'Avatar: Fire And Ash' Movie Review: James Cameron's magnum opus isn't as spectacular as the first two films but still satisfying

Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang

Director: James Cameron

Language: English

James Cameron is a man driven by meticulousness. Don’t just be swayed by the grandeur and ambition of his films but also be swayed by the way he crafts his opuses. He made the heartbreaking and walloping blockbuster Titanic in 1997 and then didn’t make a film for more than a decade. There was no social media back then so not too many people knew the reason for his surprising disappearance. The man immersed himself into making what would later be called as one of the most breathtaking films in cinema history- Avatar. The first film came out in 2009. We were in December. The next one came out 13 years later. We were still in December. And part three drops this Friday. And it’s still December.

If those marveling Harry Potter movies are the summer franchises of Hollywood, Cameron wishes to seduce his fans and critics with his Avatar juggernauts towards the end of the year. When we witnessed the gobsmacking life on Pandora for the first time, it was nothing less than collective hysteria. Nobody has seen such scale and vision. The fusion of audacity and imagination resulted in an intoxicating experience that fruited historic commercial and critical results. And we were in awe with the sequel too. But how much imagination is too much imagination? Can a filmmaker of Cameron’s stature too reek of indulgence? When does that fine line of imagination and indulgence begin to blur?

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The good news is that the third film in the franchise, called Avatar: Fire and Ash, attempts to dig deeper into the world of the Na’vi people. Pandora has bigger conflicts to battle, both inner and external. The Na’vi are no less than humans. They too get bruised, battle their way as life happens, and what connects the family together is the kind of bond we usually see in the good old tearjerkers. No matter how evolved the landscape of cinema is in terms of technology and scale, the emotional turf always remains the same. The biggest hurdle for the Pandoras this time is the seductive and smoldering Varang (Oona Chaplin), the Na’vi leader of the volcano-dwelling Mangkwan clan. She gets an impressively staged introduction scene where she effortlessly establishes her joy of seeing destruction and mayhem.

We also get moments of humor laced with precision. Spider, the outsider in this gargantuan world, finally begins to breathe without his mask. This tender moment comes right after he’s asked to leave what he felt was his own. But there’s a minor problem. Since this is our third time seeing these spectacularly crafted species, the novelty and adrenaline rush seems to be fading away. And the first half feels like a slow burn. Cameron knows it too. He forces you to be seated right till the last moment. There could be a litany of complaints and one second of exhilaration to put you back right there. And this is far from over. Cameron has two more movies right up his sleeves.

This is a dazzling and daring dream that took more than a decade to witness its fruition. The man has made a legacy out of fearlessness. He revels in dazzling his audience with destruction. Look at his Titanic, look at the Terminator movie. The concoction of skillful visuals and visceral energy results in a heady cocktail that continues to keep you intoxicated for a long time. Avatar: Fire And Ash does pale in comparison to the last two films of the franchise, and the filmmaker’s previous films too, but since we are only in the middle of the dream he has seen, let’s first wait too see how it all ends. The internet says part five comes out in 2031. So if this franchise was worth going all ballsy is an answer we all have to wait for, even if it means going through fire and ash.

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

Avatar: Fire And Ash releases in cinemas this Friday