I know, I know. Never doubt big Jim. All James Cameron does is produce giant movie spectacles for all the eye to see. The problem with the third film in a franchise, is keeping things fresh and new. Fire and Ash is leftover Filet Mignon, truffle mash potatoes, and carrots with the red wine demiglaze. It’s delicious…but it was more delicious when I ate it fresh three years ago.
Fire and Ash sees us pretty much right where we left off in The Way of Water. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) have integrated themselves, their kids Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), and their adopted kids Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and human Spider (Jack Champion), into the Metkayina sea people Na’vi clan, in mourning from their losses from the 2022 film. Sully’s unsure his nemesis Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is dead on the bottom of the ocean. Same with Miles, who knows no Sully body means he’s alive with the water people. With the Tolkun (Pandora’s whales) on their pilgrimage to the underwater Eywa (Na’vi God), Jake knows it’s best to probably go back on the run so no one has to die, but leading him directly into the territory of Varang’s (Oona Chaplin) volcano dwelling Mangkwan clan.
Fire and Ash starts to show maybe Pandora isn’t quite as big as it seemed 3 years ago, at least storywise. Cameron basically planted his flag on “identity crisis” island for these stories, as most of our main characters come from and live in different worlds. The plots feel recycled in Fire and Ash, as the movie repeats the same story as The Way of Water without deepening the lore as much as Cameron thinks he’s doing. The movie builds to many supposed big moments that don’t feel earned because the characters didn’t grow enough, or even go backwards. I’m sorry Jim, but you can’t inject Jack Champion with Bill Paxton movies and have him be the same thing. I started to get so bored, I was wishing for more of Oona Chaplin’s Varang, a fiery breath of fresh air. The movie’s too into its own mythology to give her more screen time, but suffice to say she makes the most with what she’s got…and maybe gives us a little insight into James Cameron’s, shall we say, late night searches while he’s alone.
With the story floundering a bit, the special effects carry an extra importance for Fire and Ash to deliver. Thankfully, Jim’s time in the Mariana Trench has only deepened his imagination. We get more sea creatures we haven’t seen before. Plus, we get a tease of what’s going on in the air outside of the banshees. After taking our breath away with Pandora’s version of a flying wagon train, he lets us catch it again. Only to take it away with battle. Fire and Ash has more battle sequences than the first 2 films, giving us giant sequences on the ground, in the water, and in the air, and the famous lost 4th way, in a magnetic field. Cameron has a blast playing with perspective and physics to deliver as much high octane battle as he can, making nature is every bit man’s equal in the battle arena, with CGI aplomb.
So, yeah, I’m full of Avatar by now, big Jim. What else ya got? Let’s maybe start closing more characters and stories, and start traveling around this giant imagination planet you’ve crafted for yourself. Bring me Michelle Yeoh, Na’vi Queen, clearly one of Evelyn Wong‘s alternate realities. Too bad the Daniels couldn’t get the rights in time.