Thirteen years ago, no one expected lightning to strike twice for James Cameron. His 1997 film, Titanic, still held the crown for the highest grossing film of all time. Speculation ran rampant as to which film would steal that crown. No one would ever guess that in 2009, a photo realistic CGI film about blue-skinned feline aliens would bring audiences back to theaters again and again, making Avatar the highest-grossing film of all time.*
When I saw the trailer for Avatar for the first time, I knew this was the first James Cameron film I would like. I must admit I never was a fan of his work because I never liked the way he wrote his characters and so I never cared what happened to them. But judging from the world of Pandora depicted in the trailer, I thought: “we haven’t had any major world-building SF films since Star Wars. We need more of this.” Sadly I did not see the film in theaters, as I was working full-time and couldn’t get a day off (I prefer to go to the theaters on weekdays to avoid crowds), but when it was finally available on DVD, I rented it and fell absolutely in love with the plot, characters, score and of course, the scenery. And towards the end, when the Na’avi seem to be losing to the colonists, and Eywa, Goddess of the Na’avi comes to the rescue, I could see why this movie went over so well.
Avatar is the most visually beautiful sci-fi film since The Phantom Menace.
So of course, like The Phantom Menace, the film was hit with a backlash once the hype died down. Detractors called it “Dances With Wolves In Space (or Pocahontas in Space)”, “ableist”, a “white savior narrative” and “unoriginal”. Lazy film criticism if there ever was one. You might as well accuse Star Wars of ripping off Dune.^ Nevertheless, a sequel was inevitable and so here we are in 2022, finally getting that long-awaited follow-up.
So why am I uninterested in seeing this film?
Because back in 2009, the world was a different place. Avatar was distributed by 20th Century Fox, an independent studio that gave us classics like Star Wars, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Alien, Planet of the Apes, Invaders From Mars, The Fly, Fantastic Voyage, Predator and Alita: Battle Angel. Since its founding in 1935, Fox was one of the “Big Six” major American film studios. Not only did they produce films like the aformentioned titles. It was also home to icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Temple and Jane Mansfield. With their subsidiary, Searchlight Pictures, Fox gave audiences a chance to see independent films (many of them award-winners) like Bend It Like Beckham and Napoleon Dynamite (and the Hess’ other film Gentlemen Broncos). With their other subsidiary, Fox 2000, they gave audiences films like Hidden Figures and Fight Club. Then in 2019, the all-conquering Walt Disney Studios purchased Fox, changed its name to 20th Century Studios (so as to distance themselves from Fox News) and now every film produced from here on out, is technically a Disney movie. Every film Fox made, is now a Disney property. Let that sink in. Avatar: The Way of Water is technically a Disney film now. Something feels off to me. To quote Grace Jones: “I just could not find a soul.”
I don’t know how much creative control Disney will have on the next Avatar sequels, but I’m not going to stick around and find out.
I’ll just stick with the first film instead. Thank E’ywa I own a DVD copy with the classic Fox logo attached.
And if you keep calling it “Pocahontas in Space”, then you need to learn how to watch movies.
*Yes, we all know that Avengers: Endgame replaced Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time. Then the next year, Avatar, got its crown (despite COVID) back thanks to repeated showings in China and Marvel critics could only smirk. Avatar did not need 22 preceeding films or unlimited showtimes to become the highest-grossing film. Maybe this is why Disney bought Fox – to absorb the studio’s earnings in revenge.
^Oh wait. People have. It just never stuck.
the lady from planet x 