‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is Stunning and Familiar
Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash | Credit: 20th Century Studios
Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their children are once again forced to band together in order to fight off a familiar foe, while grappling with some new dangers.
The strength of the Avatar films has always been the visuals. These are absolutely stunning films that deserve to be seen on the biggest screen possible. The technical skill that went into building this world should be celebrated and appreciated—it’s impressive what James Cameron and the entire team have been able to accomplish now for a third time in a row.
Early on in the film, we are introduced to some new people: the Wind Traders, and I was blown away. This was an example of what these films do so well, introducing another part of this world that looks visually distinct from everything we’ve seen thus far. Honestly, I just wanted to go off with the Wind Traders and explore the rest of what exists on Pandora. I loved this moment because it’s a reminder that there’s so much more to this world than just what we’ve seen.
Unfortunately, this film doesn’t explore those new places or those new lands very much. We don’t get to see what these other populations living in Pandora are like, except for the Ash People, who I would’ve happily spent far more time with. Instead of venturing out to see these new people and grapple with new problems or experience new situations, this film falls back on what we’ve already seen before.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is a fun spectacle to watch, but it left me frustrated in the end. There’s so much creativity on display in the film, but that doesn’t seem to expand to the story or the script. And really interesting things are teed up, but never followed through on. Maybe some of these themes or plot points will show up in a later entry into the franchise, but it’s frustrating that this incredible franchise can’t seem to break out of the rehash of the same story over and over again.
Zoe Saldaña in Avatar: Fire and Ash | Credit: 20th Century Studios
The Ash People are a welcome addition to the world of the Na’vi. Varang (Oona Chaplin) is the standout of this film. She is fierce, powerful, and absolutely unhinged, bringing something new and interesting to this film. She also provides a great contrast to the other female leaders that we’ve already met in the film, like Neytiri and Ronal (Kate Winslet).
This new tribe sees the world very differently from these other groups that we’ve spent time with, and I wish we spent more time with them. It would be nice if the characters in this people group were more fully developed instead of just being caricatures. The Ash People seem to have different customs, rituals, and beliefs than we’ve seen before. There’s a whole backstory for this people group and how they survive in the harsh conditions of their land that we don’t get to learn much about. And I wanted to know more. Plus, Varang is so dynamic that I wish she had more time with her. While she does some great things in the film, she takes a back seat by the third act, and the film once again falls into familiar patterns.
One of the greatest strengths of this Avatar franchise is the incredible world that has been created. I’m baffled that this film fails to capitalize on that as much as it could have. If we do get additional entries into the franchise, I hope James Cameron and the rest of the writers will break away from this same pattern and venture into something new.
We’ve seen the Na’vi fighting against the military industrial complex for three movies—can we get something new? Something else?
There’s so much to explore in this world, so many aspects of the way that humanity is destroying the earth, and so much to the grief that we experience—hopefully the story can delve into some of these topics more deeply or in a different way going forward.
The Avatar franchise is known for stunning visuals, and James Cameron has used these films to push the medium of film forward. I would love to see the story be equally impressive.