Posted on 12/20/2025 3:56:11 AM PST by dennisw
Avatar: Fire And Ash (12A, 197 mins)
Rating:
[TWO STARS] By Brian Viner
There comes a point in the careers of most revered movie directors when nobody is brave enough to lay a restraining hand on their arm and remind them that ‘less is more’.
Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese have both been guilty of bloated storytelling in the last few years, but James Cameron takes not just the biscuit but every packet on the supermarket shelf.
His third Avatar film lasts well over three hours. I’ve been on shorter mini-breaks.
When a movie more conspicuously satisfies its director’s ego than its audience, something is wrong. Which is not to say that Cameron can’t dish up a spectacle.
There are some breathtaking moments in Avatar: Fire And Ash, as we might expect of a film that reportedly cost over $400m to make.
But they are not enough to stop boredom setting in, followed by despair, and a touch of cramp, and ultimately a kind of disbelieving exultation that the final credits are about to roll.
I liked the second picture in the series, 2022’s Avatar: The Way Of Water, and noted at the time that Cameron cited David Lean’s mighty Lawrence of Arabia – ‘good, old-fashioned, adolescent adventure storytelling’ was how he put it – as a major influence.
But the greatest cinematic epics never feel artificially inflated in the way that Fire And Ash does.
Seeing it in 3D, as Cameron intended, somehow compounds that sense of artificiality, even as it yields some amazing chase and fight sequences.
The first film, 2009’s global smash Avatar, introduced the story of humans in the year 2154, with Earth finally exhausted of its natural resources, infiltrating the blue-skinned Na’vi tribe on the distant, mineral-rich moon Pandora.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
[Why was DeCrappio doomed to drown when there was room on the raft? Sloppy movie maker.]
Sloppy? The best part was seeing Leonardo turn blue and sink to the bottom.
Two groups at odds with one person from either side in love with each other?
I think Shakespeare wrote a story about thsrmt.
“Am I the only one that sees the SJW subliminal message in that?“
I wonder the same thing every time I see a story on this movie.
Exactly my reaction, Pocahontas in space. Haven’t bothered to watch the others.
These avatar movies are not my cup of tea. I like movies with real actors and real dialog.
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Agree. Superhero movies where everybody can jump 30 feet into the air or using thoughts levitate objects are just as dumb as the ones where the 120 lb girl beats up all the bigger stronger men.
I can handle a bit of reality suspension if it’s well thought out and well integrated into the story telling. Completely different worlds where people are different colors and shapes (but all magically speak English) lose my interest in the trailer.
The first Avatar was like a visual sensory overload with a “bad corporate humans raping an environment” plot that went on at least 30 minutes longer than it should. Only “Speed Racer” by the Wachowski brothers, er, sisters, gave me a headache like that.
So I was very surprised that all that suffering paid off with a very good “The Way of Water”, which focused more on a tighter plot and character interaction than retinal fireworks.
As that movie tied up a few cliffhanger questions and laid out an obvious future for the overgrown Smurfs I can only believe this third outing is a Cameron tribute to his own ego.
It’s especially tragic that this talented producer/director is determined to make two more of them while so many other projects would benefit from his what remains of his productive years.
Cartoon ?
More smurfs in space with SJW messaging. And a rehash of a better told tale from Shakespeare. Amirite?
It is the second best scene in that movie.
When the first one came out my supervisor at the time saw it and came to work proclaiming how great it was.
When I asked him to explain the story line I immediately saw through what hollywod was up to.
When I tried to explain it to him he refused to believe it. SMH
GTMA see my post 22
IMO, the visual appeal of those characters is sorely lacking. Compared to them, the Grinch was a handsome fellow.
“SJW subliminal message”
It was not very subliminal.
It was raw anti-white hate.
I never understood the appeal of the first Avatar.
Jon Landau produced it.....he has also been Bruce Springsteen’s manager for a long time.......that’s all anyone needs to know about this lib propaganda.
It was the 1619 project on another planet.
AKA Blue Indigenous Thundercats.
Cameron has kind of admitted this is the last Avatar film. He originally wanted to make 6 films I think and I wondered at the time if the interest would sustain that kind of thinking.
I admit I have never watched one as I just was not interested in them.
At $400 Million the film would need to gross at least 900 million to break even when you include a marketing budget. So this film needs to gross way over $1 Billion for any profit at all. I will be interested in seeing the overseas grosses tomorrow on this, that is where they have to succeed, especially in the China market.
A good part of Zootopia 2 overseas success has been in the China market.
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