Avatar: The Way of Water

With Black Panther: Wakanda Forever having seen release, the next great holiday season blockbuster promises, somewhat refreshingly, not to be a Marvel property—and while it is a sequel, it has been some thirteen years in the making. Just as important as what its trailer does do is what it doesn’t do. Namely, its resolute focus on sensorial immersion is coupled with an insistence on not over-explaining or otherwise spoiling plot details. This results in a trailer that handily achieves its goal of reacquainting the world with the most successful blockbuster film franchise of all time.

The original Avatar was scored by the late James Horner; his associate Simon Franglen appears to have picked up where Horner left off, both figuratively and literally, with musical themes from the original permeating the trailer.

The trailer begins, appropriately enough, with Neytiri and Jake Sully swimming under sea. Ethereal synths and choral sounds envelope the ears, mimicking the schools of fish and abundant life on screen. The sounds of water blend fairly seamlessly with the sound of distant brass—the resonance of the mix seems to approximate the distinct sensation of being underwater. Early on, we get one of the distinct melodic themes of the original Avatar with its flowing, stepwise vocal melody alongside the studio title card.

Notice at around the half-minute mark the entrance of syncopated drums presages Kiri’s monologue where she expresses to feel the planet’s heartbeat. This call-and-response dynamic continues when Jake asks what its heartbeat sounds like, and a deep, epic drum emanates in turn. At after the first minute, we are treated to a massive major chord across all instruments in tandem with our first clear shot above water. The chord progression is simple, sticking to the tonic, subdominant, and submediant chords. In other words, it stays fairly firmly “within the lines”, musically speaking, with the focus instead drawn to the pure spectacle on display. In terms of sound, it focuses on the sonority and fullness of the arrangement, with an arpeggiated synthesizer dancing on top of it all. At around a minute and a half in, the Avatar theme returns in a single vocal as the dialogue continues—not necessarily clearly establishing or advancing the narrative, but certainly eliciting intrigue, not unlike the musical theme itself.

The trailer editors clearly understand that not only does Avatar: The Water of Water need no laborious introduction nor detail-oriented explainer for those familiar with the original film, but also the sensorial and immersive approach also works equally well for those who may be unfamiliar. After all, it is a film that, if nothing else, has demanded a slew of technical innovations and cutting-edge technologies simply to exist. Its soundtrack, then, carries the brunt of complementing the visuals’ emotional appeal—and does so elegantly, deftly weaving in themes from the original amidst a sweeping arrangement that befits our latest look into the world of Pandora.

Avatar: The Way of Water arrives in theatres December 16th.

— Curtis Perry