Pandora is open for business again, as 20th Century Studios has released a trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water. The first of four planned sequels to 2009’s massive hit Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water “begins to tell the story of the Sully family, the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.” Sounds scintillating, doesn’t it? Once again directed by James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water stars returning players Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, and Stephen Lang, with newcomers Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Michelle Yeoh, and Vin Diesel, and will hit theaters on December 16, 2022. Check out the Avatar: The Way of Water trailer below:
Did this do anything for anyone? It looks pretty, but that was about all Avatar had going for it, and after the initial spectacle, even the visuals don’t impress much anymore. Avatar: The Way of Water looks like more of the same – it’s Avatar underwater! I know it was massively successful, the biggest movie of all time worldwide, but it’s the definition of style over substance, more an excuse for Cameron to play with his new filmmaking toys than a story dying to be told. It also seems to have left the zeitgeist, never coming to mind until someone reminds us all that a plethora of sequels are on their way. (How many is a bit murky; back in 2019, Bob Iger – then the CEO of Disney, which had acquired 20th Century Fox before changing its name – said the fourth and fifth films had yet to be greenlit, but a month later, producer Jon Landau claimed that one-third of the fourth movie had been shot.) The synopsis sounds like it could be anything, and the trailer is nothing but visual showmanship of images I wouldn’t exactly describe as dynamic. According to Cameron, all of the dead characters are coming back, including Stephen Lang’s Colonel Quaritch, who will serve as the villain in all of the sequels. Cameron also says that the second film will have a definitive ending rather than a cliffhanger; assuming the others follow suit, this will be an endless series of “stories” where the Na’vi defeat Quaritch over and over. How boring does that sound? I could easily be wrong, and it’d be a mistake to count James Cameron out this early, but I just don’t see this movie raking in nearly what its predecessor did.
What do you think of the Avatar: The Way of Water trailer? Does this concept lend itself to a five-film series? Am I the only one who finds it difficult to enjoy a movie where I’m supposed to root for Earth’s destruction because a bunch of blue monsters worship a tree? Let us know in the comments, and stick around Geeks + Gamers for more movie news!
Hey, we all don’t know what’s going to happen nor what it’s about other than going out to the ocean section of Pandora, and we’re of course unsure how Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver are coming back. Think of these as reminders of what could happen if we don’t do something to keep our planet healthy, you know.
I really enjoyed this movie. Love the visuals, the creatures, the last battle and the themes for this. Love me some environmental themes. Although if I want to compare this with Princess Mononoke, Mononoke is superior because although the crisis was stopped, but not without cost and yet leaves the idea of hope looming in the end.