When James Cameron’s AVATAR hit theaters in 2009, it wowed audiences and transported them into a new world with mind-blowing special effects and otherworldly creatures, even if the plot of the film felt a little too familiar to some. In 2022, Cameron delivered a second act with AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, which was again visually breathtaking, though felt almost like a retread of the first movie with new characters added in and a mostly water-based setting. The latest installment is AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, which takes audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the Sully family once again facing challenges and threats to their people. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is back (he was put into a Na’vi body in the second film), still hunting down Jake and his estranged human son Spider (Jack Champion), who has been adopted and made part of the Sully clan. Things get complicated when the savage Ash People show up, led by a “fire witch” called Varang (Oona Chaplin) who wants revenge for the pain her clan have suffered. She allies herself with Quaritch, who supplies her with weapons and technology to give her an unfair advantage over the other Na’vi people, and now Jake realizes he may not be capable of protecting those he loves against this powerful new threat.

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH is a cinematic feast that continues to prove James Cameron is a brilliant filmmaker with a definite vision, but his storytelling leaves a bit to be desired. Where AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER came off as a retread of the first movie, this new chapter almost feels like a retread of THE WAY OF WATER, following many of the same story beats and ideas, with the one big exception of a powerful and formidable villain we haven’t seen before. Oona Chaplin’s take on Varang is easily the most interesting part of this new sequel, an unpredictable foe that is merciless and determined by her own anger. She is Quaritch times ten, and commands the screen every time she’s on it. Chaplin finds a strong voice for the role, and really delivers a memorable and frightening character for the franchise. Lang as Quaritch is also really good here, delivering amusing quips and an oddly devilish charm, and his partnership with Varang makes for an interesting threat for our intrepid heroes. But as good as those two are, the other cast members suffer a bit and don’t seem very interesting this time around. Most of the story beats with the Sully clan feel repetitive and a bit bland, and don’t really give us anything new to latch on to.

There are several subplots overlapping, such as Neytiri processing the grief from the loss of her child in the last film, and while Zoe Saldaña gives a sincere and passionate performance for that character, we’ve sort of been there and done that to where it feels like more of the same. Worthington as Jake is also a bit too familiar here, never giving us any endearing moments one might expect from the lead in a big epic like this. Another subplot involves Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) trying to find and solidify her bond with the “Mother” spirit of Pandora, but it also isn’t as fascinating as I imagine Cameron hoped it would be. There’s even a sort of “Save the Whales” moment late in the movie that to me seemed very repetitive after the events in THE WAY OF WATER. This is also a movie that really takes for granted you remember all the events from the first two films, so you may want to refresh yourself ahead of time.

One thing AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH does is include many themes that parallel real world dilemmas a lot of audience members can relate to – feeling like an outcast within your own family, feeling helpless to protect the ones you love, the burden of loss and depression, and even the concepts of suicide. But it’s all mixed into a bloated three hour and 17-minute run time in a script with some surprisingly slow beats. The pacing here felt slower and at times more hectic than the previous two entries, and I just wasn’t as interested in the story as much this time around. That’s not to say AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH isn’t a powerful and impressive production, but if Cameron hopes to keep this franchise going, he’s going to have to start finding some more engaging story ideas that don’t feel so familiar and predictable.

With such a great cast and incredible technology at your fingertips, these films should be a home run every time, and if anything they feel like they’re getting progressively less interesting. When I saw the first AVATAR, I genuinely wanted to watch it again almost right away, but I feel like this third entry is a “one and done”, just not memorable or engaging enough to revisit… save for some pretty solid villain moments. And for what its worth, if this is to be the last entry in the franchise, it actually does end in a pretty neat and tidy way… there aren’t really any unresolved issues that need wrapping up, and I have to wonder if Cameron gave it the ending he did just in case this is in fact the last one. His current wish is to knock out a few more before he hangs it up, but I’m not sure they’re needed at this point. I respect the AVATAR franchise as cinematic achievement, and I’m glad I saw all three on a big screen in 3D, but it may have said all it needs to at this point.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•