In December of 2009, a depression took the world by storm which many coined “post-Avatar depression syndrome.” On Dec. 18, 2009, James Cameron’s film, “Avatar,” hit theaters across America, and instantly became a hit, making $1 billion within one month of its release window. The film’s luscious jungle and bewitching creatures captivated audiences and transported them into the planet of Pandora. People quickly fell in love with James Cameron’s film. As a result, people felt that their life was pale and insignificant in comparison to the alluring life of the Na’vi. “Avatar” was an earthshattering film which changed the industry as a whole, and continues to impact it today. 

This December, 16 years after the release of its precursors, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” came into theaters and immediately saw commercial success. In its first three weeks, “Fire and Ash” had already made $1 billion, and its profits continue to rise. The introduction of a new tribe of the ash people, and a continuation of the characters stories introduced in the previous films raised audience expectations. But, following the film’s release, critics and audiences alike find the film to be lackluster in comparison to its two award-winning predecessors for a number of reasons. 

The “Avatar” series is most critically acclaimed for its use of visual effects (VFX) and CGI to create the visually stunning world of Pandora. The original 2009 film didn’t just set a new standard for VFX in cinema, it revolutionized it. The VFX team even went on to receive Academy Awards for their work in the original. In the 2022 sequel, the team created new motion capture and an entirely new underwater filming system called DeepX, which earned even more awards. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hoped to continue this trend, and did so with some success. However, a movie’s selling point can’t just be its appealing visuals. Since 2009, CGI and VFX technology has significantly improved. Audiences need more than just a visually appealing world to make the journey to their local theater to see a film. “They should have spent less time on visuals and more on improving the plot” junior Tristan Greene said

Another issue with this series is its repetitive nature. It follows Jake Sully, a human turned alien, and his journey to protect his family and defend Pandora from the holistic human military, the RDA. The first film mainly focuses on Jake and his avatar, an alien body which he can inhabit by transferring his consciousness to it. As he explores Pandora and learns more about the human’s operations on the moon, Jake develops an internal conflict about the humans’ treatment of the Na’vi. Over the course of the film, he slowly begins to side more and more with the natives, and eventually aids them in rebellion against the humans. The final part of the film shows him permanently transferring his consciousness into his avatar body, and becoming full Na’vi.

This second film picks up shortly after that, and focuses on Jake leading the Na’vi’s war effort against the RDA. It introduces new characters, including Jake’s sons and daughters. It also expands on the native people of Pandora and their cultures by introducing a new tribe, the Metkayina, or water people. The final set piece of this movie was also really intriguing, depicting  RDA and Na’vi forces duking it out in an assault on RDA destroyers and ships as they hunt alien whales.

One major issue stems from this when you compare it to the third film. When you place the films side by side, they are nearly an identical story with just some small differences.  “It felt repetitive to the last movie and I even considered leaving in the middle of it,” Greene said. Even the final set piece was nearly identical this time. This isn’t to say the final set piece is bad in any way. But it’s hard to watch the final 45 minutes of a film when you’ve already seen the ending twice before. 

Although Cameron incorporated changes by adding a side plot about humans possibly being able to breath the moon’s toxic air and adding in a new clan, the ash people, the film seems unoriginal and purely a cash grab. The ash people are a secondary antagonist and go on to team up with the RDA in the second half. While it was interesting to explore more of the Na’vi’s individual identities and cultures based on their tribe, it just takes away from the main cast of the film and their story. 

That problem is only amplified by the movie’s almost unbearable runtime. The “Avatar” films are known for their notoriously long run times, with the original being around two and a half hours in length. Most of the time, this isn’t an issue, since the films introduced new characters, locations, and conflicts. But when the third film is almost a copy-and-paste of the second film, it comes off as boring. “The length of the movie is just way too long, there are few movies that can pull off a 200 minute run time,” junior Easton Banano said. Not only this, but a majority of the movie’s scenes felt completely unnecessary and out of place. 

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” was by no means a bad film, but rather an unnecessary one. While the world of Pandora has never looked more vibrant, the film serves more as a money-maker than a really developed film. The good news is “Fire and Ash” remained a success at the box office, and has easily surpassed its mark to make a large profit. The “Avatar” series already has a fourth and fifth installment greenlit by Disney executives, and seeing the economic success of the film, these are sure to enter production well within the next year. In the meantime, critics can only hope the next two films bring something fresh to this spoiled world, or the “Avatar” series may end far worse than it started.