Warning: This article contains spoilers for Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Waterand Avatar: Fire and Ash.
Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third instalment in James Cameron’s hugely successful Avatar franchise, is wrapping up its in-theatre run. If you have missed it on the big screen, you will be able to watch it on Disney+ in the coming months.
Viewers are once again whisked away to the moon of Pandora, circling a gas giant planet Polyphemus in the Alpha Centauri System. The story starts almost immediately after the events of the second movie, Avatar: The Way of Water, after a major battle between the Na’vi, one of the native inhabitants of the moon, and the human colonisers from Earth. Visually, the next chapter is as stunning as the first two movies. The landscape, the creatures, and the people of Pandora are practically psychedelic in their colourings, variety, and beauty. The CGI (computer generated imagery) is, of course, cutting edge, and, in this iteration, the element of fire is incredibly realistic.
If you’ve seen the first and second films in the franchise, then in one sense you know what Fire and Ash is about. James Cameron has never shied away from admitting that these stories are about environmentalism and colonisation. There is a clear critique of past actions and warnings of where those decisions are taking humanity. Avatar was set in 2154 and the next two are set sixteen years later in 2170. Earth by this stage is severely overpopulated and can no longer sustain the human race. The climate crisis has exacerbated this and the planet has been depleted of its resources. Space exploration has resulted in the discovery of new metals and minerals to be exploited including unobtanium (a high temperature superconductor) and amrita (an anti-aging liquid found in the whale-like tulkans of Pandora). These two items alone now constitute the largest share of earth’s economy. As such, there is an insatiable desire to mine or hunt for them within corporations like the RDA (Resources Development Administration).
The focus of Fire and Ash is the Sully family. Jake, the father, was a human marine who transferred his consciousness into a human/Na’vi hybrid body called an avatar. His wife is Neytiri, a Na’vi warrior and daughter of a clan chief. They have three children of their own. The eldest son, Neteyam, was killed at the end of the second movie. Their middle son is Lo’ak, who has taken over the narration of the story from Jake. He is wrestling with guilt over his older brother’s death and watching his parents grieve – Jake doesn’t talk and busies himself with arming the family and tribe, while Neytiri withdraws as her hatred of the “sky people” grows. Their young daughter is named Tuktirey or Tuk for short. They also have two adopted children. Kiri is the Na’vi daughter of the original head scientist, Dr Grace Augustine, who fostered relationships with the Na’vi. Spider, is the son of the main antagonist, Colonel Miles Quaritch, and requires a mask to breath the toxic (to humans) Pandoran air. His father is intent on hunting down Jake as a traitor to the human race.
While in the second movie, The Way of Water, Jake was trying to hide from the human invaders in order to keep his family safe, in Ash and Fire he has accepted that the humans will never stop. They will consume everything in their path and anything that gets in the way of profit and colonisation will be destroyed, including the Na’vi. As such, Jake concludes that he, his family, the Na’vi, and the sentient animals have to fight back if there is any hope to save Pandora. For the second time he takes up the mantle of Toruk Makto, a prophesied warrior figure, and along with his family, numerous clans, and Pandoran wildlife, they defeat the humans who have come to wipe out an entire population of sentient tulkans who have gathered for a spiritual celebration and calving event. The committed non-violent tulkans are convinced to join the fight when they hear and witness the destruction of an entire pod by the humans. Only one has survived, Ta’nok, who is brought back to tell her story to the elders by Lo’ak and his “spiritual brother”, an ostracised tulkan named Payakan.
At 200 minutes in length, the movie still felt fast paced, with some plot information being assumed or not shown. In some ways the plot didn’t differentiate much from The Way of Water. It is the same enemy, battles are fought, and there are similar twists with various family members being captured and rescued.
The differences, though, were important enough to keep you interested and invested.
It is finally revealed that Kiri has no biological father. She was sired by Eywa, the mother nature goddess entity of Pandora. Eywa connects all living things via a neural network and the Na’vi can connect with all their ancestors through her. Kiri displays immense power when connected to Eywa and is able to manipulate various flora to her will. She can also communicate with the animals and can convince them to fight on the side of the Na’vi.
In one sense Kiri is a saviour figure. She is committed to Eywa, even when she experiences blockages to her communion with the deity. Kiri has a power that no other Na’vi has ever possessed. Others see in her a great purpose for the protection of not just the Na’vi but all of Pandora. She is something completely unique.
It is tempting to compare Kiri to Jesus, considering that both had a physical mother, but were “fathered” by a deity. They both have deep spiritual connections to their God or goddess. Kiri has power over nature, just as Jesus had power over storms and fig trees. Where Kiri’s power was most utilised to fight, Jesus’ power was utilised to teach and demonstrate. It was not used to harm or kill others.
There is a whole new clan, the Mangkwan, whose forest was destroyed in fire from a volcano. The leader has lost her faith in Eywa, as the goddess did not rescue her people when they prayed for deliverance from the destruction. She now worships fire as the “purest thing there is”. She befriends Colonel Quaritch who offered her clan guns, ammunition, and flame throwers so that they can become allies in the fight against Jake and the other Na’vi who are protecting their land, water, skies, animals, and culture.
This raises an interesting parallel to the way in which colonisers have used and manipulated indigenous populations. Often exploiting existing tribal hostilities, colonisers have used individuals and groups to hunt and kill other clans. This has led to incarcerations, displacement, and massacres. It predominantly benefits the colonisers, rather than those whom they are exploiting.
One final development worth noting is that Spider is given the ability to breathe Pandora’s air by Kiri. Her unique connection to Eywa and the interconnected planet enabled her to introduce elements of Pandoran flora into Spider’s body, changing his physiology and his capacity to breathe.
While this is a huge benefit for Spider, who no longer requires a mask with constantly depleting batteries, it is a massive problem for the Na’vi and Pandora. If humans can figure out how to synthesise this mutation, then what is to stop the entire race from colonising the planet? At this point, it is only the military, scientists, and those involved in the mining and hunting industries who have come to Pandora. This could open up a way for the general population to arrive. Spider is hunted, captured, and experimented on in the hope of figuring out the transformation and the possibility of recreating the phenomenon to the detriment of the indigenous population.
As I walk home at midnight after the screening, I see the immense eucalypts framed against the dark sky. I walk over grass in the park. I feel the fresh breeze on my face. But I do not see stars. The light pollution drowns them out and my eyes are drawn instead to massive cranes, lit up in the dark night, erecting an unnecessary office building. I walk past dozens of empty buildings, shopfronts, and offices every time I am in the city. It seems like a scandalous waste when tens of thousands of people are waiting for social housing and thousands are homeless. Just like in Avatar, the priorities of the policy makers and the corporations seem warped. Business and profit are more important than people. We are sweltering in ever worsening heat wave conditions, with bushfires burning in various places, or devastating floods in others, and droughts getting longer, but governments continue to endorse activities that are going to worsen these situations.
Avatar: Fire and Ice remains relevant as a creative voice in the fight against corporate greed, political inaction, and the capacity for everyday people to make a difference.
