Avatar: Fire and Ash follows the escalating conflict on Pandora as Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) process their son Neteyam’s death and encounter a new violent, fire-worshiping tribe led by fresh antagonist, Varang (Oona Chaplin). Varang makes quick friends with Jake’s recurring enemey, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), and aids him in kidnapping his estranged son, Spider (Jack Champion), and capturing Jake for betraying the RDA (the human organization intent on exploiting Pandora for its plethora of valuable resources).

That’s a lot of moving pieces, and you can certainly tell that Avatar: Fire and Ash struggles to put them all into place. Similar to Avatar: The Way of Water, this latest film is noticeably choppy before it settles in for its major action set pieces. While James Cameron certainly delivers on the spectacle and action you would expect in an Avatar climax as he gets to smash all his toys together, the editing you have to endure to get to that point can be rather disorienting. Avatar: Fire and Ash is constantly jumping from topic to topic and scene to scene. The film will often quickly mention or show something, and then almost immediately reintroduce it as a core plot point or motivator. With so much to touch on and so many pieces to move, there’s simply not enough time to let everything breathe, even with a 3hr 17min runtime.

The constant focus shifts might be more forgivable with a more compelling script, but Avatar: Fire and Ash stumbles there as well. Lines are often… uninspired, to say the least. Prepare yourself to hear “bro” at least 1000 times and an out of place “no shit” when you least expect it. The line delivery also doesn’t help. Jack Champion is noticeably bad as Spider throughout, and is not improving as much as everyone had hoped between films. Having to listen to him flatly deliver his lines is incredibly grating. His character is essentially an excuse for the VFX artists to show off their CGI work with a human actor in frame. Honestly, it’s so impressive that it almost makes his character bearable. Almost.

On the bright side, the new villain, Varang, is the clear standout of the film. She injects the most new life into Avatar: Fire and Ash and easily steals the spotlight in any scene she’s in. Her ruthlessly violent personality and obsession with fire lets the film cleanly pair her up with Colonel Miles Quaritch (the big bad from the first movie, if you don’t remember). Varang’s legitimately fun and engaging character brings out the most from the Colonel, and let’s him shine as a much more compelling character than in Avatar: The Way of Water.

Even with all the above negativity, Avatar: Fire and Ash still manages to deliver some absolutely jaw dropping scenes. The stunning visuals, moving score, and triumphant battles all manage to pick up a bit of the slack from the remainder of the film’s parts. The climax is what Avatar: The Way of Water’s should have been, and feels as though it has finally closed the door on this latest arc. However, it also comes across as somewhat of retread of the prior film. For all the advertising focus on “fire”, Avatar: Fire and Ash largely sections itself off in the previously introduced water biomes. While the second film treats the audience to a fresh new corner of Pandora, this one struggles to establish its own identity.

While I will continue to defend the first Avatar and James Cameron’s obsession with this fascinating world, if the scripts are going to be this stilted with stuck in the mud narratives, then this franchise may be starting to overstay its welcome. At some point the visuals, score, and expansive lore of Pandora will start to buckle under the weight of all the mediocre baggage stacked on top. As of now this is still an experience worth seeing on the big screen, but noticeable cracks are starting to show. If this series is going to continue, hopefully Avatar: Fire and Ash represents James Cameron getting his toys in order, ready to move onto tighter, more focused entries.

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Usually, studios provide theaters with roughly 90 days of exclusivity before releasing films through other means. With Universal Pictures now defying that norm, this could potentially lead to long term issues for theaters. Will moviegoers want to give up the convenience of their own home? After all, home theater set-ups have improved substantially and it seems harder and harder to find a venue with patrons not on their phones or talking to one another.

After a few months of social distancing, new habits will form. Once loyal theatergoers may begin to shun going out for the latest films and embrace a simpler and more personal experience. Home set-ups may never truly match the screen and sound quality of a decent theater, but how good is good enough? Is the pure spectacle of it all still a strong draw? Or are Universal’s actions another nail in the traditional theater system’s coffin?

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The broad phrase: “human condition,” suits The Flying Fish precisely because of its extensive nature. Sayginer tackles concepts of corporations as new gods (with religious Mickey Mouse iconography to boot), Earth’s role in shaping man, militarism, and death. The imagery and symbolism accompanying these themes wildly vary in terms of quality. Some of the early shorts in particular have stunningly gorgeous animations and renders. However, as the film progresses more and more bargain bin material makes its way into the work. Passing references to the Illuminati and Stone Masons, a Matrix red and blue pill homage, and other tossed in “spooky symbols” serve to detract from the core message and beauty of The Flying Fish.

Low-quality character models also make an appearance in a few of the shorts. They may still function thematically but the film would greatly benefit from some added polish. A weird dynamic emerges when watching an extremely poignant scene about the nature of death and the visuals resemble a PlayStation 2 era loading screen.

While truly thought provoking and enchanting at times, The Flying Fish requires more polish and consistency. Low-quality character models stick out and Sayginer seems to use some symbols merely because of their notoriety. As it stands, The Flying Fish serves as a journey to experience, but just once.

