Avatar: The Way of Water

 

Avatar: The Way of Water is the sequel to 2009’s Avatar. Set more than a decade after the events of the original, Jake, Neytiri and their growing family enjoy a time of peace, only to be visited by a familiar foe looking to exterminate their tribe to exploit their natural resources. To protect their home, they turn to a neighboring community for sanctuary. Reprising their roles as Jake and Neytiri are Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, respectively.

On the surface, the film was visually stunning. With beautiful cinematography and realistic looking sets. The script was filled with themes around female empowerment, colonization, family, adapting to new environments, and appreciating the qualities that everyone has to contribute to society, even those wrongfully stereotyped as outcasts.

Similar to the first movie, the casting was not a proper reflection of the communities that James Cameron has based this film off of. Cliff Curtis who played Tonowari is the only Indigenous Māori cast member, which his characters clan, the Metkayina, is based off of. Kate Winslet and Sigourney Weaver, although not properly cast, did well in their roles as Ronal and Kiri. The advancement in CGI made is so I could tell Sigourney was Kiri but they made her look 14 which was pretty amazing. I liked her quirky personality. And for Kate as Ronal, the CGI was so good, I couldn’t even tell it was her. Her role as a mother and leader of her clan was impressive. Both were easy to root for.

When you dig deeper you can see why there was backlash coming from Native Americans and Indigenous people. Not only is the same White savior cinematic trope being perpetuated in this film, it also appropriates Lakota and Māori culture. James Cameron himself admitted to it in an interview when he stated that the Omatikaya Clan are based off of the Lakota Native American tribe. The newly introduced Metkayina Clan are based off of the Māori who are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. And although there was plenty of diverse minority casting there were no Lakota actors and only one Māori actor cast for the roles of these Na'vi clans. With the lack of appropriate casting or even consultants, to help authentically tell this story, it is easy to see why people would want to boycott this movie.

Even though Avatar 2 was beautifully filmed, I regret having seen it. Unless there are major casting and script changes I don’t plan on watching any of the future films.