Review: ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

There are many meta-narratives surrounding James Cameron Avatar films, the third of which, Avatar: Fire and Asheswill be in theaters on December 19. As such, it wasn’t until watching this newest film that I realized something was hiding in plain sight. For a series steeped in vaguely New Age hippie tropes, this is one of the more aggressive film trilogies ostensibly aimed at children.

When thinking about AvatarOf course, the first topic that many discuss is how much money the movies made. The total amount of ticket sales for the first two films (so, no Blu-ray sales, on-demand rentals, or distribution deals from streaming services) is $5.267 billion. It’s interesting to see where these movies about mysterious aliens in blue space have landed financially. (To save you some time, total ticket sales fall between the annual GDPs of Fiji and Eswatini, or nearly double the GDP of Saint Lucia.) While there’s no sure bet in Hollywood until the opening weekend, there’s no reason to believe that Chapter Three won’t do something similar. It’s very likely that, very soon, when looking at the global list of all-time money-making films, Cameron will have four in the top 10, if not the top five.

When thinking about AvatarOf course, the first topic that many discuss is how much money the movies made. The total amount of ticket sales for the first two films (so, no Blu-ray sales, on-demand rentals, or distribution deals from streaming services) is $5.267 billion. It’s interesting to see where these movies about mysterious aliens in blue space have landed financially. (To save you some time, total ticket sales fall between the annual GDPs of Fiji and Eswatini, or nearly double the GDP of Saint Lucia.) While there’s no sure bet in Hollywood until the opening weekend, there’s no reason to believe that Chapter Three won’t do something similar. It’s very likely that, very soon, when looking at the global list of all-time money-making films, Cameron will have four in the top 10, if not the top five.

This is his fourth film, of course Titanicwhich brings us to a somewhat contradictory second part of Avatar conversation. Titanic (The fourth largest total in history, with… Avatar In number one and Avatar: Water Road In third place) was the generational touchstone that made international stars, from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, turn to phrases such as “I am the king of the world!” and “Draw me like one of your French girls” in early memes, and Celine Dion’s high-rise apartment is stuck in our heads forever. Taking into account the amount of dough Avatar As images appear, there is something unusual about their lack of a strong cultural presence.

How many children have you seen dressed as characters from Avatar On Halloween – at least compared to a number star wars or Harry Potter Or Marvel Cinematic Universe costumes? Do people quote these movies as shorthand for the way they view other famous movies or shows? Do you remember ever purchasing AvatarRelated game or t-shirt? Or even a vision Avatar Teeing point in the wilderness?

There’s no real way to prove this scientifically, but the chain’s high profits seem out of line with what its tangible footprint should be — so much so that there have been a lot of articles about AvatarIllusory cultural influence (like this in New York Timesnot to mention the Wisenheimer Buzzfeed test) which has inspired numerous declarative refutations. (This piece from Polygon is particularly sharp.)

Controversy about AvatarThe dominance of emulation has now become old hat to those who like to argue about popular culture – second only to the whether or not it was Die hard It’s a Christmas movie. Much has been written about how Cameron’s faraway world of Pandora was the final nail in the coffin for showing celluloid in theaters. (Its use of next-generation 3D technology led to a huge boost in digital projection, a distribution method that ultimately led to significant cost savings for the studio.)

But now that this is a complete trilogy, what about the story itself?

the Avatar The films, while stunning to look at, are not particularly profound. In the distant future, the Earth will be an ecological wasteland; Pandora is fertile and fruitful. (I say green, but that means green; Pandora, like the coolest aquarium you’ve ever seen, is mostly blue with purple accents.) In the first movie we learn that Pandora is rich in nubtanium, a miracle metal that acts as a superconductor. (Its name is an homage to mid-century engineering lingo, though it’s unclear whether the characters in the film know it.) Unobtanium is cool, but in the second film, it’s discovered that Pandora also contains a great deal of amrita, a yellow slurry that can extend human life to indefinite lengths.

However, there are problems. The unobtanium star of the first film sat beneath the Hometree, the site of a tribe of indigenous people of Pandora called the Na’vi who lived a life of natural harmony and good feelings. (I’m using the past tense because things didn’t go well for ol’ Hometree, I’m afraid.) Worse still, the Amrita exist only in the brain matter of Tolkon, a species of intelligent, telepathic, enormous whale-like being. Tulkun just wants to swim all day and be quiet, but the invading sky dwellers (us! humans! boo us!) keep capturing and killing them. However, a core element of Tolkon culture is an unwavering commitment to peace. Their long lives have shown them the futility of fighting, and the unreasonableness of fighting back.

