Thirteen years after "Avatar", which approached three billion euros in revenue, "Avatar: the way of water" takes the path of the star Pandora, light years from Earth, for a fable of science fiction with an ecological tone.

The first had marked a decisive step in the realism of digital images and, once again, the sets, the richness of the universes and the precision of the images, including the digital rendering of the water, are the strength of this film.

Further blurring the line between "real" images and those created by computer.

Shot like the first for 3D, the film stretches over 3h12.

Contrary to James Cameron's predictions, "Avatar" did not make it possible to widely impose the three-dimensional image in the cinema, which requires the wearing of ad hoc glasses.

But the director clings to this technology.

The filmmaker, accustomed to giving cold sweats to his producers with his disproportionate projects, can afford everything: many "motion capture" scenes, the phase where the actors are filmed against a neutral background, were shot in apnea.

A giant swimming pool was built for the occasion.

"Humans are the bad guys"

On the plot side, the survivors of the first episode, the hero Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), now fully Na'vi, the native blue species, and his companion Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), have founded a large family, living in harmony with the forest.

Sigourney Weaver, whose character as a scientist did not survive the first episode, is back... in the skin of a teenager.

The humans, who have sacked the Earth and are looking for a spare planet, disembark aboard a ship loaded with war robots, to seize this little paradise manu militari.

Actress Sigourney Weaver during a photocall for director James Cameron's film "Avatar: The Way of the Water", December 4, 2022 in London © ISABEL INFANTES / AFP/Archives

Faced with them, nature will take its revenge.

"Humans are the bad guys. They represent our bad side," James Cameron told AFP, inspired by the issue of climate refugees.

"We have empathy for the Na'vis, who represent our good side. (...) They are us, although they don't look like us, with their blue color, their (pointy) ears, their tails ".

Knowing that he is being hunted, Jake takes refuge with his relatives with another tribe, adapted to marine life, and led by Ronal (Kate Winslet, who returns to Cameron after "Titanic").

Will they be able to overcome their differences to kick the human enemy out of their universe?

Mythology

Fascinated by machines and robots (the two "Terminator"), science fiction ("Aliens, le retour") and the aquatic environment ("Abyss", "Titanic"), James Cameron seems to mix all his obsessions here.

This new "Avatar" is no longer encumbered with the Na'vi dialect, largely evacuated in favor of English, nor connections to integrate the body of the Na'vi: exit the "avatars", only now coexist humans, Na'vis and their hybrids.

To the plot of the first part, the film adds a mythological dimension, with complex links between fathers and sons, suggesting the ambition to create a saga as lucrative as "Star Wars" by Georges Lucas, the ultimate model of science cinema -fiction.

Cameron and Disney have already shot footage for the third installment and are planning an Avatar every two years at least until the fifth, in 2028.

Director James Cameron during a photocall for the film "Avatar: The Way of the Water", December 4, 2022 in London © ISABEL INFANTES / AFP/Archives

It must be said that James Cameron has never yet experienced the industrial accident: "Titanic" (2.2 billion dollars in revenue) was for a long time the most profitable film in the history of cinema, before "Avatar".

"The release of the film is a big test for the global cinema industry", analysis for AFP Eric Marti, general manager of Comscore France.

"For two years, there was only one for the platforms. For the cinemas, this release is + The empire strikes back +: the reaffirmation of the primacy of the room" on all the other channels of distribution, adds this specialist.

Will "The Way of the Water" Surpass the First?

The success of a sequel is never guaranteed, thirteen years later.

But the recent triumph of "Top Gun: Maverick", 30 years later, feeds hope.

© 2022 AFP