by Tara Bennett

Dorling Kindersley, out now

A detailed look at the designs that were translated in Avatar: The Way of Water

Tara Bennett’s behind-the-scenes deep dive (sorry!) into the world of James Cameron’s first sequel to Avatar, is a beautiful reminder of just how much production work goes into a film before the cameras roll or pixels are clustered. In the Foreword by James Cameron’s Akita: Battle Angel director Robert Rodriguez, the artwork is described as the visual roadmap to the film, and that’s a precise description of what you get.

There’s a little over 250 pages of exquisitely reproduced artwork on quality stock paper, and because it’s a landscape-oriented, over-sized coffee table book, the frequent double-page spreads do justice to the many widescreen visions.

Most of the work is from production designers Dylan Cole and Ben Procter and costume designer Deborah L Scott, or their teams, and the text from Bennett gives us just the right amount of detail around how decisions were made along the way. As with the movie, there’s a gulf of difference between the environs and people of Pandora, and the invading RDA (Resources Development Agency). Each are covered in detail, from the beautiful, organic landscapes to the militaristic tech.

The section on the RDA is particularly fascinating, and we’re offered detailed views of hardware like the SeaDragon vessel, Swarm Assemblers, Crabsuit and Bridgehead base. There’s also pages on the extended Sully family and the Metkayina clan, and the oceans they live in and around.

Verdict: A look at the impressive artwork behind The Way of Water and some insider insight into how/why decisions were made. I just can’t imagine how much cyan ink was used in printing this hardback tome. 9/10

Nick Joy

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