James Cameron’s hypocrite behavior is making the Avatar sequels look painfully petty
By Rachel Roth
Avatar sequels
If there was ever a franchise that missed its moment, it was Avatar. Upon its release, the movie made $2.8 billion and was nominated for nine Academy Awards. Cameron immediately announced he would make a sequel about Pandora’s oceans and everyone cheered and then…10 years passed.
Now, no one cares. That sounds harsh but it’s more or less true. You say, “Avatar sequels”, and there’s a strong chance of someone saying, “Jesus, is he still making those?”
The sequel hype long died down and as time goes on, people are becoming less and less interested in the Pandora natives. In fact, so many are sick and tired of hearing about the upcoming sequels that they’ve turned against the first film, calling it overrated and boring.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I loved Avatar. I went to see it in the theaters twice and I bought the DVD. I’m not saying it’s bad, because it’s not. It’s no On the Waterfront or Magnificent Seven but it’s far from a bad movie. Fun, thrilling, moving; who didn’t tear up a little when that tree fell down?
It’s great, but strip away the incredible visuals and it’s a pretty generic, pro-environmental film that borrows the history of Colonials exterminating Native Americans and the likes of FernGully to tell a story. Doesn’t require a lot of thought process. Pandora and the long-legged blue-skinned Na’vi made Avatar what it was.
Without them, it’d be a well-made but forgettable adventure/love story that would have grossed half the money it made. But is that going to stop Cameron from thinking it’s the best thing since sliced bread? Nope.
Starting January, it’ll be 10 years since Avatar came out and it seems like Cameron has only just started filming the sequels. First let me point out that Mr. Original Story Telling is pulling the old “oops, the bad guy isn’t really dead” trick. Very Marvel of him wouldn’t you say? Stephen Lang who played the main antagonist, Colonel Quaritch, will return to play the villain for all four upcoming sequels.
This seems a little excessive. Why would they face the same villain every single time? Is he a Mission Impossible character wearing a mask? Does he become a Na’vi to a different tribe? Is he actually a cat man gifted with nine lives? Who knows.
Lang hinted at his character becoming more of a protagonist as the films go on, which would be awkward. Can you imagine the Na’vi having a gathering and there’s Quaritch trying to play it cool like he wasn’t the guy that blew up their tree and killed a bunch of them?
Speaking of resurrected characters, Sigourney Weaver will also return to resume playing Dr. Grace Augustine who died in the first movie. Apparently, everyone who dies around there gets at least one revivification card. The way Weaver described her character’s return sounds like Lord Voldemort’s healing process in the “Harry Potter” books. She’ll slowly “transform” bit-by-bit throughout the films.
In an interview with Vulture she said,
"“It will be challenging for me. I can’t talk about it, but my part is a little different in each one. I’ll transform somewhat. We’ll have to talk again when I survive this. For now, I’m going to skittle around and enjoy this leisure time.”"
We’ve seen all this before in other movies. There’s nothing new about this and but sure no one was surprised to hear it.
I may be complaining about Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5 but I’m definitely going to see each one when they come out. I’ll probably love every second too. I’m not here to put down the films, only the hypocrisy surrounding them. Why can’t we all make stupid mindless sequels and franchises in harmony? Let’s share it, don’t go around chanting, “mine’s better than yours.”