What is the visual revolution that created “Avatar: The Way of Water”? Approaching the latest technology (Part 2)

Review of “Avatar: The Way of Water”

When ``WoW'' was released, it was reported that it ranked number one at the box office in each country. On the other hand, there are many voices of criticism. A common example is that `` The Avatar series is just a rehash of the white chieftain thing.'' ``White chief stories'' or ``white savior stories'' refer to works in which a white protagonist empathizes with the people being invaded and leads the indigenous people in a fight. Reference examples include `` Lawrence of Arabia '' (62), `` Dances with Wolves '' (1990), `` The Last The Samurai '' (2003), and `` John Carter '' (12). However, this is not the case; more than 60 similar films have been made.

In other words, this is an established movie genre, and it's not a big deal to point out and criticize. If you dig deep into any work, you'll always come across a similar story somewhere. Whether it's `` Star Wars '' (1977), `` Armageddon '' (1998), or `` The matrix '' (1999), you can always find a series of works that serve as a template.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (C) 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The second most common criticism is that it is a typical American movie, a ``family movie.'' In fact, I was reminded of `` The Grapes of Wrath '' (40), which is about ``a large family who lose their land in Oklahoma to sandstorms and developers and aimlessly travel to California.'' Future developments in the series may be influenced by The Godfather series, and we can also expect a story similar to the Star Wars series, where Spider (Jack Champion) becomes like Anakin.

And as you can see from Cameron himself saying something like a semi-spoiler, ``Maybe the fifth movie will be set on Earth,'' this series isn't all that particular about originality. On the contrary, it seems that by deliberately following the classic ``American movie'' style, they were able to create a story that was easy for everyone to understand.

In fact, Cameron has read quite a lot of science fiction novels, and if he wanted to, he could write a hard science fiction story about the far north like Greg Egan. However, if that were the case, it wouldn't work as a show. In fact, Cameron failed at the box office in `` The Abyss '' (1989) and the remake `` Solaris '' (2002), which he produced, depicting encounters with Alien whose intentions are unknown. Also, many people may not know that he directed the IMAX 3D documentary `` Aliens of the Deep '' (2005), in which we meet the undersea civilization of Europa at the end.

“Aliens of the Deep” trailer

Although the appearance of the Na'vi is different, as they have tails and blue skin, their eyes, mouths, and other areas that depict emotions are almost the same as humans. This kind of thing may be solved by convergent evolution , but it's not very interesting in terms of science fiction. If it's true, it would be more interesting to have a different idea than the seven-legged alien in `` The Arrival '' (16).

But we all know that. Cameron's intention was to "depict the world of the imagination in its entirety, down to the smallest detail." However, this requires a huge amount of time, money, and human resources. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid difficult stories and create a story and design that everyone can empathize with. If viewers can remember the excitement they felt when visiting an aquarium or museum for the first time as children, or when they saw an illustrated book, they might be able to accept Cameron's intentions more honestly.

Text: Takayuki Oguchi

In 1982, he became the director of Japan's first CG production, JCGL. After working as the head designer for the IMAX Dome 3D video "Universe 2 ~Sound of the Sun~" at EXPO'90 Fujitsu Pavilion, he became a freelance video creator. Won an Emmy Award for the NHK special ``Life: A 4 Billion Year Distant Journey'' (1994). He is also a video journalist specializing in VFX, CG, 3D movies, art animation, exhibition videos, etc., and has contributed numerous articles to film magazines, theater pamphlets, the web, etc. In addition to being a visiting professor at Digital Hollywood University, he is also a part-time lecturer at Waseda University's Faculty of Science and Technology, Joshibi University of Art and Design, Tokyo University of the Arts' Graduate School of Animation, and Japan Electronics College. His major publications include ``3D Century - Amazing! 100 Years of 3D Films and the New Century of Visuals'' by Born Digital, ``Naked Eye 3D Graphics'' by Asakura Shoten, and ``History of Computer Graphics: The Imagination of 3DCG'' by Film Art Publishing.

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