James Cameron could’ve stepped away from directing post-1997, and he’d still be talked about as one of the greatest and most influential of filmmakers. 1997 saw the release of Titanic, which was his most commercially successful film by far, and also his biggest success awards-wise… also quite comfortably, since it earned a rather staggering 11 Oscar wins from 14 nominations. Cameron called himself the king of the world at the Oscars, quoting his own movie, which was a bit boastful, but, like, he kind of earned the right to brag, the same way a similarly confident John Lennon (also controversially) said The Beatles, at one point, were “more popular than Jesus.” But to get away from Titanic, Cameron also directed the first two Terminator movies, Aliens, The Abyss, and True Lies before 1997, and that was a pretty incredible run of films. So, all those 20th-century releases made him legendary, but then in the 21st century, his career, as a director, has been dominated by Avatar. And that might bother some people who don’t particularly love Avatar, but if you like his sense of spectacle, bombast, and melodrama, these movies, so far, have had a lot to offer.
They are exhausting movies, especially the second and third films, which both exceed three hours, yet there are always things to appreciate with a new Avatar.
They’re James Cameron movies, through and through. All his movies made between 1984 and 1997 also make it pretty apparent what he likes focusing on (water, set pieces, technology, mecha suits, a balance of romance and action, grand emotions, etc.), but then the Avatar movies just see him doing all the stuff he likes, but in a more maximalist way. They are exhausting movies, especially the second and third films, which both exceed three hours, yet there are always things to appreciate with a new Avatar movie. It’s harder – or maybe just a little more boring – to rank the entries in a series that itself isn’t made up of very many movies, but that’s what the following is going to try and do anyway. There are three to date, and they’re all good, albeit flawed. None are perfect, and honestly, perfection isn’t really something that James Cameron’s ever attained (Terminator 2: Judgment Day probably comes the closest), though that’s okay. You get scale, technically dazzling sights, and cinematic experiences with all the Avatar movies, and they’re probably the three movies most worthy of being watched in 3D, too, perhaps ever.
3
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ (2025)
It’s hard to talk about the plot of Avatar: Fire and Ash without discussing the way the second movie ended, but then again, that second movie made a ridiculous amount of money (only slightly less ridiculous than the first movie), meaning that many, many people saw it, so there’s a good chance you’re caught up. There’s a big battle, and then a pretty serious loss within the Sully family, and so Fire and Ash starts with quite a bit by way of grieving, all before building to what ends up being a much bigger battle than seen in the second movie. And it tops anything from the first, really. Avatar: Fire and Ash just goes super big, is the main takeaway. It wasn’t really able to wow in the same way the first movie did, introducing people to a new world (well, technically a new moon: Pandora), and then the second movie also represented a pretty big leap forward on a technical front, since it came out 13 years on from the first. There was only a three-year gap between movies #2 and #3, and so movie #3 feels a tad familiar, which is probably the main concern people have had with it so far.
There are sequences here that come a little close to what was seen before, and while the first hour or so of the film suggests a new direction for things to go in narratively (namely, by splitting the Sullys up, and by introducing a new, more villainous Na’vi tribe), it settles back into a comfortable groove before the halfway point. James Cameron is still very much wanting to impress you when it comes to scale, and Avatar: Fire and Ash’s keenness to escalate things size-wise is admirable. When the whole thing hits, or when it focuses on action (and there is a lot of action), it’s pretty thrilling stuff. The spectacle is enough, as are some of the new characters, and what ends up happening with a few of the ones already introduced. It’s more impressive concerning scale and everything, but the other shortcomings, some pacing issues (things passing by too quickly at times, honestly, rather than too slowly), and a tad too much by way of familiarity hold it back from being as great as the first two movies. It’s still very likely to be a crowdpleaser, so long as those crowds are made up of people who were already pleased by movies #1 and #2. Lots of it feels like more of the same, but with an emphasis on the “more” at enough points that it often overwhelms the more detrimental sense of the “same.” Still, if there are going to be more Avatar movies, they might have to get a little more narratively adventurous than what was found here.
2
‘Avatar’ (2009)
It’s weird to call Avatar quaint, when it’s still a pretty sizable epic movie, but it does really feel a bit smaller and simpler compared to its sequels. Some of that simplicity comes down to the film having its fair share of narrative beats you’ve seen before in other, older movies, and yeah, that’s sort of the elephant in the room when it comes to Avatar. That being said, those similarities really aren’t as much of a problem as people like to make them out to be, and it’s not like James Cameron was ever shy about going broad and telling straightforward and satisfying – not to mention mass-appeal – movies before 2009. This is a movie about a Marine getting a unique opportunity to live with an alien civilization of a habitable moon, and then he gets predictably invested in their way of life, and sees their struggles against humanity as something he can no longer contribute to… on the human side of things, that is.
It’s a sci-fi spin on that kind of well-worn and emotional story, but Cameron’s a great storyteller, and it’s worth celebrating even the seemingly simple narratives that are told well. Like, enjoying a blockbuster like this is easy, much in the same way that enjoying pop music is effortless, and that does make some people rally against such simplicity, but it’s not easy making something that’ll appeal to damn near everyone, both when it comes to filmmaking and songwriting. And all that’s only touching upon the story, and defending it. The real star of the show here is how it looks and sounds, as well as how immersive it ends up being. That’s the true appeal of Avatar: it’s one of the best-looking movies of the century so far, and is really quite miraculous on a world-building front. There’s a blending here of science fiction, action, a bit of romance, drama, and some fantastical elements, too, and it kicked off the overall series very well… even if it took 13 years before said series got a second installment. Speaking of…
1
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (2022)
James Cameron is good at sequels. Aliens and the second Terminator are easily among the greatest of all time, and then Avatar: The Way of Water feels like another that could well be better than the movie that came before. Avatar (2009) has the better pacing, perhaps, and also the novelty factor of being the first thing set on Pandora, yet The Way of Water is where things really branch out, and the film’s world grows considerably in size. So too do the number of characters, with there being a whole family dynamic that gets introduced early on (thanks to a time-skip) and explored well throughout. There’s a new tribe here as well, and that’s where all the water comes in. James Cameron loves water. It shows up throughout his filmography even more frequently than the strong and surprisingly compelling sequels do.
To repeat, with Fire and Ash, the main complaint is familiarity and some repetition. Don’t forget about the repetition. And then with the first movie, there are those parts people consider too similar to other movies/stories. The big complaint with The Way of Water was the length, since it’s more than three hours long and much of the film plays out without a great deal of narrative momentum. Cameron is keen to just have his characters explore the world, and hang out a lot underwater, and if you’re into that, it’s an oddly relaxing viewing experience. It picks up in intensity whenever some kind of fight goes down, and the action is awesome, but everything being so peaceful and beautiful when there isn’t a battle of sorts happening? Those parts are even better, despite not sounding quite as interesting on paper. And, again, everything here on a technical front is staggering, and the only thing that might not be improved, compared to the first movie, is the score. Simon Franglen’s music here is good, but it’s not quite on James Horner’s level (exceptionally big shoes to fill, after the latter’s death in 2015). Anyway, Avatar: The Way of Water hasn’t been around long enough to properly age yet, but it feels like it’s on its way to aging well. It’s something special and unique, as far as grand-scale movies go, and at the end of the day, no one makes expensive films that look like every dollar was well spent the same way James Cameron does. This one makes that incredibly clear, from start to finish.
Avatar: The Way of Water
- Release Date
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December 16, 2022
- Runtime
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192 minutes
- Director
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James Cameron
- Writers
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Amanda Silver, James Cameron, Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, Shane Salerno
