The third film in the wonderful world of Pandora is always of great visual beauty, but of swampy narrative development
Is there still magic? The world of forests of green tangles and luminescence, expanses of water and flying fish, Na’vi in physical and spiritual symbiosis with a powerful nature, returns. But… like three years ago later Avatar – The Way of Waterafter having seen the third chapter of the mammoth saga of James Cameron that feeling of calm disappointment is renewed. The wonder is diminished, the narrative development has become swampy.
On the ashes of Avatarsthe sensational film that divided the history of cinema in two – before and after Avatars -, Here you are Avatar: Fire and ashfrom December 17th at the cinema. With dedication to Jon Landauthe film producer who died in 2024 who worked with Cameron for almost thirty years, already at the time of Titanic (1997).
More battles in a sequel with little strength
Avatars was released in 2009 amidst collective enthusiasm, taking us into distant space, to Pandora, an amazing imaginary place that has captivated every skeptic of special effects. It is still the highest-grossing film in the history of cinema: over 2.9 billion dollars worldwide.
Thirteen years later, in 2022, Avatar – The Way of Water continued the adventures of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), an invalid former marine who, like a bluish and tall Na’vi, has started a new life on Pandora. Over 2.3 billion dollars at the box office, third best gross ever.
But already then the narrative, while opening up to new scenarios of indisputable visual beautyamong coral reefs and sentient sea creatures, had begun to drain of strength and impact.
Now we return to where we left off, to the Metkayina clan that had welcomed the Sully family, between oceans and waves. And already get on them 3D glasses for vision have an almost anachronistic feel. And here new ones open up yet another battle which replicate the mood of the second chapter, with the same old villains, except for some (intriguing) variations on the theme. The narrative material seems cloned, like an “avatar”.
Let’s be clear, the visual effects bandwagon of Avatar: Fire and ash it’s superlative, this is beyond reproach. But the complex mix of acting, performance capture, imaginative plots and worlds created in FX resonates repetitive and a little dated. Maybe because the film was shot more than six years ago? For both the third and second episodes they began in September 2017 and lasted for 18 months, then leaving room for the gigantic work of the special effects, mostly by Wētā FX (which will probably earn another Oscar).
Today, when we are bombarded by image after image, whether real or generated, perhaps the real innovation is simplicity. A simplicity that speaks to the heart.
Avatar: Fire and ash: the plot
Avatar: Fire and ash opens a few weeks after the events of Avatar 2. The Sully family still lives with the Metkayina clan in the rock and sea bays. He is learning to adapt to life without his firstborn, killed in a brutal clash against the “Sky People”. Jake (Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), Spider (Jack Champion) and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) are all grieving in their own way. Until, worried about the fate of Spider, an earthly member of the family, they decide to go to Alto Campo, the stronghold of the Omatikaya, the forest clan in deep connection with the divine entity Eywa.
Obviously there is a ferocious enemy assault waiting for them… Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang)? He is not lacking among the villains.
“This it’s a film about a family processing what it means to be at war», says Cameron, director, screenwriter and producer, in the press notes. “What it means for children to experience war, for parents to let their children go and trust them enough to believe that they will make the right decisions.”
Kiri’s central role, new characters
In Avatar: Fire and ash Kiri takes on an increasingly central role, the teenager born from the avatar body of Grace Augustine, the former head of the RDA’s avatar program, both played by Sigourney Weaver. Raised by Jake and Neytiri as one of their own, after Neteyam’s death she is the eldest daughter of the Sully family. Smiling and suave, his presence brings lightness and grace to the warlike attitude of the film.
His connection with Eywa, an ancestral consciousness that exists throughout the natural world of Pandora, becomes increasingly evident and interesting.
Among the new characters, the are fascinating Wind Merchantsnomadic people who travel aboard spectacular flying ships with the help of large animals called Medusoids. “Wind Traders follow trade routes that are determined by the location of population centers on the planet, the direction of the wind at a given time of year, and where they can pass,” says Cameron. «Their philosophy of life is the wind, the wind gives and the wind takes».
Among the new entries, however, the most whirlwind and darkly bewitching is Varang, the leader of the Mangkwan clan, the ash people. It is a fury of predatory destruction that never wavers. The Spanish actress plays her Oona Chaplinformerly Talisa Maegyr in the TV series Game of Thrones. He conveys to her a charismatic physicality, always ready to attack. It is so immutable in its exterminating pride.
We left the room after 3 hours and 17 minutes Avatar: Fire and ashyou feel empty, like at the end of a long non-stop journey. And the journey will continue: Avatar 4 And Avatars 5 are already scheduled for 2029 and 2031. More than twenty years after the first beloved Avatarswho knows if one of the various sequels will be able to restore the original wonder.
