Fire and Ashtonishing! Simon Franglen’s Avatar 3
It’s been three years since The Way of Water came out. I remember listening to it, the minute it appeared on streaming services. And I remember being blown away again and again, a little more with each passing cue. TWoW instantly became a favourte score of all time for me; and having recently revisited it, it remains so. That means that Avatar 3: Fire and Ash has got a lot to live up to. Does composer Simon Franglen deliver? You bet your blue Na’Vi arse he does!
One of the things I wrote about The Way of Water is “Franglen of course quotes Horner’s “I See You” theme and frequently employs other Horner-isms. This is a score that is undoubtedly a continuation of Avatar, but there are new tales to tell, new characters to meet; and so the music too moves on. We remember the past, but we look to the future.” The same holds true for Fire and Ash. In interviews Franglen explains, or reminds us, that Avatar 2 and 3 are a pair, filmed together and very closely related. From the score’s point of view it means a continuation of TWoW, a return to Franglen’s themes, further exploration of those themes and some new introductions.
I’ve been looking forward to hearing F&A, albeit with some trepidation. Given the strength of Franglen’s themes (not just in TWoW but also across his other works) I was very much looking forward to some new anthems; though I was worried that any new themes might not live up to mounting expectations. Considering F&A‘s close relation to TWoW Franglen mostly relies on those existing themes. That is great! I love those, and I love how Franglen explores and develops those themes further in this sequel. It does mean, however, that the surprise-factor is somewhat diminished. There is new material, there are new tricks, and new orchestrations, but on the whole it is an extension of everything we know from TWoW.
Franglen has taken Avatar to places that I’m not sure Horner could’ve done. There’s a drive here, a level of energy, of exploration, of enthusiasm, of experimentation that I’m not sure the late Maestro could’ve matched. As I said before, Franglen of course acknowledges the past, the origins of this saga, with various nods to Horner’s themes and flourishes, but the story moves on. Franglen has made Avatar his own; he has crafted a sonic world so big and lush and epic and wondrous… it deserves the utmost respect. The composer recently joked that he’s now fired from F&A and we’ll have to see if any further sequels will be made. But let’s be honest here, there is only one composer qualified to carry on with any, if any, Avatar sequels. Though I must also add that I hope Franglen has opportunities to score something other than Avatar.
As for F&A, I’m not one to go into track-by-track analysis, but I will point out a few stand-outs. The score opens with “Brothers”, and very satisfactorily it opens with a single grand statement of Horner’s “I See You” motif. Subsequently, Franglen presents his “Songcord” in a couple of guises, with a brief Horner quote thrown in (the trumpets from “Jake’s First Flight”), and fragments of “The Spirit Tree” I believe. A few tracks later Franglen introduces a new theme for “The Windtraders”. It’s an elegant, sea-faring sort-of theme, which reminds me ever so slightly of Horner’s work on the Zorro movies.
We get our first dose of action-music in “Mangkwan Attack”. My first reaction was “it’s heavy metal on a cello!”, seeing as the key element is an agressive string riff complete with slides, akin to heavy metal guitar and bass riffs. The sound is a combination of a Mongolian string instrument and electric cello. It’s raspy and scratchy and rather cool. Franglen re-uses this riff numerous times in later action cues, as it represents the Ash people. In recent interviews Franglen explained he wanted a sound, rather than a melody, for the Magkwan. That said, one of the most impressive things about Franglen’s writing is that he never loses sight of his themes. And I mean never. In the midst of the most tumultuous action cues, he still manages to incorporate his themes and the Na’Vi vocals. F&A has got to be the most leitmotif driven score this side of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings. And the fact that the biggest blockbuster of the year (and possibly of the last three and next few years) is so melodic, and so strongly rooted in clever orchestral writing, fills me with great joy. There’s a ton of electronics here as well. F*ck knows how many instances of Omnisphere Franglen is running here, but he never diminishes the role of the orchestra. As I praised TWoW, F&A continues to be one of the best hybrid scores I have ever heard. There are some composers who like to brag about their unique approach to a score, or how they invented new sounds and did things no one’s ever done… meanwhile Franglen’s quiet and humble response appears to be “hold my beer”.
“Forest Chase” reprises material first heard in TWoW‘s “Rescue and Loss”. “Miracle” goes all the way back to the first Avatar for its inspiration (descending strings and bioluminesence sounds), though does beautifully include Kiri’s theme in a poignant softly chanted manner. Kiri’s theme is one my favourite themes that Franglen wrote for these movies, and I’m delighted that it appears quite often throughout F&A. I know from interviews that Franglen is quite fond of the cue “I am the Fire”. It’s one of the score’s longer cues and covers a lot of ground. It starts a bit aleatoric, gradually introduces a rhythmic string pattern (with nice use of that 4-notif motif), then introduces some odd modulating vocals. Franglen has explained in interviews that this is best heard in surround sound as the vocals circle around you. Unfortunately I do not have such a set-up, but can imagine the effect would be interesting. During the last minute of this cue then tension rises via string ostinato, thumping bass and granular synth noises.
