The Avatar Saga

Now a lot of people are dismissive of Avatar, claiming its derivative and dull. I think they are so critical because these movies are so popular, they dont think it deserves its success. But James Cameron isn't someone to let haters defeat him, he always hits his mark. Now there is no denying Avatar is a little derivative, but to me the original parts far outbalance the copied parts. The brilliant worldbuilding, which compares to the finest worldbuilding in any fantasy or sci fi novel. The biome of pandora and its neural network, the living deity of Eiwa, a gestalt of consciousness that seeks to protect its offspring and preserve nature. This is truly Camerons fantasy of mother earth getting revenge against her rapacious transgressors, and showing them that technology isn't greater than nature. Also the heroes journey is brilliant, the way Jake Sully goes from an enemy spy, to becoming initiated into their clan, before his treachery is revealed and hes cast out, then he regains the clans favor by becoming Turok Makto in fullfilment of their prophecies, and leading them against their overwhelming enemy. I believe its a mistake to dismiss it simply as pocahontas or dances with wolves, theres a lot of unique brilliance to outweigh those similarities. Making a popular film is a huge gamble, many other attempts have failed miserably, but Cameron understood that recognizable plots and themes and characters would give audiences something familiar to latch onto, so they could allow themselves to become immersed in his rich worldbuilding. And now that the story has reached its second installment he has greater opportunity to branch out into more interesting and complex stories. Personally I love the family dynamic of Avatar 2, indeed it inspired me to write a couple of family based stories. Luocs troubled relationship with his father, because hes brave and headstrong and keeps getting into trouble, unlike his fathers favorite son Nataro, who always does what hes told. Kiris problems because her affinity with nature makes her a freak in the other navis eyes, and causes them to turn against her. Bringing Quaritch back as a navi as well, because if you can copy and transfer peoples minds then death would not be a limitation. Quaritches relationship with his son Spider, who goes from hating his father to saving his life at the end. And Luocs relationship with the whale creature is beautiful, a creature who is scarred by past battles with the humans, making him seem dangerous, but Luoc refuses to turn his back on him. The storytelling of Camerons stories is always outstanding, he definitely has the midas touch, like Nolan, he has a keen eye for maximising quality dramateurgy. He also knows how to make characters charming, which i believe is a big reason the rest of the terminator movies failed after he left, because the writers werent as good at heartfelt characterization as him.