The third ‘Avatar’ movie looks a lot like the first two

Also familiar are the bladder-busting runtime (197 minutes) and the high frame rate that makes the visuals look like a soap opera projected through a television with the motion smoothing setting turned on. At least “The Way of Water” had a multitude of new aquatic creatures that kept me watching; “Fire and Ash” has fewer features of interest.

Since I cannot perceive 3-D, perhaps I am missing something about the visuals. However, with its repeated warnings about the dangers of robbing a planet of resources and its message about characters with differences coming together to fight a common enemy, I highly doubt Cameron wants these films reduced to mere 3-D effects.

If you’ve never seen an “Avatar” movie, don’t expect to get any help from Cameron and his crew. You will be completely lost, because “Avatar: Fire and Ash” drops you right into the next chapter without any recaps of what came before. If I’m thinking like the filmmakers, I’m asking why you should get any help here. I mean, the last two movies made over $6 billion worldwide, so why didn’t you go see them?

I’m being facetious; I have seen both movies, and I couldn’t tell you a damn detailed thing that happened in either of them. I had to go read Wikipedia, and my review of the last movie, so I could have an inkling of what takes place here. Making matters worse, “Fire and Ash” evaporated from my brain on the train ride home. This review is powered by a panicky attempt to decipher the chicken scratch in my notebook. You try writing notes in the dark with 3-D glasses on, and let’s see how well you do.

But I digress. Basically, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is the same movie as “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the franchise’s prior installment. The only difference is that fire is the primary element, and the new villain looks like a gigantic, enraged chicken. Rather than cluck robustly and fear Colonel Sanders, Varang (Oona Chaplin) yells a lot and poses a fiery threat to series heroes Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).

Narration is provided by Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), their surviving son. He is still processing guilt over the shooting death of his older brother, Neteyam. Lo’ak also still has a bond with Payakan, a whale-like creature known as a Tulkun who has been cast out for violating the species’ non-violence rules. The Tulkuns remain the franchise’s most interesting animals, and the one compelling plotline involves the possibility of the rest of them rescinding their non-violence vows.

As always, a new “Avatar” movie means exploring a new tribe. Last time, it was the aquatic Metkayina people led by pregnant Ronal (Kate Winslet), who accepted Neytiri and Jake as members of their community. Winslet reprises her role here, as does Cliff Curtis as her husband, Chief Tonowari. The Metkayina hail from the watery world on the other side of Pandora, far from the forest lands of the first “Avatar.”

Varang’s Mangkwan clan are the new characters in “Fire and Ash.” They’re also known as the Ash people and dwell in a volcano located about a mile on the dark side of Route 88 (or wherever this place is on Pandora). Varang has partnered, both strategically and personally, with the avatar version of Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who is still holding a grudge against Neytiri for killing his human form. When not doing kinky sexytime tail plug-ins with Quaritch, Varang tortures her enemies for fun and information.

Jack Champion returns as Spider, Quaritch’s kid, who was adopted by Jake Sully in “The Way of Water.” Spider is a human teenager in a loincloth who looks like Tarzan: Lord of the Flies. He wants to get to know his father better, and Quaritch apparently wants to bond with him as revenge against Sully. Spider has a close friendship with Kiri (Sigourney Weaver, very good here), the teenage Na’Vi daughter of Weaver’s late human character, Dr. Grace Augustine.

Once again, the Resources Development Administration, the evil human organization that’s been the villain in prior movies, wants to raid Pandora for its resources. Now led by Carmela Soprano herself, Edie Falco, the group also employs marine biologist Dr. Ian Garvin (Jemaine Clement) and marine Captain Scoresby (Brendan Cowell), both of whom are out to poach Tulkuns.

All of this leads to yet another climactic battle, this one bigger and louder than the last two. Normally, Cameron is a master of these sequences, but despite all the carnage, the effort feels phoned in, to the point where I started questioning if certain scenes were direct lifts from “The Way of Water”’s finale. There’s a sense of finality at play here, but it evokes a false sense of security, because Cameron has plans for five “Avatar” movies.

I’m sure “Avatar: Fire and Ash” will make lots of dollars and cents. I’m not sure why these films have a following, but my job isn’t to ruminate on an audience’s taste. I can only tell you what I think, and I think I’ve had enough of “Avatar” movies.

★★

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

Directed by James Cameron. Written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver. Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Oona Chaplin, Stephen Lang, Britain Dalton, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Jack Champion, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Brendan Cowell. At AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square, Alamo Drafthouse Seaport, AMC Causeway, suburbs. 197 minutes. PG-13 (Na’Violence galore)

Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.