[Haly]

If he just makes something up then the only reason to stick to Pandora is to cash in on the Avatar name, not because it's a compelling world with a treasure trove of narrative potential. If Avatar 2 doesn't somehow build upon themes or plotpoints established in Avatar 1, then it would be a purely aesthetic choice.

[makingmusic476]

I still haven't seen Avatar.

[HK-47]

there is nothing wrong with telling simplistic stories as long as they have that healthy emotional punch. Avatar was very simple but I wanted to jump into the screen and charge these filthy humans along with the nabi or however the blue fucks are called. No other movie made me feel such simple emotions with such clarity. FIGHT FOR YOUR LOVE, BE OPEN-MINDED, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, DON'T LITTER IN THE PARKS. It's as simple as it can be. And if he wants to express some more complicated ideas and whatnot he won't be trying to shoehorn them in some art-house movie which will be inevitable burdened with dramatic presentation and shit like that. He will talk about stuff as it is, be it Holocaust, eugenics, overpopulation, Monsanto, the erosion of gender roles in modern society or some rusty ship at the bottom of a sea.

=(

I'm not sure if you are being serious or not.

[CassSept]

Avatar is not without flaws, but this is by far the most superficial criticism I see being made against it.

It's actually the main complaint, because the plot of Avatar is not only absolutely zero-dimensional, but had also been done to death several times before.

[Zombie James]

This really makes me sad. I thought Avatar - while good - was a huge step backwards compared to his past work. Didn't help that he went all George Lucas with the CG, either.

[shinobi602]

Avatar was fucking amazing, so I'm down with this.

[NutJobJim]

I posted this in the Avatar thread earlier today and we've been discussing it in there. OP is being misleading with the selective quoting in the title. He's saying that he's canceled his development arm of projects that aren't for himself. Eg: Fantastic Voyage. He only ever directs movies he himself writes and for now that means the Avatar sequels are the only films he's interested in for the time being. Does that mean Battle Angel will never happen? No. But the mention of the possibility of a fourth Avatar film certainly made me groan.

This sucks because Cameron isn't the best writer...
He's a man with great vision, intelligence and direction, but a great writer he is not.
I hope he at least gets some help with his scripts and hopefully he's intelligent enough to not surround himself with 'yes men' like George Lucas. Men wbo play to his ego and tell him that his scripts are brilliant, rather than having the courage to tell him what sucks and what needs changing/refinement.

Avatar was a fun movie experience.
It was something new to look at and visiting Pandora for the first time was captivating. In my opinion the story had no real depth or weight. The script felt hollow, simple and childlike.
If this aspect is not improved for the sequels I think they run the risk of being boring.

[Lakitu]

James Cameron retired after True Lies. Who's this other 'James Cameron' you speak of?

[Scullibundo]

This really makes me sad. I thought Avatar - while good - was a huge step backwards compared to his past work. Didn't help that he went all George Lucas with the CG, either.

How did Cameron go 'all George Lucas' with the CG?

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

James Cameron retired after True Lies. Who's this other 'James Cameron' you speak of?

A guy who puts graphics card benchmarks out to cinemas.

[Jexhius]

I don't understand, what would Avatar 2 even be about? John Smith joined Pocahantes and her tribe of hippies by the end, that's it, that's all the story the world has to offer.

You fail to understand the infinite potential for storytelling available exclusively in the Avatar universe.

[StudioTan]

He told a shitty, simplistic version of a well known story...cause it would make him the most money. I'll believe the next Avatar will be different when I see it.

Yup, it's just that easy. Everyone is doing it and making billions!

[Replicant]

James Cameron retired after True Lies. Who's this other 'James Cameron' you speak of?

The guy who brought back 3D movies for you all to 'enjoy' and pay more. :/

[Jimothy]

I think the dystopian Avatar universe has a lot of potential for a badass sequel. The intro of the special edition has some absolutely incredible imagery. That coupled with the rumored underwater scenes, color me hyped.

[HK-47]

How did Cameron go 'all George Lucas' with the CG?

Focused on tech at the expense of the story is my guess.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

You fail to understand the infinite potential for storytelling available exclusively in the Avatar universe.

Yeah, there are so many more shaders with their stories left untold.

[HK-47]

Yup, it's just that easy. Everyone is doing it and making billions!

Actually no, he is pretty much a marketing genius. He knows his demographics.

