them more roughly because they're at war. Been waiting on ATWOW for years and it was soooo worth the wait, the way James Cameron put both films together shows how far a rather simple story can go and how much you can learn to love the characters. Been a huge fan of his films since I got to see Aliens.
one of my tiny details is the avatar people who were holding lo’ak, tuk and kiri seem to have beef with them because of their first interaction being unnecessarily rough and snarling at each other
Big, big fan of Neytiri going full murder at the end there. The Na'vi have always had a great design, completely alien while still being very relatable and emotive, but something the first film didn't really take advantage of is how TERRIFYING it must be to have a Na'vi angry at you. And twelve-foot tall Neytiri filled with bloodlust really, genuinely shook me.
i was crying my lungs out in the theatre when the hunt was happening (me, my mom and my sister were, and my sister NEVER cries) so yeah. i hate that seen with all my heart
Getting to see this movie in an empty theater with a friend was genuinely the best way to watch it. We got to cheer loudly for the wins as they happened during that final battle, and loudly ooh and ah over the visuals. Genuinely a wonderful way to watch the movie
I feel like as much as its a nice idea to say Lo'ak earning his dad's respect by doing what he was told by becoming a part of the new tribe is a nice idea, but its not really true. Ultimately he learned the ways of the new tribe because the power of tail boners is strong, he didn't really do it because his dad asked or for his family. I think that was actually a story thread they missed out on, where Lo'ak was getting in trouble because he was trying to do things he shouldn't with the tribe to fit in as his dad asked, just to try to be a better son but kept screwing up. Which would of been the reason why he has the love interest because she see's him trying to fit in just to please his family and she values that so she goes out of her way to help him more, rather than it just being a silly guy fancies hot girl story.
3:26 as a kid an hour from Boston Harbor, that was actually a fairly accurate scene of how whaling works, though the explosives obviously weren’t around the first time on Earth
Thank you for all the work you do! Can't really say much else! Really looking forward to Reign of Fire next week! :) I recognised that screenshot instantly!
I did not like the storyline all that much, but some of the worldbuilding elements here are just incredible, the Tulkun and the Metkayina tribes and their connection with the sea is incredible. I felt that Quaritch coming back and the sole mission for him is simple revenge is not the best note to come back on, but having humans come back not just as a simple mining mission but to claim Pandora as a new home does up the ante quite a bit
It's great that someone acknowledges that this movie is far from perfect and has a lot of issues with the story and stupidities in the plot while still admiring good points, not closing eyes on what is done awesomely and not hating totally not bad movie
@@juliacats5204 Ohh yes! I didn't hate this movie at all really, I don't like Quaritch as a villian for this movie tho, his role was much more suited for the first movie I think. I do think storing the memories of the rich and powerful and implanting them into Avatar bodies is a very logical extension of the technology and something we would definitely do if Avatars were real. I really want to learn more about Eywa and Kiri and what sort of being Eywa is
yeah, i think the story is a little. hm. but i give it credit for what its done good. as for the humans returning to Pandora, I think it makes sense, but we don't really get any of the context as to why. Pandora is the only? hospitable planet that humans have found while Earth dies, and it's incredibly rich in all these resources they want to use to further escape Earth, and make money of course. Even if Pandora wasn't the only planet they found, it's the one they've spent all this time building and planning to get to, which in space travel is exhaustively difficult. I think it makes sense that they would double down and keep using whatever equipment they had to go back and try to secure their holding there, even though it's pretty terrible of them to do so, ofc. Typically when governments/corporations encounter resistance, they just keep trying to plow it down because they believe will eventually succeed. I agree with CinemaWins that this would definitely be best as an episodic series, the pacing would work out better and you could get some more of these small details that add up into big plot holes. Sorry for the long comment, Avatar is a bit of a special interest of mine haha ^^'
It’s not just simple revenge though. Jake has been coordinating strategic attacks on the RDA’s supply lines, so General Ardmore wants him eliminated. Recom Quaritch is one of my favorite aspects of the film and it added so much more dimension to a character that was previously cartoonishly one-note. Stephen Lang is such a great actor and I’m glad he’s getting a chance to revisit this role with more nuance and hopefully an actual character arc this time. Revenge may have been his motivation now, but I don’t think that’s how it’ll end up. We’re already beginning to see some conflict within him which should result in a far more interesting journey ahead.
i think cameron def knows that quaritch's revenge on jake will get boring for audiences. i remember there was an interview where he said smt about that revenge will not be enough and that his character will have complexity. which is great
The hunt sequence literally had me crying for like 30 minutes in the theater... luckily I was not alone there watching the movie. I agree that it could be shorter, and I am currently thinking to not watch that movie ever again, just because of the way that whole sequence made me feel, but that just speaks to the skills of the writers and actors I guess.. . It is definitely very effective at conveying it's message.
When I talk about female rage- I mean Neytiri going completely mad in the 3rd act of Way of water.
Hats off to Zoe Saldana to be able to convey such anger and fury through the screen- it is so believable. The way I felt genuine fear during the 3rd act anytime Neytiri was on screen.
