Avatar: Fire and Ash

 

“Your goddess has no dominion here.”

Climactic, cinematic and epic, Avatar: Fire and Ash continues the saga as a faithful threequel that feel familiar (and potentially narratively repetitive) but that also goes deeper and expands the world further to deliver another stunning blockbuster spectacle. 

Discussion Points:

Fire and Ash is another absolutely captivating experience which further expands the story and folklore of the series whilst continuing to grow its characters. It’s narratively both the climax of themes set up in The Way of Water (thus feeling like an echo of much of that film), whilst also laying the groundwork for future stories, with eventual payoff still to come. As such, it’s a really effective third film that needs to be held within the larger picture of a five film series and it feels like a healthy mid point hinge that both resolves and renews the plot. It earns its runtime with stunning action and absolutely breathtaking visuals, but it’s the quieter character moments that linger the longest, particularly those that focus on the relationship of Jake and Neytiri, contrasted by Quaritch, now teamed with Varang and the Ash tribe who match each other in terrifying ruthlessness. Watching this in 4DX with a packed crowd on opening weekend I think shows that despite the comments people make about Avatar having little cultural impact, it still manages to get people out to the cinema. Whilst people may not be able to name the characters or plot points, they understand that Pandora and the cinematic experience that comes with a James Cameron film is worth going out to a theatre for. And even if the story feels very similar to previous instalments, it’s nonetheless transportive as we are fully immersed back into the Navi world. A truly special kind of spectacle, that definitely has some substance to.