'Avatar: Fire and Ash': Continued fight for survival

JAMES Cameron transports us to the world of Pandora for a third time in the latest instalment of his record-breaking box office phenomenon.

2009 brought us the original film, a technical and visual marvel that proved to be a game-changer for the world of cinematic VFX.

A follow-up, The Way of Water was released thirteen years later and was similarly technically impressive but rather skimped on providing a decent story.

The sheer scale of the action and adventure at least provided an adequate counterweight.

In the latest instalment, Cameron acts to improve his storytelling to some extent, even if the narrative beats of the series are becoming a bit too familiar for comfort.

Shortly following the previous film’s events, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are mourning the death of their eldest son Neteyam in battle.

Neytiri in particular has grown to hate the human enemy for the destruction they have rained on her family and the other Na’vi.

Jake and Neytiri decide that they and their adoptive human son Spider must leave the water-loving Metkayina tribe they have settled with but as they begin their journey, the family are ambushed by members of the war-like Mangkwan (known as the Ash People) led by the sinister Varang (Oona Chaplin), who reject the Pandoran goddess Eywa.

Their assailants destroy the Sully’s caravan and to make matters worse, team up Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), the archenemy of Jake.

In exchange for human weapons, Varang works with the Colonel to capture Jake as well as Spider, who is his biological son. O

nce again faced with a battle that not only threatens their family but the survival of every tribe on Pandora as well as its natural resources, Jake and Neytiri must face old foes as well as new.

Avatar: Fire and Ash will no doubt take an awful lot of money. It might not take quite as much as its blockbusting progenitors but suffice to say, whatever it ends up making will not be sniffed at.

If nothing else, the film proves to be a step-up from 2022’s The Way of Water.

Despite Cameron’s usual technical and action flair, that film suffered from a simplistic plot stretched untenably thin over a three hour-plus running time.

Fire and Ash at least features a more substantive storyline, even if it proves slavishly loyal to the franchise’s formula. It is also an improvement in terms of characterisation, particularly in the case of introducing a new villain into the mix.

Varang is unlike any character we have seen in this series thus far and certainly makes for an unsettling and memorable antagonist.

The main crux of a worthwhile return to Pandora for most will be the quality of the visuals and the sci-fi action on display.

Those whose eyes widened and jaws dropped at the 3D-assisted effects of the previous films will no doubt find much to admire here.

The many action set-pieces are no doubt impressive and feature all the variety that this alien world has to offer.

Exciting battles take place by air, sea and land, swooping through the skies on flying creatures, riding on the backs of extraterrestrial whales and in the thick of the ever-glowing jungles, spread evenly over the course of nearly 200 minutes.

The third act finale certainly packs in plenty of thrills and hints at yet more Na’vi adventures to come.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is not James Cameron at his most unpredictable but it demonstrates he is still a master of cinematic spectacle.

RATING: ***

Matthew McCaul