The long-awaited James Cameron film “Avatar 2: The Way of Water” released in theaters on Dec. 16, 2022.

As Avatar 2 came out, many people were wondering if the long anticipated wait was worth it. The majority of people liked the film with reviews like 77% Rotten Tomatoes, 7.9/10 IMDb and 67% from Metacritic.

“It would be missing the point to call the proceedings indulgent to the point of self-infatuation: Cameron has built a new world from the remixed bits of this one, and he seems determined that we should not simply visit Pandora, we should live in it,” movie critic Matthew Lickona said on Rotten Tomatoes.

Some people thought the advanced visual effects were a takeaway from a hollow story that could’ve been fledged out more.

“Visually stunning but the film lacked soul,“ movie critic William K. said on Rotten Tomatoes.

Despite the mixed reviews, this didn’t stop the film from being the highest-grossing film of 2022 and 2023 as it has ranked seventh place in only 22 days with a global revenue of $1.7 billion. With the fast rise in ranks, “Avatar 2” surpassed “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jurassic World” and “The Avengers,” making this James Cameron’s third film to be in the top 10 movies of all time in the aspect of revenue, right behind his films “Avatar” and “Titanic.”

The future of Avatar does not end with the second movie, but expands its story even more with three, four, and five confirmed movies and the possibility of even a sixth and seventh movie with their release dates every two years.
However, the Avatar franchise would not have happened without the advanced technology James Cameron helped invent just for his movie. Cameron wrote “Avatar” in 1994; however, Cameron thought the technology in 1994 wasn’t advanced enough to fulfill his vision of Avatar he intended for his audience. This led Cameron to wait for 2006 to begin production.

In 2009 the technology used in Avatar was considered ahead of its time. James Cameron himself invented technology such as performance capture using head rigs, virtual cam, and virtual stage called “volume.” And even 13 years later with the release of the sequel, it still keeps the remarks.

The new movie advances even more with not only the technology but acting overall. While most studios used CGI for underwater scenes, Cameron had other plans for “Avatar 2” and instead used tanks filled with gallons of water. With the technology they were using to perform, scuba gear couldn’t be used or else it would interfere with how the suit tracks. With this, actors had to use a method called free diving. Professional free divers had to teach the actors how to hold their breath underwater for long periods of time. For months they went under large amounts of training, which led to Kate Winslet, who plays Ronal in “Avatar 2” able to hold her breath underwater for 7 minutes and 14 seconds.

People can infer James Cameron is passionate about his Avatar franchise with knowledge of his determination of detail and perception of his work. The hurdles both movies have overcome has won people’s hearts.