WARNING, SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD!!!
I know, since its release, whether or not you’ve seen it yet, nothing I say is going to stop you from watching AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH if you’re into it. That said, I did find it funny, watching the movie, that I couldn’t stop thinking about BLADE RUNNER 2049.
If you’re a cinephile, and sci-fi at that, you might’ve thought it sacrilegious to make a sequel to BLADE RUNNER. But that said, I personally thought the movie was excellent! Fantastic sci-fi and one of many great movies from Denis Villeneuve.
If you didn’t know, when 2049 was released a lot of audiences called it long, poor pacing, and a number of other things. I found it funny thinking about the movie because those were the immediate thoughts I had about FIRE AND ASH. It was long, and I don’t mind a long movie, but this was noticeably long, and the pacing was definitely inconsistent, if not overall slow.
Don’t get me wrong, I thought FIRE AND ASH was visually stunning and immersive experience, especially if you’re seeing it in 3D. And there were wonderful nuggets on family, overcoming racism, building community… I could go on. But it feels like James Cameron went full Zack Snyder/REBEL MOON and put more focus on world building than telling a tight story, and all those bits that could’ve been something special and memorable for the movie get lost.
Not to pile on this, but we also didn’t get a lot about the Ash People, the new Na’vi tribe in FIRE AND ASH. I mean, in THE WAY OF WATER we got a lot of exposition into the water tribe. But not so much here. Which, again, is funny given what feels like high level of world building Cameron put into this installment. And leaving FIRE AND ASH, I honestly felt like I watched THE WAY OF WATER all over again.
I mean, in the first movie, we had the humans invading Pandora for Unobtanium, the second, after the humans were expelled in the first, they come back, but not for the Unobtanium, but for something new, Amrita, which is a brain fluid in the Tulkun, a whale-like species on Pandora. And like the first, humans back to plunder and face off against the Na’vi.
As for this latest movie, the humans are back again, not after a ANOTHER element, but for the Amrita again, and facing off against the Na’vi, AGAIN. For another big battle over the water. Which, again, felt like I was watching a new take on THE WAY OF WATER.
At the end of the day, FIRE AND ASH, as beautiful as it was, it just felt repetitive. But it’s made $1B+ in 18 days, so what do I know? Haha.
But like I said, it’s a great experience. And if you got the coin for 3D it’s a fun time in theatres. I just wouldn’t expect anything new.
