BRIAN VINER reviews Avatar: Fire And Ash: 197 minutes of turgid sci-fi tosh

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Verdict: I’ve had shorter mini-breaks

Eventually, many celebrated film directors reach a stage where no one feels comfortable suggesting they simplify their work, even when it might be beneficial.

Both Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese have recently been criticized for films that feel too long, but James Cameron’s latest Avatar movie really takes the cake. It’s over three hours long – I’ve taken shorter vacations!

A movie has a problem when it seems made more for the director’s own satisfaction than for the viewers’. James Cameron certainly knows how to create a visually impressive film – Avatar: Fire And Ash has some truly stunning scenes, as you’d expect from a movie with a $400 million budget. However, these moments aren’t enough to save it from becoming boring, frustrating, and even physically uncomfortable. Ultimately, you might find yourself strangely relieved when it finally ends.

I enjoyed the second Avatar film, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), and remember reading that director James Cameron was inspired by David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, which he described as a classic, exciting adventure story for young audiences.

Truly great epic films don’t feel forced or overly long, something ‘Fire And Ash’ unfortunately struggles with. Watching it in 3D, as the director envisioned, actually makes the artificial feeling even stronger, despite some impressive action scenes.

The 2009 blockbuster Avatar told the story of a future Earth, depleted of its resources, where humans travel to the lush moon of Pandora in 2154. There, they encounter and attempt to integrate with the Na’vi, a native tribe with blue skin, who inhabit the mineral-rich world.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve been following the story of Jake Sully and his family, and it’s quite a journey! In the latest chapter, Jake and his wife Neytiri are facing a really tough decision: their adopted son, Spider, is human, and they feel he needs to connect with others like him – what the Na’vi call ‘the pink-skins’. It’s all about finding where he truly belongs, and they’re determined to help him navigate that.

The story follows many classic Western tropes, but with a sci-fi twist. A group traveling in a futuristic wagon train is attacked by the Mangkwan, a fierce tribe of people who live near a volcano and are led by the ruthless Varang (Oona Chaplin). They capture Jake and his family, intending to sacrifice them, but something unexpected happens to interrupt their plans.

Varang is fascinated by firearms – the powerful weapons the human invaders brought to Pandora. He wants to learn how they work, as the Na’vi have begun using them, though not without hesitation. Despite the Na’vi’s unique features and their battles fought in the air and sea, the overall conflict feels familiar – something directors like John Ford and Howard Hawks would have easily understood.

Cameron, however, goes too far. The story becomes heavy and starts repeating itself. Despite all the talk of passion and destruction, much of the dialogue feels strangely comedic, like something out of Monty Python. For example, the character Varang proclaims, ‘We do not suck on the breast of weakness,’ which, while likely meant to be imposing, actually made me laugh.

Jake’s old commander, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), is forming a dangerous partnership with Varang, which threatens the already struggling Na’vi people.

Quaritch will need to answer to General Ardmore (played by Edie Falco, who deserves praise for deliberately creating a very different character from her iconic role as Carmela in The Sopranos – though she seemed more at home with the glamorous style of New Jersey than she does in army gear, getting Pandora ready for widespread human settlement).

After three hours and seventeen minutes, the groundwork is now laid for the fourth and fifth Avatar movies that James Cameron has planned. The thought of them is enough to make some people feel a little queasy.

Avatar: Fire And Ash is in cinemas now.

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2025-12-19 04:35