It goes without saying, but there will be a lot of eyes on “Avatar: Fire and Ash”. And they will be watching for a number of reasons. For fans, it will be for another chance to visit the breathtaking world of Pandora. For tech lovers, it’s to see how James Cameron once again pushes technical boundaries. For box office prognosticators, it will be to see if Cameron’s third Avatar movie can hit the $2 billion+ mark like its predecessors. For the studio, it’s to see if it makes enough money to green-light the final two films in Cameron’s groundbreaking franchise.

After the enormous success of 2009’s “Avatar”, it took the franchise’s creative mastermind James Cameron thirteen years to make and release its sequel, “The Way of Water”. To many people’s surprise (more specifically, my own), the second film was also a major box office success, clearing over $2.3 billion at the box office. It was also an incredible cinematic experience that not only expanded the Avatar universe, but made the narratively shaky first film better.

“The Way of Water” once again delivered cutting-edge action sequences and world-building. But its story shifted its focus to family and all of its complexity as seen through the lenses of love, loyalty, sacrifice, and tragedy. “Fire and Ash” sees Cameron picking up where he left off, with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) navigating their family through grief following a devastating loss. And while they’ve found a home with the aquatic Metkayina clan, that doesn’t lessen the blow of losing one of their own.

Cameron’s script (which he co-write with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver) expands the drama within the Sully family, adding more depth and conflict to the relationships that flourished in the previous film. Back is Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter with a special unrealized bond to the planet; Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), the middle child who also serves as the film’s occasional narrator; and Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), their birth daughter and youngest child.

Each member of the Sully family is mourning in their own way. Jake spends his time keeping busy rather than facing his grief. Neytiri has shut herself off and is slowly being consumed by hate. Lo’ak is overwhelmed with guilt, believing his actions led to the previous film’s tragedy. Kiri is struggling to find her purpose while wondering if she could have done more. And Tuk is lost among her grieving family and unsure how to process everything she is witnessing.

Also returning is the Sully family’s chief antagonist, the obsessed Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Once the human military commander who brutally oversaw the colonization of Pandora, Quaritch is now a Na’vi mercenary who is still persecuting the native tribes, all in the name of revenge. But this time he has found a formidable ally in Varang (Oona Chaplin), the hardened leader of the volcano-dwelling Mangkwan clan. While she isn’t fleshed out as much as she could be, her goal is clear – to spread her fire across Pandora.

The story’s wild card is Spider (Jack Champion), the human son of Quaritch who was taken in by Jake and Neytiri after his ruthless father was killed in the first film. Spider’s story takes several specific turns that make him wanted by nearly everyone but for much different reasons. Spider was a little annoying in the last film. But here he’s more of a sympathetic figure who’s being pulled in numerous directions and for nothing that he can control.

As you may be able to tell, “Fire and Ash” is very much a direct sequel to “The Way of Water”. In fact, their connections are so close that you can only really view it as an extension of the previous film. The two are narratively inseparable which is why some might see their similarities as repetitive. But Cameron infuses every scene with purpose, whether they’re personal for individual characters or building up the growing conflict that is thrusting Pandora into all-out war.

Once again, “Fire and Ash” is every bit the jaw-dropping spectacle you expect. While is doesn’t feature a technical leap as significant as we saw from film 1 to film 2, it’s still a stunning visual showcase for digital animation, practical effects, and performance capture. And it remains the only franchise where seeing it in 3-D is a must. It’s all enhanced through a crisp high frame rate which some have criticized but that I personally love.

“Fire and Ash” may feel like “The Way of Water: Part 2”, but it brings some things of its own. The menacing Varang and the Mangkwan clan, the Wind Traders and their massive organic barges; new sea creatures from the deep – they all make great additions to Cameron’s already rich cinematic world. Yet it does have its shortcomings. Older characters pop up with nothing much to do. The movie’s length doesn’t quite feel as earned as before. And it uses some of the same action beats as the last film. But “Fire & Ash” is still a grand science-fiction epic that once again transports us to an awe-inspiring world that could only come from the imagination of James Cameron. And I loved being back.

VERDICT – 4 STARS