James Cameron feels The Force Awakens lacks 'innovative visual imagination'

The production of Avatar 2, which is expected to hit theatres in December 2018, is underway.

Han Solo and Chewbacca in Star Wars — Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Episode VII of Star Wars The Force Awakens Lucasfilm Ltd

Star Wars The Force Awakens may have won millions of hearts and made new box office records globally, but that doesn't mean, JJ Abrams has impressed James Cameron. The director of Titanic and Avatar thinks the seventh instalment of the space action thriller is an economical version of the previous episodes.

During an interview with Gizmodo, the producer and director reluctantly shared his views on the movie that he thinks has taken baby steps with new characters.

"Well... George Lucas is a friend of mine and George and I had a good conversation about it. I don't want to say too much about the film as I have a lot of respect for JJ Abrams. I want to see where they're taking it next, see what they're doing with it. But I gotta say I think that George's six films, had more innovative visual imagination. And this film was more of a retrenchment to things you had seen before, and characters you had seen before. It took a few baby steps forward with new characters. But for me the jury is out, I want to see where they go with it."

Cameron is currently busy in the production of Avatar 2, which is expected to hit theatres in December 2018. In April the 61-year-old updated fans about the sequel to the 2009 American science fiction film and said that the movie will be an epic saga.

"I've been working the last couple of years with a team of four top screenwriters to design the world of Avatar going forward: the characters, the creatures, the environment, the new cultures. So far, the art I'm seeing is, in pure imagination, really far beyond the first film. It's going to be a true epic saga," he told Hollywood Reporters.