The way her eyes widen, the gutteral screams of fury from the stomach, the way she moves like an animal- completely blinded by anger to kill it's next victim is so awesome and terifying at the same time
They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But I say hell hath no fury and rage like a Mother protecting her young, nothing more powerful
I was actually scared of her 😂 she’s unrecognisable in those scenes!
@@kayleighbrown965 hell hath no fury than a mother avenging her child*
The way that Spider hides behind the pipe when he sees her like "I'm way too human-shaped to be seen by her right now" was great. And while I want to believe that Neytiri is a better person than would kill a child... it's not something I'm willing to say that I know, least of all in that moment.
@@barrygeistwhite3474 the way you could actually see it in his eyes "ok I'm actually in trouble. There is a very possible chance of her killing me just because."
And spiders intuition was right cause she would have killed him right then and there if the colonel didn't let kiri go
Fun fact: Cliff Curtis, the actor who played Tonowari, invited his family to bless the film set with a Māori style prayer.
In the film I noticed the distinctly Māori excitement of battle, the tongues out and general growling, I enjoyed seeing that in the film, gives a bigger more cultural distinction between the Omaticaya and the Metkayina (I think I spelt that right o.O)
@@kayleighbrown965 *Omatikaya, *Metkayina
Oh he's actually Māori??? That's awesome :D
I love Cliff, but as a Māori, his impact unfortunately can't overcome the blandness of this story which is further muddled by a white man telling it.
@@THESERIOUSKNOBBecause this is Jake’s story, so he’d be the focus here.
A note on Jake's slightly complicated relationship with his family, particularly his kids: While it's never stated, I get the feeling he never really had a dad, or at least a good or present one. It very much feels like he has no idea and no role model in regards to parenting. And so he reverts to military discipline, because that's what he figures turned him into an adult.
I might be reading far too much into what the movie says and doesn't say, but it's the sense I'm getting.
I agree. Especially as he was the one to see his dead brother. And so I feel like that makes him even more complex. As he didn’t protect his (either older or younger twin) brother. And that could have made that even more difficult.
@@TaylorCharlie Yeah. I suspect that Jake and Tommy were raised in a rough environment, but Tommy was academically gifted and managed to go on to college and the Avatar programme, while Jake got into the Marines to get out of that life (it hsould be noted that Jakewas Force Recon, an elite unit, so he was probably smart as well, bbut not in an academic way). Jake was probably the one who protected Tommy, and I'm sure that he felt some kind of guilt for not "protecting" him form teh mugger that killed him.
@@Bazookatone1 I definitely can agree with that! Plus. We don’t even know how Jake lost his legs either. And so that adds more lore and trauma to him. Plus. In the deleted scene of him in earth. We see from the very beginning. He defends a woman from a man being trash. And to me that just always has made me think he had a trash father that was bad to his mother.
@@Bazookatone1 I just wish we knew the entire story James Cameron gave Sam for Jake’s backstory tbh. I love that stuff.
@@TaylorCharlie We do know how Jake got paralyzed - he got a spinal injury fighting in a battle in Venezuela. So he was forced to quit the military and was on veteran benefits.
5:52 To help clarify what is happening here on a Biological level, What Payakan is doing here is technically aggressively brushing off his body to make him more streamline. Orcas, dolphins, and other porpoise species will rub along sand to remove barnacles or parasites to reduce drag in the water. Since Payakan is the equivalent of an alien whale going on the attack, I'd say this could be reasonable.
Huh neat
@Whatchamacallit that is the most accurate reaction to any fun facts I see on the internet
Well that's awesome
Thanks for the cool fact, it makes more sense than just psyching himself up lol
James loves the ocean and sea mammals so it's likely he did his research like you did.
I personally thought he muddied the water so he could "sneak attack"
Say what you want about the storyline. *Water looks real, water looks cool*
I see water, i get neuron activation
"It's the quenchiest!"
Its the wettest!
Water looks so delicious
It looked like a real alien world. I was able to lose myself for hours.
Cameron’s gift is taking simple storylines and straightforward characters and turning them into something special and very relatable.
Yeah, I think sometimes people forget that all of his movies have been this way. He's less interested in complex narratives or deep character studies and has always been more of a visual, experiential storyteller. It's partly why they always hit me so viscerally and emotionally. There isn't that cold, intellectual distance I often feel with many other science fiction filmmakers.
@@tronam For sure. Like if you look at Ridley Scott- he’s a phenomenal sci-fi director in terms of creativity and visuals, but in all the films of his I’ve seen, his characterizations aren’t the high point. They’re not bad, just not the focus.
Cameron on the other hand doesn’t even try to do big think pieces, like Scott does sometimes. He’s very much about how stories/characters make an audience feel, but where I admire Cameron is that it doesn’t feel like pandering. I’m not sure how he pulls it off, but he consistently manages to get his actors to give genuine performances, which always go a long way to a good film.
