Avatar Fire and Ash review
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Britain Dalton, Trinity Bliss, Jack Champion, and Oona Chaplin
Director: James Cameron
Rating: ★★
Without spoiling much, there is a scene in Avatar: Fire and Ash, where a key character is being scheduled for execution, and their captor says it is slated for 0600 hours the next morning. In that moment, even as a good guy was set to be gone forever, my only thought was the inconvenience of being executed at 6 AM, such an odd time. That is how detached you feel from all the characters in James Cameron's third instalment of Avatar. There are breathtaking visuals, some of which are unlike anything seen in cinema. There is a vast canvas on which Cameron lets his creativity loose. But that is just it. All that is hollow, not complemented by any emotional depth. The characters feel 2D, the dialogue cringe, and the beats so repetitive that you can already predict the plots of Avatars 4 and 5. This is Hollywood blockbuster, assembly line edition, with as much emotional range as a ChatGPT response.
The premise
Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his adopted clan on Pandora. The water tribes gave him refuge in the previous film, but Sully knows he needs to move, if he does not want to endanger them from the oncoming assault of the 'sky people' - humans. The humans want to harvest Pandora's flora and fauna for 'amrit', the elixir of life. Then there is the reanimated Col Miles Quaritch, now an Avatar who wants to settle scores with Jake. And in the midst of it all is Varang, the barbaric leader of the ash clan, a group of raiders who do not follow the Na'vi way.
Visually, Avatar: Fire and Ash is something you have never seen before. The meticulous detailing with which Cameron has expanded the world of Pandora is praiseworthy. Every new species, new character, new clan and tribe fits in this vast ecosystem, even if often it gets a bit too much to follow. However, it is consistent within the universe, which is no mean feat for such a vast canvas. The scale of the film is larger than anything any filmmaker has ever attempted. Some of the wide sequences are awe-inspiring.
{{/usCountry}}Visually, Avatar: Fire and Ash is something you have never seen before. The meticulous detailing with which Cameron has expanded the world of Pandora is praiseworthy. Every new species, new character, new clan and tribe fits in this vast ecosystem, even if often it gets a bit too much to follow. However, it is consistent within the universe, which is no mean feat for such a vast canvas. The scale of the film is larger than anything any filmmaker has ever attempted. Some of the wide sequences are awe-inspiring.
{{/usCountry}}Oh God, the boredom!
And yet, it all feels hollow. I knew before I entered the theatre that Fire and Ash would follow a template to the letter. Both Avatar films preceding this one did so. The beats are predictable, the plot wafer-thin, and character development very simple. But nothing prepared me for how basic Fire and Ash would be. It seems like a replica of the other two films, with the same moments, same plotlines, and often the same lines of dialogue sprinkled throughout. If the goal was to evoke nostalgia, it is a strange effort, because Avatar is the most unmemorable blockbuster franchise in cinematic history. There is no significant pop culture impact to bank on, nor any nostalgia to tap into, or even to plant Easter eggs.
The basicness of Fire and Ash would be a red flag in itself, were it not accompanied by some of the worst writing in recent times, with cringeworthy dialogue that renders even the most supposedly heartwarming scenes into bland exchanges. With the focus more on the Sully kids this time around, there is a lot more of ‘Gen Z’ dialogue, at least the Pandora version of it. But the smattering of bro and dude without context makes it seem like the writers have never interacted with young adults or teens before. Jake Sully being reduced to a reluctant hero does him no good either, with his constant pleas of “I don’t want it” reminding one of season 8 Jon Snow.
The few high points
But there are moments that almost redeem the film. Redeem may be a bridge too far, but they at least save it from becoming a dumpster fire. The visual spectacle is enhanced by a couple of poignant moments, largely involving Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and her inner struggle between hatred for the humans and concern for her own children and family. In one particularly touching scene, the film strikes the right notes as Neytiri and Jake ponder whether being ‘bad’ may be what is necessary for them to survive. The other high points are reserved for Varang (Oona Chaplin) and Quaritch (Stephen Lang). The two get the best lines, the strongest beats, the most badass moments. Oona raises the bar with her delivery, giving a memorable villain despite the constraints of the script. And Stephen Lang makes Quaritch seem cool even though he is burdened with a lousy character arc.
Avatar was an effort to marry simple storytelling with world-class visuals, and give the audience the true joy of cinema. But it seems that Cameron has lost the plot now. In Fire and Ash, it feels as if he created a bunch of visuals and then stitched them together, hoping nobody would notice there was no coherent story, or at least nothing new to bind the plot. It’s still a great cinematic experience, but that is despite the best efforts of the maverick filmmaker. I already dread the next two parts!