Avatar: Fire and Ash

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Avatar: Fire and Ash marks the third instalment in the Avatar series and serves as a direct sequel to Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). In this feature, the Sully family must once again face the threat of humanity, as well as Quaritch and a new enemy, Varang, and the Ash People.

I remember watching the first Avatar with my family in the cinema, 3D glasses on and looking up at that screen with awe. James Cameron had crafted a visual landscape that was entirely unlike anything done before. The story held a central protagonist in an alien world with a military antagonist; it wasn't perfect, but it did enough. Then 2022 came along, and we got The Way of Water, a film that also significantly raised the bar visually but entirely dropped the ball narratively. That feature expanded the world of Pandora, but didn't do anything very different with the central character's story. My biggest surprise with Fire and Ash is that the narrative finally finds some focus. This is a film that has a few moving pieces, but it knows exactly the story it wishes to tell. The Sully family is still on the run from the Sky People (humans) and is also grieving Neteyam at the same time. Yet, there is a new threat - the Ash People led by Varang. This is a group of Na'vi who have chosen to reject Eywa and instead use more ritualistic 'magicks' linked to destruction and fire. Quaritch becomes entangled in this struggle, and within this conflict, Spider gains the ability to breathe the air of Pandora, making him significantly more valuable to humankind. The rest of the film becomes quite interesting, with a central struggle around Spider and how desired he is by the Sky People and whether that means the Sullys should kill him to protect the Na'vi. We also watch as Quaritch introduces advanced military technology to Varang's people, while becoming enthralled himself. There's an interesting commentary here around colonialism and the manipulation of native people by the colonising force, which I found quite interesting to see play out in a blockbuster feature. Watching Varang become coerced into aiding Quaritch due to the destructive power he had to offer became a dark reflection of moments that have happened throughout centuries, as Quaritch guides a Na'vi tribe to work against the rest of the Na'vi people. I also found the whale-like creatures being attacked to be a much tighter story this time, and alarmingly more visceral too. All of these weaving threads culminated well in what can only be described as a climactic war-like battle. That final act battle was a conflict that had been extremely well built towards and a very worthy conflict to end the film on. This movie is over three hours long, but I was surprised by how well the entire package held my attention.

The strongest component of the Avatar films has always been how stunning they are visually, and Fire and Ash is no exception. The camera work is fluid and often in motion alongside entirely CGI characters and through CGI environments. Yet, despite the visual artifice all around, it looks immersive and real. The visual effects are some of the highest quality to grace screens this year. Many frames are pure art in their design from beginning to end.

Sigourney Weaver, who played Kiri, is quite a curious and spiritual character brimming with mystery; I like how Weaver brings forth a younger character who is trying to understand her own identity. Stephen Lang, who played Quaritch, gets his teeth back a bit in this film; Lang starts holding a few more cards and playing the game, showing what made him such a good antagonist in the first film. Oona Chaplin, who played Varang, has a lot of this film built around her character and for good reason; Chaplin crafts an antagonist who is always sinister and often cruel. Kate Winslet, who played Ronal, has a little less to do this time around, but has such great onscreen chemistry with Saldaña; these two actresses challenge one another, and it is interesting to see how their characters grow as a result. Brendan Cowell, who played Scoresby, is a surprisingly engaging antagonist in this sequel; Cowell's character is really callous and out for blood. Jemaine Clement, who played Dr. Garvin, is a fun addition to this cast; Clement's little act of rebellion is quite a fine small moment of heroism in this film. Giovanni Ribisi, who played Selfridge, is a decent minor antagonist to have back; his self-entitled grandstanding never misses. Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, who played Tuk, is easily one of the most likable young performances; I liked watching Bliss act out and make Tuk a bit more daring this time out. 

However, the best performance came from Zoe Saldaña, who played Neytiri. This is a performer who I think best understands what Cameron wants to achieve with these films. Saldaña is so immersed in Neytiri that she understands the character on a rather deep level. At the beginning of Fire and Ash, Neytiri is grief-stricken over her son's death; she is angry and lashes out at others. Across the film, she also faces tremendous physical hardship, and we have to watch her struggle with healing, too. Neytiri is an interesting character; she's probably the toughest fighter in these films and will do anything to protect her family. I like the conflict that she carries with Champion's character, Spider. Watching her try to ostracise him from the family before later realising her error is quite a journey of growth for Neytiri. There's also some brilliant character work between Saldaña and Winslet around what their roles face as mothers. The birth scene that takes place during the final conflict is quite an intense moment, played extremely well by both parties. I think Saldaña really is a major component of Avatar, and these films just don't work without Neytiri.

I think the largest glaring problem this movie has is how absolutely foul the dialogue is. The script for this film is riddled with some of the worst lines I have ever heard. Listening to a group of blue cat aliens bicker and argue using the language a 2025 American household family would use is jarring and lazy writing. This is an issue throughout the feature, and I think these movies don't get taken as seriously because the characters never really have too much to say. More than this, there are a few narrative beats across the feature that feel tired. Repetition is a tough concept to sell your audience on when the film is this long; staying original and inventive needed to be a priority.

The score for the film probably should have impressed me; it is meant to be this grandiose piece interwoven with choral numbers. However, I felt pretty bored by the music in the film and didn't really think anything new was achieved in this space. I also felt the ending bleeding into the awful credits song by Miley Cyrus took a decent bit of weight out of the ending.

Sam Worthington, who played Jake, has never been much of a leading performer in Hollywood; it is almost a shame that the Avatar franchise is stuck with such a weak leading performer. Cliff Curtis, who played Tonowari, is pretty listless as the most dull Na'vi of the film; Curtis has no deeper emotion to give and struggles to make an impact. Joel David Moore and Dileep Rao, who played Norm and Max Patel respectively, feel like unneeded holdovers at this point; the science exposition duo are really just here to continue to dump info on the audience. Edie Falco, who played General Ardmore, has to be one of the performers who struggles the most in these films; Falco's bland and dispassionate line delivery completely undercuts the gravitas of her character. Britain Dalton, who played Lo'ak, is quite similar to Worthington in that he is positioned as a major leading performer but struggles with the responsibility; Dalton just doesn't have the range to make his character interesting. Jack Champion, who played Spider, is one of the most annoying characters of the past two films; Champion is a goofball and seems directionless in his character work. Jamie Flatters, who played Neteyam, is rather unimpressionable as a performer, so it was dull watching him come back; Flatters had no extra emotional edge to lend this film. Bailey Bass, who played Tsireya, is quite underwhelming as Dalton's love interest; her character is never really offered the opportunity to show substance. Filip Geljo and Duane Evans Jr., who played Aonung and Rotxo respectively, are essentially window dressing in this film; even Evans' big final scene left no real impact on the story.

Mix an advance with the visuals to a closer return to narrative form, and this might be my favourite Avatar film yet. I would give Avatar: Fire and Ash a 7.5/10.