Film Review: Avatar: Fire and Ash

Welcome back to the blog readers. One of the franchises that really grabbed my attention when it comes to spectacle, wonder, and awe has been the Avatar (2009-) franchise. I was very late to the franchise, having watched Avatar (2009) three months before the release of The Way of Water (2022) (both films I really enjoyed by the way). Now that we are three films and a video game into this franchise, would it justify continuing or would the returns be dead on arrival? Stick around to find out.

Avatar: Fire and Ash was directed by James Cameron from a screenplay by Camero, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, and a story by Cameron, Jaffa, Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno. The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, and Kate Winslet. In the film, set shortly after the events of The Way of Water, Jake Sully and his family find themselves pursued yet again by Quaritch, who has now aligned himself with a malignant clan of Na'vi known as the Mangkwan.

Going into this film, I had heard some people calling it familiar in the sense that it feels a lot like The Way of Water in terms of structure. That did not worry me, but what did was hearing some people say it was not as good as The Way of Water, and that it was the weakest installment of the franchise. I still ventured out to see the final film in my most anticipated films of the year list and left with a feeling: I really enjoyed the film (just as I did the first two), but I think I have to agree that it was the weakest film of the franchise. The performances (especially from Stephen Lang and Oona Chaplin) are commendable, as are the visual effects and the music, but the runtime did get to me a little bit.

I want to start by talking about the performance of Stephen Lang. Lang has been around in the business since 1981, appearing in projects big and small, and he has even garnered a Tony nomination of all things. But I think taking on the role of Miles Quaritch brought Lang a new level of fame that not even he was prepared for. And he really excels in the role of the asshole military general that cares about nothing but conquest and domination. You can feel the hatred that Quaritch has for the Na'vi and Jake Sully, and Lang plays that rage and hatred to perfection. And don't even get me started on the chemistry we saw between him and Oona Chaplin. More on that later.

Speaking of Oona Chaplin, the granddaughter of legendary, iconic pioneer Charlie Chaplin makes her presence known in this third installment. The Spanish actor has appeared in eleven episodes of Game of Thrones (2011-19) and an episode of Black Mirror (2011-), but this is her biggest role to date. And there is vitriol in her character of Varang that it seeps through the screen whenever she is on the screen. I have only ever seen Chaplin in Game of Thrones, but the fire she brought to Varang should be able to get her landed into some much bigger roles than this, because she has all the makings of a star.

I next need to praise the visual effects that this film offers us. This may feel familiar as well, because "Avatar film has good visual effects." It may be easy for someone to just write it off and call it good without seeing the film, but real people knew as soon as the Oscars were over that this would be the film that wins Best Visual Effects in a landslide. And it 100% deserves it too. I believe that these are some of the most beautiful, engaging, and gorgeous visual effects I have ever seen in a film, bar none, and the bar has been set high for potential future installments. I am serious.

The next point of contention I have is with the music of the film. I would not go as far as to call it contention, because the music in the Avatar franchise is one of the best parts of it. James Horner did the score for the first film and completely blew us all away. He unfortunately passed away in 2015, and Simon Franglen has been the man to take on the monumental task of taking over the score. He excelled in bringing Horner's vision to life in The Way of Water, and did the exact thing in this film. Every melody, every beat makes you feel like you are there in Pandora, hearing the songs of the Na'vi. I even really like Miley Cyrus's song "Dream as One." I think it suits the film very well.

But the one big negative I have regarding this film has to do with the runtime and the pacing. You know my stance on this issue, especially if you read my review for the film The Housemaid (2025). And that stance is that every film has a runtime that is ideal for it. I personally do not know what James Cameron's obsession is with long runtimes for his films (only two of his films have a runtime shorter than two hours), but it is really starting to get to be too much. This film could easily have been 20-30 minutes shorter and had the exact same effect on the story.

In conclusion, Avatar: Fire and Ash is another familiar, yet still-inviting and awe-inspiring trip into another beautiful world, even if it may overstay its welcome a bit. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.