James Cameron’s new film “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is a rare letdown from the filmmaker who has not disappointed us for more than 40 years. Again, we are surely served with a lot of spectacular visual elements and thrilling actions, but I do not care that much about the story and characters in this time. As a result, my mind just became more exhausted instead of getting galvanized after more than 3 hours.

The story starts from the point not so long after what happened during the finale of “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022). After the victory in another battle for his new Na’vi tribe and many other Na’vi tribes on an alien planet called Pandora, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) prepares again for another possible threat from those greedy and pesky human beings, but things are not particularly good among his dear family members. Sully and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) lost their first son in that battle, and Neytiri has been struggling to cope with her immense grief while Sully simply focuses on his battle preparation.

In case of their remaining kids, they surely miss their big older brother. While Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) particularly feels guilty about how his action inadvertently caused his older brother’s death, Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), who is actually the daughter of the Na’vi avatar of Weaver’s human character in “Avatar” (2009) is still trying to grasp the meaning of her odd existence, and Miles “Spider” Socorro (Jack Champion), the adopted human son of Jake and Neytiri, often finds himself vulnerable as his human body cannot survive on the planet without a special mask to protect it from the toxic substance in the atmosphere of Pandora.

Mainly for Spider’s safety, Sully decides to take him to a shelter where Spider can be taken care of by the few human beings helping his tribe, though that is the last thing Spider and his other children want right now. Although he does not change his mind at all, Sully allows his family to leave for that shelter along with him, and we get one of the best visual moments in the film as they get on a big and beautiful airship belonging to a local trader.

Of course, there soon comes a big trouble not long after their departure. The airship is attacked by a bunch of aggressive Na’vi tribe members led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), and Sully and Neytiri get separated from their children during this sudden attack. In addition, there is also Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), Sully’s old opponent who is still quite obsessed with settling his old score even after being defeated twice by Sully.

As trying to expand its background further than before, the story written by Cameron and his five co-writers seem ready for bring a bit more character complexity – especially when Colonel Quaritch comes to ally with Varang for their mutual benefit later in the movie. Even though knowing well that what Colonel Quaritch and many other human beings will do to many other Na’vi tribes and Pandora, Varang and her Na’vi tribe are still willing to make a deal with Colonel Quaritch just because of the anger and resentment from their longtime hardship. In case of Colonel Quaritch, he subsequently finds himself seduced by Varang, and he does not mind that at all while not forgetting who the boss is in their rather uneasy partnership.

However, the plot only ends up plodding more than once as attempting to handle too many elements together, and we become more aware of its rather thin characterization. Many of the main characters in the film are more or less than mere plot elements, and that is true especially in case of the subplots involved with Kiri and Spider, respectively. We are not so surprised when Kiri eventually learns the truth about her birth – or when she finally demonstrates more of her special ability during the last act of the story (Is this a spoiler?). In case of Spider, he is woefully underwritten just like many other supporting characters around him, and the movie still does not delve that deep into his rather complicated relationship with Colonel Quaritch.

Anyway, Cameron gives us exactly what we expect from him in case of action. There are several well-made action sequences including the one which is pretty much like a bigger version of the climactic part of “Avatar: The Way of Water”. It is really disappointing that Cameron repeats himself here without much surprise for us, but he knows how to generate enough thrill and tension to hold our attention at least for a while.

The special effects in the film are top-notch as usual, and I will not be surprised at all if it wins a Special Effects Oscar just like its two predecessors. Many different locations in Pandora look quite real and convincing, and that may make you wish that Cameron focused more on mood and details instead of clumsily following the sprawling narrative of his movie. Although their efforts are often limited or wasted by the rather weak screenplay, the main cast members of the film manage to bring some personality and presence to their respective parts, and that reminds you that the special effects in movies still need some human touch regardless of whether they are analogue or digital.  

In conclusion, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” does not have much fire and ash as serving us more of the familiar stuffs from its two predecessors. I saw the 3D HFR (High Frame Rate 3D) version at a local movie theater yesterday, and its technical qualities are commendable on the whole, but the overall result still did not impress me enough for recommendation. By the way, I heard that Cameron is planning to make two more Avatar films at least, and now I sincerely want to recommend him to take a long vacation for more imagination and better storytelling.