The Avatar franchise is very interesting to me. The first film broke box office records and sits at the very top of the highest grossing films of all time. An incredibly impressive visual effects show fest which was a huge film for IMAX and 3D. 13 years later when they released the sequel, it was a gamble if the audience cared about this series of film enough to turn up, even after a global pandemic. And the numbers didn’t disappoint. Avatar: The Way of Water went on to take it’s place as the 3rd highest grossing film of all time. This franchise is onto a winner, but just 3 years on does it still pack a punch for audiences, is there enough excitement for the third installment?
Avatar: Fire and Ash picks up just after the events of The Way of Water. The Sully family are trying process the grief of losing one of their sons, when they are confronted by a Na’vi tribe known as the Ash people, led by the powerful, Varang, who finds a new alliance with the humans. Meanwhile, after an accident and on the run from Varang, Spider learns he gains the ability to breathe on Pandora without an oxygen mask.
When you watch a film in the cinema, it often feels like it’s much longer than it is. When you’re invested in a story, you’re focused on every word and every detail in a film, trying to process what’s going to happen and wondering what’s going to happen next, which is why when you watch a film a second time, it doesn’t feel as long. So when you go into a film you know is just over 3 and a quarter hours long, you’re almost naturally prepared for it to feel longer. What I found bizarre about this film particularly is that it flew by, which you’d normally associate with being a good thing, but in this instance, I don’t think it is, reason being, if you’ve watched The Way of Water, you’ve seen this film already.
There’s a couple of really interesting ideas in this film. The same way The Way of Water introduced the water Na’vi, the fire Na’vi get introduced in this film, and instead of what they did last time with the water Na’vi just being same as the original Na’vi we were introduced to in the first one, the fire Na’vi, in particular their leader Varang, are much interesting, having ulterior motives, and not having the same beliefs as any other Na’vi we had met. Unfortunately, the film decides to give them a supporting role, with the humans still being the main villains of the film. I truly think the film would’ve had a major step up if it not only focused more on the Ash Na’vi but shifted them to be a major player on this planet and a true threat to Jake and his family, rather than recycling the same villain with now had for 3 films in a row, with no deviation at all from how the characters were in the last film.
Na’vi clone, Quaritch continues on his one man mission to down Jake Sully, in doing so he does team up with Varang. This is probably my favourite dynamic of the film, and I almost wish we had just had the film from their point of views, rather than Jake’s. Quaritch teaming up with Varang really allows there to be some good moments of him further adjusting to the Na’vi way, but it never delves as fully into that side as you want.
Human Quaritch’s son, Spider gets a lot of play in this film, being at the centre of the story as the humans try to capture him in order to learn how he’s managed to adapt to be able to survive without an oxygen mask. I think Jack Champion does a much better job in this film than the last, with a lot more screen time the character becomes a lot more likable. However, with 2 films, in theory, left in this story, it’s interesting to see how much more of a play he would get in the next installments as he has such a big role in this one.
Visually, these films continue the best in what visual effects can offer, every single frame delivers a feast for your eyes. At a time when short cuts are constantly looked for the fact these films are able to stand so head and shoulders clear everything else that comes out is such a testament that studios should absolutely put in the time to make the effects as good as possible, especially VFX heavy blockbusters like Marvel movies which have taken stick in particular for having wonky visuals.
Overall, Avatar: Fire and Ash is the weakest of the 3 Avatar films so far by failing to bring us anything significantly new, and the new areas aren’t given enough to have as much of an impact as they deserve. It still has enough to make it an enjoyable film, but with such a high bar it feels like a let down. I’m sure it will still pick up a few Oscar nominations for the technical crafts, and has a long run at the box office ahead of it, so can continue to dominate the box office at the bare minimum til the likes of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple comes out.
What did you think of Avatar: Fire and Ash?
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