As astute critics have noted, Avatar is basically just Dances with Wolves in space. In the future, a white man sees things from an Indigenous perspective, turning the tide in a settler-colonial conquest. For The Way of Water, director James Cameron revamps this trite story with tidbits from his other hit films, including revenant bad guys and a giant sinking ship. He compensates for his narrative laziness with the best visual effects yet seen in cinema.
There’s something astoundingly ironic about using cutting-edge technology to tell a story of native wisdom triumphing over techno-industrial will. This movie convinced me that we’ve finally bridged the uncanny valley of digital world-building. Now, as we float on the cusp of a singularity that would allow us to upload our consciousness, all we want is for it to feel wholesome, natural—like swimming with whales. Only the natural now looks alien to us, and the whales look like equal parts lobster and turtle.