Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Okay, so, I’ve seen the third film in the ‘Avatar’ film series directed by James Cameron – ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’. I decided to see this latest instalment at the cinema with my best friend Stephen in the New Year rather than during Christmas in 2025. I’m happy I did that.

In case you haven’t read my reviews on the first two ‘Avatar’ movies, I can’t say that I’m an instant fan of the ‘Avatar’ film series. The films themselves have been compelling to see and they’re impressive spectacles, as one would expect them to be on the big screen.

But I wouldn’t say these are movies that I would see repeatedly. I initially planned on revisiting the first two ‘Avatar’ films on Disney+ before seeing the third ‘Avatar’ film at the cinema. Sadly, I couldn’t find the time to see the first two films, especially since they tend to be very long.

Whilst the first film is about 2 hours 42 minutes and the second film is about 3 hours 12 minutes, the third film is about 3 hours 17 minutes. You need to dedicate a whole evening or a whole day to watch these films, which at Christmas time, I wasn’t able to do so, sadly.

So, I went into ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ blindly without having revisited the first two films. As you can imagine, there are plot aspects in the previous films I forgot about to help me to keep up to date with what’s going on with certain characters and journeys in the series. 😐

For example, I forgot about the death of one of Jake and Neytiri’s sons Neteyam from the previous film. I also forgot about the significance of Spider as a character, how he ended up with Jake and Neytiri’s family and that he’s the teenage son of the villainous Quaritich.

Now these didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the film, as I was able to get back into the world of the ‘Avatar’ film series quite easily enough. But it goes to show how these films haven’t really made a big impact on me, as I don’t get excited when a new ‘Avatar’ film comes out.

And we still have a fourth and fifth ‘Avatar’ film to look forward to in 2029 and 2031 respectively. I don’t really know why James Cameron felt the need to make more ‘Avatar’ films after the first one in 2009, but I guess they’re fairly harmless distractions at the cinema.

Plus, the stories in the ‘Avatar’ films tend to be on the repetitive side, especially when you have Jake, Neytiri, their family and the Na’vi fighting against the humans, often led by Quaritich in his Na’vi body, that come to the planet Pandora. Doesn’t make me go “Wow”!

In ‘Fire and Ash’, Jake and his family face a combined threat on the planet Pandora, as they deal with the human forces and the Mangkwan, a tribe of savage, warmongering, collaborationist Na’vi. 😐 The Mangkwan are led by Varang, performed by Oona Chaplin. 😐

Now, I feel the Mangkwan are weak in terms of being antagonists, as we don’t get an introduction to them. At least, not in this movie. Maybe, they were in the second movie, except Oona Chaplin as Varang didn’t appear in that film, according to my research. 😐

Also, I feel Varang wasn’t that well-developed as a villain, despite being well-performed as Oona Chaplin. Had the film explored more of Varang’s villainy, especially under 3 hours and 17 minutes, perhaps her being a threat to Jake and Neytiri’s family would be justified.

Plus, when it comes to thinking of this film being called ‘Fire and Ash’, I would have expected us to go to a volcano on the planet Pandora. It would have justified the film’s title. But frankly, I felt we were continuing with the water theme from the previous film than with fire.

As well as Oona Chaplin as Varang, the film features the return of Sam Worthington as Jake Sulley and Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri. Sigourney Weaver returns as Kiri, Jake and Neytiri’s adoptive daughter as well as the spirit of Dr. Grace Augustine at the film’s end. 🙂

There’s Stephen Lang as the villainous Colonel Miles Quaritch, Kate Winslet who returns as Ronal from the second film, Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, Ronal’s husband, Joel David Moore who returns as Dr. Norm Spellman and CCH Pounder as Mo’at, Neytiri’s mother. 🙂

There’s Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore and Brendan Cowell as Captain Mick Scoresby. There’s Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ian Garvin, Giovanni Ribisi who returns as the villainous Parker Selfridge from the first ‘Avatar’ film, and there’s David Thewlis as Peylak.

Britain Dalton returns as Lo’ak, Jake and Neytiri’s second son, Jack Champion as Spider, and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss as Tuk, Jake and Neytiri’s youngest daughter. Jamie Flatters returns as Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri’s first son who died in the previous film and he’s now a spirit.

Bailey Bass returns as Reya, Tonowari and Ronal’s daughter and Lo’ak’s love interest. There’s Filip Geljo who returns as Aonung, Tonowari and Ronal’s son, Duana Evans Jr. as Rotxo, Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, and Dileep Rao returns as Dr. Max Patel. 🙂

Wes Studi returns as Eytukan, Neytiri’s father and Laz Alonso returns as Tsu’tey. Both were in the first film. You would have to be an avid fan of these ‘Avatar’ films to recognise who some of these characters are. Something I wasn’t quite in tune with for the third film.

‘Avatar: Fish and Ash’ has been a decent and enjoyable instalment in the ‘Avatar’ film series. I can’t say it’s a film that’s got me excited for more, even though a couple more films are on their way. But I’m pleased I saw it, even though it’s about three hours long. 😐

I’m not in a hurry to see the fourth ‘Avatar’ film, even though it’s like a long way off before its release in 2029. I’m sure I’ll enjoy seeing it when the time comes, but I don’t think there’s any need to make more ‘Avatar’ films if it’s going to repeat the same story as before.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