- for intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images, some strong language, thematic elements and suggestive material.
Jake and Neytiri's family grapples with grief, encountering a new, aggressive Na'vi tribe, the Ash People, who are led by the fiery Varang, as the conflict on Pandora escalates and a new moral focus emerges. (from IMDb)
Oh, James Cameron... it still amazes me that 2009's Avatar was as big a hit as it was. It's such a bizarre franchise. It's not built on nostalgia. It bears a name that is often confused with an anime by the same name. It has star power, but like an animated film, we seldom - if ever - see their actual faces. They're not the most family-friendly films. And over a decade passed between the first movie and its first sequel. Furthermore, Cameron & Co. try to sell these movies on spectacle and their theatrical 3D presentation alone. I just don't get how they keep breaking the box office.
Three years after its first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, we have Avatar: Fire and Ash. This second sequel takes place just a couple weeks after the events of the previous movie, so seeing them back-to-back feels satisfying and rewarding to a degree. After we received the digital copy of Fire and Ash, I decideed to revisit The Way of Water to brush up on the events of the story; I'm definitely glad I did. I only saw The Way of Water once, and it was in the theater. Given Fire and Ash's bloated runtime of 3 hours and 17 minutes - and my apathy for the franchise as a whole - I decided to skip seeing this one in the theater. My rewatch of the second Avatar actually took several days. I just couldn't get into it. The downside to watching a movie like this in pieces is you lose the emotional momentum the story tries to build. By the time the movie ended - with its Titanic-esque waterlogged finale - I was positively exhausted by the franchise.
All of that is why I'm as surprised as I am to have not disliked Avatar: Fire and Ash. Whether it's because I just re-familiarized myself with the previous film, I don't know, but Fire and Ash landed better for me than the second Avatar. I also made sure to watch Fire and Ash in one sitting; I knew it wouldn't be fair to watch it in chunks for the first time -- but that also makes carving out almost 3-and-a-half straight hours to watch a movie like this a bit of a challenge.
The Way of Water had the harder task of reestablishing the Avatar world and setting up Jake and Neytiri's growing family. It was a significant departure from the way the first film setup the characters, as now the focus is being shared among the Sully kids. Fire and Ash continues this. It's still Jake and Neytiri's story, but it's also very much about their adopted human son, Spider - who was the biological son of the villain, Quaritch; Kiri, the somehow-daughter of Sigourney Weaver's deceased human character, Dr. Grace Augustine; and Jake and Neytiri's actual children: Lo'ak, Tuk and Neteyam. The runaway success of The Way of Water either proved people just really wanted to revisit the planet of Pandora, or they totally accepted this new direction for the franchise. However, the disappointing (yet still massive) box office take for Avatar: Fire and Ash suggests that maybe not everyone quite bought into the world that The Way of Water introduced us to.
At this point, Avatar is firmly stuck somewhere between expanding the world and retreading the same stuff over and over. For example, I was personally not a fan of Stephen Lang's military villain character, Quaritch, so I was happy to see him meet his end during the finale of the 2009 film. However, instead of coming up with a new threat, Cameron has resurrected Quaritch by downloading his personality and memories into a Na'vi avatar, so he's back -- along with his fellow soldiers who had also perished. In fact, at the beginning of Fire and Ash, Jake is bewildered to find one of Quaritch's men, whom he had killed, still alive and the character comments that he's back again -- suggesting that these guys can keep coming back as long as the RDA can keep making new avatars for them. This gives the series a stale feeling right out of the gate because - in my opinion - they're not strong enough villains to warrant respawning them for each film. Quaritch is not Darth Vader. Sorry, Lang. At the same time, The Way of Water migrated the Sully clan to the water culture of the Na'vi, so Cameron had a blast expanding the mythos and adding a wealth of underwater creatures. This turns the sequels into a kind of How to Train Your Tulkun, where the Na'vi are taming the whale-like creatures called Tulkun. They're neat, sure, but aren't quite as enchanting as the movies want you to believe they are.
Where Avatar: Fire and Ash gets interesting, though, is in the introduction of the Mangkwan - the "Ash" people - who have turned from their belief of the Na'vi god Eywa and have adopted a savage love of power and... well... fire and ash. Quaritch sees the dark potential in them and enlists their help to continue hunting his nemesis, Jake Sully, who poses a threat to the colonizing endeavors of the humans (via their RDA group). Varang is the new antagonist for Jake and his family, but the film still sidelines her in favor of Quaritch being the main villain, alongside the RDA who are trying to harvest the Tulkun for resources. It's very much an environmental conflict for the story. I find the Mangkwan an interesting enough new threat that it just becomes exhausting to have Quaritch and his cronies still in the mix.
