After over a decade of waiting, 2022 finally brought the much anticipated sequel to the highest grossing movie of all time with James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water. Luckily for the die-hard fans (assuming they exist), we didn't have to wait nearly as long this time. Just three years after our collective return to Pandora, we're back again with Avatar: Fire and Ash.
This latest chapter follows the Sully family as they continue their fight against humanity's attempts at colonizing Pandora. In trying to protect their human friend Spider (Jack Champion), the family is ambushed by a new threat, a savage Na'vi tribe called the Ash People. Their vicious way of life aligns quite well with Colonel Quarritch (Stephen Lang), giving our protagonists a dangerous new pair of foes.
These films will always be measured by their technical innovation, and that's one area I think this lacks a bit. The first film was groundbreaking when it came out, and the second film had over ten years of further technological development, allowing it to wow audiences all over again. Coming so soon after the second film, this naturally doesn't mark that same kind of step forward, but it's still deeply impressive. I may be in the minority here but I actually found the visual effects more immersive here than in The Way of Water, especially in how the human characters were integrated. The motion capture remains incredible, and the continued building of this world is stunning. One thing that surprised me was how well done the fight scenes are, as this new tribe brings a lot more close quarters combat that manages to feel wildly intense despite being almost entirely CGI.
The story is where it seems the most people are finding disappointment here and that's actually where I liked this one most. An argument can be made that the characters don't change much over the near three and a half hour runtime, but narratively I found that a lot more ground was covered than in The Way of Water even if some elements are retread a bit. Quarritch is the most interesting I think he's been, and the addition of the Ash People and their terrifying leader Varang (Oona Chaplin) gives us two great antagonists, an area I found the first two films deeply struggled. Where I do have issues with the narrative is with how often dumb luck comes into play, as countless scenes see our protagonists bailed out by seemingly magical circumstances.
Performance wise this continues the trend of very strong motion capture work. I do sometimes get a bit annoyed with Zoe Saldana's performance but there's no denying she does a great job, and I thought Sam Worthington did some of his best work. Stephen Lang's transition to a Na'vi character has somehow made him even cooler, but Chaplin as Varang is a very clear highlight here. I also really enjoyed Jack Champion despite not caring for him much in the first film.
This is definitely a hot take, but Fire and Ash is I think my favourite of the franchise. Giving this story not one but two great villains worked wonders in raising the stakes and I had a blast going on this long journey. 4/5
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