[Mario]

See... this always gets me. The people who want to see a fully fleshed out and in-depth take on the details of Pandora are not the majority.

As it happens, I personally couldn't care less if there was another Avatar film made or not.

[subversus]

love this quote about stomping because it's so true.

Q. Did you talk to other filmmakers – your peers – about Chinese censorship? A. No. I’m not interested in their reality. My reality is that I’ve made two films in the last 15 years that both have been resounding successes here, and this is an important market for me. And so I’m going to do what’s necessary to continue having this be an important market for my films. And I’m going to play by the rules that are internal to this market. Because you have to. You know, I can stomp my feet and hold my breath but I’m not going to change people’s minds that way. Now I do feel that everything is trending in the right direction right now, as I mentioned earlier.

[Tookay]

I can't reconcile the Cameron that made T2, one of my favorite movies ever, with the guy who made Avatar. I still resent the fact that we lost out on over a decade's worth of great action movies in pursuit of such a dull film.

[StudioTan]

Actually no, he is pretty much a marketing genius. He knows his demographics.

Ah, so all it takes is knowing your demographic, taking a well known story and making it shitty and simplistic....billions in profit! He should write a book or something.

[subversus]

I can't reconcile the Cameron that made T2, one of my favorite movies ever, with the guy who made Avatar. I still resent the fact that we lost out on over a decade's worth of great action movies in pursuit of such a dull film.

But Avatar is an action movie too. It just has the different tone but I don't think that T2 had more complex message or characters. Just another flavour, that is all.

[Reuenthal]

Avatar is a a bad story with bad characters and it becomes so also due to the idiotic way that tries to tell its messages. Sad to see that more are going to be made.

[HK-47]

Ah, so all it takes is knowing your demographic, taking a well known story and making it shitty and simplistic....billions in profit! He should write a book or something.

Yup. You sure dont need to be a good storyteller or character writer. That much is clear.

[RoyalFool]

I've been waiting almost 8 years for his Battle Angel movie, pretty gutted he's not going to make it as I can't think of any other director who could put enough money on the line to push for the R rating it would need, the only other director I could see making it work is Scott, but he's not getting any younger and already signed up for that Blade Runner prequel (not that I'm complaining).

Wheadon would probably be a good match now I think about it, the show is all about female empowerment and has lots of opportunities for arse shots.

[Jay-B]

Ah, so all it takes is knowing your demographic, taking a well known story and making it shitty and simplistic....billions in profit! He should write a book or something.

And $350M.

[StudioTan]

Yup. You sure dont need to be a good storyteller or character writer. That much is clear.

It's just that simple!

[Tookay]

But Avatar is an action movie too. It just has the different tone but I don't think that T2 had more complex message or characters. Just another flavour, that is all.

I don't know if T2 has a more complex message, but I know it has much better characters. Sarah Connor alone is more memorable and has a more interesting arc than any of the characters in Avatar. And that's to say nothing about the T-800 or T-1000, who are some of the most iconic heroes and antagonists of cinema.

It's just that simple!

We get it.

[zethren]

Humans are stuck on Earth, yet there seems to be virtually unlimited storytelling potential in that setting.

So are the Na'vi going to fashion a space ship out of twigs and rocks to venture out into space? If they want to keep Jake and co. as main characters, I would assume that the Na'vi's technology wouldn't be able to take them off of Pandora. So that would mean that humans from earth stop back to take them on a field trip to another world? Not sure how that would play out.

I like hearing the idea of another world being explored, just not sure how they plan on bring Jake and co. to it, other than a "humans return, only this time they're nice! We promise!" thing. Unless they scrap Jake and co. altogether and explore the new world 100% fresh with a new story and angle, that would be interesting.

[StudioTan]

We get it.

No, clearly most of you don't, but continue with the hate fest.

[Dresden]

Ideally it should be evil humans returning to really fuck shit up.

[Discotheque]

He is that enamored with this Pandora shit? It's an interesting world but certainly not THAT interesting. Lame.

Will watch and probably enjoy the sequels but I'm no longer excited by this director at all. And that's a huge shame considering what he gave us in the 80s/90s.

[Sentry]

I have no problem with this.. can't wait to see if it'll actually be good.

[Scullibundo]

Again, people misinterpreting the article because of the stupid thread title. Avatar is all that's on his plate right now and he's no longer looking to develop projects for other directors.

We may still get Battle Angel yet.

[apana]

He's going to reboot Avatar: The Last Airbender.

