Avatar: Fire and Ash Review

Three years ago, I sat down to ticker Avatar: The Way of Water with 1 large question connected my mind: Could James Cameron present a sequel to his 2009 blockbuster that’s worthy a thirteen-year wait? Three hours and 12 minutes later, it was abundantly wide that yup, dude’s inactive got it.

Earlier this month, erstwhile I sat down to ticker Avatar: Fire and Ash, I had a batch much questions. A mates were astir escaped ends from the erstwhile film, but my much pressing queries were astir the movie itself. Would a caller Avatar movie aft conscionable 3 years battalion arsenic overmuch of a punch arsenic 1 that benefited from a mediate schooler’s beingness of anticipation? Also, Cameron’s made immoderate of the champion sequels of each time, but what does a James Cameron threequel look like? Well, 3 hours and seventeen minutes later, I didn’t person quite arsenic definitive an reply to either of those questions… but I did person 1 immense grin connected my face.

Avatar: Fire and Ash picks up instantly aft the events of The Way of Water. Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the remainder of the Sully household are mourning the nonaccomplishment of their eldest son, Neteyam (played by Jamie Flatters successful The Way of Water). They’ve yet been accepted into the Metkayina clan, but speech from the looming menace of retaliation from the RDA, determination are a mates factors preventing them from decently settling down. For one, Jake’s favourite signifier of grieving involves preparing for warfare with the humans, an involvement the Metkayina clan doesn’t share. Two, they person a kid who can’t breathe. Their adopted son, Spider (Jack Champion), inactive needs a rebreather to past successful Pandora’s atmosphere, and they lone person 1 backup artillery – which, to enactment it lightly, is stupidly risky. So, Jake makes the unpopular telephone that Spider should spell unrecorded with different humans, and to soften the blow, proposes that they marque a household abrogation retired of it by hitching a thrust with the nomadic airborne Tlalim clan, aka the Wind Traders.

Aside from each the grieving, Fire and Ash looks and feels precise akin to The Way of Water successful the aboriginal portion of the film. While that’s by nary means a atrocious thing, it’s initially lacking successful the spectacle, novelty, oregon for deficiency of a amended word, “newness” I was hoping for from different Avatar. However, that rapidly changes with the accomplishment of the Wind Traders. The Avatar movies person ever been a ocular feast, but an armada of vessels suspended from tremendous flying jellyfish-like Medusoids pulled by cephalopodian Windrays virtually and figuratively blows the much acquainted imagery retired of the water, particularly successful 3D connected a immense screen.

Cameron has ever had a flair for large-scale spectacle, but I was arsenic impressed with the shots of the Wind Traders hocking their wares. In presumption of communicative oregon action, thing peculiarly breathtaking takes spot successful these shots, but they’re truthful densely packed with detail, activity, and stuff that I sat guardant successful my seat. If you’re not arsenic impressed by baskets and gourds astatine a Na’vi swap conscionable arsenic I am, don’t worry, the Fire Nation shows up soon enough.

They are the Mangkwan clan – a ruthless and rather virtually godless radical of Na’vi led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), who is 1 of the highlights of the film. Chaplin’s show is decently terrifying, and her full unit looks and acts much similar denizens of Mordor than Pandora. Varang has nary qualms astir breaking Eywa’s laws, and is highly anxious to get her hands connected quality weapons. And you cognize who has entree to a batch of those, and a akin penchant for torching Na’vi villages? Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Naturally, they deed it disconnected similar gasoline and an unfastened flame.

When Quaritch showed up successful the archetypal film, I didn’t deliberation helium was thing to constitute location about. Lang gave a decent capable show arsenic an highly hateable badass, but erstwhile it was announced that helium was attached for each 4 sequels, it didn’t determination the needle for me. His show successful Fire and Ash, however, has elevated him to 1 of my favourite villains successful caller memory, particularly successful his scenes with Chaplin. The 2 of them don’t chew scenery – they devour it similar a five-course meal.

Another quality who unexpectedly grew connected maine was Spider, which is good, due to the fact that he’s fundamentally the linchpin of the full film. In The Way of Water, he’s introduced arsenic the annoying vicinity kid who’s ever hanging around, determination betwixt The Simpsons’ Milhouse Van Houten and Eli Cash successful The Royal Tenenbaums. In Fire and Ash, Spider is portion of the family, and I recovered Champion’s show to beryllium afloat endearing, resembling the operation of earnestness and obnoxiousness that Cameron brought retired of Edward Furlong’s John Conner successful Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Speaking of which, Cameron has fixed america immoderate of the astir badass moms successful movie history. Neytiri decidedly kicks immoderate ass successful The Way of Water, but it pales successful examination to 1 peculiarly explosive series that puts her close up determination with Ellen Ripley successful a Power Loader oregon Sarah Connor racking a shotgun one-handed. Zoe Saldaña has ever been a item of these films, but she’s successful apical signifier here.

