Avatar: The Way of Water - Spectacle's Rubicon
[Warning: The following post will contain light spoilers for Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Major spoilers for Roman history.]
One day in early January 49 BC--prior to becoming Rome's dictator--Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon.
The shallow river is nestled into the northeastern side of Italy, jutting into the country by way of the Adriatic Sea. In the time of the Roman Republic, the Rubicon was a border marker of sorts. It separated the Roman providence of Cisalpine Gaul from the rest of Italy. Crossing the Rubicon river itself was no big deal, but for a Roman general to cross into Italy proper accompanied by a standing army was considered treasonous. This was due to an ancient Roman law that only allowed elected magistrates in Roman provinces to hold imperium in the country. Imperium being the right of a citizen--in this case magistrates--to control a military entity--in this case a standing army. A magistrate from a province who entered Italy proper at the head of his troops could not legally command them. This law surrounding imperium was created to keep peace between the Romans in greater Italy and Roman citizens who lived in provinces that Rome controlled.
But Caesar, the ambitious general who had marked his claim to history leading Roman armies against Gaul in the Gallic Wars, was seeking to provoke. He wanted to push forward, to claim Italy under his rule and show the world that the he was not to be trifled with. So, commanding a single legion of troops from the Imperial Roman army, Caesar crossed the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul, making his way through Italy toward Rome. To cross the Rubicon as a general meant treason. But it also revealed Caesar's ambitions to rule the Roman Empire with an iron fist. His swift actions and militarized prowess caused chaos, with a large chunk of the Roman Senate fleeing Rome following his crossing of the Rubicon.
In the present day, the phrase "Crossing the Rubicon," doesn't have as worldly an impact as Caesar's first step toward Roman dominion. Even so, it's still reserved for actions that people take which have consequences that are either life- or world-altering. To cross the Rubicon is the go past the point of no return, to never look back to the past, and to push forward with a new idea or commitment in a way that will alter your life. The Rubicon is an ending, but also the beginning of something grander, more ambitious, and perhaps even "the end."
Avatar: The Way of Water is James Cameron's bid for Rome. In this case Rome is spectacle, and The Way of Water is the equivalent of Caesar's imperial troops. I do not believe Avatar: The Way of Water needs an introduction. The film currently sits at well over $2 billion at the box office, with more weeks in theaters around the world yet to come. Trailers for the movie have highlighted the sheer level of technological marvel that went into the movie. A mixture of CGI and practicality that makes it near impossible to tell what's real and what's computer-generated. The film may as well be an animated movie, though, with just how many digital effects brought Pandora to life. But what makes those effects so impressive is just how real they are.
Barring a few monstrous fish and machinery that skids to 15 frames per second in a few scenes, Avatar: The Way of Water is a beautiful film. It has the most realistic-looking computer effects I've ever seen, probably the most expensive ever crafted. The film makes use of close-up shots to show off the level of detail in the hands, the faces, the eyes of the Na'vi, alongside the sheer magnitude of Pandora's various creatures. The film is not only a 3-hour love letter to the importance of family, but also a sheer technological feat. Everything in the movie feels real, everything from close-ups of Kiri's face smiling at underwater sea creatures to the outcast tulkun, Payakan, swimming alongside Lo'ak in Pandora's oceans. Cameron utilized new technology--underwater motion capture--to make Pandora feel more real. And it was all done with computers.
James Cameron crossed the Rubicon. And whether he knows it or not, he's also declared a war for the Throne of Spectacle.
I saw Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when it was still in theaters. Despite many audiences' misgivings about the movie, I quite enjoyed the story they were trying to tell. But there was one thing the film was trying to do that all Marvel Cinematic Universe films always do. It was trying to be spectacular. Bright colors, CGI monster battles, superpowers being flung across the screen like confetti strings. The film was trying to be exciting, eye-catching, fun. And it succeeded in being fun, sure. But I noticed that the effects felt less than standard for a Marvel movie. A lot bothered me about the filming of the movie, actually, but that's besides the point.
