Avatar: Fire & Ash (2025)

Film Details

Director: James Cameron

Run Time: 3hr 17m

Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver, Oona Chaplin, Jack Champion, Britain Dalton

Synopsis

The conflict on Pandora escalates further as the Sully family encounter a new, barbaric tribe of Na’Vi

My Review

James Cameron’s immersive world of Pandora returns and it feels great to be back, with the directors long term vision now paying dividends as we witness such strong development for all of its key characters. The motion capture and CGI was impeccable, illustrating a level of realism that most modern blockbusters can only dream of. The IMAX quality enhanced that further, with close ups that looked so detailed that you found yourself forgetting this was a fictional fantasy and not a secret alien race that only Cameron himself had access to! We’re then given an opportunity to explore this world further, with new tribes of Na’Vi, new wildlife and even a deeper insight into Eywa and the complex connections she can have with ALL beings on the planet. It’s why I find claims of ‘regurgitated stories’ as a criticism pretty lazy because not only is the world building being developed further in every film but all of the characters have also had such incredible arcs, we’re seeing layers of maturity, grief, hope and anguish unfold in front of our very eyes.

Now I will say that some of the action can feel repetitive, but in my mind it makes sense, colonisation on that scale cannot be fort against across a single film, it lasts decades and that is what Cameron is capturing in this first trilogy. The introduction of the fire tribe was an excellent way to inject some freshness into the franchise, creating one of the best rivalries between Varang (the leader) and Neytiri, which was electric every time they shared a scene. It also provided a really interesting dynamic to Quaritch’s character, who has such an intriguing arc in this film. There is still so many questions to be answered, parts of the world to be explored and I hope Cameron decides to stick with it for another trilogy if he can because I’ll be front and centre! Often fantasy such as this tends to have a generic good vs evil narrative, simplistic at its core, Avatar is no different but it’s visual effects, world building and it’s very human subtext exploring family dynamics, environmental damage, racism and war, provides a depth that make these some of my favourite films!

My Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Thanks for reading.

Film Review Club