US EditionReview: New ‘Avatar’ Is Long, Gorgeous and Gripping Throughout
James Cameron’s third Avatar film advances visual effects and 3D immersion but struggles emotionally, focusing on family grief and escalating conflicts with anti-Eywa forces.
- On Friday, Dec. 19, 20th Century Studios releases James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash, the saga's third installment, and the review finds dazzling visuals but a buried, emotionally thin story.
- Cameron, who originally conceived the sequels as one film, shows Fire and Ash picking up almost immediately after The Way of Water, reflecting his nearly three decades on Pandora.
- Visually, the film stages flying banshee fights, bioluminescent forests and tulkun encounters amid densely staged action, while motion-capture technology looks more lifelike and colors leap off the screen.
- Millions of moviegoers will likely attend for the spectacle, as the film’s PG-13 rating and 3 hours, 17 minutes runtime emphasize its theatrical exhibition.
- The franchise remains dominant but creatively strained, with three films and over nine hours into the saga, while Cameron's recurring themes persist and generative AI fails to evoke emotion, the review finds.
42 Articles
42 Articles
The West Australian
PerthNowAvatar Fire and Ash: Weakest franchise entry yet?
Always leave ‘em wanting more. Whether you attribute this old showbiz adage to PT Barnum or Walt Disney, James Cameron would’ve been wise to heed it when it came to Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Catching up with James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’-verse
Is it safe to say that until James Cameron went into ecological science fiction/fantasy with his landmark 2009 blockbuster, few had a clue what “avatar” meant? That changed with “Avatar,” his immersion into Pandora, a planet populated by the Na’vi, a blue-hued race fighting for their survival against invasive, destructive Western military machinery keen to strip their world of its natural resources. Now, many on planet Earth know about avatars. …
York Dispatch
'Avatar: Fire and Ash' a welcome return to James Cameron's Pandora
There is function to the bloated running time — by the time the big climatic battle is crashing around us, you care so deeply about these characters.
'Avatar: Fire and Ash' cast: See the returning favorites (and new Na'vi) bringing the heat to Pandora
Newcomers include Oona Chaplin and David Thewlis.20th Century Studios Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) in 'Avatar: Fire and Ash'Key PointsAvatar: Fire & Ash hits theaters on Friday, Dec. 19.Joining the Avatar universe are Games of Thrones alum Oona Chaplin and Harry Potter star David Thewlis.Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang are among the returning cast members.Avatar: Fire and Ash continues J…
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