avatar fire and ash review
Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, Jack Champion and Oona Chaplin
Director: James Cameron
Rating: ★★
Without spoiling too much, here’s a scene Avatar: Fire and Ashes, where one of the main characters is being scheduled for execution, and their captor says the execution is to take place at 0600 the next morning. At that moment, even though a good man was gone forever, the only thought in my mind was the inconvenience of being hanged at 6 in the morning, at such an odd time. You feel similarly alienated from all the characters in James Cameron’s third installment of Avatar. It features breathtaking visuals, some of which are unlike anything seen in the cinema. There is a vast canvas on which Cameron lets loose his creativity. But that’s all. It’s all hollow, not complemented by any emotional depth. The characters feel 2D, the dialogue is compressed, and the beats are so repetitive that you can already predict the plot of Avatar 4 and 5. It’s the Hollywood blockbuster, the assembly line version, with as much emotional range as a chatty GPT reaction.
Base
Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his adopted clan on Pandora. The water tribes offered him refuge in the previous film, but Sully knows he needs to move on if he doesn’t want to put them in danger from the coming attack of the ‘sky people’ – humans. Humans wish to harvest Pandora’s flora and fauna for the ‘nectar’, the elixir of life. Then there’s the re-animated Colonel Miles Quaritch, now an avatar who seeks to settle a score with Jake. And at the center of it all is the Varang, the barbaric leader of the Ash Clan, a group of raiders who do not follow the Na’vi path.
Visually, Avatar: Fire and Ash is something you’ve never seen before. The meticulous detail with which Cameron has detailed the world of Pandora is admirable. Each new species, new character, new clan and tribe fits into this vast ecosystem, even if there’s often little to follow. However, it is coherent within the universe, which is no mean feat for such a huge canvas. The scale of the film is bigger than anything any filmmaker has ever attempted. Some of the elaborate sequences are awe-inspiring.
Oh my god, boredom!
And yet, it all rings hollow. Before entering the theater I knew that Fire and Ash would follow a template, literally. Both the previous Avatar films had done this. The beats are predictable, the plot is too thin, and the character development is too simplistic. But no one prepared me for how basic Fire and Ash would be. It feels like a replica of the other two films, with similar moments, similar plot lines and often similar lines of dialogue. If the goal was to evoke nostalgia, it’s an odd endeavor, given that Avatar is one of the most unforgettable blockbuster franchises in cinematic history. There are no significant pop culture influences, no nostalgic references, or even planted Easter eggs.
The originality of Fire and Ash would be a red flag in itself were it not for some of the worst writing in recent times, with poor dialogue that turns even the most supposedly heartfelt scenes into dull exchanges. There’s also a lot more ‘Gen Z’ dialogue, at least the Pandora version of it, with more focus on the Sully Kids this time. But without context the brother and friend banter makes it seem like the writers have never interacted with young adults or teens before. Jake Sully being reduced to a reluctant hero also doesn’t bode well for him, his constant pleas of “I don’t want this” reminiscent of season 8 Jon Snow.
movie review
Avatar: Fire and Ashes
James Cameron’s third Avatar film follows Jake Sully’s efforts to save his family and Pandora from humans’ attempts to colonize it.
mold
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, Jack Champion and Oona Chaplin
decision
Fire and Ash relies solely on spectacle, with little emotional depth or attempt to craft a plot. There is no connection to the characters or the story.
some high points
But there are also moments that almost save the film. Redeem may be a bridge too far, but they at least keep it from becoming a dumpster fire. The visual spectacle is enhanced by some touching moments, primarily involving Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and her internal conflict between hatred of humans and concern for her children and family. In one particularly poignant scene, the film hits the right notes as Neytiri and Jake consider whether being ‘bad’ might be necessary for their survival. Other high marks are reserved for Varang (Oona Chaplin) and Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Both get the best lines, strongest beats, worst moments. Una raises the bar with her performance by delivering a memorable villain despite the constraints of the script. And Stephen Lang makes Quaritch a good character, even if he’s burdened with a cheesy character.
Avatar was an attempt at simple storytelling with world-class visuals and giving the audience the true joy of cinema. But it seems Cameron has now lost his point. In Fire and Ash, it feels like he created a bunch of scenes and then strung them together, hoping no one would notice that there was no coherent story, or at least nothing new to tie the plot together. It’s still a great cinematic experience, but that’s despite the best efforts of a maverick filmmaker. I’m already scared of the next two parts!