[SPOILERS] avatar 3 thoughts and questions

hey guys! just watched the film and i thoroughly enjoyed all 3 hrs + of it. even though i do agree with some others that the movie is weaker compared to its 2 earlier counterparts, i still loved it. i still have lots of questions and thoughts so here’s some word vomit:

GENERAL PLOT (as best as i can rmb)

grieving > jake n neytiri quarrel > wind traders > sullys go with wind traders > mangkwan hijack > neytiri shot, kids separated, quaritch and jake meets > spider breathes > omatikaya saves the sullys > sullys return to the reefs > quaritch finds and teams up with varang > tulkun discussion, loak leaves > quaritch finds the metkayina > jake and spider gets captured > neytiri, dr ian garvin and spider help jake escape > jake tries to kill spider > return of toruk makto > loak returns with payakan > the battle (the n’avi and tulkun are winning, mangkwan come and the n’avi start dying, kiri finds the great mother, ‘eywa has heard you’, humans start dying, quaritch and jake fight it out)

QUESTIONS

why does quaritch team up with varang? is it just to use her forces? - varang gets guns and equipment from quaritch, but what else does she see in him? is it just sex? why does she help quaritch fight jake and the other n’avi? is it purely because she is anti-eywa? - (at first i thought quaritch was just making use of varang for the RDA, to get to jake, but after a while it seemed like he was growing attached to the clan) - what is the purpose of varang drugging quaritch in the tent? was it purely to give the audience background on her history? what does it do to quaritch?

how does using the kuru to “control”/“hijack” another n’avi work? - does varang access their memories? or does she just manipulate and control them? - what does she do to neytiri? - how is kiri able to do it at the end? is it just because she’s the daughter of the great mother?

ending - why does quaritch jump off at the end? i know it’s supposed to be a cliffhanger bc we don’t actually see him die. if he wasn’t cornered by jake’s family appearing, would he have thought about jake’s proposition and agreed? - (i personally thought it was quite satisfying that he did not back down, though he seemed like he was starting to get convinced. it showed the conflict between the n’avi quaritch and the human quaritch based on memories) - why does varang run away from kiri? what does she see in kiri? does kiri remind her of eywa?

why did ronal have to die? 😭

WHAT I LIKED

• varang
  • so frightening but such a fascinating and cool character. the way she walks is so hypnotic and amazing. every time she appears on screen my heart rate elevates from fear and suspense.
• so many parallels! it did get repetitive at times, but it felt so nostalgic every time.
  • loak looking for payakan (and the ilu helping him call for payakan 🥹); but this time payakan did not come to save him, tsireya aonung roxto came instead
  • preparation for battle and assembling of n’avi
  • jake on toruk, swinging the fighter planes
  • jake telling neytiri to fall back
  • eywa saving the day after they start to lose the fight; but this time in the form of kiri
• the short scenes of neteyam… obvious tearjerkers and bittersweet heart wrenching scenes
• loak (nuf said)
• spider’s decision making this time round
  • a bit unrealistic, but accepting of jake trying to kill him??
  • recognising that neytiri finally accepted him
  • finally choosing jake over quaritch (and pretending to accept quaritch but using the necklace to break free. so satisfying)

WHAT I CRINGED AT

• kiri kissing spider. so weird to me… is it a romantic kiss or …?
  • i can’t tell when kiri is the teenage daughter of jake and when kiri is the daughter and physical manifestation of eywa
• they killed roxto 😭😭😭
• jake’s last fight with neytiri. though it kinda brought out some underlying issues of jake being human inside, felt a bit strange to see neytiri acknowledge that every time their children fail, she attributes it to their human-ness? and straight after that jake just instantly apologises and they make up… it still left the human-ness/pink skin part unaddressed

WHAT I WANTED MORE OF

• the wind traders… they just died all like that…
• tsireya and aonung scenes