The space whales are the best part of Avatar: The Way of Water

Avatar: Path of Water Takes the audience back into Pandora’s epic alien world, spending even more time with it than in the original 2009 Avatar About exploration and just hanging out characters. But this time, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family leave the jungle for the sea.At this point James Cameron directed really like Ocean. A long sequence in the new film is dedicated to his tour of this alien ocean panorama with gorgeous coral reefs and all the creatures that live within them. There are all sorts of new lifeforms, from agile flying fish horses to fairy-like jellyfish that allow you to breathe underwater. But the star of the film, the aquatic creature, is the space whale, Turkun!

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for Avatar: The Way of Water.]

Turkuns look a lot like regular whales, except they have a larger mouth, slightly odd fins, and four eyes. big soulful stuff. Also, they are apparently sentient, sapient, and able to communicate with the Na’vi. I love them.

We first meet Turkun when an exiled whale saves rebellious Na’vi teenager Roak (Britten Dalton) from being fed by alien sharks. Up until this point, we don’t believe the Na’vi can communicate directly with these whale creatures.Sure, they can do a whole braid mental vibe check for most of their lives on Pandora, but this is another level. What is respond.

More specifically, Lo’ak asks Payakan (that’s the whale’s name, yes, because it has a name) what happened to Payakan’s severed fin. Turkun replies that the story is too painful to tell. He can’t speak his Na’vi — he lets out a melodic whale shriek, subtitled and translated into its signature papyrus-esque avatar font. It just gets better. It’s so adorable to see non-human beings such as animals, aliens, and robots communicate with sounds and beeps and people on screen can still understand them. I call it the R2-D2 effect.

The Lo’ak and Payakan bond is not limited to reef Na’vi culture. Turkun and Na’vi are very intertwined and form a deep spiritual bond with each other. When the Turkun herd returns from their migration, it turns into a big event where all the Na’vi swim out to reunite with their soul brethren. They share stories and updates.

Image: 20th Century Studios

“It’s a conceit that the Turkun and Na’vi cultures are united in music, song and dance,” Cameron explains in the film’s production notes. “Metkaina [the reef-dwelling Na’vi clan]For example, put a tattoo pattern on your Turkun that represents your family story. After coming of age, the adult Turkun has tattoos on his body and fins, similar to how the teenage Metkaina got his first tattoos. ”

In this film, we learn from a whale-hunting human that Turkun is more intelligent than humans, with art and reason. Also, they have a fluid in their brains that stops humans from aging and turns them into tragic heroes because humans want to slaughter them for profit. They are clever creatures and I love them very much.

What makes Turkun even more attractive is their strong sense of ethics. Payakhan was expelled from the pod for leading the charge of young Turkun to ambush the human hunters who killed his mother. He did not directly kill the Turkuns who pursued him, but they died in the attempt. His pod still thinks he’s responsible.As an exile, he has to live with the double burden of guilt and their judgment. That’s why he and his Lo’ak bond — Lo’ak likewise feels ostracized for failing to live up to his father’s expectations.

Image: 20th Century Studios

The trope of misfit children connecting with misunderstood animals is tried and true. But there is a special power here. Because (1) it is a whale, a creature more elusive, rarer and more powerful than a horse. (2) it is alien Whale; (3) It is a super-intelligent alien whale that can hold the end of a conversation.mix free willy When how to train a dragon Throw it in the middle of an ocean on a faraway planet and you get something a little closer to Lo’ak and Payakan’s uncanny relationship. The whole friendship underpins Lo’ak’s arc, and it’s truly sublime.

there are many good thingsAvatar: Path of WaterGorgeous scenery! A new Na’vi clan! Tight action scenes! Basically the whole last act of James Cameron saying, “What if we recreated the scene from the movie?” titanic Where the boat is sinking, except this time everyone is a blue alien fighting to the death? ’ But the best part is Turkun. This not only helps flesh out this new aquatic world in which the Sully family finds themselves, but it also helps highlight the coming-of-age story. What does it mean to find yourself in

Tragic backstories and complex emotional stories are compelling in any medium, and characters with tragic backstories and complex emotional arcs are a rich part of any film. In this particular case, one of her characters happened to be a space whale. And the kind of story where space whale society is sophisticated enough to yield a tragic backstory about revenge and isolation and healing from there is a story worth watching, at least in my book.

Avatar: Path of Water is currently in theaters.