(This is a NON-spoiler review of the film)
Deja Blue
After seeing Avatar: The Way of Water three years ago, I was blown away through its spectacular use of special effects/CGI, elevation of the characters and story, and ability for pure escapism. In fact I went back and saw it three times during its initial theatrical run. I have been highly anticipating Avatar: Fire and Ash wondering where they would take the story and characters next and what the special effects could look like it a molten volcanic setting. In walking out of Fire and Ash, I couldn’t help but feel that I had seen it before just three years prior and was left with a weird feeling of deja vu. Avatar: Fire and Ash is certainly an impressive spectacle of computer generated effects and visuals and is downright entertaining, and yet it feels as if director James Cameron played things too safe in offering what feels like a recycling of previous plot beats instead of paving the way for yet another groundbreaking blockbuster.
Taking place shortly after the events of the second film, the Sully family is still reeling and grieving over the death of their son Netayam. The conflict on Pandora escalates as Jake and Neytiri’s family encounter a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe.
The ability to create a world and visual appearance that is completely imagined with computers and yet feels like its own live planet you could visit is a testament to the work and passion James Cameron puts into the Avatar films. Fire and Ash does have similar visuals to its predecessors featuring some new creatures and one or two new settings, but it is just stunning to see on a big screen with the 3D high frame rate. This looks and feels like a place you can visit and yet none of is actually real. James Cameron’s visual masterpiece boldly exclaims that this is what 2025 special effects should look like. Seeing this film makes anything that Marvel has done look like a 2 year old drawing. Although it isn’t breaking new ground like Way of Water did with the oceanic effects, it is still a marvel to look like.
The newest addition to the Avatar universe are the Ash people, a group that apostatizes the ways of Eywa and wants to see the planet in flames, whom are led by Varang, fiendishly by Oona Chaplin. They are a welcome and exciting addition to the lore of this world, and their rebellious mannerisms from the ways of Eywa is felt in their dialogue, fighting style, and interactions with other characters. You see them as more reckless, having little regard for life on Pandora and desiring to cultivate their own way. They are certainly the most interesting part of this film and yet the films doesn’t spend that much time with them overall. In a film called Fire and Ash, I was expecting more time with the Ash people and where they live in the volcanic centers and yet we only visit this setting for about 10 minutes of the film. Varang is a compelling villain in her own right, yet I didn’t feel like she got as much to do as she should have. Seeing her join forces with some of the human villains was intriguing but it doesn’t seem to really amount to much by the end of the film.
What the film is more centered around is Jack Champion’s Spider who is given a lot more to do in this film as the only human that is adopted in the Sully family. A key development for his character happens early on in the film which poses a great moral dilemma for the Sully family and the future of Pandora. This was yet another interesting angle the film went in that I appreciated, as we see the characters wrestle with Spider being human but also wanting to be a part of the Na’vi family and yet his own blood family is tied to one of the antagonists of the franchise in Quaritch. This development does become the heart and soul of the film and I appreciated one scene in particular that shows our characters grappling with the reality of what Spider means to them for better or for worse.
The first act of this film does attempt to do interesting things with the introduction of the aforementioned plot elements and posing an interesting team up between hero and villain. I was excited to see where this cooperation would lead and expand, but as soon as the first act ends this film retreads many of the same beats from The Way of Water. James Cameron is on record saying that Way of Water and Fire and Ash are connected film but it is curious to see just how much is rinsed and repeated from the previous film from visuals in the way creatures move within the water to straight up beat for beat plot elements. I was a huge fan of the big action sequence at the end of Way of Water, and Fire and Ash essentially does the exact same thing in the exact same location but just does it bigger and grander with more ships and more Na’vi involved. Add that to the fact that this film is over three hours long and it doesn’t exactly justify itself as something particularly new or novel this time around.
This would have been the time for James Cameron to do something bold from a character and plot standpoint to supplement the lack of novelty with the visuals and settings. I can forgive utilizing more of the water technology as he had to completely invent this new from scratch in the 13 year gap between the first and second film, but this would have been the time to do something new and dynamic with the characters. He does introduce the Ash people and a moral dilemma with Spider but it doesn’t do enough to keep this film feeling distinct and unique as the other two are. I still am invested in Jake, Netyiri, Kiri, Loak, Spider, and the water tribe they are in yet not much new evolution or change happens. You can see hints that this is supposed to be Loak’s coming of age story, but it seems to all happen off screen leaving the final result feeling a little hollow.
Even with all of this being said I did still end up liking the film but more of that is attributed to the fact that this is Way of Water Part 2, instead of being something game-changing and fresh in its own right. Even with the large sense of familiarity, there is no doubt that James Cameron is one of the few filmmakers that is committed to large screen blockbusters and pioneering an age of cinema that is worth talking about. Seeing this in theaters is definitely worth it for the effects and visuals alone, but if you are looking for something new and elevated from the previous two you won’t find it here. Seeing as that the next two films hinge on the fact that this one is successful, I do hope I get to see more. I just hope at that time we see something bold and distinct instead of familiar and redundant.
(B-) Familiar
Raj Reviews 