Jake and Neytiri’s family grapples with grief after Neteyam’s death, 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.
Growing up in Dublin during the 1970s and 1980s, I had one ambition: to become a filmmaker. My early inspirations were Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, but in 1984, James Cameron joined that list. After “The Terminator” debuted, I was eager to see what Cameron would do next. He didn’t disappoint. Films like “Aliens,” “The Abyss,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” and “True Lies” cemented his reputation; among these, “The Abyss” remains my favorite. Although Cameron won the Academy Award for Best Director with “Titanic,” he took a lengthy break from feature films before returning in 2009 with “Avatar.” At the time, I recall the notable hype around its 3D technology, which did impress on a technical level, but the film itself failed to reach the heights of his previous work—at least initially. Over time, repeated viewings of “Avatar” allowed me to better appreciate its technical achievements, yet it never surpassed his earlier films in my estimation.
After thirteen years, Cameron returned with “Avatar: The Way of Water.” I expected the delay to dampen enthusiasm and predicted box-office disappointment. To my surprise, the film grossed over $2.3 billion worldwide, proving the audience was still very much engaged. I actually found “The Way of Water” to be an improvement over its predecessor, with more developed characters and a richer narrative, alongside even more ambitious visual effects. Now, with “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the third entry in an intended five-film series, I find myself disappointed. Not only do I consider it the weakest installment in the AVATAR saga, but also the least compelling film in Cameron’s entire career. I had admired the second film’s introduction of the Metkayina, an ocean-dwelling Na’vi clan with remarkable aquatic abilities. Their physical adaptations and culture enriched the world of Pandora.
When the “Fire and Ash” trailer suggested yet another new tribe, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the Mangkwan Clan, while new to the series, are positioned not as a vibrant addition to the mythology but as a technologically advanced, embittered group that turned away from Eywa, Pandora’s spiritual force, after a volcanic disaster. The Mangkwan Clan represents a darker, more vengeful direction, one focused on power at the expense of tradition and harmony. The title underscores this, with “Fire” symbolizing destruction and violence and “Ash” signifying loss and trauma—threaded through not only the Mangkwan Clan’s experience but also the grief still haunting Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) after the loss of their eldest son, Neteyam. Neytiri, overcome by vengeance, struggles to move forward, while Jake tries to keep their family—Lo’ak, Tuktirey, Kiri, and Spider—together.
The film essentially feels like a transitional entry, as if marking time until the final chapters. Jake and his family are caught between confronting the Mangkwan Clan and once again facing their nemesis, Quaritch (Stephen Lang). The relationship between Spider and Quaritch, left unresolved at the end of “The Way of Water,” remains complicated, with Spider saving Quaritch yet rejecting him as a father.
Visually, the film remains as impressive as one expects from Cameron, with flawless digital effects and imaginative settings. Unfortunately, the narrative and characters are neglected in favor of overt thematic repetition. The film repeatedly draws attention—sometimes unsubtly—to humanity’s destructiveness and its relentless drive for dominance, revisiting allegories about colonialism and environmental devastation already covered in the prior films. While these themes remain relevant, the formula now feels stale. Rather than offering a fresh perspective, the script leans heavily on familiar tropes about villainous corporations viewing Pandora as nothing more than a resource to be exploited, reducing the Na’vi to obstacles to be eliminated. As someone largely sympathetic to Cameron’s worldview, I nonetheless find myself wishing for less overt messaging and a renewed emphasis on cinematic storytelling and discovery.
Cameron’s dialogue has rarely been his strong suit, but here, it reaches new levels of awkwardness. Grand speeches meant to rouse the clans come across as generic, lacking originality or dramatic weight. The quieter moments—particularly between Jake and Neytiri as they try to cope with grief and the tension between Neytiri and Spider—are undermined by dialogue that fails to capture genuine emotion. There’s a particular scene near the end, meant to be a pivotal moment of sacrifice, that unfolds with such abruptness and artificiality, it feels more confusing than moving.
While “Avatar: Fire and Ash” continues the series’ tradition of visual splendor, its narrative shortcomings are hard to ignore. Of all of Cameron’s films, this is the one I found least compelling. The abrupt ending only heightened that sense of disappointment. Though I thought this might be the conclusion of the franchise, “Avatar 4” and “5” are already on the horizon. At a lengthy three hours and fifteen minutes without an intermission, I recommend planning your schedule—and your bathroom breaks—accordingly.
In Theaters Friday, December 19th
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