Avatar: Fire and Ash – Yet Another Review. By Daniel Rester.
James Cameron is back to conquer the box office again, this time with Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third entry in his epic sci-fi series. It took thirteen years for Cameron to release the second film, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). The wait was long, but upon release Avatar: The Way of Water offered a leap forward in technology and many new characters and ideas. Avatar: Fire and Ash offers much less in terms of freshness than the second film, but it still offers growth for the characters and delivers plenty of blockbuster thrills.
Avatar: Fire and Ash takes place soon after the events of Avatar: The Way of Water. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family are still grieving and recovering after the climactic battle in that film. They set off on a mission to help Spider (Jack Champion) relocate since he is lacking in oxygen masks. It doesn’t take long for the family to come up against the antagonistic Quaritch (Stephen Lang) once again, as well as a new threat in the form of the Mangkwan clan, a dangerous group of Na’vi led by the menacing Varang (Oona Chaplin).
The Mangkwan are one of the few elements that separate Avatar: Fire and Ash from Avatar: The Way of Water. There are also some “wind traders” introduced, merchants who use giant flying vessels. Not much else is new or different though, making Avatar: Fire and Ash often feel more like an extension than a sequel with its own identity.
Many of the plot beats in the third film feel familiar as well, echoing moments audiences have already seen in the previous two entries. Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) is still trying to defend the whale-like Payakan, while members of the Sully family are continuously caught by bad guys and freed again. Such scenes make the plot feel repetitive and like it’s going in circles at times, making the 197-minute runtime feel long.
The relationships between various characters at least get some added complexity. The most interesting situation is Jake and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) trying to decide what to do with Spider. This eventually leads to the most powerful moment in the movie, a small scene that only involves the three characters. In a film full of huge battles and dramatic turns, its this scene with difficult character decisions that stands out.
Aside from the Jake-Neytiri-Spider situation, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is given moments of growth as well. She continues to discover more abilities she didn’t know she had while trying to further her connection to Eywa. Weaver voicing a teenage character is still a little odd, but she brings a lot of heart to the role.
The alliance between Quaritch and Varang helps further Quaritch’s dive into evil ways. The colonel is simply obsessed with Jake Sully, and he’s willing to partner with the unpredictable Varang in order to accomplish his goals. Both Lang and Chaplin are excellent as these two villains.
Cameron once again shows he is a master of delivering action scenes. He and his four editors criss-cross between the different sections of battles with urgency and coherence. Whether its in the air or in the water, the fights between the humans and Na’vi are exciting.
It’s no surprise that Avatar: Fire and Ash looks and sounds incredible from beginning to end. The visual effects are simply astounding once again. From large canvases for battles to the texture of a Na’vi’s blue skin, every image has care and attention to detail. The sound effects help bring the visuals alive, with myriad weapon and creature noises mixed together from scene to scene.
Cameron has decided to have some of the scenes at a higher frame rate again, even more so than in the second film. The constant shift between the standard 24 frames per second to higher levels can be distracting to the eyes. The use of 3D is implemented much better than the high frame rate, with its use allowing certain visuals to fly off the screen.
Avatar: Fire and Ash isn’t as great as the first two films in Cameron’s sci-fi series. It adds more depth to some of the characters, but the plot is repetitive and the film doesn’t bring many new elements to the table outside of the Mangkwan clan. There is still plenty of entertainment to be found in the film though, and the visual effects still wow. Hopefully Cameron pushes this story into more intriguing directions for the planned fourth and fifth films.
Rating: 8/10
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