Avatar: Fire and Ash is the last big movie release of the year and it knows it. I still can’t believe it’s been three years since I saw The Way of Water at Toho in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. Where did the time go?
The film deals with the aftermath of that film, as well as introducing a new Na’vi antagonist in the form of Varang, the shamaness and spiritual leader/tsahik of the Ash People.
After The Way of Water, the family is grieving
There are lots of noticeable things, some good, some bad. For example Neytiri sings her grief-durge, "The Songcord”, during the opening moments, still mourning for Neteyam. It’s a moving callback to the previous film and does seem to have a point. However, there are also late sections, such as the Amitra scene and the calling of the clans, which just feel like they’ve been cut and pasted from the prior movies.
As a result, Fire and Ash sometimes feels like it’s telling not showing, with Lo’ak taking up the narration duties in order to cut a few minutes out of the runtime to move the story along. These are scenes which feel jerky and way to in your face when trying to do all the things in a span of three Pandoran days.
Did I mention the film is three hours and fifteen minutes long??? That’s nearly four hours when you include the adverts and trailers (although it gets a pass for this as there was the new trailer for Project Hail Mary, as well as teasers for The Odyssey and Avengers: Doomsday).
Don’t get me wrong, the film is absolutely gorgeous and the franchise has really come into its own since 2009. The characters look real and everything about Pandora is beautiful, from the return of the Hallelujah Mountains to the sea-village in which the Sully family has made their home. Everything is beautiful but, sadly, the world doesn’t feel quite as dangerous as it did in the first film.
There are also notable sections where it’s obvious it’s supposed to be shown in 3D where characters feel like they’re about to pop out of the screen, particularly in the initial section in the Hallelujah Mountains. In other sections, there’s a direct FPS feel as gun sights appear I noted quite a few sections which felt they were filmed at 65fps as every movement during the action felt like someone had pressed Fast Forward on the movement, but not the dialogue. It wasn’t as nauseating as The Hobbit but it was definitely noticeable in a weird Uncanny Valley kinda way.
So, to the plot. Spider’s been recovered, Neytiri is in mourning and it quickly becomes clear that Spider, who needs oxygen masks to survive, is going to an issue in the isolated sea village. Jake decides to send him back to civilisation, where their allies keep camp. Jake arranges for the Wind Traders to take the boy but after Kiri and Loak lose it on their parents, the entire family agrees to go with him in order to visit Neytiri’s family.
The Wind Traders are the last elemental tribes on Pandora, with massive biological blimps which use the sky as if it were the ocean. Their ‘boat’ is gorgeous, as well as being pulled by living beings who remind me of puffer fish without the spines. However, as they travel, Jake is very aware that the Sky People forces are still looking for him and for Spider. So, when things go downhill, it happens spectacularly when the ship is attacked by the Ash Clan, with the Sky People forces—and Quarritch—looking on.
A frantic chase through the forest sees Spider’s oxygen run out and, desperate, Kiri plugs herself into the local biome and causes mycelium fungus to colonise his lungs, allowing the human boy to finally breathe without a mask, and grow a queue.
The film is split between Lo’ak, who is grieving his brother, the dead golden child, and trying to get Jake to notice him, whilst fighting for what he believes in, his best pal Tulkun, Payakan, and his budding romance with Tsureya.
Neytiri, who took a backseat in the last film, has now gone full racist but the film also works on her character arc more than I would’ve expected. After bineg wounded, she has to re-learn to shoot and also realise that Spider is as much a Sully as Lo’ak, Kiri or Tuk. Seeing her finally realise that Spider is worth saving proves she is indeed trying to heal and become a better person.
Tuk, sadly, is just there, albeit serving a small role in the climax…
The one good thing about this film is we finally get some answers about Kiri, even if they raise more questions. She’s basically a clone of Grace Augustine and her relationship with Spider is obviously sowing the seeds for a future romance. I understand why the proposed title for the film was The Seed-bearer as her role is very important to the plot, even as she manages to deus ex machina twice in the span of the film.
This kind of plot-beat is a tad over the top, even as it does cause the next issue of concern. What happens if the Sky People can figure out how this works? The only thing preventing the human forces from winning the war is their inability to breathe the air. Figuring out how Spider has been changed would allow humans to live freely without their masks, heralding the end of the Na’vi as well as other species on the planet…
So who are the Ash Clan? Well religious fanatics is as close as we can go. It’s a small cult which worships the element of fire, both in the natural world and also in the fire mountain which destroyed Varang’s native Hometree when she was a child. Since then, she’s gone full pyromaniac. The clan is attacking other innocent Na’vi and cutting their queues, which prevents them from connecting to the Spirit Trees.
Varang teams up with Quarritch, whom she drugs, and then they begin trying to find Jake and Spider. She seems especially pleased when he teachers her how to use guns and flamethrowers. However, as a character that’s all we get. Her arc doesn’t so much end as it gets cut off, ready for resumption in the next film, which is frustrating, as this is our first time with Na’vi antagonists.
The plot basically revolves around Spider and Jake getting captured and then the Sky People forces trying to murder helpless Tulkun in order to lure them out. As a result, the plot is very bouncy. I’ve basically described the film as a mini-series of five distinct episodes which were then recut, condensed and shown in a cinema. It’s not terrible but so much is happening, and then there are periods of nothing, that it’s really jarring. I found myself browsing on my phone whenever Lo’ak started narrating and I don’t think I was the only one.
Also, due to the length, a lot of people were ducking out for refreshments during quieter moments or to use the facilities.
It’s not a bad film, not by far, but it is a near four-hour assault on the senses. From the bioluminescence in the sea, to the epic battles and gorgeous graphics. I can guarantee it will ensnare and exhaust anyone with ADHD. Even worse there wasn’t even an intermission, which was how Cameron’s earlier film Titanic, made the run time a tad more bearable. I was exhausted by the time was done and I think this will ultimately sour people against an otherwise technologically amazing film. Sadly, I think it will be remembered not for the bars it pushes graphically and technologically but by how it is let down by plot beats and pacing.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is in cinemas now.