When I found out that Marvel projects were causing work overloads and burnout in the VFX companies they worked with, I wasn't too surprised. The work on the second Doctor Strange film felt rushed, incomplete, and a little bit choppy. This is in no way a critique of the VFX artists who worked on it, by the way, I know they were just trying to meet a deadline. But see...that's the thing here. For something like the MCU--which, let's face it, has been the pinnacle of theatrical spectacle for over a decade--crunch deadlines have become the new norm. They're pumping out 3-4 digital effects-heavy films a year, now accompanied by upwards of 5-6 shows on Disney+ per year with a similar amount of CGI. The MCU has become a machine that feels the need to not only be a constant presence in fans' lives, but also maintain that same level of grandeur it had during the Infinity Saga.
But then James Cameron steps up to take on spectacle for himself. He created Avatar, a film with CGI that may be dated now, but was a technological feat back in 2009. Perhaps Avatar is to blame for the superhero genre's overuse of CGI to tell their stories and increase spectacle, but that's a conversation for a different day. Nonetheless, Cameron envisioned his world of Avatar as a trilogy of films, with the second installment slated for release in 2012. But then it got pushed back, further and further, year after year, until, 10 years later, it was done. But not only was The Way of Water done. No, Cameron wanted to hone his vision before hitting the ground running. The trilogy became a quadrilogy, and soon a quintilogy (Was that a word? It is now.) to explore every facet of Pandora that he envisioned. But it wasn't just about the writing. It was also about presenting the world in a way that was even more real than his first Avatar film.
Cameron's said that Avatar films, to him, are cool. He's making cool films for people to enjoy, and that's the end of it. However, to achieve this, he's also made creative and technological progress in ways that one-ups so many other films that try and be just as cool as Avatar: The Way of Water. He took his time with the movie, creating a Pandora that feels so real that, in 3D, it's almost like you can reach out and touch it. As much as spectacle-based films like the Marvel movies try, a new bar has been set. Going into 2023 and beyond, James Cameron's Way of Water will become the gold standard of spectacle in film.
James Cameron crossed the Rubicon.
It will be a long time--if it ever happens--until a film outside of the Avatar franchise is able to match up to what Cameron did with digital effects in The Way of Water. In just creating a story that he feels would be cool to tell, Cameron has achieved something in filmmaking that's incredibly difficult to do in the modern age: He raised the bar. He set the groundwork for future films by large studios that want to craft worlds that feel just as real as Avatar's. It's unclear if this is the future of filmmaking. After all, Avatar: The Way of Water might be the most expensive movie ever made. But now the technology that Cameron created exists. It's out there for people to use to create worlds like Pandora. Sure, it may not be as easily accessible now. But what about in 20 years? 30? What will become of what Cameron created?
As for larger studios like Marvel...Avatar should be lighting a fire under them. Yes, Marvel is owned by Disney, who are making enough money off their entertainment in all facets--including Avatar--to keep them going even if they stop becoming hyper-profitable. But if people are going to see Marvel's spectacle after having been spoiled by Avatar, they will know it's not the same. They'll see the downgrade in quality. Sure, many people who are fans won't mind. But they'll notice. Avatar: The Way of Water will be in the backs of their heads when they see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It doesn't mean they won't like the films, but they will understand they aren't what Avatar: The Way of Water is in terms of sheer technological spectacle. How long will it be before people want to see that level of spectacle in something other than Avatar, and grow board with the same quality of presentation from everything else that's supposed to be spectacular?
Cameron's crossing of the Rubicon cannot be ignored. Avatar: The Way of Water is the most detailed spectacle of a film in a long, long time. And now that it exists, who knows what the future of films that focus on spectacle will be like. Going forward, films that rely on computer-generated spectacle are apt to use the movie as a jumping-off point for their own attempts at making something spectacular. Hopefully The Way of Water's brilliant use of computer generated effects inspires improvement in spectacle across the film industry.
A filmic Caesar has arrived.
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