I do think that if the brothers were hard to tell apart, it was intentional. It would really drive home just how it felt for the younger brother to be in his older brother's shadow, as well as make Jake's line mistaking the younger for older hit even harder. I could be wrong, but that feels like it just makes sense
I feel he mistook Lo'ak for Netayam during the rescue because he had already accepted death, drowned and then found himself rescued but not aware enough to realize he wasn't seeing Netayam in the afterlife.
@James Palylyk honestly? Probably true too.
@@JamesPalylyk Nah, I feel like it was his tone of voice. It came across as there being an extra oomph of self-confidence he didn't have before, but his brother did.
a super cool detail once you really take the time to look is that Netayam takes more after Neytiri, while Lo'ak takes more after Jake! Netayam even has 3 fingers like his mother, which was probably another part of Lo'ak comparing himself to him.
I just love how you aren't even trying for impartiality with the Tulkun hunters. "Kill 'em. Feed his body parts to the Tulkun. Don't care." That made me laugh and drop my sword on my foot during my morning practice. Worth it!
And then you realize that we did this to whales for hundreds of years... and the Norwegians and Japanese are _still_ doing it because "tradition."
@@HowlingWolf518, I am of Norwegian descent. And fuck tradition. Can we start turning those harpoons on more practical targets?
@@HowlingWolf518 However, for more of those hundreds of years is was for sustenance and resources (meat, fat, skin, bone. Just like ancient animal hunters, whalers used everything they harvested), not because we thought it was a big bad meanie boi
Personally I do find the science dude who was explaining things to spider to be good. He does see what he does as terrible, he even hates his co-workers over their nonchalance. He seems to be studying the tulkun and this is the only way given the circumstances
@@dboi1656 Not the early modern ones - they only wanted spermeceti for cosmetics and candles. All other uses were incidental.
Loak is exactly like his father. He is the second son, his older brother dies, he has a friendship with a big boss animal, he falls in love with the daughter of the leader of the new tribe and he as stubborn as Jake.
9:57
It’s not just the kids that’s know it’s Neytiri’s arrows, it’s also Quaritch. You can see it in his eyes that he recognises the arrow that killed him.
He probabky doesn't know. He just looks at it as a normal arrow and then the kid says, "It's mom!"
@@danielawesome36 possibly, but it would be cool if he recognised it
@@danielawesome36 He definitely knows. You can see the fear in his expression and how wide his eyes get every time he sees one of Neytiri's arrows. Those are several missed wins.
@@jackbaxter2223 I think he doesn't remember being killed by Neytiri, which is why I said, "He probably doesn't know (it was Neytiri's arrows)."
But what he does know for sure... Some Navi are tearing through his men, and they've got bows.
@@danielawesome36 He doesn't remember being killed by Neytiri, but he _did_ see Neytiri's arrows in his human corpse. That's how he recognizes them (apparently Neytiri has a very unique way of fletching her arrows)
A little detail I don't see many people talk about is that Neytiri cuts Spider in the same way Jake gets cut when they leave the Omatikaya. She's bluffing. I wish her relationship with Spider was explored a bit more, but they're in a really interesting spot going forward
that's such an interesting take! I didn't notice it in the first movie but after she cuts Spider her eyes squint as if she suddenly becomes aware of what she has done and regrets it for a milisecond
I hope we get more interactions between Neytiri and Spider in the next movie!
@@agnijabistrovaite1082I noticed that microexpression too- it's almost like there is a very brief but intense moment of realization where she thinks" I've killed him already" due to the cultural implications of having seen that ceremony before, and knowing what the cut across the chest is a stand-in for. it's fucking immaculate acting.
I love this idea, they definitely need to explore in their relationship
It actually took me three or four viewings of the movie to realize and spot that Neteyam has three fingers to Lo'ak's four. Added another layer to Lo'ak's feelings of inadequacy compared to his brother
One heartbreaking detail in the payakan saving scene is that the beacon is on someone they are "marked for death". And who is the one who carries the beacon away from others to give them a chance for escape? Neteyam. It mirros his death in many ways and makes me very uspet.
Both of Loak’s brothers were marked for death, but his big brother sacrificed himself to save the other
4:50, I could also see another reason: she uses a bow and arrow, while the water Navi use spears and crossbows. Bows don’t work underwater, so she stays in the air
That "let's get it done" line had me cutting up in the theater jake ate us up on that one
Its gave me a good chuckle but that scene in itself was so great because it's a draw at that moment where they let the kids go and all of them, including Jake, back into the water to flee. But quaritchs declaration makes Jake stay and finish it because even if Jake left with his family, he still would've had to fight quaritch eventually
It's a very Marine attitude. ain't no sense pushing it off until later, let's get it done now
i actually have an answer for why the Ikran bonded with those jabronies, and it’s not that Jake HAD to train to bond with them, but that he was learning the Omatikaya’s ways and bonding with an Ikran was the last step in his journey to become one of the people. Quaritch had no interest in becoming accepted by the Na’vi, he just wanted an easier way to get around, so he skipped all the steps and went straight to taming an Ikran
also, unrelated, but i do suspect Spider was hoping/expecting Quaritch to die in the attempt, so i don’t get why so many people wonder why he was helping them when it feels clear to me he was looking for ways to undermine them and hopefully save the Sully’s somehow by playing on the Na’vi marines’ egos and getting them killed
I was pretty sure Spider attempting to screw them over was also a goal, since I could've sworn he was smiling when it looked like Quaritch's attempt was going sideways.
yeah he definitely expected them all to get their faces eaten off, and I mean. can you blame him?
