Avatar: The Way Of Water Is About The Next Generation, And It's A Great Choice
The following post contains heavy spoilers for "Avatar: The Way of Water."
James Cameron's "Avatar" is one of the purest forms of cinematic spectacle, a movie with vast world-building, rich mythology, and stunning action. Sure, the story isn't super complex or original, and the characters aren't the best-written or most well-rounded. In fact, a lot of the writing in the first film feels purposely thin, as if Cameron's goal was to include the bare minimum of story and the most archetypical characters so they could be universally understood, and not distract from the world-building and the visuals.
This changes in the sequel. "Avatar: The way of Water" pushes the franchise and blockbusters alike to the next level, with a movie that is in every way bigger, better, and more ambitious than the first one. Likewise, this is a movie with a much larger ensemble, a bigger scope, and a story that shifts its focus away from Jake Sully and more onto his and Neytiri's family – more specifically, their kids. It's this change that allows "The Way of Water" to correct a lot of the mistakes of the first film, paving the way for an even more exciting future (so far as the "Avatar" franchise is concerned).
Avatar: The Next Generation
For years, James Cameron teased that the "Avatar" sequels would focus on Jake and Neytiri's children, saying as far back as 2016, "['Avatar: The Way of Water' is] more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans." Indeed, "The Way of Water" spends its first few minutes bringing us up to speed on what happened after the events of the original "Avatar," with Jake Sully becoming chief of the Omaticaya clan and starting a family with Neytiri, including adopting both a human child named Spider and Kiri, a Na'vi girl played by Sigourney Weaver – the latter of whom is also the daughter of Weaver's character, Dr. Grace Augustine, in the first "Avatar" film.
As soon as the kids are all introduced, they become the center of the story. Sure, Jake and Neytiri are still there, but barely. Jake is no longer the white savior that drives the clan or the plot, but more of a specter of disappointment and terrible parenting that looms large over his kids, and shows up every once in a while to be absolutely horrible to his son Lo'ak.
So, we get the kids, with the protagonists really being the two middle children, Kiri and Lo'ak. This is important because they are the only two who look Na'vi, but have five fingers and faint eyebrows like an avatar (meant for humans), which turns them into outcasts amongst the other Na'vi. Additionally, Kiri is also a bit ... odd, with a special connection to Eywa and the fauna and flora of Pandora. Their stories are of self-acceptance, fighting prejudice, and teaching others to accept them for who they are while embracing their differences as something positive.
The future of Pandora
Throughout the film, we see Jake Sully make the wrong choices. He talks down to his kids, and treats them like soldiers but then doesn't trust them with responsibility. He is quick to judge them, particularly Lo'ak, even when he is on the right.
Meanwhile, Lo'ak makes all the right choices in the film, even if they don't seem right at first. He oversteps his boundaries by going to the old crash site, but he does it after noticing footprints of intruders — and if it wasn't for him, it's possible Quaritch and his goons would have snuck into the Omaticaya headquarters and silently taken them all down. When Jake tells his kids to be friends with the Metkayina kids, Lo'ak lies and takes the blame for a horrible prank and earns the trust of the chief's son. When everyone tells Lo'ak not to approach the rogue tulkun, Payakan, he goes ahead and befriends him anyway, which leads to Payakan saving the Metkayina and the Sullys from the space whalers. As for Kiri, Jake doesn't pay much attention to her, but her powers end up saving Neytiri and Tuk from drowning.
At every point, "Avatar: The Way of Water" makes it clear that the ones with relatively clear heads and good decision-making are the kids, the ones that are born in Pandora but know how humans live and think. If James Cameron is to continue this franchise for a few more sequels — or potentially even more — this is a good way of preparing them to take over as clan leaders or even protagonists once Jake is gone. And if Jake continues to act as nonsensical as he does in this movie, he'll be gone pretty soon.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" is now playing in theaters.