“Avatar: Fire And Ash” review: Battle for Pandora – again

James Cameron unleashes elemental forces again, as his third trip to Pandora is all about fire. The previous water part ended in tragedy and the couple Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiris (Zoe Saldana) still mourns the slain son Neteyam. With the so-called Ash People, who come from Varang (Oona Chaplin), a Na'vi tribe that is sworn to aggressiveness now appears for the first time. And then there is also the old enemy Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) – is he still a relentless pursuer since his estranged son Spider (Jack Champion) saved his life?

Stefan Raab effect

After the previous parts, it was reasonable to suspect that a familiar narrative pattern would creep in again. Actually, at first everything looks quite good and there is hope that the dynamic between Jake and Quaritch could change, because the two permanent enemies face the decision “hit or trust”, but then the story tips back into the usual, the Colonel discovers a soul mate in the fire witch Varang and the plot of course boils down to a big battle that we as viewers also have to contend with for the entire last hour.

The militarists, addicted to conquest, are simply incorrigible, have learned nothing from previous defeats and are repeating the same mistake for the third time. This “Avatar” method of storytelling can now also be given its own name: it is the Stefan Raab effect. Remarketing the same concept over and over again under different titles. Without the tremendous visual impact of wearing 3D glasses on your face, you could become quite frustrated.

Moby Dick meets House of the Dragon

The most pleasing thing about “Avatar 3”: We can once again carry out extensive studies of Pandora's flora and fauna. Since much of the action – despite the fiery title – takes place in the sea, we meet extremely clever, oversized creatures that would be called whales in our oceans. Of course, the peaceful giants represent easy prey for the soldiers, who enjoy hunting them with harpoons – one one-armed fanatic in particular stands out as the new Captain Ahab (and then suffers a corresponding fate). In addition, they graduate Na'vi have exciting flying lessons with their winged mounts and we are inevitably reminded of “House of the Dragon”, which is why we look out in the end credits to see whether royalties were dutifully paid to RR Martin.

On top of that, Cameron invites ethnographic studies by offering contrasting examples: On the one hand, we are shown what it means when you put modern firearms into the hands of a natural tribe, on the other hand, the Na'vi remain true to their traditions, connect themselves to the planetary ecosystem through their hair extensions at every opportunity, and the cry for help to the Great Mother does not go unheard.

A young Tarzan

The three and a half hour running time is supposedly explained by the fact that we were repeatedly promised that we would now better characterize the characters. Of course, that's not really true, but at least one person is unmistakably the focus: it's the young Spider, who inevitably gets caught in the crossfire, even though he clearly sticks with Team Sully. Like a chess piece, he is constantly moved back and forth, first kidnapped, then freed, and in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy again. You can soon run out of breath, but with his breathing problems on Pandora, he's in for quite a surprise.

He also transforms, if not into Spider-Man, then at least into a young Tarzan as soon as he swings wildly back and forth on the lianas between the flying rocks. In between there is an unexpectedly harsh scene that could have come straight from the Old Testament, where Isaac was faced with a similar dilemma. At the finale, a decision looms that seems pretty final; But appearances are probably deceptive, as further parts are planned in which the Stefan Raab effect will hopefully finally be broken.

3 out of 5 Burning Dragon Wings