It’s winter break, the weather is cold, and outside is virtually gray. So, you and a group of friends escape the environment to endure the warm and illuminated setting of the movies. With popcorn on your right, you sit back, and your eyes light up as you navigate through the frontiers of Pandora – the planet where Avatar takes place – by way of the 60-foot-tall screen decorated with elements of the world that will make you feel as if you traveled dimensions. You get lost in the luscious jungles, refreshing blue waters, sky-high rocky islands, and sunsets with color pallets ranging from translucent purples to vibrant pinks that reflect in the coral waters. As you watch the three-hour movie, it could be easy to forget details that happened in the film. Or maybe you didn’t watch it at all. 

Here are a few spoiler-free takeaways to catch you up on what you might have missed – and how Fire and Ash stands apart from earlier Avatar films. 

(SPOILER FREE)

The first thing I noticed as I watched the movie was the appearance. Granted, I watched the film in 3D and may have had a better experience than others. Regardless, Avatar is known for its beautiful scenery captured in unique cinematography. Advanced CGI, editing, lighting, and realism are included in all of Avatar’s movies. This new movie was no exception, as I believe the look to be better than previous movies and more realistic. The avatars don’t look as if they were video game characters, but real species with natural movements. In contrast to previous films, we see more skin textures and details that enrich the Na’Vi’s (Pandora’s natives) appearances.

Furthermore, the world of Avatar, or Pandora, appears more detailed and overall larger than the previous movies. The main reason for this was the new locations, such as the Fire Clans or the Ash people’s territory, and a more in-depth look at Bridgehead, the human-run base. The addition of the Fire Clans’ territory was a unique look into Pandora’s volcanic regions, as the previous two installments saw the jungle and coral parts of the Moon-Planet. This different lens of the world added to its diversity, displaying new areas and cultures of the Na’Vi. Seeing the different types of Na’Vi really added more story to the franchise as a whole and more details on how Pandora functions. It also highlights the similarities between Pandora and Earth, which is really cool.

However, we did not see the Fire Clan’s territory as much as we saw their cultural practices and combat. After seeing the Coral waters and Jungle lands in most of the previous two movies, the Volcanic region was seen in only one scene. There is a difference; the main protagonist, Jake Sully, lived in both the reef and the jungle with his family. But, I still think more inclusion of the Fire Clan’s territory would enrich the story even more and provide context to some unanswered questions about the clan, like how they evolved into what they are today, how their cultural practices formed, and their social structure.

This is not new to the Avatar series, though. James Cameron, the movie’s director, often leaves some details in his movies uncertain. This could be, so fans speculate parts of the story in Pandora. Besides this critique, the rest of the movie continued to amaze me.

The next takeaway I had was the action of the film. The action in this movie was not too irregular from the other films, but it has its own uniqueness. The fighting was more hand-to-hand battles mixed with the advanced human artillery versus Na’Vi weaponry and tactics. Jake Sully and Colonel Quaritch, the main antagonist, have action-packed combat scenes throughout the film.

It is also refreshing to see new types of combat, such as the new military technology and Fire Clan weapons. The Fire Clan even learned to pair guns with their relentless ways of attack. 

The action mirrored Way of Water more than I liked, but still kept my friends and me on the edge of our seats. New types of combat, different weapons, and the Fire Clan’s mix of both diversified the film’s action.

Action, of course, must be derived from the story. The story throughout the three movies follows a linear flow. Similar to the last installment, Fire and Ash included many turning points and high-stakes events. Many battles take place from start to finish, and the deaths of some notable characters follow. The rivalry between Colonel and Jake is the primary focus of the film. These two clash a ton, and different angles of their heated relationship are evident. Major character development between Jake’s children adds more major roles that the franchise has not seen before. In other words, for the first time, it was as if Jake was not the only main character. The story seems to be nearing its end between humans and the Na’Vi in this movie, in a thrilling and emotional way. My friends and I were taken on this emotional roller coaster for three straight hours. There were points at which I was left wondering how a good ending would even occur. Not only that, but after the movie, I was curious about what direction the franchise will take next. The story this movie continues and inevitably completes was inspiring, somber, and had the audience tuned-in the whole time. 

Avatar: Fire and Ash was a great movie, and I would recommend watching it if you haven’t. Or if you did, compare it to the last two movies (in which I think it falls in the middle). Better than the first, but I would give the first-place edge to Avatar: Way of Water. The amount of similarity from the last movies weighs the film down a bit. Despite this, it had its own uniqueness in action and increasing character/lore development. Visually, the movie raised the level of excellence. Also, the inclusion of a new tribe adds a different aspect to the story of Avatar as a whole, and many doors of potential plots have opened for the future. The direction the story went in makes it the perfect addition to the trilogy. My rating on this film would be 8.9/10.