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The CGI takes your breath away…until you notice the mouths and facial expressions. In a quest to achieve realism, none of the animals emote with their faces. So a beautiful nature documentary plays out on screen, but the animals do not come across as real characters. None of them have any defining traits. They all look like real lions or birds and kudos to the animators but, that does not make for a good film. In a quest to see if they could, they forgot to ask if they should.

When shots noticeably zoom out and obscure characters’ mouths during long dialogue sequences, you know there is an issue. And in 2019, slow motion zoom outs should not be shot at two frames per second. Frame rate stuttering that noticeable is embarrassing. The disconnect between the “lively” voice-over work and stoic animal models leaves the whole ordeal feeling soulless; not to mention Mufasa’s rag-doll-esque death sequence.

Compounding the issue, the voice-over work suffers from a number of horrible performances. The banter between cub Simba and Nala was surprisingly stilted and difficult to endure. However, Pumbaa and Timone easily steal the show. Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner give wonderful performances as the duo, and brighten any scene they appear in. John Oliver, once you get past his recognizable delivery style, plays a serviceable to good Zazu. The remaining voice actors produced nothing of value. Lines were delivered flat and uninspired. Iconic dialogue lifted straight from the original movie did not carry the same emotional weight this time around. Nothing sounded as though two people were actually talking to one another. The hyenas in particular sounded disjointed and off. It would not be surprising to hear Beyonce recorded all of her lines over the phone.

Speaking of Beyonce, the music. For renowned musical numbers, boy were these versions dull and uninspired. Once elaborate, energetic, and colorful sequences found themselves reduced to long walks through the woods. Again, in order to maintain a “realistic” art style, director Jon Favreau sacrificed what made the original so beloved in the first place. Additionally, the covered songs do not surpass the 1994 classic’s. Listening to Beyonce oversing with unnecessary pitch changes just does not cut it.

The Lion King (2019) presents nothing new. While not intrinsically terrible, by failing to improve on or change anything from the 1994 original it fails to make a case for its existence. Cutting dialogue entirely and relying solely on the songs to convey the story would have been a more original and enjoyable approach (although much less marketable). At some point directors will realize chasing realism to the detriment of the film is an artistically bankrupt endeavor. Until then, they will gladly continue accepting the unholy sums of money this film will assuredly make.

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Dragon Ball Super: Broly presents the new canonical version of Broly’s origin. No longer does he rage after Kakarot as revenge for having to listen to his cries as an infant. Now we watch as King Vegeta ships him off to an uninhabited planet; partially out of fear and partially out of jealousy. There, him and his father train and survive, biding their time until they have an opportunity to extract their revenge.

A long story short, Goku and Vegeta fight Broly for roughly 45 minutes. Perhaps not surprisingly the movie also yada yada’s over the foundational details of the story. It assumes you have at least a passing familiarity with characters and story arcs, with several opening moments (Bardok’s last stand for one) not making much sense otherwise. Even with all of these assumptions, what you really want to see does not start until over halfway through the movie. When the singular fight does finally makes its appearance, the film rushes through it. The second half of the movie feels as if someone pressed the fast forward button. If Nagamine had just fully committed to trimming the fat in the beginning, it could have given the showcase fight more room to breathe.

More room to breathe means more time for one of the flashiest fights in all of Super. For a series much maligned for its weightless and sanitized combat, Dragon Ball Super: Broly invokes the feeling of classic Z climaxes. With humor reminiscent of the original Dragon Ball, DBS: Broly touches all the right nostalgic notes. However, the incredibly generic side character designs will often remind you what series the film belongs to.

Watching Goku and Vegeta pull up in their streetwear inspired coats invokes a fan’s deepest childhood memories of the series. As the three warriors begin to trade blows a smile creeps onto the face. The grandiose soundtrack remix announces the fighters and genuine wonderment takes over. Then the CGI hits. Those ships in the opening scenes were not outliers. They were not done just to save money to do the real fight justice. No, rather the whole film abuses CGI animation. The stylish hand drawn frames randomly drop out in favor of abhorrent 3D models. The designs are not well done either. They look as if someone tried to sneak in a melted action figure and try their hand at stop motion. This drastic change in style occurs frequently throughout the second half and looks worse every time.

Trumping Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan should not have taken a herculean effort. Yet, Dragon Ball Super: Broly managed to fall short. Even with the best choreographed fight in all of Super done to electrifying remixes of classic songs, it could not stay away from the CGI temptation. Unfortunately, the CGI interruptions in the climatic fight are so dreadful that Dragon Ball Super: Broly cannot be taken seriously. Replacing the charm of the original with cheap and clunky effects erases any ground gained by reimagining the legendary Saiyan’s origin.

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Studio Ghibli’s vault of excellent films has never officially released in the Chinese market. If this recent opening weekend is any indication, more of these films may soon find themselves in Chinese theaters.

A generation grew up watching Ghibli films on bootleg DVD’s and now they have an opportunity to directly support the creators; sharing a beloved experience with children of their own. Hopefully we see the rest of the Studio Ghibli catalog make an appearance.

Tell us what you think about this surprising (?) Spirited Away box office development below.

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