Directed By James Cameron; Screenplay By James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, & Amanda Silver; Story By James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, & Shane Salerno; Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, and Kate Winslet.
Despite many doubting that people still even cared about James Cameron's Avatar over a decade after its initial release, the 2022 sequel, The Way of Water, really proved them wrong BIG TIME. It not only made over $2,000,000,000, but it's also currently the third highest-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office. Now, we’re here with the third installment, Fire and Ash. If it makes another $2,000,000,000, Cameron will officially be moving forward with two more sequels. Although imagine if they have ‘air’ and ‘earth’ in their respective titles…
A year after settling in with the Metkayina clan, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña)’s family grapple with grief following the death of their eldest son, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters). Yet they encounter a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe, the Mangkwan clan, also known as the Ash People, led by the fiery tribe leader, Varang (Oona Chaplin). She has allied with Jake’s enemy, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), as the conflict on Pandora escalates to devastating consequences.
If you’ve read my rave review for The Way of Water, you should know how much I’m a huge fan of this franchise. I’ve seen both movies on the big screen in 3D multiple times as they truly feel like one of the great wonders of the world. I even rewatched the previous film during its theatrical re-release two months ago in anticipation of this one. I myself got even more excited watching an exclusive sneak peek midway through the end credits. So how does Fire and Ash compare to the first two?
In the beginning, it does take a bit for things to get going. A key reason for that is because this one picks up right where The Way of Water left off. In fact, both that movie and this one were originally conceived as a singular installment. Yet since there were so many ideas, it was decided to split it into two parts. So if you haven’t seen the previous film, you’ll definitely feel lost watching this. Although if you have seen it and know it so well, you will appreciate all the pay offs we get here. Like for those unanswered questions The Way of Water left, Fire and Ash does resolve a good deal of them effectively.
I must say that the character work becomes much more enriching as this saga goes on. This movie may have a ton of them, but I felt they were all balanced out as best as possible. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña both continue to work great together as Jake and Neytiri. The latter of whom has more opportunities to be a badass here than she did last time. You really feel for them as they’re still mourning Neteyam's death and trying their best to protect their family. Speaking of which, the remaining children - Britain Dalton as Lo’ak, Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, and Jack Champion as Spider - truly have some of the most compelling arcs in this installment.
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch is still very much an antagonist. Although wait until you meet Varang. She’s so evil and terrifying that she literally makes Quartitch look like the Pope. Oona Chaplin absolutely crushes it in the role. I also appreciated how a few of the supporting characters from the first film who were mostly pushed aside in the second have a little more to do here. Specifically Joel David Moore as Jake’s ally, Dr. Norm Spellman, CCH Pounder as Neytiri’s mother, Mo’at, and Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation. Other characters introduced in The Way of Water also make an even bigger impression in this one. Most notably Edie Falco as Quartitch’s successor, General Ardmore, and Kate Winslet as Ronal, a free diver of the Metkayina.
Now onto what this franchise has become most known for, the visuals. No one can do big action spectacles quite like James Cameron. The VFX work by Wētā continues to be so mind blowingly amazing. Try to name another movie released these days with even better results. As always, there’s also such excellent sound work. For a film that’s over three hours long, the editing for the most part does keep things moving well. Although this installment does offer quite a bit of breathing room. Some more of the late James Horner’s theme music from the original are incorporated well here. As for the original compositions by Simon Franglen, at first they don’t make that grand of an impression, but they do grow stronger throughout.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is the most interesting installment of the franchise so far for various reasons. Thematically, it’s the darkest one yet like what The Empire Strikes Back was for Star Wars. Although from a quality standpoint, it’s more like Return of the Jedi. Mainly in how while it’s good overall, it’s still the weakest of the trilogy. Not to mention that some of the logic is starting to become far fetched. Then again, that shouldn’t matter too much for science fiction. There are callbacks to both of the first two films, but they do make sense for the plot. Nonetheless, this is still absolutely worth seeing on the biggest screen possible!
