For nearly three decades, James Cameron has been dedicated to the Avatar universe. Following the monumental success of the original film, Cameron began work on pre-production for the future of the franchise. Now, over 15 years later, we have received the third and potentially last Avatar film we will ever get.
Avatar is a bizarre franchise, not only for its immense success but also for its lack of cultural recognition. Avatar isn’t remembered as fondly as many other classics. And yet, time and time again, these movies make billions of dollars.
The newest installment, Fire and Ash, seems poised to make tons of money. However, regardless of how the box office goes, it’s irrelevant to the film’s quality. After seeing the movie, I think that the general audience will have interesting reactions to it.
Ashes of the past
Avatar is a cinematic anomaly. It is arguably the most financially successful movie franchise of all time, but not widely discussed culturally. The original Avatar is currently the highest-grossing movie ever. Avatar: The Way of Water is the fourth-highest-grossing film. Despite its massive financial appeal, there has always been the argument that Avatar has held no real cultural relevance. Despite having its detractors, Avatar clearly gets butts in seats. The question is, how?
The first Avatar film had groundbreaking visual effects and capitalized heavily on 3D. This became a series staple ever since. Beyond the superficial aspects, Avatar delivers on being a crowd-pleasing blockbuster. It is a very light watch, simply immersing you in the visuals and worldbuilding. It has solid action and a decent plot, alongside heavy environmental themes.
Avatar: The Way of Water, on the other hand, I would consider a straight-up masterpiece of the Sci-Fi genre. Way of Water invites the viewer to feel a sense of discovery and immerses you within this world. It reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki films, as it’s more about exploring the world than an actual plot. The blockbuster spectacle it presents is unmatched by any other blockbuster today.
Way of Water and Fire and Ash were filmed back-to-back alongside a large chunk of the potential fourth Avatar film. However, the fourth film has yet to be greenlit by Disney. Cameron has described these two films as part of the same “saga” in the Avatar story. He stated that the potential fourth and fifth films would be considered a different saga. Nonetheless, the likelihood of these two sequels depends on Fire and Ash’s box office performance.
Extinguished expectations
Fire and Ash and Way of Water feel like two halves of the same film. However, in this case, the second half is considerably weaker. Fire and Ash is a competent, thrilling blockbuster much like the first two movies. Yet, it lacks a lot of the subtleties that made the first two so captivating. Ultimately, despite really enjoying it, it left me kind of underwhelmed by the end of it.
Being the third film in the franchise, a lot of what makes Avatar so special is bound to fade at some point. Yet, the sense of discovery that makes the Avatar films work at their core is kind of missing here. The locations and wildlife are redundant, removing the mysterious aspect of Pandora that makes it enticing. The movie barely establishes itself in the opening minutes, which makes for a sort of jarring experience as a viewer.
Part of what makes Way of Water work so well is its structure. You have a plot-driven first act and an action-heavy third act. However, the second act is where Way of Water sticks out from other blockbusters. It slows down and simply shows us the beautiful visual effects and worldbuilding. Unfortunately, Fire and Ash never slows down at any point. This makes the movie kind of overwhelming, even for a seasoned fan such as myself. Had the movie been longer or taken its time, it would have worked considerably better as an Avatar movie rather than just an action rollercoaster.
I admit that the three hours and twenty minute runtime flew by for me. However, that is not necessarily a good thing when everything feels so rushed. Despite the movie flying by at an intense speed, it still almost feels overstuffed. There are so many subplots happening at once that it is overstimulating at times. This makes me question why Cameron didn’t make Way of Water and Fire and Ash a trilogy.
Flickering hopes
Despite my criticisms, this is still a James Cameron film. Its high quality is present almost immediately. The visual effects are obviously top-notch. However, what I was really blown away by was the cinematography. Some shots simply took my breath away. Every frame in this film is gorgeous and goes to show the love and care that was put into such a massive project like this.
The action is also simply incredible in every aspect. The flying sequences are iconic and have always been a great aspect of the franchise. Here they are at their most thrilling yet. Without spoiling, there are large-scale battles that feel truly epic and mythic. The action is somewhat of a downgrade from Way of Water, yet it still blows most blockbusters out of the water.
Avatar isn’t well-known for its story. However, Fire and Ash follows up on what Way of Water set up in a very interesting way, which I didn’t necessarily expect. Characters I don’t usually care for, like Neytiri, are given a lot to do here. They end up with a surprising amount of depth. Jake Sully is the clear standout here, with a truly interesting character arc. His character goes into some very dark and very real places I did not anticipate.
James Cameron has gone on to say that this movie is about the oppressive cycle of violence. Yet, he also says that there are reasons to fight for what’s right. For an action movie, there is a surprising amount of depth to the themes presented. This makes for not only a great blockbuster but a movie that feels especially poignant today. Fire and Ash isn’t perfect, but it’s a good time at the movies and a step above almost every other blockbuster this year.