Because we now have some history with the new characters from The Way of Water, Fire and Ash does benefit from this. But it also feels like a natural continuation from the previous film. Like... you could just attach the two and it'd be a relatively smooth 6-hour experience. Also, I hated the character of Spider in The Way of Water. Absolutely couldn't stand him. Fire and Ash relentlessly insists on making him integral to the story, though, and thankfully improves on his character a bit along the way. Is he still kind of annoying? Yes. But Cameron gives him more of an emotional anchor in this movie. Part of the problem has been that his character just isn't that interesting and tags along for much of these movies, but my other issue is I just don't think Jack Champion is all that great of an actor and isn't strong enough (or likeable enough) to be so important to this story. Then it's still a little weird to have the 75-year-old Sigourney Weaver voicing a 14-year-old version of herself. Sigourney stars in my favorite movie of all time, so I have no problem with her - and she's pretty good here - but it's still kind of distracting. Britain Dalton's Lo'ak is a bit of a punk kid in the second Avatar film, where he's introduced, but by this film, he's definitely growing on me, and I think Cameron gave him a bit more meat to chew on here.
I'll be honest; I know James Cameron used motion capture techniques to film these movies, but it wasn't until I watched one of the behind-the-scenes featurettes that I learned just how much of the film is digitally rendered... like, it's pretty much all of it. The entire world of Pandora is animated in a computer. There are a handful of scenes using real human actors - who also stick out like sore thumbs from their digital surroundings - but the rest of it is all filmed performances of actors in motion capture suits. (It's funny, though because the featurettes try to reassure the audience, "No, really, their FULL, REAL performance is translated to screen!" But it starts to feel more defensive than informational as they repeat it over and over.) It's really an impressive feat to be able to create this world in a computer and present it for the big screen, but when they show the rough motion capture footage side-by-side with the finished film, I do think it becomes very obvious that some of the emotion of the performance is lost in translation. It may be just me, but it never stops feeling at least a little "off," or obviously CG, the entire time I'm watching it. That doesn't mean the world isn't immersive - the box office receipts confirm that - I'm just not convinced this whole digital fantasy is really worth all the fuss.
While Fire and Ash did grab my attention a bit better than the second entry, I do feel like the last act really starts to unravel. Cameron clearly thought "bigger is better," and really just starts throwing stuff at the screen in the final hour. The climactic fisticuffs is borderline silly as characters fight on fragmented, floating pieces of land while chunks of a huge broken-up air ship casually float by in the background. Apparently "too much" was never in Cameron's vocabulary.
The content for Avatar: Fire and Ash is aligned with the previous two films. There's still an unnecessary, gratuitous use of the "F" word, over 20 uses of the "S" word, and a pretty steady stream of other profanities. (It's interesting to note, the digital release includes a family-friendly audio track that supposedly takes the profanity out. I didn't try it yet, but that is a pretty neat option you don't see very often, and I wish more films would offer it.) There is a lot of violence, some of it bloody, with the worst visual probably being a character slowly pushing an arrow through a wound in his leg. Other characters are shown stabbed with blades or impaled with arrows (usually briefly) with some blood shown. It can be a bit rough for sure. A character who literally lost their arm in the previous film, and seemed like they may have been killed in the process, is back again with a mechanical arm this time. There isn't any direct sexual content, but it's implied that Quaritch and Varang strike up an intimate relationship, and we briefly see them lying in her teepee with her leg draped over his possibly naked crotch. Also, all of the Na'vi are half-naked the entire film. We see leaves or shells or tiny strips of fabric just barely covering nipples, and most of the characters' buts are partially visible through their loin cloths. Spider, a human, for example, shows his bare torso and the sides of his butt the entire film. Finally, I should mention that there's a significant "teen suicide" scene where Lo'ak puts a gun under his chin and the camera focuses on his hand slowly gripping the trigger. He ultimately decides against it and throws the gun aside, but the moment totally surprised me, and I can see that being a sensitive moment for some viewers (although, I admit, it landed for me emotionally). Overall, this is a very PG-13 film and parents should definitely exercise caution.
