A little goes a very long way in the third chapter of director James Cameron’s blockbusting franchise, writes Damon Smith.
Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver deliver a masterclass in candyfloss storytelling, expertly fluffing around an hour of linear plot and character development into more than three hours of jaw-dropping visual spectacle that continues to push the envelope for performance capture technology.
The law of diminishing returns holds firm for Avatar: Fire And Ash, the weakest phase of humanity’s bloodthirsty battle with the Na’vi.
The movie picks up where the second film, Avatar: The Way of Water, left off – with characters Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) mourning the loss of a son.
A 197-minute running is unnecessary self-indulgence on Cameron’s part but he continues to dazzle with digitally rendered artistry on bioluminescent land, underwater and in the air.
Scriptwriters rely on the undeniable emotional pull of a blended family rallying in the face of cataclysmic adversity and female characters of every species continue to tip the balance of power. Mothers are the necessity of Cameron’s invention.
The magnum opus is the third movie in the Avatar series, which has earned a combined $6.35 billion globally.
“These movies consistently draw audiences to the movie theatre,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore head of marketplace trends, who noted that the visually stunning 3D films are ‘tailor-made’ for watching in cinemas.
The first film in the franchise, Avatar, opened in 2009 and brought in $2.9bn in ticket sales worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing movie ever in absolute dollars, according to Comscore, although it’s behind the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind if box office returns are adjusted for inflation and average ticket prices over the decades.
Thirteen years later, in 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water opened, grossed more than $2.3bn globally and won an Oscar for best achievement in visual effects.
The latest instalment, released in time for the holiday season, racked up $306 million in the US and Canada, and $777.1m internationally, Disney reported.
Cameron’s first billion-dollar blockbuster was Titanic, released in 1997, which has brought in nearly $2.3bn, worldwide.
&uuid=(email))