Rating of
3/4
Less Filling; Looks Great
Chris Kavan - wrote on 01/17/26
James Cameron's five-film epic plan gets to the third entry and, while still visually stunning and full of the same action/adventure - I can't help but feel it's also hitting a plateau. The story this time just feels a little bit too familiar and despite a fun, new villain in Oona Chaplin's manic fire clan leader Varang - the film plays a lot like the second: family gets split up, Quaritch (Stephen Lang) chasing them, humans being complete scum (aside from the few with seemingly the only conscience left), Sully (Sam Worthington) once again being a reluctant leader, family-family-family, teen Sigourney Weaver Kiri being all mystic and stuff and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) being a badass.
Surprisingly, however, it's Jack Champion's Spider - the one human amongst the Na'vi, who gets the best arc going from nearly dying to the key to unlocking, well, everything after Kiri does her thing and somehow bonds him with Pandora. This means not only can he breath the air - but also gets one of those neat tentacle things that lets him connect directly with Eywa. This also means that he becomes a target for Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) who sees him as the key to finally letting humans overcome the dangers of Pandora and colonizing the hell out of it. We also follow Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) is still reeling from the death of his brother as he bristles at much of the ceremony that surrounds the whale-like Tulkun - but this rebellious steak comes in handy towards the end of the film.
As in the second film, most of this one is just getting the family back together from prison breaks to trade caravan ambushes to a massive air and sea battle - almost everyone faces various showdowns/standoffs/rescues and must also face their own demons. Neytiri has a hateful view of humans - and finds it hard to care much for Spider. Likewise Quaritch cares much for Spider but goes full native when he meets Varang and finally decides maybe he doesn't have to taker orders from on high - that would be General Ardmore (Edie Falco) and goes rogue. Sully must once again take on the mantel of a true leader, uniting the clans, calling again on Toruk to ride into battle. Kiri must figure out a way to reconnect with Eywa as she consistently suffers seizures the longer she stays connected.
And yet for all these individual journeys the film still feels like it's really just spinning its wheels. But at least those wheels are fully blinged out. Cameron is nothing if not consistent and Fire and Ash is another knockout visually-stunning treat. The final battle is breathtaking and there are plenty of other set pieces - in air and underwater - that still manage to take your breath away. I'm still interested to see where this is all heading and given that Fire and Ash still made a lot of money, we're going to surely make it to the end at this point. I just hope the fourth film pushes things along rather than tread water.
