Avatar: Fire and Ash
Once again, history has been made. We don’t know what this will end up at, box office wise, but James Cameron and his team has once again made one of the most smoothest, beautiful, visually outstanding films ever put to screen. I’ll get to that stuff in a minute. Of the three Avatars (so far), this one is my favorite. I’m not sure if that’s because of the theatrical experience or recency bias, but it just hit so hard. It easily has the best villains of the franchise (the Ash tribe), whose presence radiates off the screen in an ominous but cool way. Just Varang herself is among one of my all time favorite movie villains. In terms of plot, this does a great job of focusing on the family dynamic while further expanding the world of Pandora. It’s kind of the same old “save the homeland from invaders” story that the first two Avatars have, but the use of each character was used wisely to make this feel like a breath of fresh air. Especially the use of fire and ash, which is a good contrast to the water environment. I’m excited to see who will return in Avatar 4. The score was pounding and monumental, and every time the music starts up, you get absorbed even more by the deep emotion of each scene. Absolutely riveting is what it was. And of course, visually, the CGI is the best you will ever see in any film, and even improves on the previous film. The character designs are sweet, the animals are colossal and so lifelike, and you almost completely believe that everything you see is actually real. Very few films can do that with CGI. Hopefully, the mocap team and VFX artists will be holding their Academy Award in just a few months. Overall, this is just a fantastically made film, and seeing it in RPX 3D was truly an experience I’ll never forget. The sound, the score, the creatures, the environment, the colors…..I could go on forever. You’ll regret missing this one. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go see it now!