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Avatar: Fire & Ash -- a review

I was halfway through Avatar: Fire and Ash when a thought struck me: Did director James Cameron basically remake the Tarzan movies as a science fiction epic? I’m not suggesting that Cameron stole anything from Edgar Rice Burroughs. But the basic themes are present in both sagas. Young John Clayton is a nobleman who is left to fend for himself as a child in the jungles of Africa, only to become Tarzan, the Lord of the Jungle. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a disabled vet sent to Pandora, a moon in orbit of a Jupiter-like gas giant, where he becomes that planet’s version of the Lord of the Jungles, thanks to a technology that enables him to possess the body of a Na’vi, one of its native peoples. The Avatar saga is an otherworldly tale that chronicles the efforts of a low-tech society—the Na’vi—battling high-tech invaders—evil Earthlings—who try to possess the planet Pandora, much like how they have possessed the bodies of Na’vi clones.

Although I wasn’t really a huge fan of the original Avatar, feeling back then that it was vastly overrated (and it still is), I enjoyed the sequel, The Way Of Water, much more. WOW worked better because it switched to a more interesting location on Pandora: its oceans. I kind of liked Fire and Ash (sort of), which brings in a new group of Na’vi, the Mangkwan, who are led by the fierce Varang (well played by Oona Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter). Varang probably has the best line (in a movie series not known for its witty dialogue) in the film: "Your goddess has no dominion here!" The Mangkwan have cut themselves off from the “mother Earth-type” goddess that holds sway over the Na’vi. This same, "all-knowing," "all-seeing" goddess who also constantly has to be reminded that her children are in dire trouble so she can swoop in to directly help them at the last possible second. This happens again in Fire and Ash, along with a lot of other things.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is incredible to look at, just like the two preceding films were. It won an Oscar for best special effects—which is interesting, seeing how the entire film is basically one long, special effect. But each of the Avatar films have really pushed the limits of computer-generated imagery into sheer artistry, and Fire and Ash is no different in that regard. But, writing-wise, Fire and Ash also suffers from having the aforementioned flat, bland dialogue, and overall dopey writing that doesn’t match its awesome visuals. There’s the scene where, while they’re being hunted through the jungles by the Mangkwan, Spider (Jack Champion) receives good news that makes him holler and whoop loudly—which leads the enemy straight to him and the others. How did he manage to survive for this long?

And Fire and Ash lacks the innovative style that The Way Of Water had. The Way Of Water reinvented the Avatar series by introducing the viewer to new people and places. Fire and Ash winds up being a retread, taking elements from the first two Avatar films and re-using them again. The final battle in Fire and Ash is basically the same one from The Way Of Water, just bigger with larger ships (look kids, new toys for you to buy!). This retreading over familiar territory is so blatant that it robs Fire and Ash of any real suspense. This is why, having seen Fire And Ash, the second Avatar film, The Way Of Water, still remains my favorite of the trilogy. Instead of keeping things fresh and reinventing the franchise by showing us something new, Fire and Ash's tired plotting only shows that this once formidable film series might finally be showing signs of running out of steam. --SF

Avatar: Fire and Ash is available on streaming and physical media.

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