I think it was a bit of a mix on Spider's part-which I actually really liked.
I read it *both* as he wants them gone as a problem to his adopted family; but he's ALSO getting some thrill of seeing a parental figure who seems to like him just for who he is, being successful.
@@mafiacat88 And even a little bit of "doing this turned Jake into a good guy, maybe bonding with the local wildlife will have the same effect on him".
@@maniac7770 you’re so right! i forgot about that little!
I always interpreted his stirring up of the sand as his intense internal conflict to make the choice, yet again, to fight. The decision that made him an outcast and went against everything he believed in, and now he is here again because his only friend, the first one to end his isolation in who knows how long, was in danger.
His stirring up of the sand would be like someone who feels helpless and is filled with rage wrecking a room before making a hard choice.
Exactly what I thought!
Couldn't have said it better, weird how some just don't get it right away
Yeah this is 1000000% how I took this scene.
I would like to point out that Jake learning how to ride the skimwing makes total sense. Before going to Pandora in Avatar 1, Jake was a Marine. Marines train in water as well as on land, due to the branch being an amphibious unit. So, Jake would be comfortable fighting in water already.
Also, you have to look at Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
Spirit is a phenomenal movie ❤
Omg I'd die if he did Spirit, it's been my favorite movie my whole life! When I was 5, I'd ask my mom to put it on multiple times a day every single day.
The way that Neytiri screamed after she lost her son was so guttural and raw, it immediately brought tears to my eyes.
It seems most people were afraid of Neytiri screaming and enraged while killing humans, but I just started crying. Every time I saw it in theaters, I would sob uncontrollably. She's just so broken.
Neytiri is, without a doubt, the most believable, frightening, and dangerous female action star of all time
You really should have given a win for the score when Payakan annihilates Scoresby being called 'A Farewell to Arm'
Or making that whole thing a Moby Dick reference. The whale hunter whose arm is trapped by the rope due to the whale he was hunting is the most poetic end for Scoresby.
@@jackbaxter2223 Scoreseby shares a name with a real life whaling captain who wrote a book that Melville explicitly references within the text of Moby Dick, so it feels like it has to be an intentional reference. I actually think the encounter with Payakan is a reference to Ahab's first encounter with the White Whale, though, not the fatal one at the end of the the book, since that is the one where he lost a limb. I think it lends credence to the idea that Scoresby may have survived- Ahab swore vengeance on Moby Dick because he bit off his leg and that feels like a setup for Scoresby to return in Avatar 3.
Really though, I just I feel like all this might mean is that it's hard to include whaling in any piece of media without making SOME sort of reference to the canonical cultural touchstone on the subject.
7:39 I think the pods valued pacifism so much that they legitimately didn’t fight back, just tried to avoid them bc they knew they could’ve mopped the floor with the poachers.
Yep, they're so committed to pacifism that they refuse to fight, and even blame payakan as the "murderer" when he was trying to stop the whalers. I hope we see more of them in the next one, and I hope that they realise that Payakan is right, and that there is such a thing as self defence (and even "proactive" self defence where they just attack the harbours and stuff) that is justified.
Both in the first film and this one, Pandora doesn't understand the *full* threat that Humanity is, that it will burn the entire planet to the ground for a single dollar of profit. Humanity therefore must be destroyed as an act of self preservation, and the Tulkun really need to learn that.
That was my understanding as well, but I do want to point out that the movie contradicts itself on the point. They talk about how they have to drive the calf away from the mother, which wouldn't make sense if the whales didn't fight back at all/ever.
@ryanjensen1945 I got the sense it was more for ease of pursuit. Specifically, they said the calf is slower and the mother would never leave her calf.
4:12 I think this scene stings even harder when you think that Lo'ak and Neteyam's last normal conversation was basically an argument and that they never got to reconcile afterwards. Which also makes Neteyam's death and Lo'ak's reaction to it that much more painful.
Avatar is a franchise I will never get bored of watching. Most films for me fall into the category of "one and done", but many aspects of this film series just draws me back.
The next one is going to involve a volcano tribe, so I bet the visuals will be a whole new level of stunning
The way me and my friend think about Avatar is that it’s more a world building project rather than a movie for the stories sake. That way the whole almost documentary like shot mid part of the movie makes sense. It takes it’s time because the Team behind the Movie took YEARS to develop the world, so might as well fully show it off
What I felt like happened when Lo’ak found Jake in the ship and Jake said ‘Neteyam’ was that Jake thought he had died or was seeing his son just before he was going to die. Dunno if that’s how it was meant to be portrayed or not
I thought the same. It wasn’t that Jake forgot Neteyam was dead or that he wished Lo’ak was the son that died if one had to, he thought he was dead and seeing Neteyam again. If it had been Spider or human Norm that saved him, he might have said “Tommy,” thinking he was seeing his brother.
