We review vegan filmmaker James Cameron’s 'Avatar 2' and its environmental impact

December 20th, 2022

James Cameron has gained recognition throughout the years thanks to his activism. The vegan filmmaker has taken an active role in scientific research, education, and awareness, particularly in the area of protecting natural resources and addressing global warming. While it's simple for many actors, musicians, and other public figures to attend charity events or write generous checks to activism causes. He has made IMAX documentaries that showcase the magnificence of the world's natural wonders and explain why they are in danger using his ground-breaking technology. Today, we take a closer look at his masterpiece "Avatar: The Way of Water" to discern the environmental impact that the movie has sought to make on the minds of the public.

'Avatar: The Way of Water' takes a closer look at humanity’s greed

The conflict in The Way of Water, as in the first movie, arises from humanity's search for a new home as Earth is already collapsing due to environmental change. As General Frances Ardmore (Edie Falco) explains to Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who has been revived, at the beginning of the movie, humanity has already destroyed their own planet and plans to "cleanse" Pandora of its native people so that full-scale colonisation can start. The RDA mining operation hasn't learnt any lessons, in a sad analogy to how the governments of Earth respond to severe environmental catastrophes. They will once again damage Pandora, forcing it to be abandoned one day, by destroying hallowed locations like the Hometree and hunting the natural wildlife.

Image Source: The Hindu

It depicts how parts of Pandora are inspired by Earth’s natural beauty

There are parts of Pandora that were inspired by the natural beauty of our planet, despite the fact that it is undoubtedly a wonderful display with many exotic animals. In particular, the floating "Hanging Mountains" that Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaa) frequent on their excursions were inspired by The Valley of Mo'ara and the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in the Chinese province of Hunan.

It offers a curious insight into the attempt at parenting a child on a dying planet

Sully, Neytiri, and their kids Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) are forced to leave their woodland abode since it poses a threat to the Hometree by attracting the notice of invading humans. The movie presents fascinating concerns about parenting a child on a planet that might be dying, as well as the theme of whether it is acceptable to sacrifice your livelihood for environmentalist causes. These ideas may not be handled as delicately as they are in something like First Reformed. However, The Way of Water also manages big action set pieces and entertaining scenes.

The movie portrays human authorities and their indifference to environmental risks

In the movie, Quaritch's full indifference for the environmental risks associated with uprooting the Pandoran ecology may come across as a touch heartless. But if you take a closer look, his terminology isn't all that far from that of modern-day doubters of global warming. Quaritch is even prepared to squander valuable resources in an act of pitiful retaliation, shocking Jake's adopted human son Spider (Jack Champion), who is indignant that Quaritch would just steal a whale's memories and discard the rest of its body.

Dr. Ian Garvin, a marine biologist, warns him that burning the reefs of the "sea people" could cause catastrophic results to the native’s way of life. But he disregards it in an effort to provoke Sully into a confrontation so that Sully might exact revenge.

Image Source: Space.com

Avatar 2 Highlights Pandora's Diverse Flora and Fauna

The care and attention that Cameron and his visual effects artists put into fleshing out the culture, environment, and societies of Pandora was one of the reasons why the movie felt so immersive; this wasn't an underwater world or universe that was taken from an already-existing intellectual property, and it was brought to life in tactile detail. Over the past few years, the vegan filmmaker wore many hats while being extremely busy. Avatar 2 lasts longer than three hours, and some scenes, especially the underwater ones, called for extensive preparation. He also managed the visual effects, which call for roughly 3,350 visual effects shots for a film like Avatar, which mainly relies on computer graphics.

The series has committed to producing three additional Avatar movies beyond the $350 million sequel. Once finished, Disney will have invested a staggering $1 Billion in the production alone. This is little in comparison to the staggering $2.92 billion in revenue and nine Oscar nominations that the first movie alone brought in.

Image Source: TIME

An analogy for violations of animal rights

But if you look at the big picture, the Sully family's adjustment to their new coastal home, learning, and maintenance receives additional attention from Cameron. The endearing connections that Kiri and Lo'ak make with sea creatures serve as a clear analogy for violations of animal rights. There are a few clumsy story twists and pieces of speech, but they hardly ever take away from the overall impact of Avatar: The Way of Water's message. At the end of the feature, Sully discovers a valuable lesson: protecting your environment and home is a cause worth fighting for.

It's better that these concepts are presented frankly than not at all, and hopefully The Way of Water's numerous viewers will walk away from the movie having had a good time and learned something.