Rating: 4/5
Despite many doubting that people still even cared about James Cameron's Avatar over a decade after its initial release, the 2022 sequel, The Way of Water, really proved them wrong BIG TIME. It not only made over $2,000,000,000, but it's also currently the third highest-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office. Now, we’re here with the third installment, Fire and Ash. If it makes another $2,000,000,000, Cameron will officially be moving forward with two more sequels. Although imagine if they have ‘air’ and ‘earth’ in their respective titles…
A year after settling in with the Metkayina clan, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña)’s family grapple with grief following the death of their eldest son, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters). Yet they encounter a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe, the Mangkwan clan, also known as the Ash People, led by the fiery tribe leader, Varang (Oona Chaplin). She has allied with Jake’s enemy, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), as the conflict on Pandora escalates to devastating consequences.
If you’ve read my rave review for The Way of Water, you should know how much I’m a huge fan of this franchise. I’ve seen both movies on the big screen in 3D multiple times as they truly feel like one of the great wonders of the world. I even rewatched the previous film during its theatrical re-release two months ago in anticipation of this one. I myself got even more excited watching an exclusive sneak peek midway through the end credits. So how does Fire and Ash compare to the first two?
In the beginning, it does take a bit for things to get going. A key reason for that is because this one picks up right where The Way of Water left off. In fact, both that movie and this one were originally conceived as a singular installment. Yet since there were so many ideas, it was decided to split it into two parts. So if you haven’t seen the previous film, you’ll definitely feel lost watching this. Although if you have seen it and know it so well, you will appreciate all the pay offs we get here. Like for those unanswered questions The Way of Water left, Fire and Ash does resolve a good deal of them effectively.
I must say that the character work becomes much more enriching as this saga goes on. This movie may have a ton of them, but I felt they were all balanced out as best as possible. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña both continue to work great together as Jake and Neytiri. The latter of whom has more opportunities to be a badass here than she did last time. You really feel for them as they’re still mourning Neteyam's death and trying their best to protect their family. Speaking of which, the remaining children - Britain Dalton as Lo’ak, Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, and Jack Champion as Spider - truly have some of the most compelling arcs in this installment.
Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch is still very much an antagonist. Although wait until you meet Varang. She’s so evil and terrifying that she literally makes Quartitch look like the Pope. Oona Chaplin absolutely crushes it in the role. I also appreciated how a few of the supporting characters from the first film who were mostly pushed aside in the second have a little more to do here. Specifically Joel David Moore as Jake’s ally, Dr. Norm Spellman, CCH Pounder as Neytiri’s mother, Mo’at, and Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation. Other characters introduced in The Way of Water also make an even bigger impression in this one. Most notably Edie Falco as Quartitch’s successor, General Ardmore, and Kate Winslet as Ronal, a free diver of the Metkayina.
Now onto what this franchise has become most known for, the visuals. No one can do big action spectacles quite like James Cameron. The VFX work by Wētā continues to be so mind blowingly amazing. Try to name another movie released these days with even better results. As always, there’s also such excellent sound work. For a film that’s over three hours long, the editing for the most part does keep things moving well. Although this installment does offer quite a bit of breathing room. Some more of the late James Horner’s theme music from the original are incorporated well here. As for the original compositions by Simon Franglen, at first they don’t make that grand of an impression, but they do grow stronger throughout.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is the most interesting installment of the franchise so far for various reasons. Thematically, it’s the darkest one yet like what The Empire Strikes Back was for Star Wars. Although from a quality standpoint, it’s more like Return of the Jedi. Mainly in how while it’s good overall, it’s still the weakest of the trilogy. Not to mention that some of the logic is starting to become far fetched. Then again, that shouldn’t matter too much for science fiction. There are callbacks to both of the first two films, but they do make sense for the plot. Nonetheless, this is still absolutely worth seeing on the biggest screen possible!
Rating: 4/5