Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

The saga of The Sully Clan and their adventures on the far off planet of Pandora continues with this third entry in Oscar-winning director James Cameron's ongoing franchise which started in 2009 with Avatar....but do we still care? :p Well according to recent box office returns, we certainly do and much of that might due to the continued spectacle of seeing these characters fly and swim and now fight fire on-screen.  The fire apparently comes from a new threat who's the leader of an ash tribe named Varang (Oona Chaplin) and as she starts to align with Colonel Quarytch (Stephen Lang, returning from the previous two films), that threat only seems to escalate.  And stuck in the middle of this conflict is young human Spider (Jack Champion) who is still loyal to his adopted family of the Sully's but might now also present a new threat to them and the future existence of the Navi on this planet.  Once again leading this sci-fi epic are Sam Worthington as Jake and now Oscar-winner Zoe Saldana as Netyri, along with several other returning cast members including Sigourney Weaver, Britain Dalton, Kate Winslet, and Cliff Curtis.  Let's find out if Big Jim can pull it off again and if the quality of the story matches the spectacle.....

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon  

Transcript

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH – 2025

Directed by James Cameron

Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, Jack Champion, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Bliss, Kate Winslet, Giovanni Ribisi, Jermaine Clement, Dileep Rao, CCH Pounder, Brendan Cowell, and David Thewlis

Genre: Sci Fi Family Epic (Audio clip)

If you enjoyed the previous two Avatar movies (which I did, the first one much moreso), then there is no reason that you won't enjoy this. It's gorgeous to look at, the action setpieces are exciting, the attention to detail with regards to world building is impeccable, the performances are mostly solid, the themes explored are compelling, and like The Way Of Water....the seams are really showing. 😐 

It's simply a LOT of movie, there's easily enough story here for two full movies...and while all of it is well directed and it generally moves well (better than 'Way of Water did), the film's overall length (almost 200 minutes) and the sheer scale of it simply highlight some of Cameron's flaws as a filmmaker. And I say this as a long-time major fan of Big Jim. :) This stuff has always been there....

Overbearing plucky young characters from Cameron aren't exactly a new thing been going back to T2 (John Connor, still LOVE that film but let's be honest!) as have clunky on-the-nose dialogue going back to the original Terminator (Michael Biehn’s Kyle Reese….still love him though). But when you have significantly more movie - along with some awkward edits - you can't help but notice them more sorry! I have always enjoyed Jake Sully as a lead character AND Sam Worthington's performance (which I guess is kinda underrated at this point) but he inexplicably becomes more of a supporting character this time around....as does Oscar-winner (!) Zoe Saldana's Netyri though gratefully she has more to do here than the previous film. 

You see this time around, the story focuses much more on The Kids! 😆 And it's not as if they're all bad too: Britain Dalton is excellent as the now beleaguered Lo'ak even though I didn't quite see the point of making his character (no longer Worthington's Jake) the narrator. His character is dealing with a lot in the aftermath of his brother's death from the last film and he plays the emotion well. I just wish that his character wasn't SO focused on what I believe is the weakest subplot of the movie: the rehabilitation of his new best friend, the brilliantly rendered space whale Payakan. 😉 

Hey I get it....most fans of this franchise simply ADORE this creature and can't get enough of her so I'm definitely in the minority here. Like I said, the way this completely 100% fake whale moves around the screen, the sound design, and its interactions with other characters....all impressive! I guess I just don't find Payakan compelling enough to spend so much time on - I'm just not an animal (or whale) person, so milage may vary. But crazily enough, even Loak isn't the Sully child character with the most screentime. 😒 Nope that would actually be Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and Spider (Jack Champion). Kiri IS a teenage girl and don't get me wrong, Sigourney (who's in her '70's now, still the GOAT in so many ways) is acting her heart out to pull off this character who's going through a tumultuous time but it's STILL just a awkward fit at the end of the day sorry. The more you hear hear this iconic veteran actress try to sound like a teenager,, the more it becomes distracting....

Fortunately there ARE characters here which elevate this movie, making it almost a wash. I have always really enjoyed Stephen Lang as Quarytch - in human form in the first film and a bit less so in Navi form in the second film - but his character has not only evolved JUST a bit but Lang has never been better! He still pulls off the rough-and-tumble action about as well as anyone else here short of Saldana, he has most of the best lines, and his character goes through a particularly interesting arc here while still MOSTLY remaining a villain. The movie is always more fun whenever he's on screen and gratefully, he's given more to do in this particular story than in previous installments. 