My 1 hangup astir Fire and Ash, if you tin adjacent telephone it that, is that it gave maine a consciousness of déjà vu. Some of the visuals and communicative beats tread precise adjacent to those successful the erstwhile films, to the constituent that it astir felt similar deleted scenes oregon alternate takes intercut with caller material. But, looking astatine Cameron’s past work, it’s harmless to presume this is simply a diagnostic and not a bug. George Lucas erstwhile described the Star Wars prequel trilogy’s narration to the archetypal by saying, “it’s similar poetry, they rhyme.” I would reason that Cameron’s sequels person a inclination to amplify and echo; alternatively than taking a acquainted concept, theme, oregon ocular and presenting it arsenic a flipped reflector image, his sequels instrumentality thing we cognize and contiguous a grander, much operatic version. “Once more, with feeling,” arsenic the saying goes. Fire and Ash is the archetypal “Part 3” he’s ever done, truthful I wasn’t definite however it’d shingle out. Does it get louder? Does it rhyme? Does it bash thing wholly different?

Watching The Terminator and Terminator 2 backmost to back, they some unfastened connected tandem clip travelers, escalate into shootouts and motortruck chases, past culminate successful mill showdowns. Alien and Aliens some diagnostic a unit investigating a distress awesome connected LV-426, taking immoderate casualties, and misreading a question tracker with terrifying results earlier featuring a tense last series successful which a flamethrower-toting Ripley rescues a loved 1 earlier blowing a xenomorph stowaway retired of an airlock. In some cases, these similarities are obscured by amended effects, unthinkable enactment sequences, large characters, and the delightful twist that dissimilar successful the archetypal film, wherever a scary android quality tries to execution the heroine, this clip the android is her person instead.

The Way of Water didn’t subvert Avatar arsenic overmuch arsenic it did submerge it. Jake’s grooming series and rite of transition to articulation the Omatikaya clan successful the archetypal movie happened each implicit again, underwater with the Metkayina. But The Way of Water does person its stock of small twists too, In the archetypal film, Jake earned the Omatikaya’s respect by bonding with the vicious slayer pterodactyl everyone fears and respects; successful the second, Jake’s lad is shunned erstwhile helium bonds with a immense murderer whale that they each fearfulness and hatred due to the fact that of analyzable politics, like, 1 time. In some cases, the large chill carnal shows up successful the last conflict and saves the day.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2025 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

A batch of The Way of Water was spent establishing caller characters, relationships, stakes, and rules, but successful Fire and Ash, the groundwork has been laid, truthful everything hits the crushed running. Cameron does plentifulness of his trademark super-sizing of existing ideas, but the caller movie “rhymes” arsenic well. For instance, Quaritch's narration with Varang is similar a twisted reimagining of however Jake and Neytiri started out, and arsenic overmuch of a thrill arsenic it is to spot each the ocular spectacle and enactment sequences, it’s conscionable arsenic chill seeing the Quaritch/Varang dynamic juxtaposed with Jake and Neytiri, who are agelong past the honeymoon phase.

When watching Fire and Ash, it was hard not to comparison it to 3rd installments successful different notable sci-fi and phantasy movie franchises, and it kept reminding maine of a mates all-timers. As a nonstop continuation of The Way of Water, it’s reminiscent of The Return of the King’s escalation successful the aftermath of The Two Towers. That’s not to accidental Fire and Ash has aggregate mendacious endings, but alternatively that it’s got immoderate genuinely epic conflict scenes and capable crippled threads going connected astatine erstwhile to support it from dragging, but not truthful galore that it’s hard to way who’s doing what.

(L-R) Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington and Director James Cameron connected the acceptable of 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH. Photo by Mark Fellman. © 2024 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Cameron besides has immoderate fantastic caller toys to play with courtesy of the service of artists astatine WETA, and helium gets plentifulness of mileage retired of those, but for a fewer scenes helium besides drags retired a mates immense Tupperware tubs afloat of enactment figures, vehicles, and playsets made for the archetypal 2 films and dumps their contents into the mix. In that sense, Fire and Ash’s large last conflict reminded maine of however Return of the Jedi’s Battle of Endor is similar a souped-up rotation connected A New Hope’s expansive finale. Yes, it has immoderate acquainted elements, but the sheer measurement of different worldly flying astir the surface makes that consciousness similar a anserine happening to get hung up on.

With the objection of agleam orangish explosions and the occasional vat of yellowish molten steel, Cameron’s earlier films marque specified dense usage of the colour bluish that it’s astir a moving joke. Fire and Ash, contempt its two-tone namesake, refreshingly makes usage of the afloat disposable spectrum to large effect. There are a fewer psychedelic scenes that propulsion the boundaries, but ironically, seeing 3D CGI renditions of the effects of hallucinogens is someway little hallucinogenic than the remainder of the film.

Enough has been said astir however overmuch Avatar films request to beryllium seen successful theaters, but if you’ll let maine to bushed a dormant direhorse for a moment, it’s existent – especially successful 3D. As was the lawsuit with The Way of Water, immoderate scenes are successful a higher framework complaint than others, and the modulation tin beryllium occasionally jarring, but that’s a insignificant nitpick considering however genuinely awesome everything other looks.