It's worth watching the behind the scenes footage to see Sigourney Weaver in her mo cap suit acting like a child among the actual children which is adorable!
I don't know if anyone noticed but when jake grabs quarich's Ikran and swings him in the water it's almost the exact move he did with Toruk in the first movie
there are TONS of shots like that. i've watched the first one often enough that each time a repeat shot like that showed up i could recognize it, and a laaarge portion of shots in this sequel were almost complete reflections of ones from the first. it was one of my small gripes with the movie bc there were just so many. nvm that the whole boat scene was just titanic all over. it definitely felt a lot like cameron was trying to remind everyone how many popular/groundbreaking movies he's made at times lmao. it's not a bad thing per se, but it's noticeable which slightly draws one out of the immersion
@Elizabeth Price although I noticed some of them as well I just liked it because both times jake was riding a creature fit for a warrior and the first time he did it, it was with a helicopter and the second was with quaritch himself I just loved it
Yeah there’s a lot of mirrored shots/lines from the first, but I liked them tbh. Another one that comes to mind is when the general is telling quarich they have to test their new avatars the hard way and quarich says “outstanding” it’s mirroring the first movie where grace tells Jake in the stand off with the rhino things “if he doesn’t, he’ll kill you” and Jake says “outstanding” with the same smile
There’s some others I can’t think of off the top of my head but I liked them tbh, kinda an homage to the OG film, I think It works cause of the time gap between the two films, kinda reminds us of where it started
@@HeyElizabethPrice I think that the parallels were simply because James cameron was like"I really liked this shot from this movie I did, but I want to change it slightly. let's put it in" and nobody gave him any early feedback on if that was diving too deep down the 25 year nostalgia hole
When James Horner's theme started playing when the Tulkun died in the whaling scene, the music gave me shivers as it was the same theme that played when the Home tree was burning...
I still don’t get it why many people criticize this movie for not having a story. It does have a story! It’s about what it truly means to have a family, putting them first, protecting them from danger no matter what! That’s what Jake did, and now that Quaritch is back, he’s more dangerous than before since he’ll do things more personally this time, he won’t hesitate to kill any of Jake and Neytiri’s kids, I mean look at what happened to Neteyam 😢
I've not seen anyone criticize the film for not having a story, I think people's issue is that its beat for beat the same story as the last. Jakes an outcast trying to fit in, has to learn new skills to fit in with tribe, sky people are attacking, big final battle where Jake saves the day. The settings changed and theme being more centralised on family but what generally happens in the film is the same as the first which is what I've seen people complain about.
Some take issue with the complete lack of resolution. Humans are still on the planet and intend to take it over. Still don't know who Kiri's sperm donor was, or what her deal is with eywa. Main bad guy got saved by his bio-son who shouldn't be on his side ever, and he gets to fly away to fight again later.
I found the movie to be absolutely gorgeous, loved every visual...but it feels unsatisfying in a way. I would have liked better to see the bad guys take losses that weren't mostly machinery and unnamed NPCs. A whale's death was more of an impact, by far, than any losses the bad guys took.
it’s because people these days often confuse story with plot. it barely has any plot, but the story is front and foremost, always. it just happens to be a very simple story, told VERY well!
While I won't critizie it for not having a story I feel the story is lacking, not bad, just lacking and I feel that's because the CGI/framing/all the rest of it is just that good that the story falls flater than the rest. It doesn't wholy detract from the movie but some of it comes of naive/stunted in ways that can't simply be explained by the naivety of the Na'vi, and more just not spending as much time in developing it as the rest of the movie. (not when we take into account this is a 3 hour movie that is)
I'm not a fan of James's work but I do always find is visuals/pacing is excellent but his characters are kinda a sub plot? Not that he doesn't care for them, just that I feel he really really likes the boundaries of film that he can push, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Overall, Avatar Way of water is a pretty solid piece, pacing is good and the story holds itself together enough not to fall flat on it's face, no body was phoning it in, and maybe in the end it's more dialog over actual story? Cause everyone brought their A games if you ask me, even the bad guys.
Thanks guys for all of the explanations 👍
Renal is my hero! She reminds me of my wife so much because of the way she is unstoppable and unyielding. Such an amazing woman. That simple line of "NO! I RIDE!" And her husband stepping out of her way was perfect.
i say Kiri is just Eywa reincarnate. Eywa needed a body, but she needed someone willing that is connected to her. And grace was just absolutely willing you can tell.
Just a walking goddess, no big deal
Eywa bridges the gap between a god and a neural network. what is a god but a larger consciousness than ours? and in the vastness of space, what could be a bigger consciousness than a sentient, networked planet?
I have a not so fun fact: all na’vi have bioluminescent spots on them but at neteyams funeral you can see that his have gone out 😔
It's a shame that so many of Michelle Rodriguez's character moments in Avatar '09 were cut from the theatrical release, including her romantic relationship with Norm which would've done a much better job of helping explain her "switching sides".
I don't think that "I don't want to bomb defenceless natives into oblivion" is something that must be _explained._
@@DarthBiomech You’re not wrong. It’s just that many of those deleted scenes also better explained her close camaraderie with Jake, Grace and Norm and a willingness to put her life on the line for them.
@@DarthBiomechgiven that there were immense numbers of people who didn't switch sides, I'd say establishing motivations IS important.
One thing I heard, don’t know if it’s canon, but when a Na’vi die their spirit goes to the spirit trees, but they can only remember the memories they had the last time they connected to a spirit tree. So the reason Neteyam is so oblivious to why Jake is upset is because he doesn’t remember his own death.
“Then let’s get it done” bad ass line
My best assumption for what I see you means, based off a quick line from Norm teaching Jake Na’vi in the first movie. I see you means “I see into you, I see all of you, I see every side of you and I love and understand you for all you are,” the greeting is very similar but more like. “I see all of you friend, and I give it all good regards.” Something like that.
I just can't get over how real the world in this movie feels. Or rather, how immersive it feels. The characters, the CGI, the cinematography and innovative tech involved, and not to mention the WATER! Just amazing work! This movie is a breath of fresh air after a decade of superhero movies. I can't wait to see what more Cameron and all the great people working with him has in store for us!
the Mama tulkun and the baby always break my heart. her sounds were horrible when they were chasing them 😢😢
I literally had to leave the theater....Chose that to be my pee break. No regrets.
I loved this film, but I hated how little time we spent with Netayam. I didn’t feel much for him at his death because I felt like we didn’t have enough character development or screen time to feel more for him. I would’ve loved if he was more involved. I also had the same issue about telling the brothers apart for a while until after netayam’s death. Some things could’ve been shown better, but overall I really liked it
When I watched the first time, as soon the third act started I bet with my friends that Netayam would die, it got obvious with how little development he had.
@@Braga_Rcb it was obvious even before the movie came out. All the marketing material was focused on everyone BUT Neteyam, which made it pretty clear there was very little footage of him to use. I knew he was dead going into the theater, the only question was when it would happen.
@@alexisdorris272 I actually didn't see any trailer of the movie, so didn't catch that
I freaking love this movie.
3:26 seeing the RDA kill the Tulkun mother brought a tear to my eye in the cinema.
This movie is great and better than the original. Entertaining sequel that builds upon what the first one did. Zoe And Stephen crushed it and the visuals are the best in a film ever. Can't wait for Avatar 3 and hope Michelle returns.
The Viper wolves are what gave Quaritch his scar, and I just love how they almost killed Jake too in the first movie if it wasn't for Neytiri. My fav lil buggers.
Way of the Water made me feel EVERY emotion about 4 times over. Even watching the Wins video got me choked up all over again.
i’m honestly convinced Kiri is space jesus. She just might be the baby of Ewya or her reincarnated.
4:57 and once again, Navi firing pool cue size arrows through the invaders never gets old.
Quaritch took me by surprise when I saw this. Seeing how his journey sort of mirrors Jakes in the first movie and he had more depth this time around. I actually wanted to see more of what he was doing and was a little sad when he wasn't on screen. I can't wait to see what happens to him next movie.
There was actually 3 eclipses in the movie! The second was when kiri visited eywa and had her seizure. The third was the last battle.
For the Metkayina not being there/helping during Jake and Neytiri’s fight on the ship, I’m probably not gonna be phrasing this as well as someone on IG pointed it out but it’s more then likely that the Metkayina return to the village to get more spears or other weapons to continue the fight.
Given a spear travel well under water and are what the Metkayina are most accustom to. They could probably use a bow and arrow but is wouldn’t travel as well underwater and would slow them down. Plus, once a body would be impaled onto the spear, it would be hard to travel with. So discard it and grab another, same with throwing that spear, it can’t be used again and the Metkayina aren’t like Jake and Neytiri in that they fought the humans before nor are as quick to shake bodies off there weapons. Hence Ronal carrying multiple spears with her (and most likely other Metkayina too) in to battle and heading back to gab more, missing the final fight on the boat.
Man, watching this has me in tears all over again. The Sullys are my movie family and I love them so much.
My favorite CGI detail is when they are going through the water fast. It pushes the skin on her legs to the side.
2:32
I don't ever cry, watching movies.. but I had tears streaming down my face. I was red hot with anger and embarrassment (at those unexpected tears.. and not being able to wipe them off fully because of buttered popcorn allover my fingers!) All I kept thinking was - we are doing this. We are doing this on this planet, in this reality!!
The whale hunting scene is literally the best scene in the movie. It’s the most meaningful, emotional, and relevant part of Avatar 2.
