‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ review: How could a movie be so good, yet so disappointing?

With the first two films in the Avatar franchise, Cameron introduced a glorious new world of sci-fi that I loved getting lost in. I enjoyed all the new episodes of Pandoran flora and fauna the films presented. Bioluminescent trees? It’s surprising. Floating mountains? Sign me up. Benevolent space whales? I think I’m in love.

These amazing creatures lived with cutting edge technology, many of them, just like them Avatar: The Path of WaterCapturing underwater motion, completely new. That’s a lot of “new” to go around.

So why? Image: Fire and Ashesthe third film in the series, such a repeat of what came before?

Critics of the franchise may find that question amusing. After all, the common complaint about A photo that’s just the way it is FernGully or Pocahontas or Dances with wolvesbut in space. (While there are several strong criticism of A photothese comparisons themselves are not strictly critical, but I digress.) However, Fire and ashes it eats the previous Avatar excellent movie sets and story beats, resulting in a film that, while undeniably amazing, relies heavily on its previous installments, as opposed to the new Pandoran elements that would make it truly special.

What Image: Fire and Ashes about?

Fire and ashes it’s off to a promising start. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) are still mourning their son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), who died in Avatar: The Path of Water‘s climactic battle. His younger brother Lo’ak (British Dalton) takes the loss hard, believing it to be his fault.

While strong characterization is the last thing I came for in Avatar, this sense of family tragedy proves the film’s foundational opening moment. Cameron allows the characters to dwell on their loss, exploring the various levels of anger and grief that come with Neteyam’s death. Neytiri leans more towards the former, while Jake and Lo’ak lean towards the latter. The dynamic between them is as intense as it gets, as they hope to rebuild their lives with the seafaring Metkayina tribe without one of their core pieces.

But it wasn’t long before an accident happened to Sully. This time, it’s not just in the form of people, including Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who is in his resurrected Na’vi body. Instead, again in the form of the Mangkwan, or Ash People, a Na’vi clan that abandoned the Pandoran goddess Eywa and attacked other tribes.

Ash People is the most exciting part Image: Fire and Ashes.

Oona Chaplin in Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Credit: 20th Century Studios

The Mangkwan family offers Cameron a way to continue expanding Pandora’s population, as does the Metkayina family The Way of Water. But while Metkayina at least had some similarities A photoThe Omatikaya family who live in the forest about how they lived in harmony with Pandora, the shocking Mangkwans in the show.

After a catastrophic volcanic eruption destroyed their home, the Ash People turned their backs on Eywa. Now, they worship only the destructive power of fire. With their ash gray skin, bright red body paint, and fighting methods, they are very different from other Na’vi we have encountered.

Leading the way is Varang (Oona Chaplin), a land-stealing sorcerer who quickly takes over. Fire and ashes to a new level. At times slinky and seductive, at others downright terrifying, Chaplin’s performance has been creating sci-fi horror for years.

He only gets better when he and Mangkwan meet Quaritch. Lang faithfully turns in some of the funniest action in Avatar movies (nothing but respect mine Papa Dragon), and the trend continues here. He chews up the scenery and spits out Southern-tinged one-liners like nobody’s business, and Chaplin more than matches his powers. As the two become more than just friends, they also turn into an addictive — and hilarious — focus on Jake and Neytiri’s relationship.

Disappointingly, however, the Mangkwans received far less progress than the Omatikaya or Metkayina families. We do not know a single member of the tribe in depth beyond the Varang. And we don’t spend much time in his village, a desolate landscape littered with desert trees and the jagged ruins of their volcano. For a movie called Image: Fire and Ashesmuch less fire and ash than I would have liked.

Image: Fire and Ashes revives the best parts of Avatar: The Path of Water.

I think I’ve seen this movie before…
Credit: 20th Century Studios

As the Ash People darken in the background, Cameron retells the stories from the scene The Way of Water that maybe it would have been better left in the deep. Why do we need a replay of Payakan the tulkun’s undersea rescue of trapped Lo’ak? Or about the RDA tulkun brain harvesting structure? How did cartoonishly evil hunter Mike Scoresby (Brendan Cowell) survive being tortured by Payakan?

This news did wonders The Way of Water. New villains in hunters and new creatures in tulkun set the stage for a show-stopping naval battle that made my heart pound and my lungs hurt just thinking about it. Well, here, Cameron tries to do all that again, but on a bigger scale. However, what I was thinking about throughout the third act was how it felt The Way of WaterA star finish – down to the looks of some sets – and how much better The Way of Water he took it out.

That last sequence, which also has shades of A photoThe weather deadline, is starting to show the Avatar’s limitations series. There are only so many times we can watch Jake and Quaritch square off, or see Pandora’s wild animals unleash a deus ex machina. Three movies in, and the stats need to change.

Image: Fire and Ashes it’s still a jaw-dropping sight.

Tell me that’s not the coolest thing you’ve seen.
Credit: 20th Century Studios

Here’s the thing: If only I could see it Fire and ashes without seeing The Way of WaterI was always surprised. Every final battle is huge in space – it pales in comparison to the eerily similar set from its predecessor.

Thank you, Fire and ashes presents us with a wonderful new development in Pandora. Mangkwan stands out, as do the Windtraders, nomadic people who navigate with the help of airborne medusae and windrays. Together, these opalescent creatures form living airships that are brilliant to behold. I was shocked to see them in the first trailer of the movie, and even more shocked to see them on screen. Their skin moves in the wind, their veins glow just underneath… Like everything else in Pandora, they are an amazing technical achievement, and I wish we could have more time with them.

At the other end of the beauty scale, we have the human city of Pandora, a bustling industrial nightmare. Its creaking buildings and factories, as well as hordes of unifying forces, speak of a darkening dystopia. The objective of going to the city gives us a deeper look at this dystopia and evokes a more sinister action sequence than anything else we’ve seen in Avatar. films. As a village of the Ash People, a compelling aesthetic break from the beauty of Pandora, and a reminder of the natural beauty and nature the Na’vi strive to preserve. It is also a high point because It’s very different, and it’s tempting to think of a world where this exists Fire and ashes‘s conclusion is the opposite The Way of Water remix we get.

Instead, Cameron returns to familiar territory, putting it all down Fire and ashesMost exciting newcomers except Varang (oh, I can’t stress enough, he still rules) in the background.

Finally, it feels greedy to ask More from Avatar series, with its massive world-building and take-no-prisoners action sequences. But after watching Fire and ashesand knowing the possibility of a fourth and fifth film, I don’t want to find you with anything from the previous films. I want the greatness that I know is the Avatar it knows, so asking for more is exactly what I’m going to do.

Image: Fire and Ashes debuts in theaters on December 19.