James Cameron.Photo: Jeff Spicer/WireImage
In a new interview withTheNew York Timespublished Tuesday, theAvatar: The Way of Waterdirector said that he likes to “do the thing that other peoplearen’tdoing” during a conversation withSam Worthington,Zoë SaldanaandSigourney Weaverabout following up their 2009 blockbusterAvatar.
“When I look at these big, spectacular films — I’m looking at you, Marvel and DC — it doesn’t matter how old the characters are, they all act like they’re in college,” Cameron, 68, said as the group discussed the effects of parenthood on their characters and actual lives.
“They have relationships, but they really don’t,” Cameron said of characters from Marvel Studios and DC Films movies. “They never hang up their spurs because of their kids.”
“The things that really ground us and give us power, love, and a purpose? Those characters don’t experience it, and I think that’s not the way to make movies,” the director added to theTimes.
In theTimesinterview, Cameron also suggested that recent blockbusters that utilize underwater locations, like theAquamanmoviesand Disney’s upcoming live-actionThe Little Mermaid, simply don’t feature as high-quality visuals as the newAvatarsequel because the productions did not actually film underwater.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe that it looks good?” Cameron said when asked about the advantages of shooting underwater. “Come on! You want it to look like the people are underwater, so they need to be underwater.”
“It’s not some gigantic leap — if you were making a western, you’d be out learning how to ride a horse,” he told the newspaper.
Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
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Though Cameron had critical words for Marvel and DC blockbusters in the interview, the director has made a point of applauding Marvel Studios in the past. In May 2019, Cameronpublicly congratulated Marveldays afterAvengers: Endgameeclipsed his own blockbusterTitanic(1997) to become the second highest-grossing film of all time.
“To Kevin and everyone at Marvel. An iceberg sank the real Titanic,” Cameron wrote on Twitter at the time, against a photo of theAvengerslogo swapped in for the Titanic’s fatal iceberg. “It took the Avengers to sink my Titanic. Everyone here at Lightstorm Entertainment salutes your amazing achievement. You’ve shown that the movie industry is not only alive and well, it’s bigger than ever!”
Avatar:The Way of Wateris set “more than a decade after the events of the first film” and meets Jake Sully (Worthington) and Neytiri (Saldaña) as parents to three children, including Kiri (Weaver), according to an official log line for the film.
The story captures the “trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure,” according to the logline.
Avatar: The Way of Wateris in theaters Dec. 16.
source: people.com
