Avatar: Fire and Ash review

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH: 

A BREATHTAKING THIRD TRIP TO PANDORA! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Oona Chaplin as Varang in Avatar: Fire and Ash

 

            James Cameron (Terminator 1 and 2, Aliens, Titanic) returns to the world of Pandora for a third round in Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third installment of his Avatar film series following the 2009 original and its 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. I’m sure I made it clear in my last review that I really enjoyed the previous Avatar films even in this era where people love to rip on them for being uninspired and derivative of other stories like Dances with Wolves, FernGully, and even the Nickelodeon animated series that shares the same name Avatar: The Last Airbender(For the sake of this review, I will not be drawing a bunch of parallels between the two Avatar franchises!), as long as they’re retold well and offer something unique I really don’t care. 

            The first Avatar released in 2009 came out at just the right time, I was a sophomore in high school, the 3D and IMAX boom was hot and fresh, and it was one of my most anticipated films from that year. I was in awe watching that movie all those years ago and marveling at what was being projected on the giant screen while still being emotionally invested in the characters, plot, and world building. 

            The second film, The Way of Water I don’t like as much as the first and often felt like a retread of the first just with a location change…at least in terms of story. Like its predecessor, the film was still an incredible theater experience and one of the best IMAX 3D movies I saw and did expand upon the world of Pandora and began to flesh out its characters even if it did feel like a second part of a larger story and wasn’t as self-contained as the first. 

            Now we have this third film once again released for the holiday season, putting 3D back into the spotlight, and will surely put people’s butt’s in the movie theater seats just in time for Christmas. While I can’t say this a perfect film and it does have its share of flaws, I really enjoyed my time in the theater with Fire and Ash and in some ways prefer it over the last. 

            The film follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington-Terminator: Salvation, The Debt, Hacksaw Ridge), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Star Trek franchise, Marvel Cinematic Universe), and their family grieving over the death of their son Neteyam after the last confrontation with the RDA. However, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang-Tombstone, Don’t Breathe 1 and 2, Sisu: Road to Revenge) and the RDA ally with a mysterious, revenge-seeking Ash Na’vi tribe led by Varang (Oona Chaplin-Game of Thrones, The Crimson Field, Taboo) and target Jake and the rest of the Na’vi after learning that Quaritch’s human son adopted by the Na’vi Miles “Spider” Socorro (Jack Champion-Scream VI, Freaky Tales) is able to breathe on Pandora without a mask courtesy of his friend and Jake’s daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver-Alien franchise, Ghostbusters franchise, Galaxy Quest). 

            Because that is the biggest roadblock in the humans’ colonization of Pandora, Jake, his family, and the rest of the Na’vi have to once again face off against them for the sake of their planet. 

            The film also stars Kate Winslet (Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) reprising her role as Ronal, Joel David Moore (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Art School Confidential, Savages) reprising his role as Dr. Norm Spellman, CCH Pounder (DC Animated Universe, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The Naked Gun(2025)) reprising her role as Mo’at, Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan, Public Enemies, Ted 1 and 2) reprising his role as Parker Selfridge, Britain Dalton (Thumper, Dark Harvest) reprising his role as Lo’ak, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss (The Life of Chuck) reprising her role as Tuk, Edie Falco (Cop Land, Freedomland, Fool’s Paradise) reprising her role as General Frances Ardmore, Brendan Cowell (The Current War, Dune: Prophecy) reprising his role as Captain Mick Scoresby, and Cliff Curtis (Training Day, Sunshine, Doctor Sleep) reprising his role as Tonowari. 

            Overall, Avatar: Fire and Ash isn’t the strongest narrative wise (In fact, there’s a ton of weird plot points that don’t quite work), but it is still a gorgeous cinematic experience that pushes the envelope for filmmaking and further expands upon Cameron’s world. It’s a James Cameron Avatar movie so of course, the effects and CGI are gonna be damn impressive especially on the IMAX screen with 3D (You’re doing yourself a huge disservice if you don’t see it in that format) and in this age of subpar CGI and underpaid animators/artists, what Cameron puts on the screen with these Avatar films should be the new standard for special effects that all other movies would want to be like. 

            Besides the technical advances, the movie also does very interesting things with its characters particularly with Spider and Stephen Lang’s Quaritch. I thought Quaritch was an entertaining and cartoony villain in the earlier films with Lang chewing the scenery every chance he gets, but this one gives him more layers through interactions he has with Jake and/or Spider and legitimately makes him an interesting and compelling character. 

            Jack Champion’s Spider didn’t leave that big an impact on me in Way of Water, but he’s given a lot more to do as essentially the film’s MacGuffin after gaining the ability to breathe on Pandora via Eywa and found his dynamic between the Na’vi and his dad Quaritch very fascinating throughout. 

            Sam Worthington is still great as Jake and Zoe Saldaña acts her ass off as Neytiri with some of the best acting I’ve ever seen from her…and we’re talking about a blue alien woman created through motion capture. She owns every emotion heavy scene and even though she’s portraying a computer animated character, everything about her performance feels real. 

            Oona Chaplin is also a standout as Varang, the leader of the Ash clan with her performance being very different from the other Na’vi. She’s a much more brutal and aggressive Na’vi as part of a tribe that lost faith in Eywa, she honestly overshadows all the humans and has the potential to become an interesting antagonist in future movies. 

            However, the movie does hit a lot of familiar beats from the earlier films and if you weren’t initiated from the start, I don’t know what this movie will do for you. I assumed the Volcano island from the trailer would have played a bigger part in the story, but it’s only onscreen for a little bit with most of the film taking place in the same environments as the previous and repeating the whole “Nature good, humans bad” message that Cameron is just rolling with at this point, could have used more variety in the storytelling. 

            Despite its narrative shortcomings, Avatar: Fire and Ash is a dazzling and game-changing theater experience with Cameron in his zone once again. I See You…in Part 4.