Avatar: Fire and Ash, a long but worthy chapter of Cameron’s triad

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is one of the three movies produced by James Cameron (who also wrote the screenplay) and Jon Landau. The movie takes place in the year 2170 on a moon (Pandora, very similar to Earth, with life forms) that orbits a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system.

Pandora is inhabited by the Na’vi, who are tall and have blue skin. They are deeply connected to Eywa, which is essentially Mother Nature. There are a few differences that set Eywa apart from Mother Nature, for example, Eywa is a global consciousness and seen as a mother figure/goddess for the Na’vi. 

The first film, “Avatar,” follows our main character, Jake Sully, and his exploration of the newly discovered moon for the Marines. He is placed in a homegrown Na’vi body that has some key differences, like the eyes, nose, and hands. Humans came to Pandora to harvest unobtanium, which is basically an incredibly rare superconductor, and the biggest chunk of it happens to be under the home of a Na’vi clan.

Jake Sully is separated from his group while fending for his life in the forest and is found by Neytiri. Neytiri is about to kill Jake, but a woodsprite (seed from the Tree of Souls, connected to Eywa) stops her, and she takes a chance on Jake. She brings Jake to her clan and teaches him the way of the Na’vi.

At this point, Jake is working as a spy for the humans but is slowly falling for Neytiri and getting won over by the Na’vi. Eventually, he and a group of other artificial Na’vi separate from the humans and join the Na’vi. 

“Avatar: The Way of Water” takes place roughly 13 years after the original and still follows Jake; however, now he is accompanied by his 5 children: 3 biological sons, Neteyam (15), Lo’ak (14), Tuktiery (8), and 2 adopted kids, Kiri (14) and Spider(16).

Spider is the son of a marine who died fighting against the Na’vi in the first film, but he was an infant when the fighting ended, so the Na’vi took him in; however, since he’s human, he can’t breathe in the air on Pandora, since it’s poisonous to humans. 

The humans return to Pandora and commence harvesting for unobtanium again, but also have another goal. To hunt down and kill Jake Sully along with his family. Jake realizes this once his children get captured, but luckily, he can rescue them. So to protect his family, he must leave the forest where all this takes place and relocate somewhere where they won’t be found.

The Sully family finds itself in a reef home (Metkayina Clan) on Pandora’s eastern seaboard and begins learning the way of the water. The Tulkun, a massive whale-like creature that is getting poached for its miracle liquid that stops human aging, is seen as a sacred animal to the Metkayina Clan. It is forced to step in so that the Tulkun aren’t hunted anymore. 

This sets up the scene for the second war. As the battle begins, we find out that Colonel Miles Quaritch (the father of Spider and the head marine in charge of the mission who died in the 1st film) got his memories transferred into a Na’vi body and is essentially back in the game, and he wants revenge on Jake Sully. Throughout the fight, many casualties occur.

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” happens almost right after the second film. As time passes, the oxygen mask that Spider was using breaks, forcing them to return to the forest to retrieve another mask from the researchers. 

During their travels, they’re attacked by the Mangkwan clan, and the family becomes separated. Jake gets away, but when he returns, trying to find his kids and wife, he gets caught by Quaritch. But Quaritch, being the loving father he is, is worried for his son, Spider, and lets Jake keep tracking them. Once they find the kids, they notice something weird about Spider; he isn’t breathing without the oxygen mask. 

This is because of Kiri’s connection to Eywa. When Spider ran out of oxygen, she used this connection to bring Spider back to life, and in doing so, made him part of Eywa himself. Jake and Quaritch also get captured by the Mangkwan clan. Kiri uses her deep connection to Eywa to make an opportunity for everyone to escape, and that’s what they do. Quaritch and Jake team up to get their kids to safety. When they get to a secluded area, Quaritch disappears to regroup with the humans and leaves Jake and his kids alone.

Quaritch gets an interesting idea in his head and wants to use the Mangkwan clan, so he makes his way over to where they’re located, but this time, he’s prepared. He arrives at the Mangkwan clan’s hideout and is immediately surrounded by Na’vi. He keeps his composure, and when he meets the queen, known as Varang, he makes an example out of a guard by telling a sniper to shoot the guard.

Varang and Quaritch hit it off well, and they are a good duo. Varang is kind of crazy like Quaritch, and with Varang’s help, they’re able to locate where the Sullys are hiding. 

Jake doesn’t want unnecessary death, so he turns himself in when they arrive, and he and his wife have a somber moment where they have to say goodbye. Spider is also taken along with Jake to the place where the humans have built a base, and Jake is held as a prisoner and shown off to the other humans as a traitor. 

Spider is left in the science lab where they do research on him and discover that he has a micro-organism (Eywa) living inside of him now, and they’re dependent on each other to live, so they can’t remove it. While this is happening, Jake Sully’s wife (Neytiri) comes and breaks him out of the clear glass cage containing him, and they escape with Spider. 

This event plays a crucial role for the sake of the Na’vi because Jake is torn between having to kill his son (Spider) so the researchers cannot duplicate what has happened to Spider on others, and fighting for his son. Jake decides he cannot do it, so he ends up deciding to fight for his son, and the third war begins.

The battle again is long and gruesome, and the ending is quite honestly very similar yet different. The battle ends with Quaritch losing and “dying”; however, the scenes are different, and this time Jake Sully doesn’t lose a kid. 

Honestly, I really like these movies. I think the CGI is great, but I find it a bit repetitive with war after war.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it to those who have the time and who liked the previous films. It’s not for everyone, but it truly does have an out-of-this-world feeling to it. I would rate Avatar: Fire and Ash a 7.5/10.