Of course, much of that comes from him sorta pairing up with who is likely THE best new edition to third Avatar adventure - that would be the leader of a Pandora tribe which poses a new threat to The Sully Clan, The Ash Tribe. (Hence this film's subtitle? ) The character is the dangerous Varang played deliciously by Oona Chaplin...Talisa Stark (well just for a bit) from Game of Thrones, remember her? :) She struts, she flies, she hisses, and she BURNS everything and everyone in her path....and she all but steals the movie. Even during one memorable quieter scene about a third of the way through when she "seduces" Quarytch via the help of some mystery potion - their scenes together are often the highlights of the movie.

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

British composer Simon Franglen once again returns to conduct the score after coming on board to replace the late, great James Horner for ‘The Way of Water….and his music is solid, pretty much in line with the last one as well.  Rousing, emotional, wondrous….it hits all of the necessary beats throughout.  Although I have to admit the ONE part of when my ears perked up was actually a reprise of one of my favorite themes from that first original score for the first Avatar from Horner…..this occurs about 2/3 into the film as Jake and Netyri are gathering up clans for a big battle to come, I just LOVE this….a bombastic mix of horns and choral voices, a true battle cry if I ever heard one, it’s FITTINGLY called “Gathering all the Navi clans for battle” (Audio clip) 

But if I had to choose a NEW musical highlight for this film, it actually came from a pop artist I have always been a bit mixed on to be honest…..Franklin, Tennessee’s own Miley Cyrus.  As each Avatar film now closes out with a power ballad – Leona Lewis did “I See You” for the first films, The Weeknd did “Nothing is Lost” for the second one – SHE performs the official love theme for this entry….and it’s pretty catchy even with pretty simplistic lyrics, I like the way she belts out the chorus.  The song is the lovely, “Dream As One.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

And that goes even moreso for the dreaded (pun-intended) character of Spider who is ALL over this movie with his constant "Bruh's" and his Step Up-like swagger....HE becomes the eventual main focus of this story and with the exception of a couple of genuinely affecting moments spent with his character, he's a more aggressively irritating version of Furlong's John Connor. 😕 I feel bad for stating this as the actor Jack Champion himself is barely twenty and apparently has now been performing in Avatar sequels for literally HALF of his young life - it's not his fault and I certainly wouldn't wish any kind of nasty Ahmed Best/Jake Lloyd-like backlash to dog him for years after this. 🫣 (I can see some of that online already) It's unfortunate, he's JUST doing what's on the page! But make no mistake, his character (as written) is irritating and just not that compelling. 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Infact probably THE highpoint of the film is a mostly non-violent face-off between all of the major players....a sort of hostage negotiation involving The Sully's, Quarytch, Varang, and some of her most threatening fellow tribesmen. It's not only a kick to see two genuinely well-matched adversaries sizing each other up: Jake and Quarytch with their now well-developed history AND Netyri and Verang shooting daggers at each other (through their eyes mind you) after they have already had at least one memorable one-on-one fight by this point. Even amidst what is likely his most overstuffed film - with SO many characters both above ground and underwater battling it out for screentime - Cameron STILL knows how to deliver the moments that count. 🤗

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film): 

That's why I can't just dismiss this film....it has several top-quality action setpieces all organic to the plot, it's expertly crafted, and yes it takes some BIG swings! While I wasn't on board with every one of them - there's actually an extended sequence of a space whale council hearing (!) communicated mostly via subtitles - I could still appreciate that this was STILL JC's own unique vision told on the grandest scale possible. In the end, I think this MIGHT have actually worked better as two separate installments, each one likely under two hours....and the whole shebang kinda seems structured for that as there ARE multiple climaxes. Who knows? I'm even kind of torn as to whether Cameron needs to be done with this franchise....yes on paper that makes sense but WHERE does he go as a filmmaker from here? Making smaller stuff just doesn't seem in his wheelhouse any longer. Regardless it's been a strong run for him overall and at the very least, I once again got my money's worth seeing his latest on the big screen – for once again doing what he does even though it’s diminishing returns at this point – James Cameron is the MVP. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

I know a lot of folks prefer IMAX but my personal preference is always Dolby….they have reclining seats.  And definitely worth watching in 3D, nobody does it better than Big Jim! 

Now Playing in Theaters

And that ends another NO DOMINION review!