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In an interview with ComicBook to promote Avatar: Fire and Ash, Cameron discussed how Avatar has evolved. “To me, the most obvious answer that comes to mind is I was telling a love story between two young people in the first film, and a journey of discovery of Jake as he goes into this world that he never could have imagined, falls in love, and earns his place in that world,” he said. “Cut to the two sequels … now they’ve got a family. So that’s a huge leap. But it also kind of tracks to my life. When I was writing the scripts for Way of Water and Fire and Ash, which was roughly 10 years ago, I had [teenagers], and that’s a very fraught time, emotionally both for the kids and the parents. It’s very challenging as they individuate and they push back and they rebel, and we have to navigate that in a way that’s loving and helpful and constructive for them, but still sets boundaries.”
He continued, “Jake sort of emerges in the story as a hardass son of a b****. And Sam [Worthington] and I talked about this. I said, ‘I want The Great Santini. I want a guy that just doesn’t get his sons and he knows we’re at war, and he’s got hard and fast rules.’ This is based on my experience, Sam’s experience with his father … my impulse as a director to try to control everything in the family, which you can’t … sometimes writing it out in the form of a story is actually cathartic.”
Avatar Has Always Told An Emotional Story
It goes without saying that the visual effects are the biggest selling point of the Avatar movies. In an era where CGI has made so much possible — to the point where some viewers are desensitized to blockbuster VFX — Cameron and Co. have crafted unprecedented theatrical experiences that push the boundaries of moviemaking technology. For some, the actual story Avatar tells struggles to compare to the breathtaking spectacle, but the films have always had a beating heart, using high-concept sci-fi to explore relatable and grounded topics through characters who are very memorable.
Cameron continues to take filmmaking technology to its limits as the Avatar series moves along, but he’s also constantly looking for ways to evolve the narrative. For Avatar: Fire and Ash, Cameron made a point of doing a deep dive into grief, which is something he feels Hollywood blockbusters struggle with. Grief is something that all people deal with, so this thread (following up on the tragedy of Neteyam’s death in Avatar: The Way of Water) is an organic way to continue Avatar‘s tradition of using sci-fi to tackle themes and angles that highlight different parts of the human condition. Fire and Ash is unsurprisingly earning raves for its action and visuals, but these narrative beats will hopefully elevate the third Avatar film and make it something truly special.