Avatar: Fire and Ash feels like an unnecessary continuation to a franchise that never really needed sequels. But considering how the series has become quite the global phenomenon, my feelings on the matter could be deemed irrelevant. Fans of the first two movies will probably thoroughly enjoy this third entry (with apparently at least two more sequels already planned in the coming years), and I have to admit I may have enjoyed this one better than, at least, the last one.
- John DiBiase (reviewed: 4/9/26)
English Family Audio Track (3:17:09) - All objectionable language removed.
Igniting The Flame: The Making of Avatar: Fire and Ash Play All (2:55:40)
Jon Landau Tribue (21:40)
RDA Orientation Play All (13:39)
Marketing Materials & Music Video Play All (8:35)
Sex/Nudity: Spider, a human teen boy, is seen in a loin cloth for most of the movie. So we see the sides of his bare butt and hip for most of the film; Many of the Na'vi womens' chests are just barely covered by leaves, shells and strips of cloth. While we don't see explicit nudity, there isn't much left to the imagination; Neytiri is topless as Ronal tends to her wound, but no explicit nudity is seen; Varang says "we do not suck on the breast of weakness"; Varang leads Quaritch by the hand to her teepee; In a later scene, we see Varang lying with Quaritch and her leg blocks any of his nudity.
Vulgarity/Language:
1 "F" word, 23 "S" words, 1 "*ss*h*le," 4 "a" words, 3 "b*tch," 2 "b*stard," 2 sucks, 3 "d*mn," 2 "Oh G-d," 13 "cr*p," 1 "h*ll," 1 "pr*cks," 1 "jack*ss," 1 "j*rkoffs"; 1 "p*ss," Spider flips the middle finger.
Alcohol/Drugs: Jake appears to be drinking something like alcohol from a pitcher. Neytiri takes it away from him; Varang shoots a powdered hallucinogen up Quaritch's nose and he starts seeing hallucinations.
Blood/Gore: Jake has some small stitched cuts on his face; Spider has a stitched wound across his chest (from a wound he endured in the second film); A Mangkwan raider is hit with an arrow and we see a tiny bit of blood around the wound as they fall; Neytiri's shoulder is impaled by an arrow, we see some blood around the wound. She then breaks off the part sticking out the front; An Ikran crashes is hit with an arrow and we see blood on its body; A dead Mangkwan is seen with bloody bullet holes in its body; Varang cuts a bullet out of the dead Mangkwan (we don't see that act), and she holds the bloody bullet up with blood on her fingertips; We see some dead, bloodied Mangkwans on the ground; Neytiri has some blood on her arm and half an arrow sticking out of her back; A Mangkwan's arm is cut to draw blood during a Mangkwan ritual; Neytiri has a bloody bandage on her chest from the arrow wound; Neytiri has some bloody scrapes on her face; There's blood on top of a Tulkun after it's impaled with spears; Neytiri washes blood off her hands and face in a stream; Varang slices Quaritch's bare chest and it drips blood. She then touches it and tastes it to her lips; The camera focuses on a needle going into Spider's arm; Lo'ak stabs a Tsyong in the eye and we see some blood; We see a little blood as Lo'ak stabs more Tsyong and then he cuts off some of their tentacles when they trap him; Lo'ak has a little blood on his arm after being attacked by Tsyong; We see a scarred Tulkun missing an eye and with harpoons sticking out of it; We see a Mangkwan cutting open a dead animal with a knife; We see a cave filled with bones from dead creatures; A character's leg is impaled with an arrow. We see it sticking out with blood around it; We see blood around a knife/blade sticking out of a character's chest; We see a character slowly push an arrow through the wound on their leg, with some blood (it's gross); A Tulkun's face has some bloody bullet holes in it; A man has a bloody scratch on his bare arm; Neytiri has some blood on her face; Spider has some blood on his face and shoulder; An arrow impales a man's arm and he pulls it out; The camera briefly focuses on a bloody wound on a man's arm; Jake has a lot of blood on his face.
