This winter is about movies The hottest topic is the sequel to James Cameron’s sci-fi movie “Avatar”. “Avatar” is Cameron’s new work after 12 years of hibernation after creating a box office miracle in “Titanic”, and “Avatar: The Way of Water” also sharpened his sword in 12 years. The film presents not only a visual ceiling, but also more shocks. If you use three words to describe it, it is “show skills”, “family affection” and “environmental protection”.
The birth of the masterpiece “Avatar” in 2010 made people realize how the dream-making machine of film is at its peak. At that time, China’s film industry could not stand the test from production to screening. But now China’s theaters not only have 4K, Dolby Atmos, 4D, giant screen and other film projection technologies, but also CINITY theaters where Cameron chose to co-show “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2022. The exclusive screening partner of domestic premiere events, integrating 4K, 3D, high brightness, high frame rate (up to 120 frames), high dynamic range, wide color gamut, immersive sound and other technologies to present Cameron The director’s 3D, 4K, 48 frames per second new technology is perfect.
The 190-minute length of the film is worth the money. Unlike the first film with a wide variety of exotic animals and plants in the mysterious rainforest, the second film contains a large number of realistic depictions of the marine environment, marine life, marine tribes, and underwater actions. It is in line with the sky, making people immersive, as if immersed in water, and the picture is refreshing, bright and open. The light and shadow flickered and flowed, and the water splashes were delicate and soft, reaching every pore and every hair of the Na’vi people. In the high-saturation blue ocean, a large wave of bright, novel and interesting marine life that is comparable to the earth is on the scene – ichthyosaurs, squid, clownfish, flying fish, angelfish, jellyfish, whales, seaweed, Coral reefs, etc., are vivid and dizzying. They seem to surround the viewer, and the eddies and surging waves of the ocean are within reach. Even in today’s dazzling array of special effects films, the audience is still shocked and amazed, just like the school of colorful fish in the classic mobile fishing game, swaying and swaying.
In the first part, the protagonists are flying above the forest, and in the second part, they are “flying” underwater and above the water. Colonel Miles Quaritch leads the villain to ride a “Banxi Beast” that looks like a pterosaur, and drives various aircraft and submersibles. The villains use the above “tools” to chase the underwater mount “Iru” that is ridden by the new “Metkaina” ocean dweller in the sequel. The creature with red wings like a flying fish, crocodile skin, and dolphin-like appearance can fly out of the water, like a small plane flying in the sea, supporting the Na’vi people, with a graceful figure, like a fish in water, and the texture of them touching the water is lifelike . The communication between the Na’vi people and marine life no longer relies on “physical contact” like the first film, but uses their braids to connect with the tentacles of marine life. Things, things that cannot be squared. For the audience off the screen, a group of bright yellow squid-like creatures and patches of yellow sea anemones at the end of the film, those scenes that are both real and illusory, can easily immerse people in the crystal-clear ocean world , as if following Jack’s family to a decisive battle against Colonel Miles Quaritch, experiencing a near-death ocean adventure.
However, the film is not just a simple “show off skills”, but also more “family affection”. Director Cameron has always been good at telling stories. Jack became the tribal patriarch in the film, and he and Neytiri had four sons. Compared with the focus of the first part on the relationship between humans and the Na’vi people, the second part focuses on the family. Although there is still the main line of humans capturing Pandora, it is only used as a background context, and the characters no longer use race to divide camps. In the film, Jack not only raised four children, but also adopted Miles Quaritch’s son “Spider”, so the emotions between the characters became complicated. Jack and Miles Quaritch are no longer the leaders of their respective factions, and the children have become his weakness as a father.
At first, life for Jack and his tribe was peaceful and beautiful. But such days were destroyed by humans who invaded again, and their homes were destroyed. Jack can only lead the tribe and take refuge in the “Metkaina” ocean dwellers. Jack’s family came to the beach to learn new skills. Their appearance is different from that of the sea dwellers. The tail and arms of the sea dwellers have evolved into web-like shapes. The Jack family has one more finger than the ocean residents. Jack’s children are ridiculed by the children of the ocean residents, and even called “freaks”. The heterogeneous label is a metaphor. Fortunately, with the encouragement of their parents, the children infected the sea residents with their sincere emotions and innocent smiles. At the end of the film, the family finally joined the sea tribe.
