The space whale is the best part of Avatar: The Way of Water

Avatar: The Road of Water takes the audience back to the magnificent alien world of Pandora and spends even more time than the 2009 original Avatar about exploration and the characters just hanging out. But this time, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family leave the jungle and into the sea. It is no secret at this point that the director James Cameron love ocean. Long scenes in the new film are devoted to a panoramic tour of this alien sea, with its beautiful coral reefs and all the creatures that live in them. There are all kinds of new life forms, from nimble flying fish to fairy-like jellyfish that can breathe underwater. But the underwater creatures that are by far the star of the movie are the space whales – tulkun!

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

Image: 20th century film studio

Tulkuns look a lot like regular whales, except their bellies are bigger, their fins are a bit funny, and they have four eyes. Great souls. And oh, obviously they’re sentient, intelligent, and able to communicate with the Na’vi. I love them.

We first met tulkun when an outcast whale saved us Na’vi teenager rebellious Lo’ak (Brother Dalton) from being lured by alien sharks. Up until this point, we did not know that the Na’vi were able to communicate directly with these whale creatures. Oh sure, they can do the whole process of testing the psychic vibes that connect their braids with most of life on Pandora, but this is on another level. Lo’ak communicates with tulkun through sign language and whales answer.

More specifically, Lo’ak asked Payakan (that’s the whale’s name, because, yes, they have names) what happened to Payakan’s severed fin. And the tulkun replied that the story was too painful to tell. He doesn’t speak Na’vi — he creates a melodious whale sound, with the translation subtitled in the signature Papyrus-esque Avatar font. That just makes it even better. There’s something so endearing about seeing non-human beings — animals, aliens, or robots — communicating through noise or beeps and the people on screen still being able to understand them. . I call it the R2-D2 Effect.

Lo’ak and Payakan’s relationship is not unique to the Na’vi culture of the reef. Tulkun and Na’vi are so attached to each other that they form a deep spiritual bond with each other. When the tulkun shells returned from the exodus, it became a major event as all of the Na’vi swam out and reconnected with their soul brothers and sisters. They share stories and updates.

Image: 20th century film studio

Cameron explained in the film’s production notes: “The conceit is that tulkun culture and Na’vi culture are brought together by music, singing, dancing. “Metkayina [the reef-dwelling Na’vi clan], for example, will make tattoo patterns on tulkun to represent their family story. Adult tulkuns who have undergone the coming of age ceremony will get tattoos and fin tattoos, like Metkayina who, as a teenager, also had her first tattoos.”

In the movie, we learn from the whalers that tulkuns are even smarter than humans and that they are capable of art and reason. In addition, they have a brain fluid that prevents human aging, which turns them into tragic heroes, because humans want to slaughter them for profit. They are strong, gentle, wise creatures that we need to protect, and I love them so much.

What makes tulkun even more appealing is their strong sense of morality. Payakan was banished from his cover because he led a young tulkun to ambush the hunters who killed his mother. Although he didn’t directly kill the tulkun who followed him, they died in the attempt and his group still held him responsible. As an exile, he must live with the double burden of their sins and judgments. That’s why he and Lo’ak stick together – Lo’ak also feels like an outcast for not meeting his father’s expectations.

Image: 20th century film studio

The Trial and True Trial of a Lost Child Connecting to a Misunderstood Animal: See Everything horse riding girl story ever. But there’s an extra emphasis here because (1) it’s a whale, an elusive, rare, and more powerful creature than a horse; (2) it’s a alien whale; and (3) it’s a super-intelligent alien whale capable of ending conversations. Combination Free Willy with How to Train Your Dragon and throw it in the middle of the ocean on a distant planet, and you’ll get something akin to magic, which is Lo’ak and Payakan’s relationship. The whole friendship strengthens Lo’ak’s arc, and it’s really great.

There are so many good things about yout Avatar: The Road of Water. Wonderful view! New Na’vi clan! Tight action scenes! The whole final act, basically, is James Cameron saying, “What if I recreated the scenes from my movie? Titanic where the ship is sinking, except this time everyone is a blue alien, and they’re fighting to the death too?” But the absolute best part is the tulkun, which not only highlights this new water world the Sully family finds themselves in, but also helps accentuate the coming-of-age story. What says growing up and finding yourself more than connecting with a mythical, misunderstood animal?

The tragic stories and the complicated love stories are very engaging in any medium, and the characters connecting with each other through their tragic stories and complex emotional arcs are a rich part of any film. In this particular case, one of the characters happened to be a space whale. And any story where the whale society of outer space is complex enough to create a tragic plot of revenge, isolation, and healing from it is a story worth watching, at least in My book.

Avatar: The Road of Water Currently showing in theaters.