At this point, I've started seeing this franchise as a story about Pandora more than any character shown on screen.
Idk what it is, but when spider hits that guy with the fire extinguisher at 7:12, I can feel my head ring.
I’m a firm believer that if a movie is 2 and a half hours long or longer, it should have an intermission. In the old days the intermission was for practical reasons: the operators had to physically replace them film to continue the movie, but it was also a chance for the audience to get up and stretch their legs, go to the bathroom, get refills on drinks and snacks. Zack Snyder’s Justice League had title cards between scenes that were a great chance to pause and step away for a moment, and I wish more films would follow that example.
I just love thw little details but also how people missed completely that this movie is a sidquest story and not the actual story. The main plot is in the background.
Cameron says that he has already filmed all principle photography for _Avatar 3_ and half of _Avatar 4,_ so we won't be waiting for over a decade for the next films.
I really like that Quarich survived. I don't know if I'd call it a redemption arc, but he is becoming a more complicated character and it would be a waste to end that arc now. He doesn't have to become a good guy, but a third party always spices things up.
same. idk if he would even seek/want redemption but i can see him as a morally grayish character
I love the new Quaritch and his evolution as a character. I cant wait where Cameron takes his character in the next movie.
Honestly, it was worth the ticket price just for the visuals, this movie is on another level.
2:13 The multiple meanings of "I see you" is actually explained in the first movie.
They say it's basically a translation error and that it has LOADS of meanings, all of them emotionally charged in different ways.
I love these films tbh. And I'm excited for more. I never had the "got depressed after watching the first film" thing. I just enjoy these. That simple.
10:17 i SWEAR that closeup on Nitiri has GOT to be some kind of practical effect. some animatronic or puppet or something. it just looks too real / uncanny to be CGI!
Seriously that one moment looks so strikingly different then every other time we see her.
I think the reason we didn't see an eclipse in the first film is because this film takes place at a different season and that eclipses don't appear across the whole Pandora year.
I am definitely in for part 3.
Its just fun to watch in 3D.
@2:42 Hate to burst it to you, but that is actually happening everyday to Elephants and Whales.
The connection that the Metkayina have with the Tulkun truly shows what we humans are missing out in the oceans, like we can have these connection with whales and it’s possible.
The best whale I can think of is the Humpback and it’s altruistic behaviors.
Not really lol whales aren’t nearly as smart as us and wouldn’t want to be around us anyways lol 😂
Fun fact and win: When Neteyam dives from the ship into the water, you can see he has a hand on his chest, foreshadowing he got shot moments before we actualy know. I noticed it first time i watched the movie and it had me through many emotions at that point.
17:11 the whole movie seems like they're leaving out a lot of things because it's supposed to be over the course of several months.
Jake's character arc in this film embodies the meaning of (Neytiri's dad) Eytukan's line from the first film concerning Jake's adoption into the Omaticaya "It is hard to fill a cup that is already full."
With all the weird things in this movie, the weirdest one is that Sigourney Weiver is playing a teenager.
Yet also weird that it’s not that weird? Like she was meant to play a teenager lol.
I love these movies so much. I’ll never argue with anyone about why cuz I see the flaws in them, but these movies are just so fun to watch.
Exactlyyyy
One thing worth noting is when the were hunting the Tulkun mother Spider is starring at the guy in charge of the instrument of the ship, at first you think it's just because he's never seen advanced tech before like the Na'vi but when the kids are in danger he destroys the same instruments! That was his plan all along
Anyone else notice during our scenes they're a bit more greyed out while the others' scenes are more colourful and vibrant?
It's not just my eyes playing on me I think James tried to differentiate our perception beyond just framing.
Fun.
I’m positive the fight between Payakan and the poachers shows how much payakan has probably been replaying the events of his past over and over again- how could I have knows and prevented what happened and it is so satisfying to see him turn the tables on the poachers
I haven't seen it here but the quick cut of Tonowari at 6:23 is so badass, full-on flying spear as he drags a soldier into the water
12:03 yessss literally like I’m so proud of every little thing he does, it doesn’t go unnoticed 😭
I'm just excited to see where all of these characters' stories go. Give me more Avatar
I'm convinced this narrator should be the new voice of Deadpool.
Neytiri is my favorite character and she goes from my favorite to my worst fear in act 3. Zoe Saldana's acting is incredible.
Jake also evolves as a character, he can't move on from his military past and be his more childlike self we see parts of in the first movie. He has to be hard on his kids, and treat them more roughly because they're at war.
Been waiting on ATWOW for years and it was soooo worth the wait, the way James Cameron put both films together shows how far a rather simple story can go and how much you can learn to love the characters. Been a huge fan of his films since I got to see Aliens.
one of my tiny details is the avatar people who were holding lo’ak, tuk and kiri seem to have beef with them because of their first interaction being unnecessarily rough and snarling at each other
Big, big fan of Neytiri going full murder at the end there. The Na'vi have always had a great design, completely alien while still being very relatable and emotive, but something the first film didn't really take advantage of is how TERRIFYING it must be to have a Na'vi angry at you. And twelve-foot tall Neytiri filled with bloodlust really, genuinely shook me.
