The season has arrived again: The blue people known as the Na’vi are swarming onto thousands of movie screens across the country, this time via “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” in order that we witness their ongoing battle against human invaders. This humanoid species of the planet Pandora, with their elongated, El Greco bodies and azure pigmentation, may yet become a seasonal staple given their sporadic reappearance during the holidays — and the masses of moviegoers who go to see them during this time.  

Yet, hark, the new movie darkens what should be escapist fare, complete with scenes addressing suicide, pedicide, wholesale slaughter, and more. While the prior two films in the series, 2009’s “Avatar” and 2022’s “The Way of Water,” contained their shares of violence, carnage, and destruction, they were still essentially triumphalist and optimistic in tone. The latest picture not only adds more of those elements but turns bleak and unsettling as it grapples with grief, family allegiances, and hatred, delving further into these themes than previous films while introducing a sinister new character. 

Those hoping “Fire and Ash” recalls how “The Empire Strikes Back” deepened the “Star Wars” saga will be disappointed, as it never sets the right balance between interpersonal drama, quiet moments, and action setpieces. Too many times, scenes reach for a gravitas they can never fully achieve given the need to advance the plot, of which there is far too much, causing the narrative to feel rushed and messy. Even more frustrating, director James Cameron’s much-revered action filmmaking comes off perfunctory at times, repeating thrills we’ve witnessed before.

Perhaps the ultimate criticism of the film lies in the view that the science fiction world created by Mr. Cameron and his consummate team of digital technicians and artists has grown stale after the initial wonder and curiosity generated in earlier iterations. It doesn’t help matters that the overall story remains the same: Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a Marine-turned-Na’vi being and leader, rallies “the natives” to fight against homo sapiens who seek to exploit the mineral and organic resources of their land. Once again, extractive capitalism is condemned and ecoconsciousness extolled, though by this point in the franchise the message has already been heard loud and clear. 

When the new film succeeds, it’s primarily due to its focus on tensions within Jake’s family, and when the plot mirrors these rifts. Early scenes bear this out as we see Jake and his partner, Neytire (Zoe Saldana), argue over her faith in the Navi’s mother god, Eywa, and when the father declares, “This is a family, not a democracy” to his brood, including son Lo’ak, daughter Tuk, adopted daughter Kiri, and human foster child Spider. After the first big action sequence, the family becomes separated, and while they eventually reunite these physical and emotional divisions will reoccur and explore the complexities of chosen families and interbreeding/interracial ties.

The most novel element is the introduction of the character Varang (Oona Chaplin), the female leader of a tribe of unrepentant savages who scalp the Kuru, or neural ponytail, of other Na’vi or kamikaze themselves during battle. When she meets Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who was brought back to life in the last film as a Na’vi avatar, their confab flirts with lust, not to mention drug impairment, as the two discuss power and revenge. It’s too bad, then, that Varang, who seems to be able to handle and harness fire, is given nothing to do but use human firearms and play the colonel’s sidekick for the rest of the movie.

Despite these new elements and developments, restlessness and a certain detachment set in during the second or so of the baggy movie’s three-and-a-quarter hours. We find out how Kiri is a fatherless clone, though this information is confusingly relayed while also clumsily invoking Jesus. Furthermore, a subplot involving a whale-like outcast fails to stir. Only Spider’s ability to breathe without an oxygen mask after Kiri performs a spell sparks some real drama, hinting at how humans may be able to fully colonize Pandora one day, and leading to an emotional climax involving the boy, Jake, and Neytiri.

The screenplay displays no clear structure or carefully crafted progression, just a stop-start rhythm of dialogue-driven scenes and cluttered action sequences that attempt to justify a big battle in the third hour but do so mechanically and familiarly, resembling as it does the one in “Way of Water.” When this finale finally arrives, one has lost too much interest in the goings-on to re-engage, particularly as a half-dozen climatic scenarios have already transpired, leaving one simultaneously overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Indeed, an offshoot of this sequence sees Jake collaborate with the colonel despite their enmity, mining a keen irony, but then one realizes this moment is repetitive, inspiring exhaustion once again. 

With two more films planned for the franchise, one hopes Mr. Cameron gives his Na’vi protagonists more agency in the future — not just the same story of victimhood, animal dependency, and deus-ex-machina intervention. And with the bloom quite off the digitally processed, neon-colored rose of the alien planet, the fantasy needs some new novelty. To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, blue has turned to gray and one’s enthusiasm for “Avatar” has gone away.