Shadows on the Wall | Avatar: Fire and Ash

Avatar: Fire and Ash

dir James Cameron
prd James Cameron, Jon Landau
scr James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
with Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Jack Champion, Britain Dalton, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, David Thewlis, Brendan Cowell, Joel David Moore
release US/UK 19.Dec.25
25/New Zealand 20th Century 3h12

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While this epic sequel holds the attention with eye-catching, massive-scale visuals, it's also somewhat exhausting as the film spirals through a series of battles, attacks and counter-attacks, furthering the saga of humans colonising the planet Pandora. James Cameron reveals stunning advances in performance-capture technology, as terrific details bring the characters to life. But aside from a few personal journeys, the plot never feels like it goes somewhere new.

After the water village is attacked by the fire people, led by the villainous Verang (Chaplin), Jake (Worthington), Neytiri (Saldana) and their assembled family need to leave. Their son Lo'ak (Dalton) is struggling after his brother's death, and sister Kiri (Weaver) is grappling with her unusual connection to the planet. Meanwhile, adopted human brother Spider (Champion) becomes a pawn in the ongoing grudge match between Jake and Quaritch (Lang), who makes an alliance with Verang. Amid all of this, General Ardmore (Falco) is still determined to kill the giant sentient sea tulkun for their serum.

Most character motivations feel painfully simplified, especially Verang and her ash-covered warriors, who simply seem angry because they live in a dusty desert surrounded by voodoo-like artefacts. Quaritch is just as venomous in his need to inflict pain on Jake, so when he pauses for thought it feels almost comical. And then there's Ardmore ignoring the horrified biologist (Clement) as she sets out to massacre the tulkun at their sacred gathering. The plot essentially just connects the increasingly violent clashes.

Performances are very strong, especially from actors playing the tall Na'vi characters, as their smallest movements are captured in dazzling 3D. This creates a vivid sense of their physicality, connected with their emotional inner lives. Along with the fire people, we also meet a tribe of wind traders who navigate the skies and will presumably feature in further adventures. And it's great to see Champion so charismatically hold his own as the only human on-screen for much of the movie.

All of this is watchable simply because it continually grabs attention, either with a moment of emotional resonance, dark drama that punches larger themes or yet another spectacularly nail-biting action sequence combining air, land and sea. But because of the cyclical narrative, it does begin to feel like the movie is never going anywhere. Thankfully it eventually finds a stopping point, and while it doesn't feel like the overall saga has moved very far, the surviving characters are in very different places.

themes, language, violence 1.Dec.25

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