“Lo’Ak” is a solemn cue for flute, strings and eventually choir. It offers two minutes of respite, before “The Deep One” explodes into action. This is a frantic, high-tempo cue in 7/8 with tribal percussion, running strings, screaming brass, piano clusters and more. What I find impressive is that, while the cue packs a punch, it’s still light on its feet. Floats like a butterfly, strings like a bee.
“Sacrifice” is utterly stunning. The most wonderful theme (“The Future and the Past”) rises from the low winds to choir, while undulating cellos and overlapping falling violins (from Horner’s arsenal) create a sorrowful atmosphere. There’s a wonderful transition I just have to mention, about two-thirds of the way in. The ethereal strings seem to materialise into something a little more solid. Very subtle, but it hits me every time. “Preparing for Attack” and “Marshalling Forces” are two high-energy action cues blending orchestra, choir and electronics. A few cues later, “Settling the Score” jubilantly uses the main Avatar theme, with counterpoint brass, Na’Vi chants and lively percussion that had me tapping along.
“The Light Always Returns” is the score’s final emotional suckerpunch, though it’s largely a reprise of “The Spirit Tree”. The album concludes with Zoe Saldana singing “The Future and the Past”. It’s a gorgeous song, another songcord, just as beautiful as the one from TWoW. Maybe even better? Too close to call!
For those listeners on the look-out, or should that be listen-out, for Horner-isms, there are plenty of them. Of course there are deliberate call-backs to the first Avatar, whilst others may be less deliberate other than to maintain a consistent sound-palette over the course of these movie. There are rhythmic shakuhachi’s, there are crashing pianos, there is some Native American-esque chanting, and bless your heart Simon Franglen, there is even room for the danger motif.
So, after all that gushing praise, I have to admit that I still prefer TWoW over F&A. There are a few reasons, some of which arguably fairer than others; and ultimately everyone is entitled to their own favourites, right? Runtime is one. When TWoW came out, it initially arrived as a 76-minute album (and an extended version followed shortly after). For me, that relatively shorter and focused album was perfect. F&A arrives as a 2-hour-and-10-minute album. It does absolutely entertain for all of that time, but it’s still a very long run time. Second, I’ve already mentioned the surprise-factor. Simply because we’ve heard TWoW, and F&A being very much an extension of it, there is a diminished impact. Coupled with the long run time, it means there are less surprises to keep you on your toes. Third, TWoW‘s highlights are nigh impossible to match. Cues like “The Songcord”, “Into the Water”, “Hometree”, “Knife Fight”, “From Darkness to Light” and “The Spirit Tree” are all masterpieces in themselves. Whilst F&A references and re-purposes and provides variations on those cues, it just doesn’t hit quite as hard as it did the first time (i.e. surprise factor). And lastly, the song “Dream as One”, performed by Miley Cyrus, doesn’t grab me the way that “Nothing is Lost”, co-written and performed by The Weeknd, does. That song incorporates Franglen’s thematic ideas, vocals and sound design, and thus feels part of the same musical universe. In comparison, “Dream as One” feels like a standalone track, with no obvious connections to the score. It’s a fine song, inoffensive, but a bit bland.
One last point I’d like to make is that I believe Franglen’s writing, as a film composer, is just getting better with each score. The big themes, he already mastered those. From TWoW to Turandot and Notre Dame, he’s written some belters! And do check out the videogame score AION2. But where you can really hear his growth is in the quieter, subtler underscore cues. It’s hard to explain and I certainly don’t want to unintentionally dish out a backhanded compliment, but I feel that his storytelling is improving on that subtler level, in between the big cues. And that is what makes Avatar: Fire and Ash such a great score. The storytelling, the consistency, the progression throughout that 2-hour-something run time.
The amount of time and effort that has gone into this score surely surpasses any other score out there right now. Franglen has effectively been working on this since 2018. The score, as recorded for the movie, surpasses three hours and 1,900 pages of sheet music. The only thing that could possibly even vaguely compete with that could be John Powell’s work on Wicked. At the time of this writing, Franglen (and co-writers) have received a Golden Globe nomination for the song “Dream as One”. I sincerely hope that nominations for the score follow. I want F&A to win awards; not because awards are the be-all and end-all, but because Franglen deserves to be recognised and rewarded for the astonishing work he has done on Avatar. The writing, the orchestrations, the synths programming, the performances from all musicians, to the recording and mixing is nothing short of mindblowing. This has surely got to be the most expansive, most expressive, most colourful, most melodic and most complex score since the days of Rings and Potter…. at least!
As an aside: for those who crave another brand new epic Franglen anthem…check out the game score for AION2, for which he wrote four themes. His main theme is as catchy an earworm as anything you’ll hear all year. The overall score is written by a plethora of different composers and feels very much like a cross between Avatar and Ori. I won’t be reviewing that album, but couldn’t not mention it.
Article by Pete Simons (c) 2025 Synchrotones
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