”Avatar” has changed from fighting for homeland and race in the first part to fighting for family affection in the second part. Although the plot is old-fashioned, it is so passionate. When Miles Quaritch fired a machine gun to catch Jack, sprayed fire snakes, and carried “Spider” onto the spaceship, Jack and his wife comforted the children and said, “We will be fine.” They hugged and cried. At the end of the film, his wife Neytiri wailed because of the sacrifice of one of her sons, and the three family members cried together. At this time, Jack woke up Neytiri with one sentence: “I need you to become strong and save our daughter.” His wife Neytiri went to the rescue in a rage. The pros and cons held each other’s children hostage and exchanged their lives. In the end, Jack defeated Miles Quaritch, and Jack’s dead son was buried at sea. In the hazy memory, the father and son, as if reunited after a long absence, touched the feather-like marine life, and when they closed their eyes and opened their eyes, one was old and the other was grown. This touching scene made the audience cry. Just as the voiceover of the movie states: “Family is not only our weakness, but also our armor.”
The word “Pandora” originally used to refer to the disaster that Zeus brought to mankind in ancient Greece to punish mankind. The Na’vi people in the first “Pandora” planet regarded nature as very important and disliked war and killing, while humans invaded the “Pandora” planet. The second human “Skyman” made a comeback. The spaceship cast beams of light to drive away the dinosaurs and burn down the forest. The robot stepped down from the spaceship and stepped on the bare branches. It was horrible, showing that human beings are still greedy and arrogant. In the second part, humans hunted and destroyed a cetacean creature “Tu Kun” wantonly, which is very similar to the bloody plot of the documentary film “Dolphin Bay”. Humans hunted and killed “Tu Kun” just to extract the essence of immortality. “Tu Kun” only extracted a small tube of yellow liquid, which was sold for 80 million yuan. In the film, the marine biologist and Miles Quaritch work together, using harpoons, trackers, diving robot spray nets and other methods to influence the activities of “Tukun” and drive them to the hunting ground.
The anthropomorphism of “Tukun” is the most touching part of the film. Tukun killed the sea creatures chasing Jack’s son and saved their lives. The children also communicated with Tukun using sign language and became friends. The film does not cite popular science data to prove that Tukun is a highly intelligent creature, but conveys Tukun’s cuteness to the audience through the interaction of Tukun. There are two impressive plots in the film. One is that the villain sneaks into Tukun to obtain the essence of immortality. From the mouth of the villain, he learns that it is a highly intelligent creature with rich emotions and complex language. The second is that Tukun’s mother is highly respected by marine residents, and she created a lot of music to bring happiness to marine residents during her lifetime. These introductions let the audience feel that the film is Cameron’s love letter to nature. The director has been engaged in marine protection work and has also made many documentaries related to the ocean. Among them, “The Secret of the Whale” just won the AI beauty award. The “Avatar” series seems to tell the story of a group of little blue people on an alien planet, but actually reflects the huge metaphor of human beings, reflections and deep appeals on the theme of environmental protection. It calls on human beings to wake up, get close to nature, and find ecological balance.
When Tukun “dances” with the Na’vi people, the audience can clearly feel the communication of the soul. Tukun will express unsuspecting kindness to the Na’vi people, and their eyes will chase the movements of the Na’vi people to make intimate gestures. Cooperating, spraying water on the back, turning over 360 degrees… These shots are beautiful and warm. The communication between Tukun and the Na’vi people penetrated the barriers and barriers of different species and languages. Breathtaking beauty. There is actually a painting similar to a human totem on Tu Kun’s jaw. After being hunted down by the villain, the tears of “Spider” and Tu Kun are moving. This, perhaps, is the greatest value embodiment of “Avatar: The Way of Water”.