19:42 YEEEAAAHHH LETS GOOOO A VIDEO ON REIGN OF FIRE!!!!!!
i was crying my lungs out in the theatre when the hunt was happening (me, my mom and my sister were, and my sister NEVER cries) so yeah. i hate that seen with all my heart
"More dragons" is the best sentence you can say to me, matey
Getting to see this movie in an empty theater with a friend was genuinely the best way to watch it. We got to cheer loudly for the wins as they happened during that final battle, and loudly ooh and ah over the visuals. Genuinely a wonderful way to watch the movie
I never had a hard time telling the brothers apart, but I guess that's just me 😂
i’m so glad the movie was as long as it was. i wish it was longer! i can’t wait for the new movies
I feel like as much as its a nice idea to say Lo'ak earning his dad's respect by doing what he was told by becoming a part of the new tribe is a nice idea, but its not really true. Ultimately he learned the ways of the new tribe because the power of tail boners is strong, he didn't really do it because his dad asked or for his family. I think that was actually a story thread they missed out on, where Lo'ak was getting in trouble because he was trying to do things he shouldn't with the tribe to fit in as his dad asked, just to try to be a better son but kept screwing up. Which would of been the reason why he has the love interest because she see's him trying to fit in just to please his family and she values that so she goes out of her way to help him more, rather than it just being a silly guy fancies hot girl story.
3:26 as a kid an hour from Boston Harbor, that was actually a fairly accurate scene of how whaling works, though the explosives obviously weren’t around the first time on Earth
One tiny correction. The village being interrogated at 1:15 is the Ta'unui not Metkayina
Thank you for all the work you do! Can't really say much else! Really looking forward to Reign of Fire next week! :) I recognised that screenshot instantly!
The Tulkun hunting scene is actually so heartbreaking I could hardly watch the second time I saw the movie 😭
I did not like the storyline all that much, but some of the worldbuilding elements here are just incredible, the Tulkun and the Metkayina tribes and their connection with the sea is incredible. I felt that Quaritch coming back and the sole mission for him is simple revenge is not the best note to come back on, but having humans come back not just as a simple mining mission but to claim Pandora as a new home does up the ante quite a bit
It's great that someone acknowledges that this movie is far from perfect and has a lot of issues with the story and stupidities in the plot while still admiring good points, not closing eyes on what is done awesomely and not hating totally not bad movie
@@juliacats5204 Ohh yes! I didn't hate this movie at all really, I don't like Quaritch as a villian for this movie tho, his role was much more suited for the first movie I think. I do think storing the memories of the rich and powerful and implanting them into Avatar bodies is a very logical extension of the technology and something we would definitely do if Avatars were real. I really want to learn more about Eywa and Kiri and what sort of being Eywa is
yeah, i think the story is a little. hm. but i give it credit for what its done good. as for the humans returning to Pandora, I think it makes sense, but we don't really get any of the context as to why. Pandora is the only? hospitable planet that humans have found while Earth dies, and it's incredibly rich in all these resources they want to use to further escape Earth, and make money of course. Even if Pandora wasn't the only planet they found, it's the one they've spent all this time building and planning to get to, which in space travel is exhaustively difficult. I think it makes sense that they would double down and keep using whatever equipment they had to go back and try to secure their holding there, even though it's pretty terrible of them to do so, ofc. Typically when governments/corporations encounter resistance, they just keep trying to plow it down because they believe will eventually succeed.
I agree with CinemaWins that this would definitely be best as an episodic series, the pacing would work out better and you could get some more of these small details that add up into big plot holes. Sorry for the long comment, Avatar is a bit of a special interest of mine haha ^^'
It’s not just simple revenge though. Jake has been coordinating strategic attacks on the RDA’s supply lines, so General Ardmore wants him eliminated. Recom Quaritch is one of my favorite aspects of the film and it added so much more dimension to a character that was previously cartoonishly one-note. Stephen Lang is such a great actor and I’m glad he’s getting a chance to revisit this role with more nuance and hopefully an actual character arc this time. Revenge may have been his motivation now, but I don’t think that’s how it’ll end up. We’re already beginning to see some conflict within him which should result in a far more interesting journey ahead.
i think cameron def knows that quaritch's revenge on jake will get boring for audiences. i remember there was an interview where he said smt about that revenge will not be enough and that his character will have complexity. which is great
The hunt sequence literally had me crying for like 30 minutes in the theater... luckily I was not alone there watching the movie.
I agree that it could be shorter, and I am currently thinking to not watch that movie ever again, just because of the way that whole sequence made me feel, but that just speaks to the skills of the writers and actors I guess.. . It is definitely very effective at conveying it's message.
I lived in NZ for a couple years. Was so cool to see the Maori influence in this movie!
I love how scary Neytiri gets, a great reminder of the difference between Na'vi and human.