Oona Chaplin in 'Avatar: Fire and Ash.' Courtesy of 20th Century Studios Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment If the title One Battle After Another weren't already taken, it might be a tidy fit for the third installment of James Cameron's sprawling "Blue Man Group" sci-fi adventure, Avatar: Fire and Ash. Yes, the movie offers gargantuan-scale spectacle, imposing technological wizardry and virtually nonstop action involving over-qualified and mostly unrecognizable actors in motion-capture suits. But it's easily the most repetitious entry in the big-screen series, with a been-there, bought-the-T-shirt fatigue that's hard to ignore. That leaves way too much time over the movie's ass-numbing three-and-a-quarter hours to wince at the risible dialogue coming from the mouths of Na'vi folk on the distant moon, Pandora. Or to stew in envy over their absence of body fat. Related Stories Movies 'Goodbye June' Review: Kate Winslet's Directorial Debut Is a Netflix Tearjerker Redeemed by a Stellar Ensemble Movies 'Awards Chatter' Pod: Miley Cyrus on Her 'Avatar' Original Tune "Dream As One," Wanting to Do a Bond Song and 20 Years of 'Hannah Montana' Avatar: Fire and Ash The Bottom Line Enough with the Modigliani Smurfs already. Release date: Friday, Dec. 19Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, David Thewlis, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, Britain Dalton, Jamie Flatters, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion, Brendan Cowell, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans Jr.
Director: James CameronScreenwriters: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver; story by Cameron, Jaffa, Silver, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno Rated PG-13, 3 hours 17 minutes The 13-year gap between Avatar and its first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, allowed time for a renewed sense of awe at the scope of Cameron's bio-diverse worldbuilding, enhanced by the introduction of a new clan, new creatures and a distinctive new environment. The third movie arrives just three years after its immediate predecessor - and in narrative terms, a few weeks after the events of that film - with the novelty now wearing thin. Firstly, it's not a great idea in a film with such an epic run time to have a character urgently shouting, "I've gotta take a leak!" To be fair, it's understandable given that the full bladder belongs to human dude Spider (Jack Champion), revealed in The Way of Water to be the son of vicious Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), sired before the latter was killed and transformed into a new breed of hybrid human/Na'vi soldier. To my knowledge, Spider never does get to pee, unless he just goes in the Metkayina Clan's bioluminescent aquatic ecosystem, like some filthy kid at the pool. I suppose given his ex-Marine, pre-avatar origins, we can even buy Quaritch's nemesis Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) greeting his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) when she ignores instructions to stay home and watch the kids during a skirmish, instead leaping into the fray with her killer archery skills: "Baby, I don't know whether to kiss you or yell at you!" But that doesn't make it sound any less silly, especially with Worthington's Australian accent. And would a young Na'vi really be checking in after a fiery clash by asking his comrade in arms, "Bro, you good?" Surely this advanced civilization should have evolved beyond skateboarder vernacular? All due respect to a groundbreaking franchise that has thus far raked in over $5.2 billion in theatrical grosses and remains the gold standard for the large-format 3D viewing experience, but Fire and Ash is sound and fury signifying nothing. Or at least nothing excitingly new. (Now might be a good time to clarify that I enjoyed the first two movies.) In the absence of fresh narrative inspiration, Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver simply pile on the lore and multiply the clashes, to numbing rather than invigorating effect. Even the Darth Vader/Luke factor of honorary Na'vi Spider's conflicted feelings for his hard-ass father on the side of the Military Industrial Complex oppressor - known as the RDA, or Resources Development Administration, led by Edie Falco's stiff-limbed and humorless General Frances Ardmore - goes to few places not already explored in The Way of Water. Having been forced by the human invaders to flee the lush green forest home of the Omaticaya people, Jake, Neytiri and their family continue to live among the reefs and islands of the Metkayina clan, headed by tribal chief Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and his pregnant wife Ronal (Kate Winslet). But the loss of Jake and Neytiri's first-born son Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) remains an open wound for the family, especially for his impulsive brother Lo'ak (Britain Dalton)