The Waterway has no Beginning and No End.
Water shifts and changes – it adapts. It fills every gap and void, gives formlessness to form, and formlessness to form. Water sits, and water flows; it is never the same twice, even though appearances may suggest otherwise. So when we examine the storytelling in James Cameron’s long-awaited Avatar sequel, The Way of the Water, it reflects exactly that – the way of water.
**This article strives to remain spoiler-free, but in case you missed the first one, Avatar: The Way of the Water is the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster ‘Avatar’ directed by James Cameron and released in 2022. Click here for the Narrative column in previous TV and movies on the first Avatar**
Sam Worthington’s Story is Similar but Different
Like the first film, Sam Worthington’s narration in Avatar: The Way of the Water does more than track the central plot points throughout the story. It guides us through the prologue and tells us where we are and what the story is leading up to. He fills us in on everything we’ve missed since the last movie and leads the audience to find out what’s going to happen next. Whenever Jake has a really important thought he wants to share with the audience – a lesson he’s learned or a change he’s noticed – he expresses it through storytelling. But in terms of content and depth – it’s completely different from the last film.
Any similarities we hear in Worthington’s narration between this film and the last are only on the surface. Just like water. He uses his voiceover to talk about the customs of his people – living as one of the Navii and raising a family – leading the community and understanding the burdens and joys of responsibility.
Jake’s Storytelling Reflects His Personal Growth
When he spoke, he spoke not as a man from another world but as a leader. He spoke with an authority and wiser age that sounded less like a marine and more like a father. What is noticeably different about his narration between this film and the last is that he has something to lose. At the beginning of the previous film, Jake had nothing to lose – so much so that he left his parents and his world behind for a chance at a fresh start. In the sequel, he talks about the pitfalls of loving the world too much – the danger of being too happy. Having too much love in your life, only to lose it. He worries that time moves too fast and that everything changes or develops as soon as he takes his eyes off of her.
He expresses his concern that happiness can disappear in an instant – and to that effect, as he says, it will. Because that’s the thing about water – it can be still for a while, but eventually, and suddenly, it turns. It’s a basic theme that runs throughout the entire film – change.
Second Narrator – Tsireya’s Narration
Another notable difference between the first installment of the Avatar franchise and its sequel is that there is more than one narrator. Although Tsireya’s (Bailey Bass) narration is not as prominent as Jake’s throughout the film, it is no less important to the plot and development of the story. The stories seem to flow almost into each other, smoothly but clearly. He guides Jake’s family and the audience alike through his folk philosophy. Tsireya also explained the name of the film – The Way of the Water.
The Way of the Water is more than a plot clue that transports our characters to a new place but is part of the underlying theme and narrative style throughout the film. His telling represents more than a change in the narrator, but a change in both ideas and ideals. As the dub begins, so does the next part of the story. Tsiraya’s narration is as calm and peaceful as the lessons he speaks. His smooth speech – a way of speaking – is no doubt used to facilitate, illustrate and add depth to Cameron’s multi-level narrative.
Awards and Recognition
The original Avatar, released in 2009, was the highest-grossing film of all time until it was overtaken by Avengers: Endgame in 2019. After working simultaneously on sequels and subsequent installments, Cameron finally released The Way of the Water for more than a decade (and half a billion dollars) later. Despite a lackluster first weekend at the box office, Avatar 2 has brought in more than $2 billion internationally as of this writing – reclaiming the franchise’s top spot as the highest-grossing film of all time.
Avatar: The Way of the Water has already been nominated for 22 awards, including multiple Golden Globes. So far, the film has only seen two wins, the AFI Best Film and the second Critics’ Choice Award for Best Visual Effects.
Bonus Fun Fact: The Colonel’s Journey is a Narrative Easter Egg
The Colonel’s journey in The Way of the Water is a small (but important) narrative easter egg that might be lost on anyone who isn’t looking for it. In many ways, it relates to the film’s theme of the nature of water – always similar but never the same.
His transition into a reanimated avatar’s body acts as a callback to Jake’s own beginnings at the start of the first film. He even joked about being the narrator through his predecessor’s video diary. In many ways, he is the perfect film for Jake’s storytelling and reflects the same process that Worthington’s character went through. And while the Colonel may not have his own narration explicitly at any point in the film, the tongue-in-cheek callback deserves a mention in the column devoted to narration. However, the Avatar franchise is very effects driven, and most of the characters we see or hear are brought to life through the magic of CGI and voice acting.
Kim Handysides is an award-winning voice artist and coach. Among his 20K+ stories, you’ve heard him on Discovery, Netflix and the major networks, on iMax, the White House and the Smithsonian.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
