Avatar: Fire and Ash
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin
Directed by James Cameron
Not long after Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his new clan defended the water nation of the Metkayina - and losing his son in the process - the family is still dealing with their grief. Jake tries to hide his feelings; his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) has grown a hatred for humans; their other son Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) struggles with feeling responsible; Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is dealing with her own heritage.
One day while traveling, Jake and his crew are attacked by a rival Na'vi tribe led by the villainous Varang (Oona Chaplin), and discovers Jake and his nation using modern weapons and doesn't understand them. Jake is also hunted by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), and decides to join with Varang to finally capture his quarry, as well as show her tribe how to use the weapons they're intrigued about. When Kiri saves Spider's (Jake Champion) life and making it possible for him to breathe in Pandora, Jake worries that humanity will try to replicate it and destroy Pandora like they did Earth.
When it comes to spectacle movies, James Cameron takes the cake with his inventive "Avatar" movies, but ultimately they're window dressing - all style, no substance. The first "Avatar" was essentially "Dances with Wolves" in space, and "The Way of Water" was "The Abyss" and "The Terminator" - also in space. "Fire and Ash," however, is essentially "The Way of Water" but with fire. In fact, the script was pretty much the same and the final battle felt like watching "The Way of Water" all over again. For a three hour and fifteen minute movie, there's no new land that's tread, and apart from a fascinating new villain, tells absolutely nothing but spins its wheels.
I've never been a huge fan of the "Avatar" films, as I've seen them all once with no plans to ever see them again, but from what I saw I was still amazed at the visuals, which is this movie's only selling point. Cameron utilized unique cameras and filming techniques to make understandably a unique cinematic experience, which only masks the bland story behind it.
That story is something pretty much copied-and-pasted from "The Way of Water" - Jake is hunted by Quaritch which is by now an elongated "Tom & Jerry" sketch, but this time Quaritch recruits a villainous Na'vi tribe to help him. His son Spider gains the ability to breathe, and Jake worries this will cause humans to invade and take over the planet from Na'vi (which, of course, is the film's final action set piece). Kiri wonders about her parentage, and there's some discussions about their god (known as Eywa) intervening or not depending on who you ask.
All of this could've been told in, at most, 2 hours and 40 minutes. Yet Cameron, always up for tooting his own horn, had to make it one of the longest movies in years with an exhausting 3 hours and 15 minutes. While he could've explored more themes, he instead recycles old ones, and has characters travel in circles (both in distance and dialogue) to the point of exhaustion.
I've now seen three of these movies and really don't know any character names. I still refer to most of them by the actors portraying them. Sam Worthington is Jake, always the leader and nothing else. Zoe Saldana is...his wife, who is angry all the time, and Jake tells her not to be angry, only for later on using anger to gain victory against the enemy. Stephen Lang is Quaritch, who has a death boner for Jake and will pretty much stop at nothing - including painting a black circle in a mountain with hopes Jake will "beep beep" through it - to capture him. Sigourney Weaver continues to confuse as Kiri, a young Na'vi girl who has close ties to Eywa when it's convenient, and not when it's not. Jake Champion gets more screen time as Spider, and we're left knowing why he didn't have a bigger role in the last film.
The new addition of Oona Chaplin (the granddaughter of the great Charlie Chaplin) as Varang, the leader of the fire-dwelling Mangkwan clan, is a breath of fresh air. Her appearance is sinister, she's a cold-hearted cult-like leader, and has no redeeming qualities about her. She's the perfect villain...unfortunately, after her literal explosive arrival, she's reduced to Quaritch's second fiddle and almost disappears entirely through most of the movie. A waste of talent if there ever was one.
Again, you don't go into "Avatar" movies expecting something thought-provoking, but worship the visual style on screen. To that end, you get what you pay for and more - but if you're expecting anything hard-hitting, it's best to spend 3 hours and 15 minutes elsewhere. Though it sounds like I'm overly critical, I was still entertained by the movie - even if it just rehashes old ones and goes in circles.
The Score: A+
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