In Avatar: Fire and Ash, the Avatar story arc continues with a new Na’vi villainess adding her ruthless and lusty ways to the already overstuffed mix. The 3D visuals are incredible, but family viewers will have to endure a larger load of deadly destruction, foul language, dense Mother-Goddess worship and an added swipe of sensuality.
Things are in turmoil on the world of Pandora.
Human invaders haven’t, as some had hoped, left Pandora after their massive defeat at the hands of the native Na’vi. If anything, they’ve redoubled their marauding efforts. And the human Resource Development Administration (RDA)—a powerful, profit-driven corporation from Earth—has come back with bigger money-making goals and bigger armaments.
In fact, the RDA has trained its sights on something new: an anti-aging liquid that can be obtained from the brains of a whale-like Pandoran creature called a Tulkun. The fact that the Tulkun also happen to be highly intelligent, sentient beings with their own language, culture, music and poetry is … unfortunate from the humans’ point of view. I mean, the Tulkun do have to be deceased in order to drain the fluid. But that sort of uncomfortable detail has never stopped the march of human progress in the past.
So with an up-coming gathering of the Tulkun, the RDA is rubbing its collective hands together in hope of a massive, uh, harvest.
In the meantime, Jake Sully—the former paraplegic human marine who inhabited a cloned Na’vi and eventually became a warrior, clan leader, Na’vi husband and father—is dealing with his own problems. He, Neytiri (his Na’vi wife) and their children are still reeling from the loss of son and brother, Neteyam. The young Na’vi was killed at the command of the RDA.
Oh, but that’s not Jake and Neytiri’s, only concern. Their adopted human son, Spider, is struggling to live among his Na’vi family. Humans can’t breathe the Pandoran atmosphere. And if his oxygen mask’s battery runs out at the wrong time, he will die. Jake’s family doesn’t think it’s safe for Spider to stay with them. So they make an arrangement with the Na’vi Tlalim Clan, the Wind Traders, to transport him to safety.
Oh, but then there’s also the ever-present threat from Spider’s biological father: Colonel Miles Quaritch. He had previously died at Neytiri’s hand, but a digital copy of his consciousness was imprinted on yet another Na’vi clone. And not only does he want to get his hands on Spider, he wants to kill Jake and Jake’s whole family in the process.
But wait, there’s yet another danger present in the world of Pandora: The Na’vi are fighting amongst themselves. The Mangkwan Clan, also known as the Ash People, are warring against … well, everybody. Their leader, Varang, is ruthless, lustful and ready to consume or burn down anything she might lay her sights on.
Yep, there’s a lot of turmoil in the Pandoran mix.
Early on, Jake recognizes Neytiri’s suffering. He attempts to comfort her: “You have your family, and you have me. And I love you so much,” he tells her. “This family is our fortress.” And in that spirit, both Jake and Neytiri fight for their family and step forward to sacrifice themselves for the people they love.
Unexpectedly, Quaritch also seems to be impacted by parental feelings for his biological son, Spider. We see him struggle with those emotions. “I’m here for you,” Quaritch tells Spider. “If you need me, I’m here for you.” Quaritch later tells the boy that he’s proud of him.
Spider rejects Quaritch’s overtures, but Jake notices the change, and he tells the now Na’vi Quaritch that he can push past the destructive traits and actions of the human he used to be. Those are “a dead man’s memories. You are free,” Jake declares. He also tells Quaritch, “You’ve got new eyes, Colonel. All you gotta do is open them.”
After a wounded mother gives birth, Neytiri tells the dying mother that she will protect the child.
Eywa is referenced and “connected” with repeatedly in this film. And like the other two films in the series, this deity is defined as a biological, guiding Mother Goddess who sits at the core of the Na’vi system of faith. She’s something of a living “network” of Pandora: storing history, defending the ecosystem and allowing for deep spiritual bonding, much like a natural, planetary supercomputer. In fact, all Na’vi souls are believed to return and reconnect with Eywa after death.
We see several Na’vi praying, singing and chanting mantras dedicated to Eywa in the course of this film. Neytiri declares, “All I have is my faith. This is the Great Mother’s plan.”
Kiri, Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter, has a deep mystical connection to the deity. Kiri was born from Dr. Grace Augustine’s avatar body (in a previous film) in something of a virgin-birth-like moment attributed to Eywa.
That’s not the only seemingly biblical tip of the hat in this film. After repeatedly trying to force Eywa to magically do her bidding, for instance, Kiri is violently rebuffed by painful physical spasms. And that rejection seems like a parallel to a scriptural story: God’s punishment of a disobedient Moses.
And in a dire, Abraham-and-Isaac-like moment, Jake decides he must sacrifice someone very dear to him for the sake of the Na’vi. “Do you still love me?” the potential sacrifice asks him. “With all my heart,” Jake replies as he moves to kill his victim. But like the biblical story, Jake’s hand is stopped at the last moment.
All of that said, however, none of these allusions seem designed to point viewers back to their scriptural source so much as just being good story beats that the scriptwriters could co-opt.
Eywa does more than reject Kiri’s attempts to control her. She answers requests and sends some Pandoran creatures to battle human foes, for instance. Kiri places a wood sprite in Spider’s mouth, and Eywa causes tendrils to spread throughout his lungs, giving him the ability to breathe Pandora’s air. And we actually see Eywa’s oversized face in a vision when Kiri connects with her.
Near the movie’s end, it’s noted that, “We are all connect with the Great Mother who holds all her children in her heart.” And we see images of humans and Na’vi ancestors together in a spirit world.
Spider and Kiri become closer throughout the course of Fire and Ash, and they kiss. Jake embraces and kisses Neytiri.
