Movie Review: Avatar: Fire and Ash

Three years after Avatar: The Way of Water debuted in theaters, and one year after its initial release date, Avatar: Fire and Ash is here to continue the saga of human-turned-Na’vi Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family as they and the other inhabitants of the planet Pandora fight off increasingly brutal incursions from human interlopers. While the previous installment often felt like a slog that only found its footing in the final stretch, this chapter benefits from markedly improved pacing. Even so, the nearly three-and half-hour runtime is acutely felt, with more than a few scenes that probably could have been shortened or excised altogether.

The story picks up shortly after the events of The Way of Water, with the Sully family grieving the loss of eldest son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters). Wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and remaining son Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) are taking it especially hard, with the latter blaming himself for the death and the former sliding into open racism towards humankind. Her resentment increasingly targets Spider (Jack Champion), the human son of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Jake’s resurrected archnemesis who now inhabits a Na’vi body and remains obsessively fixated on hunting him down. Yet their children consider Spider family, especially Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), whose growing romantic feelings complicate matters further. When Jake and Neytiri agree that Spider should leave the water-going Metkayina clan for everyone’s safety, including his own, the plan is met with much resistance, but ultimately sets the family on the move.

The journey quickly takes a turn for the worse however, when the flying merchant ships they hitched a ride on are attacked by the aggressive Ash People, led by tsahik Varang (Oona Chaplin), who sees the guns that the Sullys possess and decides she needs some for herself. The attack scatters the family, forcing them to evade both Varang and Quaritch as multiple factions collide in a struggle for Pandora’s future—while the human‑run RDA prepares a ruthless slaughter of the whale‑like Tulkun.

There is perhaps too much going on here, which means that character development is once-again not really a priority. That may very well be the entire series’ biggest flaw, as none of the protagonists are ever made interesting enough to allow much audience investment in their fates. Kiri and Spider come close to having compelling personalities, but are each let down by various aspects of the production. Usually reliable, Weaver’s work here as Kiri is the only time in which it feels obvious that we are watching an animated character that is being voiced by a human in a studio, often distractingly so. Champion’s Spider is often the only actually human on screen and he does fine acting against characters that weren’t on the soundstage with him, but the “youth”-coded dialogue he is forced to utter is frequently cringeworthy.

Still, despite the narrative sprawl, the story is easy enough to follow, and the often-inventive action sequences are well-distributed, following a tick-tock rhythm that means every time one’s attention begins to wane, another epic moment should be right around the corner. Pandora remains a stunningly realized world, lush and vibrant in every frame not dominated by the RDA’s stark industrialism. The villains are suitably threatening, Varang especially; and Quaritch’s internal struggle in regard to the fate of his son may be the most compelling plotline here.

There is a lot to enjoy in Fire and Ash, especially on a large screen, and it marks a significant step-up in quality from its predecessor. The project’s sheer size occasionally weighs it down, but the experience is still engaging, visually rich, and strong enough to justify anticipation for a potential fourth installment. ★★★★