[Discotheque]

Yeah totally misread that. But him saying "4" has me worried even if it is hyperbole haha. shoot your damn back to back sequels and get on Battle Angel asap.

[Mario]

So are the Na'vi going to fashion a space ship out of twigs and rocks to venture out into space? If they want to keep Jake and co. as main characters, I would assume that the Na'vi's technology wouldn't be able to take them off of Pandora. So that would mean that humans from earth stop back to take them on a field trip to another world? Not sure how that would play out.

Don't know, don't care. Just pointing out that being "stuck on Pandora" is not necessarily a big limitation given how diverse storytelling can be on our own planet.

[Fudgepuppy]

He kinda sounds like a dick in that excerpt.

[Scullibundo]

Cameron has also already said that there's a narrative reason that the Na'vi are the only bipedal organisms on Pandora - where everything else is hexapedal. Maybe exploring the other moons of Pandora will reveal that the Na'vi were seeded.

[NinjaBoiX]

I liked Avatar, but I think I'd be bored returning to that world.

Of all the complaints to be levelled at Avatar, I would never expect to see "the world is boring". Six-legged horses for courses I guess.

[DECK'ARD]

Of all the complaints to be levelled at Avatar, I would never expect to see "the world is boring". Horses for courses I guess.

If you were aware of Roger Dean's artwork you'd basically seen everything already, it wasn't an original world.

I was totally bored of it as well.

[Scullibundo]

Avatar was super boring.

Futuristic mechs fucking up a bunch of 9ft bipedal aliens that can plug themselves into a somewhat sentient planet full of gargantuan bioluminescent fauna and flora (of which they can also conscious interact with), shadowed by floating mountains and pterodactal-like things that they fly?

Fucking YAWN.

Give me more explosions in downtown New York City any day.

[Jack Scofield]

Of all the complaints to be levelled at Avatar, I would never expect to see "the world is boring". Six-legged horses for courses I guess.

The world of Pandora is fucking lame. Nothing is original. Every animal in there has an Earth analogue, and as a result, nothing seems truly alien.

Such wasted potential.

[DECK'ARD]

The plot was boring, the characters were boring, the world was boring. Once the novelty of the 3D wore off after 15 minutes it was a slow and painful slog to the end.

And despite all the tech it actually managed to seem quite dated as well, just 70's prog-rock album covers come to life.

If it floated your boat then fine, but it's one of the most formulaic uninteresting films I've seen. It doesn't matter that they created a whole new world to set it in, there was nothing of value in it.

[Tookay]

Avatar was super boring. Futuristic mechs fucking up a bunch of 9ft bipedal aliens that can plug themselves into a somewhat sentient planet full of gargantuan bioluminescent fauna and flora (of which they can also conscious interact with), shadowed by floating mountains and pterodactal-like things that they fly? Fucking YAWN. Give me more explosions in downtown New York City any day.

That's being reductive and you know it. You can take all of those things (which have frankly been done before), put them in a blender, and have the world still be dull if there's no reason to be invested in it, its characters, or the plot.

[Pezking]

Good.

I'd never say that "Titanic" or "Avatar" are bad movies, but personally, I hated "Titanic" and was pretty indifferent towards "Avatar". So I don't know if a "Battle Angel" made by Cameron would still please me as much as "Aliens" or "Terminator 2" did.

Now just let someone else make "Battle Angel", make it brutal as fuck, and all would be well.

[CorvoSol]

Well there was that mech with the stupid, oversized knife. Thats kind of a sword, right?

Okay but when they reach the level of Golden ninja cat people sword fights, that'll be something. Faded Sun actually spent enough time to where I could understand why John Smith joined the natives. Also it had crazy awesome fat things who didn't understand the concept of lying but did it anyway.

I would watch this.

[HK-47]

He's going to reboot Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Cant do a worse job than the last guy.

[Forkball]

Avatar 2 should focus on the Navi becoming more advanced. Instead of having bronze-age technology, an industrial revolution is started and they have to deal with the whole nature vs. technology thing again. It's like Princess Mononoke, but nowhere near as interesting.

[NinjaBoiX]

If you were aware of Roger Dean's artwork you'd basically seen everything already, it wasn't an original world. I was totally bored of it as well.

*googles Roger Dean*

Hmm, can't really see it, sorry. Yeah, he seems to have a penchant for luminous colours, but that's were the similarities end for me. You make it sound like they simply lifted his work wholesale.