A visually striking but overlong sequel that struggles to escape the franchise's recycled storytelling.
Director James Cameron (Titanic) is known for taking on epic dramas and creating stunning films that run longer than necessary. In 1994, he had an idea for a science fiction story and wrote an 80-page treatment that eventually evolved into the movie Avatar. A dozen years later, the film finally went into production with a budget estimated at over $200 million. Three years after production began, the film premiered in December 2009 and went on to gross over one billion dollars. Then, after a thirteen-year hiatus, Avatar: The Way of Water opened in theaters and not only doubled the original film's budget but also its profits. This month, the third installment in the trilogy, Avatar: Fire and Ash, hits the big screen just in time for the holiday movie season.
Anyone who saw the second film knows that, after a battle with the Resource Development Administration (RDA) and Quaritch (Stephen Lang; Don't Breathe), Sully (Sam Worthington; Clash of the Titans) and his family join the Metkayina clan and live by the sea. They also secretly fight against the RDA to try and stop them from taking over Pandora, home of the Na'vi clans. However, when the avatar of deceased Colonel Quaritch hunts Sully down, Sully must flee the village to keep his family and the Metkayina clan safe.
Returning for the third film are not only Worthington and Lang but Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) as Sully's wife, Neytiri, Sigourney Weaver (Alien) as Kiri, and Kate Winslet (Titanic) as RDA personnel, Ronal. With such strong actors, one could only hope for a wonderful movie, but the screenplay unfortunately doesn't give the talented cast much to work with. Also returning is Jack Champion (The Night Sitter), portraying Quaritch's human son, Spider, who is one of my least favorite characters in the franchise and who, in this sequel, has one of the dumbest plots in the trilogy to date.
Cameron prides himself on the visuals in his films, and Avatar: Fire and Ash is not an exception. While the underwater sequences are stunning, there is still an air of artificial effects permeating those scenes in particular. The flying scenes are better, and there are moments when one feels as if they are soaring through the Pandorian sky on the Avatar ride in Animal Kingdom. Conversely, the Mangkwan clan and their "land" offer the audience the feeling of being immersed in a video game. The colors are incredible and literally "pop" off the screen.
If this third installment of the franchise seems familiar, that is because it is. Sully is on the run, trying to keep his family safe from Quaritch and now the Mangkwan tribe, who want to kill him. He gets captured but escapes and asks the "elders" and the animals to help his people fight. Basically, we have seen some version of this story in movies one and two, and after this, we still supposedly have two more movies to go.
At over three hours long and utilizing recycled plot points, you have to ask yourself, " Will it ever stop?!?!" And the only answer I could come up with is, hopefully, eventually. Cameron had a terrific idea, and he showcased it well in the first two movies, but he doesn't know how to edit properly to make his films shorter, and he seems to be reusing the basic plot points over and over again, which, quite frankly, I don't need to sit through again.
I will admit that the pacing this time seems to be a little better than in Avatar: The Way of Water, but the story is somewhat ridiculous, especially where Spider is concerned, and I felt as if I had seen it all before in 2009 and 2022.
Grade: C