In the second film, a Tolkon (Bayakan) fights back, and although he helps keep the Skydwellers out of the spell (and saves some Na’vi souls), he is cast out of Tolkon society.

Avatar: Fire and Ashes It begins with the Na’vi heroes – Sully’s family – still displaced from Hometree and living with the Metkayina clan, an oceanic group of Na’vi who live (some might say lavishly) in a tropical paradise.

Unfortunately, the big battle at the end of the second film didn’t get all the humans to leave, so it’s only a matter of time before another fire breaks out. As such, Jake Sully (actor Sam Worthington in a motion-capture performance that makes him a tall, thin, blue-eyed man with a glowing tail and braid that can form neural connections with plant and animal life) talks about a new defense system. You see, Jake used to be a Celestial (and not just a human, but an ex-Marine) before his perspective changed and his consciousness was permanently shifted into a Na’vi body. He’s turned his back on his roots, but he also recognizes good weapons when he sees them.

“This is the AR,” he says, suggesting that even years from now the controversial weapons used in most American massacres will still have the same prefix. One of the tribe’s elders refuses Jake, saying: only spears and bows. Touching steel poisons the soul.

It seems like a good message that would resonate well in Hollywood, a city that still maintains a vaguely liberal tone, especially on the subject of gun control. Well, I’m here to tell you that by the end of the picture, with their backs against the wall, guns and explosives are well embraced by the Nephites, who have decided to defend themselves against the Imperium by any means necessary.

What is even more surprising is the change in melody from Tolkon. This ancient race considers peace to be the basic tenant of their belief system. At first, the Sully family begs them to stand (or swim, I guess) and fight, but the matriarch responds with a firm “no.” (The matriarch wears huge beads and other ornaments, which is stunning to look at, but leads one to wonder how they were made, as the Tolkun do not appear to have hands to forge tools. I suppose they would have been gifts.)

However, as time went on, the Tolkon turned their backs on their ways and laid waste to the Sky People, smashing their ships in massive ways that looked extremely impressive in 3D, leading to much screaming and yelling in the theater. Every brutal death is seen as a victory for righteousness.

Just before this third act, a young Na’vi named Kiri (played by Sigourney Weaver as not just an alien but a teenage alien), whose alien clone genes give her extra sensory powers to connect with nature, finally makes contact with Ewa, the Great Mother of all natural life on Pandora. Kiri’s vision of Ewa is a bit like the child star character from the end of Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. 2001: A space journeyOnce Kiri finally has her divine attention, she gives the Great Mother a suggestion on what to do about those destructive people in the sky: kill them! Kill them all!

It’s a great moment in the film (which is more than three hours long) — after delivering her line, the animals, plants, and marine life rise up together to repel corrupt humans in increasingly destructive ways. And although I watched this with a certain degree of delight, I stopped for a minute to wonder how parents would feel this holiday season — a season of love and harmony, I’m told — basking in this violent cinematic glow.

Yes, the movie is PG-13, so in theory this isn’t meant for 10-year-olds, but come on — it’s a cartoon about blue aliens flying around on iridescent winged monsters! (Cameron just sent a sniper to kill me because he described his motion-capture cinematic methodology as “animation”, but these are computer-generated fantasy images – let’s not complain too much!)

We must add to the long list of strange things Avatar The truth is that these films, especially this third one, are bloodthirsty and cruel. Diplomacy or common ground did not come into the picture for a moment. Asymmetric warfare only! star wars There’s the word “war” in the title, but, as I’m sure you remember, the big ending to Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker is shown forgiving Darth Vader for his transgressions (which include blowing up the entire planet of Alderaan!) and the young hero even smiles at the glowing blue spirit of his former rival when he and the Ewoks dance to the peace anthem “Yub Nub.”

Well, Cameron doesn’t have time for Yub Nub, just the cold steel of augmented reality. This kind of mentality reflects a somber realism about current affairs, and this may appeal to those who like more modern fantasy entertainment, but it seems a little out of tune with conventional Hollywood thinking. Consider how much Avatar It was a harbinger of future filmmaking technology, and one wonders if this was a harbinger of future storytelling as well. (Come to think of it, recently star wars series Andor It had a more sinister bite to it.)

Cameron stated that he had fourth and fifth place Avatar Stories to tell, though this trilogy ends on a tidy note. His next move may be determined precisely by the box office. He has also optioned the rights to Charles Pellegrino Ghosts of HiroshimaA devastating account of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In an interview with Delivery timeHe said he had to make the film because “it’s very important now that people remember what these weapons do.” It seems to me like an artist talking to himself.