“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is long. 

So long, that when I left my hometown theater in Washington, D.C., I thought I was still in the movie, and the squad of National Guardsmen on the sidewalk were corporate soldiers from the planet Pandora. 

Though I might have been Avatar’d out by the end, I enjoyed every second of the film. 

“Fire and Ash” is the third of the wildly successful “Avatar” series, a franchise that I wasn’t always 100% convinced deserved the hype. This film proved me wrong.

I’ve always thought that watching the “Avatar” movies felt like listening to your grandpa telling you a made-up story that comes across as tropey and more than a little tone deaf, but that he swears is the coolest thing ever. 

While watching, I couldn’t help but be impressed at what 71-year-old director James Cameron’s singular imagination had come up with. 

Whether it’s having the problem child of the heroic Sully family hold court with a pod of space whales to free their “outcast” — who also happens to be his soulmate — or casting 76-year-old Sigourney Weaver as an immaculately conceived teenage alien, these are choices so hyperspecific they couldn’t come from anyone else. 

Zoe Saldaña also shines as Neytiri, continuing her character’s arc of grappling with her prejudice against humans. Her performance is such a powerhouse that it’s hard to believe this is the same actor who starred in the confused “Emilia Pérez.”

It’s kind of brilliant how this elaborate sci-fi world is used as a facade for Cameron to deliver his reflections on family experiences from the most universal to the most specific. Sibling rivalries, survivor’s guilt and multicultural families are all topics that get covered. 

To me, all these glimpses at Cameron’s unfiltered thoughts are what uplift “Avatar: Fire and Ash” from beyond just being this year’s Christmastime blockbuster into something worth my three hours and 15 minutes. 

My favorite thing about “Fire and Ash” is how it ups the ante creatively, this time focusing on our villain Colonel Quaritch’s love life. He falls for Oona Chaplin’s Varang, a vengeful clan leader whose love language is also violence and colonization. The most engaging parts of “Fire and Ash” were the Sullys’ attempts to put a stop to their evil Bonnie and Clyde dynamic. 

Out of all the older-adult actors in this movie, Stephen Lang’s Quaritch is my MVP. His cartoonish macho bravado makes for a villain who’s as hateable as he is quotable. 

You can tell Lang and Chaplin are having a blast with their roles. Their chemistry stands out in a movie where most of the dialogue is so rigid it feels like it could be from a video game. 

Overall, “Fire and Ash” did its job, impressing me so much I’ll never use the phrase “industry plants” to describe the “Avatar” movies ever again. As soon as they’re ready to let me back, I’ll be on the first flight from O’Hare to Pandora. 

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X: @migtsang

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