It’s another return to Pandora for moviegoers with James Cameron’s latest, “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the third film in the highly profitable science fiction franchise.

This third film is essentially more of the same — some spectacular technical achievements bogged down by a predestination script littered with clunky dialogue. As Cameron the director continues to expand his strengths, these films continue to make a case that Cameron’s weakness is clearly his screenplays.

“Fire and Ash” picks up shortly after the events of the previous film with the Na’vi, led by former human turned Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), trying to regroup after the latest epic battle against the humans intent on taking the planet for their own personal needs.

Jake, his Na’vi wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their surviving son Lo’ak (Britain Dalton) are mourning the loss of son and brother Neteyam in the battle.

The time of peace proves to be limited as the humans — led by military leader turned Na’vi Quaritch (Stephen Lang) — plan their next attack. Quaritch finds an ally in a rebel group of Na’vi known as Mangkwan, led by Vanang (Oona Chaplin in the one promising new additions to the series).

As the conflict starts to heat up, Quaritch’s human son Spider (Jack Champion) becomes perhaps the key to the humans taking over when an event leads him to be able to breathe the air without a filter.

“Fire and Ash” clocks in at 195 minutes, the longest yet of the three “Avatar” films and it feels every bit that length. Cameron once again creates a lavish world with stunning special effects and impeccable visuals (best experienced in 3-D on the biggest screen possible), but the craftsmanship can only take you so far.

Once again Cameron’s script is the weak link — and this time the film’s fatal flaw. The dialogue is at times unintentionally comical, with the basic story so razor thin that the film evolves into a series of rinse and repeat sequences. That repetitiveness wears thin really fast.

It’s a problem that has plagued both of the previous films as well, but Cameron always had an ace up his sleeve. In the case of the previous film it was a final act with one of the best extended action sequences of Cameron’s career.

There is no final kick in “Fire and Ash” as the finale is just as much stop and go as the rest of the film. There are some highlights, including a group of sea creatures that attack in a spectacularly creative way, but the payoff isn’t enough to overcome a film that just slogs alone.

My screening featured a pre-taped message from Cameron about how the film was created using no AI whatsoever. That is a feat Cameron should be proud of, but ultimately all this craftsmanship feels empty because the film lacks any real emotional connection.

It’s clear that Cameron loves this world he has created (two more sequels are already in the early stages of development). The problem is the more enamored he gets with creating the world, the more the characters just become disposable chess pieces that lack any depth or emotion.

After taking a step forward with the previous film, “Fire and Ash” takes a giant step back — a film overstuffed with style but completely lacking any meaningful substance.

Grade: C