Violence: Spider's mask fails and he briefly struggles suffocating before they replace his mask; Mangkwan raiders attack them, flying around and shooting arrows at the other Na'vi; A Mangkwan is hit in the chest with an arrow; An Ikran is hit with arrows and falls; A man fights with a spear and stabs a Mangkwan raider; Spider hits a Mangkwan in the neck with an arrow and then again and they fight, but the raider is hit in the back and subdued; Sully shoots some Mangkwan raiders dead; A suicide raider is caught on fire and flies into a balloon that then catches on fire as Sully runs away from the growing flame; Neytiri is hit in the shoulder with an arrow and breaks off the piece sticking out the front; A flaming ship dramatically crashes in the forest with characters flying off of it; An Ikran is hit with an arrow and crashes into the forest, with characters falling off of it; Mangkwan cut the kuru (hair / tails) off of their Na'vi victims; Lo'ak shoots some raiders that chase them; A soldier kicks and hits Jake; The Sully kids are ambushed by the Mangkwan with flaming arrows. They hit them and subdue them; Varang slaps Spider in the face and pulls his hair; Jake sneaks up and stabs a Mangkwan in the back, then fights off several Mangkwans and impales one with an arrow. Quaritch shoots a Mangkwan and takes Varang by the hair; A Mangkwan sneaks up on another solider and hits him; Jake is hit several times by Mangkwans; Varang practices shooting a machine gun by filling large forest eggs with rounds of bullets; Kiri uses her mind (via her kuru) to make a plant shoot spikes into several Mangkwan; Kiri has a seizure after getting connected to Eywa; The whaling crew spear another large Tulkun (whale); Lo'ak puts a gun under his chin and starts to press down on the trigger, then throws the gun away; The RDA burn a village and strike the villagers; The Mangkwan strike and subdue Quaritch; A sniper takes out a Mangkwan; Varang lights her fingertips on fire; Varang slices Quaritch's bare chest and it drips blood. She then touches it and tastes it; Varang tests out a flamethrower and lights her peoples' tents on fire; Mangkwan chase Kiri and Spider. Spider is grabbed by Quaritch and Varang connects her kuru to his to cause him pain; A ship douses a village in flames; An arrow is fired and lands at Quaritch's feet; They forcefully restrain Spider and force a tube down his throat; Tsyong chase and attack Lo'ak; Lo'ak stabs more Tsyong and then he cuts off some of their tentacles when they trap him; Spider angrily hits a chair against a window; We see a Mangkwan cutting open a dead animal with a knife; Neytiri kills some Mangkwan with arrows; Neytiri threatens to cut Varang's kuru off. Quaritch then shoots at her; Neytiri is chased through the air while riding her Ikran and she strikes some Mangkwan as she flees, being shot at; A large explosion happens at the RDA base. Neytiri fires again, causing another explosion; A flying chase ensues with Neytiri being shot at with guns; A huge vehicle crushes a large screen and then breaks a prison box. Soldiers shoot at it. It causes lots of debris. A tower falls causing a big explosion; A jet fires on characters; Neytiri fires an arrow into a jet, causing it to crash and explode; A character threatens to sacrifice a character with a knife, holding it to their throat, but does not do it; Tulkun attack the large whaling ships, tossing people into the air, crushing equipment and flooding the ships. A Na'vi aerial attack on Ikran take down many ships, with humans being impaled by spears and arrows. A Tulkun smashes an underwater sub, some humans drown in their subs, a Tulkun is hit with a missile, an air ship crashes into another one, etc; The Mangkwan swoop in to attack with rocket launchers and machine guns, taking out many Ikran and their riders - there are lots of explosions; Lo'ak, riding a Tulkun, shoots some RDA guys on a ship with a rifle; Submarines shoot a Na'vi and many Tulkun; An explosion throws several key characters underwater; Varang shoots fire at another rider; A character takes a blade to their shoulder; More Tulkun are hit by explosions; A rider and their Ikran crash into the side of a mountain and fall to the water below; An Ikran and rider crawl injured out of the water; A character dies after giving birth; A knife is held to a little kid's throat; A woman's hair is pulled; Varang connects to a Na'vi's kuru and torments them; Creatutes attack submarines and destroy them, then jump out of the water onto boats and pull men underwater; Ikran attack people and other birds and kill them; A ship crashes into another ship causing a big explosion; A Tulkun bites a man and takes him down to the depths; Jake stabs and shoots some guys; Lo'ak shoots some bad guys; A character nearly stabs another but a third character steps in and connects kuru's, distracting the attacker; A large ship is pulled into a vortex and torn apart; An arrow impales a man's arm and he pulls it out; Two characters have a fist fight and fall and tumble as they do; A man jumps off a cliff into a fiery abyss, presumably dying; and other sci-fi action violence.
Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer's opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer's overall rating.
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