Avatar showed how amazing CGI could be in 2009, and then further illustrated the leap in technology with Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022, especially with how realistic everything looked, particularly the water technology. While the franchise isn’t well known for its plot or characters, the world itself has always been very intriguing. Now we have the third entry in the franchise with Avatar: Fire and Ash. Does it continue to deliver something magical, or is it finally running its course?
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: yes, this film is still a visual spectacle. There are so many incredible shots and downright beautiful CGI moments that it’s easy to get completely immersed in the world. It also continues to deliver fantastic and exciting action set pieces. Despite the massive runtime of three hours and fifteen minutes, the film is actually very well paced. Slower moments never drag on too long, and the action scenes are spaced out effectively throughout the film. Simon Franglen returns to compose the score after taking over from James Horner, who sadly passed away, for The Way of Water. His score in the previous film was very serviceable in my opinion, but he does a noticeably better job in this entry.
All of that was expected, though. In terms of new elements, the story places Spider at its emotional center this time. He continues to struggle with how different he is from the Na’vi people and with being accepted by them. His relationship with Jake’s family is a major focus and leads to some of the film’s more emotional and heartwarming moments. The movie also introduces a new Na’vi tribe, the Ash People, who serve as antagonists. I really like their design and how savage they are compared to the tribes we’ve seen before. Oona Chaplin does a great job portraying the sadistic and slightly unhinged nature of the Ash People’s leader.
However, despite the title Fire and Ash, the Ash People don’t really play a major role in the overall plot. Their presence mostly feels like an excuse to introduce a new type of enemy for our heroes to kill, and not much more. The humans, and returning villain Colonel Miles Quaritch, remain the primary antagonists and continue doing the same evil things as before. The plot also repeats far too many narrative beats from the previous films, to an almost bizarre degree. Once again, we get the kids going off on their own, another coming-of-age storyline for the son, Sigourney Weaver’s character having a mysterious special gift, and Jake needing to unite everyone for a final battle. This becomes especially noticeable in the final act, where the climactic fight feels like a near complete rehash of The Way of Water’s finale, even hitting many of the same beat-for-beat moments. My final gripe is a bit nitpicky, but there just isn’t anything truly special or revolutionary about Fire and Ash. We’ve seen these visuals before, and there isn’t much that feels genuinely new this time around.
Overall, by this point, you probably already know whether you enjoy these films or not. I still think it’s a fun experience, especially in 3D. In an era of modern cinema plagued by awful CGI, it’s genuinely refreshing to see a film where the visuals and CG are consistently gorgeous. While the story and writing have always been weak points for the franchise, this entry is particularly disappointing in how heavily it recycles previous plot beats instead of trying something new. I hope that the inevitable Avatar 4 and 5 at least take more risks with the writing.
Comments
Post a Comment