Avatar: Fire and Ash

This weekend, Avatar: Fire and Ash, the newest film in the Avatar series, releases in theaters. The movie continues the story of Jake Sully and his family as they cope with the death of their eldest son and continue to hide from the RDA. Avatar films are always huge event films to see in theaters, so I was very interested to see how big they would get in this next installment.

I found Avatar: Fire and Ash to be just as good as the previous films in the franchise. The Avatar franchise is very consistent. As with all of the other films in the franchise, the CGI and visual effects were absolutely stunning. This CGI looks so good and is the gold standard for CGI in Hollywood. I saw the movie in IMAX and 3D, and it looks so real that you feel like you are looking into a window of the actual world. The movie also does a great job of expanding the world of Pandora. We get to meet two more tribes in the Wind Traders and Fire Navi. The Fire Navi brings a new villainous edge to the world, as we haven't seen any bad Navi before. The movie also does a great job with its pacing. It doesn't feel like a 3-hour film as all of the events just fly by. The nice thing about having a 3-hour movie is that you can include more plot threads and ideas without making the movie feel overstuffed. James Cameron just knows how to make a movie. He hits all the right beats with emotion, lots of spectacle, and a big 3rd act battle. The emotion in this movie comes from the loss that the Sullys feel from the death of their eldest son in the last movie, and Jake blaming his other son for that death. This makes for some very hard moments and also delivers some nice payoff at the end. The spectacle and action sequences are also very well done with engaging set pieces and bug battles. The third act is also huge in scale in this type of film, and this one is no exception.

While it does hit all of the right notes, Avatar: Fire and Ash is very derivative. There are numerous elements that are carried over from the previous films. There are elements with the water tribe and whales that feel pulled from the last movie as well as calling on Eywa to help in the final battle, being pulled from the first film. The film as a whole just follows the same structure as the last two films, but when every Avatar film makes over 2 billion dollars, it makes sense to just do the same thing over and over again. When this formula is well-received and prints money, why would they change anything? The movie also has a pretty thin plot. When you go to Avatar movies, you are there for the experience, not the story, so on rewatch at home, I'm not sure the story will hold up as well.

Overall, this is another successful Avatar film. While it is very derivative from a story standpoint, the movie still hits all the right notes and delivers big spectacle and action that will entertain audiences. James Cameron knows how to deliver a good theatrical experience, and that is what this movie does.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+

Recommendation: This is a must see film in the theater on the biggest screen possible