Avatar: The Way Of Water Doesn't Redeem Jake Sully And That's The Point

This post contains spoilers for "Avatar: The Way of Water."

While James Cameron's 2009 film "Avatar" was visually dazzling, and pushed movie special effects to new highs, one can find many, many flaws in its story. Most notably, "Avatar" can serve as a tired a trite "White man goes native" narrative, left over from the days of American colonialist fantasies by James Fenimore Cooper. Plenty of feature films have repeated the trope in the past, of course, with "Lawrence of Arabia," "Dances with Wolves," "Pocahontas," and "The Last Samurai" being more prominent examples. 

The main character in "Avatar" is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a jarhead Marine whose twin brother was given the enviable, off-world assignment to the distant planet of Pandora, occupied by a race of nine-foot-tall, blue-skinned forest-dwelling aliens called the Na'vi. In order to survive on the planet, humans have mixed their own DNA with Na'vi DNA and created cloned avatars the they can then shunt their consciousnesses inside of. When Jake's twin dies, Jake has to take over the Na'vi avatar. 

Over the course of the film, Jake spends a lot of time with the Na'vi locals, notably Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and eventually learns everything about their way of life. He comes to the conclusion that the human miners and military folks are quite, quite bad, and that becoming a Na'vi is preferable. Jake becomes something of a Na'vi Messiah, mastering skills that even the locals haven't, particularly when it comes to riding on the backs of dragons. 

It seems that Jake, a colonialist, possesses the capacity to be better at being a local than even the locals. "Avatar" isn't exactly a film about Jake Sully's newfound sense of humility. 

Jake Sully's arc isn't terribly complicated, as he himself is not terribly complicated. At the start of "Avatar," he's bitter and perhaps too prone at following orders. When his superior officer Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) tells him that the Na'vi are to be treated as hostiles, he takes it at face value. He eventually learns not to trust his military-minded superiors ... but retains his capacity for military violence. Jake's skills as a gun-toting killer ultimately aid the Na'vi in fighting off the invading human forces who want to strip-mine the planet. Jake goes from being a military wonk to a military leader for another nation. In brief, his character growth is that he jumps ship and gets a promotion. 

In "Avatar: The Way of Water," it's somewhat refreshing to see that Jake Sully is just as curt and military-minded as he always was. Now permanently occupying the body of a Na'vi, Jake and Neytiri have spent the last decade blissfully married in the forest, and have had several children together. Jake, however, is not a placid nature-lover. He is a still a jarhead marine. His sons call him "sir," and he has trained them to respond to him as they would a drill instructor. He remains handy with weapons (beyond the need to hunt for food), and doesn't really have an enlightened mind. 

Indeed, it is Jake's instincts toward military tactics that drive the plot of "Water." He's certainly ready to fight at a moment's notice, but his violence-forward leadership ultimately only increases the ire of the technologically advanced humans. No stealth. No diplomacy. Nothing quiet. Jake's Marine mind gets him in trouble. So much for his redemption.

It is Jake's kids who prove to be more open-minded.

Jake and his family eventually have to flee the encroaching human military force and hide out with a tribe of water-dwelling Na'vi who live on a distant archipelago. Jake has five children in his family unit, named Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), and the young Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss). Jake wants them to listen to their new chief (Cliff Curtis), to fall in line, and to be quiet soldier-like guests. Being young, of course, the kids prefer to play, learning to increase their lung capacity and bonding with the local fauna. Lo'ak also befriends an itinerant, intelligent super-whale, previously suspected as a death monster by the adults. 

The kids prove that they are placid and open-minded, while the adults look out at the world and see nothing but threats. While Jake doesn't have a major come-to-Jesus moment (as it were) in "The Way of Water," he is clearly an antagonistic force. His military prowess can get the family out of scrapes, but his pushy "I am the paterfamilias" attitude doesn't reveal a large capacity for adaptability or true assimilation. 

"The Way of Water," then, is very much about how Jake is not a glorified Messiah, but a man with a skill set that happens to be useful every once in a while. To put it in "Star Trek" terms, Jake is not the captain of the ship. He is, at best, the chief security officer. He's cold, he's cautious, and he plays it safe. Those are good qualities for running security, but I wouldn't want him making major command decisions. 

Luckily for the characters in "The Way of Water," the children are the future.