Movie Review: Surprise and War in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

The promise of Cameron’s 3D trilogy has always been one of immersion: immersion in a world of science-fiction, in technological wonder, in the possible future of movies. “Avatar” is more of a place to visit than a movie.

Yet, it has now been two decades since Cameron set out on this blue quest. The shine of novelty has worn off, or at least is less obvious, having to compete with new technological advances. “Fire and Ash” is accompanied by a behind-the-scenes video explaining how performance capture was used during the production of the film. The underlying message is: No, it’s not AI.

The “Avatar” movies, with their visual-effects magic and weird revisionist Western storytelling, have always felt like an immersion in James Cameron’s dream. After all, the idea for these films first came to Cameron’s mind decades ago with bioluminescent vision. At their best, the “Avatar” movies have felt like an extraterrestrial platform for Cameron, in which he could handle many of the things — giant weapons, ecological wonder, silly human arrogance — that have marked his films.

“Fire and Ash”, at over three hours, is our longest stay on Pandora to date and will most likely leave you wondering why you came here in the first place. These remain epics of craft and conviction. You can feel Cameron’s deep devotion to the dynamics of his central characters, even when their interests exceed ours.

This is especially true in “Fire and Ash”, which leads into a new chapter of culture clash, following the high-seas, family-focused part two, “The Way of Water”. It introduces a violent rival Na’vi clan, whose angry leader, Varang, partners with Stephen Lang’s up-and-coming Colonel Miles Quaritch and human colonists.

For those who have followed the “Avatar” saga closely, I suspect “Fire and Ash” will be a rewarding experience. Quaritch, Pandora’s answer to Robert Duvall’s Bill Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now”, remains an extremely captivating character. And the introduction of Chaplin’s Varang gives this installment a power that the previous two lacked.

But for those whose trips to Pandora have made less of an impact, “Fire and Ash” is like returning to a half-remembered vacation spot, only one where the local ponytail style is a little weird and everyone’s waistline looks like a supermodel’s.

Time has only strengthened the feeling that these films are hermetically sealed movie terrariums. They’re like a $1 billion beta test that, despite all their box-office successes, has ultimately proven that all the design ability in the world can’t create a story of meaningful impact. The oft-commented light cultural footprint left by the first two blockbusters only hints at why these films fade away by the end credits. It’s the lack of interior life in any characters and the dull, screen-saver aesthetic. At this point in the nine-hour trilogy, that hollowness makes “Fire and Ash” feel almost like a theoretical drama: more embodiment than genuine article.

It took a lot of hard work to make these films believable, moment by moment. But there is something unnatural in almost every gesture, every action and every part of the dialogue. This has made these supernatural films, in equal measure, a combination of things you’ve never seen before, and things you can’t unsee.

“Fire and Ash,” written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, focuses on the climate warfare aftermath of “The Way of Water.” The Na’vi and their marine allies, the Metkayina clan, are tending to their wounds and recovering human weapons sunk on the sea floor.

When a rival tribe called the Mangquan or Aceh people comes to challenge the Na’vi, those weapons represent a moral dilemma. Should they use such firepower in their local battles? This is a more difficult question, partly because the fire-mad Mangquan are particularly bloodthirsty, led by their cunning sorceress Wanang.

But their fight is just a part of the larger war of “fire and ashes.” The focus of this third chapter is on inter-caste coexistence. As the human and Na’vi lines continue to blur, the question arises whether human invaders will change Pandora or whether Pandora will change them.

It focuses on three characters in various intermediate states. First, there is Spider, Quaritch’s human son who lives happily with the Na’vi while breathing through a machine to survive in the Pandora atmosphere. But in “Fire and Ash” he discovers that he can breathe without a filter, a development that inspires intense military interest in a potentially extremely profitable breakthrough in Pandora assimilation.

It also stars former human Jake Sully, who has created a Na’vi family with Neytiri. As for Neytiri, the growing threat of human war causes her to doubt her relationship with Jake. The “fire and ashes” prejudices seep into the home as well.

However, the most interesting of the three is Quaritch. He may be trying to violently subdue Pandora, but he is also clearly pleased with his Na’vi body and his life on this distant moon. You can see him panic when his commander, General Ardmore, calls his Mangquan colleagues “savages.” Meanwhile, Quaritch and Wanang hit it like gangbusters.

“You’ve got new eyes, Colonel,” a character says to Quaritch. “You just have to open them.”

The “Avatar” movies have been a lot of eye-openers over the past 16 years. To new cinematic horizons, to the limitlessness of Cameroon’s dreams, to the papyrus font. But the most fascinating thing about “Avatar” is that Cameron believes in it so much. I may be less caught up in Pandora’s activities, but I’m glad she’s involved. There are worse things than dreaming of a better world in which there is still a fighting chance.

20th Century Studios’ release “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will be released in theaters on December 19. It is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for intense scenes of violence and action, bloody images, some strong language, thematic elements, and suggestive material. Running time: 195 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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