But the film also takes an unexpected, sensual turn at one point. Varang, the Mangkwan Clan leader, covers her tall, lean body in little more than small strips of cloth. She makes it plain to everyone around her that she will take what she wants when she wants it.
When Quaritch approaches Varang for help to seek out Jake, the two instantly hit it off. He delivers the weapons and power she longs for, and she looks at him lustfully. She cuts his chest with a knife and licks blood from the wound. She then declares, “I will keep you to pleasure me.” Varang seductively leads him into her tent while her clansmen hoot and shoot guns into the air. Then we see Quaritch and Varang, their bodies entwined and barely covered in bed after a night together.
Varang’s clan dances around a roaring fire, many unclothed. Neytiri is also badly wounded and we see someone working on the wound while she sits topless.
For all of the screentime this film invests in admiring the lush and graphicly dynamic beauty of Pandora and its environs, it takes even more time to destroy it in loud and destructive ways. As with the prior two films, Fire and Ash is predominantly a war pic that builds to the point of an immense, protracted battle.
The PG-13 rating reins in some of the potential gore here—though there’s still quite a bit of bloody spatter—but there’s no reining in the percussive gunfire and explosions; the flesh-ripping arrows, knife stabs and axe slashes; the crushed Na’vi and bullet-riddled creatures; and the many, many deaths of humans. There are massive bursts of fire that consume groups of foes. Ships are battered by gigantic Tulkun. And various machines and vehicles explode, sometimes killing or injuring others in the process.
Those Tulkin, by the way, are a key element to the destruction on screen. At first, these intelligent creatures—the size of a seagoing frigate or small destroyer—refuse to struggle against the murderous humans, stating that any show of violence will only beget more violence. But then they discover a living but butchered and blind member of their clan. They realize that humans are planning a total massacre of their kind, and they decide to rise up. And the resulting sea battle, combined with attacks from other razor-toothed sea creatures, is devastating.
On a more intimate level, we see battles between Na’vi clans riding on flying and seagoing creatures. Characters are impaled by spears. Some are shot in the throat or chest by arrows. And wounded battlers crash to the ground. There are also gun battles. The Na’vi Water Clan refuses to use forbidden metal weapons, but the Mangkwan and others have no such compunctions. Neytiri uses arrows tipped with explosive shells that crumple flying foes into crashing balls of fire.
Animal carcasses float in the water with pools of red spreading around them. Na’vi teens are chased, shot at and then pounded to the ground. Jake is captured and threatened by a firing squad. Someone cuts a bullet out of their own body. Spider struggles for air and almost dies. An angry and hurt teenage Na’vi holds a gun to his own chin, contemplating suicide. Quaritch tortures a Na’vi for information. Varang sometimes psychically links with foes to mentally torment them. People are held captive with knives to their throats.
This film is peppered with a surprising amount of foul language. There’s a single f-word and some 20 s-words, along with multiple uses of “a–,” “a–hole,” “d–n,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “p-ss” and “jacka–.”
Someone uses an offensive hand gesture.
Jake drinks an alcoholic beverage. Varang blows some sort of powdered drug into Quaritch’s nostril (something we witness her do with fellow clansmen), and we see the man’s brightly hued drug trip.
Early on in the film, Neytiri is consumed with grief over her lost son. And she’s also willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family—even potentially commit murder. Jake warns her about the emotional payment for “living in this hate.” But in his own anger, Jake blames his youngest son for causing Neteyam’s death.
Because Spider is physically transformed by Eywa, the RDA scientists capture him and put him through a series of invasive tests in an attempt to duplicate the process.
A number of directors have experimented through the years with filming their movies at a higher frame rate to enhance visual clarity and reduce the choppiness of action scenes. But viewer’s reactions to such experiments have generally been mixed; many declare that the films lack the cinematic feel associated with a typical 24-fps approach.
Director James Cameron’s boosted frames-per-second magic, however, is one of the high points of Avatar: Fire and Ash. Because of this film’s mostly motion-capture and CG-created visuals, the director is able to give his movie a hyper realistic, almost video game-like polish. Cameron’s world-building is impressive. But his 3D film images are, frankly, more vivid and dynamic than anything put to screen so far.
I take time to detail all of that because, well, I think that’s the best that Cameron’s latest has to offer family viewers.
There are some expected heroes-fighting-bravely-for-others and family-fighting-for-family moments here. But to put it bluntly, Avatar: Fire and Ash is, by and large, an overpacked 3.25 hours of little more than … more.
There are more characters—a flood of former cast members blended with a score or two of fresh faces and alien names you won’t remember. There’s an increase of bloodlust, thanks to a new Na’vi villainess (who joins ranks with the already bloodthirsty Colonel Miles Quaritch). There’s a bigger and more bombastic human attack, loaded with more powerful weaponry and deadlier mechs. And all those elements open the door to a much, much bigger onslaught of arrows to the heart, knives to the jugular, explosions and destruction.
Oh, but I’m only getting started.
If you’ve been a bit uncomfortable with underdressed Na’vi in past films, be ready to see a whole lot more bare blue skin this go ‘round. The barely clad Na’vi villainess, Varang, also gets very “pleasure” focused with the Na’vi version of Quaritch (a lustful tack we haven’t seen in prior Avatar movies). We get more interactions with the Na’vi’s Gaianistic spirituality and nature worship. And Cameron doesn’t skimp in the foul language department either, making sure that the rat-a-tat-tat of profanity keeps up with the bim-bam-boom of deadliness.
Phew!
That lengthy list of more is all crammed into a movie template that feels a bit confusing and, at the same time, very similar to the formulaic story beats we’ve watched before.
So take this review as you will. But if you’re thinking about heading to the theater in expectation of a great, family-friendly visual showcase, you may get a lot more (and a lot less) than you’re expecting.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
