Avatar: Fire and Ash Review - Visual splendor weighed down by a recycled storyline

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“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” - Carl Sagan

It is estimated that the third Avatar movie, of a planned five film saga, cost 400 million USD. It is one of the most expensive movies ever made. Was it worth the money? Let’s discuss.

It was thirteen years between Avatar and The Way of Water. When it was finally time to return to Pandora there was a palpable excitement to once again experience the visual splendor of the world created by visionary writer/director James Cameron. Many saw the time lapse as a possible hindrance on the success of the sequel. Would people still care? I always saw it as a benefit allowing for a build up of expectation and excitement. But now the time between movies is much shorter so what does Fire and Ash bring to the table that should excite anyone? 

Since a trailer is roughly two to three minutes long, it needs to be a highlight reel of sorts showing off what makes a movie worth the price of admission. It’s usually a lot of flash imagery. If it’s a drama it might show scenes of heightened emotion, a crying scene or a promise of catharsis despite the heartbreak. Blockbusters I think benefit the most from trailers because so much of the content is a visual journey. Explosions, gunfire, hand-to-hand combat, fast cars and all this combined with aggressive sound effects not only demonstrates the kind of story it’s trying to tell but what you can hope to see should you decide to give it a chance. 

A movie like Avatar is a perfect example that benefits greatly from a trailer. A few buzz words here and there, some stoic character shots and flash images of battle from the air, in the ocean and beyond all building to a title reveal with epic, swelling music. It practically demands your attention. But what about everything beyond the visuals? What does Fire and Ash promise in terms of family dynamics? Does it address the violent nature of mankind and our invasive tendencies? Will the tragedies of the past, distant and recent, play an important role in the coming events? And perhaps most importantly – what does Fire and Ash, the third film, do differently to justify another trip to the cineplex? What makes it stand out among the others?

I was fortunate enough to see Fire and Ash on December 1st in a Dolby Theatre with no more than thirty other people in the room. It was in 3D with that coveted Dolby Surround Sound and spacious, supple seating all working in tandem to bring a breathtaking, visual odyssey of extraordinary imagination and cutting edge technological advancements in cinematic storytelling. Visually and audibly, Fire and Ash is incredible. If event films like this are meant to be truly experienced in every sense, there is no other option than the biggest screen available to you. 

The photorealism has only improved from film to film and there is an undeniable visceral quality to the Avatar movies. As glossy and grandiose as these stories are, there is an unquestionable grit to them writhing around in the dirt and hot ash almost as if you can feel the grain in your teeth. The performances of the actors are captured with awe-inspiring detail showcasing unprecedented nuance and small emotional ticks just as well as it shows off massive action sets and sequences that will leave your jaw on the floor. It’s all so undeniable in its beauty and spectacular scope that is all well beyond just acting as eye candy, but as a visual and auditory feast that needs to be consumed at least once. For three hours, you will feel transported to another world just as Cameron intended. 

Fire and Ash finds the Sully family, still with the Metkayina Clan, reeling from the loss of their son and brother, Neteyam. It has created a palpable chasm among them, especially between Jake and Neytiri. But war waits for no one to be ready. And this time Colonel Quaritch has an ace up his sleeve, the Ash People. A clan led by the villainous Varang, they are a people who loathe Eywa and aim to destroy any clan that goes against them. They are, like their namesake suggests, a force of fire, destructive and a bringer of suffering. The war for Pandora continues and things are escalating. Many have died, many more will follow. 

It has all the makings of a masterpiece with one glaring problem; the story. The Way of Water saw the Sully family having to relocate in hopes of saving their tribe from death and suffering at the hands of the humans, led by the psychotic Colonel Quaritch. It felt different from the original and provided new story elements, most prominently the underwater sequences giving us an entirely new world within Pandora that we had never seen before. There is a freshness to it that not only justified its existence, but all three plus hours of it. 

Fire and Ash is almost beat for beat the same exact story as The Way of Water. With the exception of the newly introduced Mangkwan Clan, also known as the Ash People, Fire and Ash is a repetitive retread of so much of what we saw in The Way of Water. The story progression, the order of the action sequences as well as what each sequence entails all feels either similar or as identical to the previous movie without being an exact copy of its predecessor. If it wasn’t for the visuals, this would be a slog of a movie. When it comes to the story, its best moments feature the new character Varang, leader of the Ash People. She is serpent-like, conniving and insidious. She has an aura about her that feels sinister and dangerous. She is a genuinely fascinating villain. Oona Chaplin as Varang is Machiavellian. Unfortunately, for reasons I don’t fully understand, she eventually becomes what feels like a glorified secondary character popping up from time to time. She is forced into the shadow of the Colonel who is far less interesting. Stephan Lang is naturally charismatic so his character still has his moments but the Colonel is, in a lot of ways, one note. 

For three plus hours of my time, it does enough in a visual sense that I wasn’t terribly bored. The story however takes the potential, of which Fire and Ash has oodles, and drags it down to its level, one of mediocrity and recycled story beats. This should have been the talk of tinsel town but instead has been relegated to a forgettable storyline with exceptional visual opulence. 

As far as blockbusters go, you could do worse. If you’re looking for an emotional pull, look elsewhere I think. Maybe Spongebob, inexplicably coming to theaters on the same exact day as Avatar, will provide a more genuine emotional resonance than Fire and Ash. And let me clarify, the story isn’t what I would call terrible, just recycled. Been there, done that. Hopefully the fourth installment will provide a much needed jolt of originality along with the glorious visuals. For $400 million a pop, I certainly hope so.

Rated PG-13 For: intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images, some strong language, thematic elements and suggestive material

Runtime: 195 minutes

After Credits Scene: No

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin 

Directed By: James Cameron

Out of 10

Story: 6/ Acting: 8/ Directing: 9/ Visuals: 10

OVERALL: 7/10

Buy to Own: Yes

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Check out the trailer below: