Filmmaker James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” is only a month away, a film which shifts from the rainforests of the first movie to a more oceanic setting for the second.
In the new film Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has built a life with his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), which includes several kids. Still, all these years later, the militarized RDA remains a threat, including Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) who has been resurrected in a Na’vi body.
Talking with EW about several key sequences in the film, Cameron tells the outlet he sees the upcoming four sequels as one big contiguous saga, even as each film has its ‘own off-ramp and finale’ that offers a ending.
“The best metaphor is really good episodic TV. The key to The Way of Water is to get you on the side of the characters so you actually care about what happens next in their journey.”
The film sees the return of Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Jake and Neytiri’s adopted 15-year-old daughter. Part of the reason for Weaver’s casting is that the character was born from her first film character’s avatar:
The Kiri character is “going through some emotional stuff” in the new film and then gets to jump in the ocean for the first time with Cameron saying:
“She goes from this anxious and depressed state to one that’s joyful and reconnected over the course of a three-minute scene. She’s a character who’s a true sensitive. She’s a person who’s very connected to the world around them, far beyond a normal Na’vi – to the animals, to the plants, and to the rhythm and balance of life. When she jumps into the ocean, she has this transformative experience.”
Now fifteen years older, Jake and Neytiri have a different view on life, with Cameron exploring how being a parent changes one:
“Becoming a parent changes so much of your behavior and your value system. What we saw in the first film were people who were fearless. Jake would throw himself off his ikran onto a leonopteryx… but is a father of four going do that? I’m thinking probably not, because they have a duty to survive. It doesn’t mean he’s a coward, but it means his priorities change.
He’s trying to keep his kids alive and trying to adjust his own life. Is he still a warrior? Are these young boys who are 14, 15, 16, coming up, getting all excited about wanting to go to war and fight for their people and for their land? How’s [Jake] going to be a hypocrite and hold them back when he has to go do it?”
Said kids include Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), Tuk (Trinity Bliss), and the adopted human child Spider (Jack Champion). All encounter the Metkayina, a clan of Na’vi who dwell in shallow waters and have biologically adapted to aquatic life with fin-like ‘strakes’ to push through the water. Conveying that on film involved one interesting bit of equipment for the underwater scenes:
“We essentially gave them jet packs, and they were able to trigger the jet packs themselves on the fly. So they’d complete a stroke, and when they’re in the glide phase of the stroke, they’d trigger the jet pack with a little tiny switch and it would push them forward a couple of meters. They’d move their hips like they had a tail. We called it the crocodile swim.”
Cameron estimates the creature design in the film is “probably 10 or 20 times” that of the first movie. These include the tulkun, the ‘whales’ of Pandora who are “intelligent, highly cultured, highly linguistic” and even share a religion with the Na’vi’.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” opens in cinemas December 16th.
