‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ – A ruthless return to Pandora

As the 2009 film Avatar concluded, there was a distinct sense of finality. The heroes had won the day, and a new era had dawned over the world of Pandora. It certainly made the 13 year-wait for its sequel much more bearable. Avatar: The Way of Water, however, ends with several plot threads loosely strung about, so it’s a mercy that the wait was only three years.

The time since the last journey to Pandora may still have been too long for some audiences, something the film acknowledges in its first few moments with one character literally asking another to remind them of how the last movie ended. Once caught up, the help ends there. Avatar: Fire and Ash has a lot of story to tell, and it can’t hold your hand through all of it.

If the first two films are about the escalation of a conflict, this is an all-out war movie. Losses have been felt and there’s no talk of peace. In a world where films push the narrative of violence never being the answer, Fire and Ash dares to fight. With that clear sense of purpose, its characters find themselves in one moral quandary after another. The Sully family is challenged more than they’ve ever been, deciding how far is too far in a fight against oppression.

The returning characters are going through turmoil, especially when faced against the femme fatale foe Varang, who thinks herself a deity reborn through flame. Her role in the film is infinitely compelling, especially when paired with Stephen Laing’s Quaritch who gets more interesting with every film. What’s perhaps most impressive is how Avatar: Fire and Ash has so many dishes spinning in the air, and yet still manages to hold space for a legal drama for its whale-like warrior Payakan, with full sincerity and relevance to the overall plot.

The hard-hitting moments land like gut punches, providing a stark contrast to the unbridled beauty of the world. It feels almost obligatory to say—and yet it bears repeating— Fire and Ash delivers the most impressive film landscapes, setting the bar for visual effects, with its only real competition being other Avatar films. Nothing else comes close to this level of fidelity, with every frame inspiring awe.

The characters are more complex, and the visuals are astonishingly improved, but familiar trappings remain. Avatar: Fire and Ash includes moments of plot contrivance, cheesy dialogue, and a lack of nuance, once again delivering anti-colonial, anti-military, and environmentally conscious messages. If these aspects bothered you in the past, it’s unlikely the film will convert you into a fan.

With Avatar: Fire and Ash even its constraints entertain. You’ll be challenged to find another movie that can make three hours feel like 90 minutes without some convenient plotting. The pacing of the film is expertly done with its stupendous action sequences filled with stakes you didn’t even realise you were invested in. If this is the final Avatar film, cinema would be all the poorer for it.

Rating: Big Screen Watch

Damian Levy is a film critic and podcaster for Damian Michael Movies.

entertainment@gleanerjm.com