Avatar 2: What We Want
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THE CORPORATION STRIKES BACK
Avatar concluded with the battered remnants of humanity trudging dejectedly into spaceships, preparing to leave Pandora after the Na'vi (and the forces of nature) kicked their collective asses. Something tells us that the human race will be back however. The planet is still the only source of uber-valuable mineral Unobtonium, and sinister corporation the Resources Development Administration - who were mining the ore first time round - will not take their defeat at the hands of the indigenous aliens lying down.
The franchise is therefore set up for an almighty 'round two' between humans and the Na'vi. We envisage huge spaceships bombarding the surface of Pandora from the skies and then unleashing vast armies of soldiers onto the surface for a massive ground assualt. Perhaps the humans will have upgraded weapons and vehicles, whilst the Na'vi could also find new ways of fighting back. The giant alien bugs firing energy bolts out of their backsides at the Federation spaceships during
Starship Troopers spring to mind.
Avatar 2 - as the middle part of the trilogy - could be the
Empire Strikes Back of the franchise ('Revenge of the Corporation maybe?'), the episode which ends with the bad guys holding the upper hand. What could be a better set-up for part three than concluding with a full-scale human occupation of Pandora - which would pave the way for an heroic fightback in the finale?
RETURN TO EARTH
Another direction in which Cameron could take the series is by taking the Na'vi off Pandora and bringing them to earth. Our planet is described in the movie as war-torn and polluted, and it would certainly be intriguing to see the director visualise just how much we mess up our planet in the next 200 years. A dirty, dying earth would also make a great contrast to the beautiful Pandora.
How could this be worked into the story? Perhaps either Jake, or even better the oversensitive Neytiri, could be captured by the RDA and sent in shackles back to earth. Maybe this could prompt an extraterrestrial rescue attempt? Whichever way it's worked into the story, the idea of seeing the Na'vi taken out of their comfort zone and forced to adapt to new surroundings is an intriguing one.
SHOCK AND AWE
One of the most thought-provoking aspects of
Avatar was the fairly subtle "war on terror" vibe. Some of the dialogue ("shock and awe") nicely paralleled the conflict in the movie with the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it was a theme that could certainly be developed in future instalments. This wouldn't have to be done in a preachy, political, 'let's bash the Americans' way, but instead through taking some of the imagery we see every day on the news and adapting it to give the movie a contemporary edge.
If, as discussed above, a pissed-off RDA return in a big way for
Avatar 2 and begin occupying Pandora with gazillions of soldiers and tanks, the Na'vi would be forced into the role of insurgents, battling desperately to fight off their technologically superior invaders. Imagine crazy alien versions of roadside bombs, guerrilla war amongst the neon trees (think an extraterrestrial Vietnam) and the Corporation's muddled attempts to win hearts and minds. (The same kind of approach was used brilliantly in series 3 of
Battlestar Galactica). Transporting some present day, gritty wartime action into the stunning world of Pandora - provided the tone is as apolitical as possible - would be an awesome direction for the franchise to go.
GO DEEP
Another element that was thought-provoking but undercooked in the film were the scenes that explored just how much of a head-f**k the whole programme was for Jake Sulley. How it felt to switch between the body of paraplegic human and 9ft tall blue alien and when the lines between his dual identities began to blur.
This aspect of the script made the character more than just a marine grunt cliche and could be explored in further movies. How does Jake feel above leaving his human body behind? Does he miss interacting with human kind? Much of the criticism levelled at
Avatar was that the story was over-simplistic and that the protagonists were all over-familiar archetypes: exploring this would be an intelligent way to develop the lead character.
DON'T BRING BACK RIPLEY
Cameron actually had the balls to kill off many of the main characters in
Avatar, something you don't often see in blockbuster films these days. Sigourney Weaver's Dr Grace,
Michelle Rodriguez' Trudy and Wes Studi's Na'vi leader Eytucan (amongst others) all bit the dust at the end of the movie, making for a finale that was both hugely dramatic and had a sense of genuine danger.
When films become franchises however big characters tend to stop being killed off, or worse still, stupidly resurrected so they can return for future instalments - think Sigourney Weaver's Ripley being grown in a test tube for
Alien Resurrection. Here's hoping the director has the courage of his convictions to keep making tough narrative decisions to prevent the
Avatar saga becoming sanitised, watered-down and devoid of genuine drama for purely marketing reasons.
Then Parker can do the classic villian scream
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