Three epic films in and James Cameron’s opus doesn’t seem to be moving towards a conclusion. This doesn’t mean that the ‘Avatar’ filmgoing experience isn’t worth the price of admission, but with his latest entry, this one subtitled ‘Fire and Ash’, the audience must be asking the question above. For many devotees of this franchise it doesn’t matter, as they just love spending time in the fictional world of Pandora, but is the rest of the movie-going public going to continue to be along for this ride? While it’s hard to argue against the indubitable success of Big Jim’s filmography which sits at the top of the all time global box office (from ‘T2’ and ‘Titanic’ to these films), maintaining the sheer technical wizardry on display depends on an enormous level of audience participation ($$$).

It is difficult to not consider the bigger picture when discussing the ‘Avatar’ project, but the actual experience of watching ‘Fire and Ash’ as a movie is ultimately a rewarding one. For every derivative element of its overarching plot and rote dialogue of its screenplay, there are just as many interesting developments. Rather than taking a safe route with his blockbuster, Cameron doubles down on the weirder aspects of the previous film, ‘Way of Water’, namely those adopted portions of Jake Sully’s clan. Kiri , the odd, teenage, Sigourney Weaver performed, “daughter” of the Navi-deity Eywa, is now able to spiritually tap into the ecosystem of the planet in bravura displays that take full advantage of the 3D CGI technology invented for these films. Spider (a less annoying Jack Champion this go round), the Tarzan-like wannabe-Navi human who calls the Sullys his family, has a truly interesting arc dealing with the fact that he now could be the key to humanity magnifying its dominion over Pandora and its resources. Stephen Lang’s Navi-avatar-resurrected Colonel Quaritch is able to let his freak-flag fly as he takes a journey akin to Sam Worthington’s Jake in the first ‘Avatar’, yet with a decidedly differnt personal realization.

His epiphany comes with the aid of the piercing gaze and sauntering hips of the most welcome new Navi addition to this saga, Oona Chaplin’s Verang. She’s the head of an off-shoot tribe of fire-worshipping, Eywa-rejecting pirates, who serve to truly kick off the narrative when they lay aviary siege to a collection of neutral trader Navi in air-ships. This troupe has agreed to transport Jake and his family back to their original forest denizen. Verang’s fascination with human weaponry and disregard for Navi tradition set her up for a collaboration with the colonizers. The deal is sealed with Quaritch through his agreement to partake in a drug-induced parlay with Verang where he (and quite frankly the audience) come under her incredibly potent, sexily evil sway. This creation, a perfect meld of performer, design, and animators, is truly the highlight of the movie until she unfortunately takes more of a back seat in the last third.

While these developments are welcome surprises in this third entry, there are whole plot points, motivations, and sequences that are not only set up by ‘Way of Water’ but are also repetitive. The saving grace is that harkening back to the whale-like Tulkun and staging a similar final battle are actually presented better here in ‘Fire and Ash’. The special effects have gotten even better somehow, making the action set pieces truly immersive and the trippy moments kaleidoscopically beautiful. Once the experience is over though, like its predecessors, ‘F+A’ does not linger in the mind nor bear repeat viewing for many people. As the middle portion of a saga that can only end with some sort of comeuppance for a greed-fueled human race, it comes off like its characters at times, treading water . . .

Directed By: James Cameron

Written By: James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, & Amanda Silver

Running Time: 197 min.

Rated: PG-13

* * * 1/2 (out of 4 stars) -OR- B+