Avatar: Fire and Ash

Yesterday my whole family went to see Avatar: Fire and Ash together (we almost took up a whole row) and it was a lot of fun.  The movie is a dazzling spectacle but it is definitely my least favorite in the series.  The Sully family, including Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), their son Lo'ak (Britain Dalton), daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), and adopted human son Spider (Jack Champion), are still mourning the death of Neteyem (Jamie Flatters) when Jake decides that Spider should be taken back to the human base on Pandora.  They travel with a group of Wind Traders to get there but the convoy is attacked by the Mangkwan, a violent tribe of Na'vi led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), and the family is separated.  Spider's oxygen mask malfunctions which causes him to asphyxiate so Kiri accesses her mysterious connection to Eywa to revive him and, in so doing, she gives him the power to breathe Pandora's atmosphere.  Meanwhile, Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who is still hunting for Jake, wants to use Spider's newfound ability to find a way for all humans to breathe on Pandora and forms an alliance with Varang and the Mangkwan to capture them both.  Captain Mick Scoresby (Brendan Cowell), a whaler working with the RDA (Resource Development Administration), decides to hunt the Tulkin when they gather for a mating ritual and, because biologist Ian Garvin (Jemaine Clement) disagrees with this plan, he helps Jake and Spider escape from Quaritch so that they can stop the slaughter.  An epic battle ensues in which Neytiri must trust Spider, Jake must allow Lo'ak to fight with him, the Tulkin must follow the exiled Payakan into battle, and Kiri must explore her connection with Eywa more fully.  The visuals are absolutely stunning and I loved the continued world-building on Pandora with the introduction of new tribes of Na'vi (the Mangkwan are especially intriguing) as well as new creatures.  The action sequences are exhilarating and, for the most part, they kept me invested during the long runtime.  I particularly loved the set pieces involving the aerial attack on the Wind Traders by Varang and the Mangkwan and the underwater attack on Scoresby and the rest of the RDA fleet by the Tulkin.  However, the narrative and themes are disappointingly repetitive because they are the same as those in Avatar: The Way of Water, just on a bigger scale. Varang is an incredibly compelling villain and I think that her motivation should have been explored more fully rather than continuing with Quaritch as the main antagonist.  This is certainly worth seeing on the biggest screen possible (our giant IMAX theater was almost completely full) but the ambiguous fates of several characters do not inspire confidence that the story will evolve in the next two planned sequels.

Note:  This was my final theatrical release of the year.  My list of favorites is coming soon!