REVIEW: “Avatar: Fire and Ash” (2025)

(Courtesy IMDb) 

Since the release of James Cameron’s visually gamechanging and record-breaking sci-fi epic, Avatar, sixteen years ago, it was a question of whether or not the general public would still be interested if and when more than one sequel would be made. The second installment (2022’s The Way of Water) arguably gave the franchise its voice, in contrast to its familiar and more predictable predecessor. With this year’s third chapter, Fire and Ash, dominating cineplexes across the world, Cameron has delivered the most ambitious, emotionally-investing, and exhilarating moviegoing experience of all three films. In fact, the teaser trailer that played before Fantastic Four in theaters this past summer had me convinced, “This may be the best one to date.” 

The effects and world building in the first installment were groundbreaking, through and through, while its long-in-development follow-up was noteworthy for its expanded scope and jaw-dropping water effects. For the third entry, I wondered what would be the biggest visual breakthrough this time around. The more I think about it, I realize it may be how smooth and immersive everything onscreen looks, adding to the photorealism that Cameron and his team have been developing and enhancing for almost two decades now. As Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) says, “This world goes much deeper than you imagine.” 

I noticed that the frame rate changed every so often throughout the 3-hour 17-minute runtime. Following Peter Jackson’s film trilogy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Cameron had considered shooting in 48 frames per second (which is double the standard 24), but believed that audiences wouldn’t be ready for it. (Critics and the general saw that with Ang Lee’s recent films, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk and Gemini Man, which experimented with similar frame rates.) Avatar: Fire and Ash marks only the second time I’ve experienced this in theaters since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey back in 2012. Now, I believe Cameron has done it. This is, to date, one of the most incredible moviegoing experiences I’ve ever had. (IMAX 3D is the best format to see this in. No question.) It’s almost more massive and detailed than the first two films put together, creating a visceral sense of depth and vertigo. And wait until you see the wind traders (stunning) and hear Simon Franglen’s electrifying score. It may be over three hours long, but it’s thoroughly engaging and gripping. 

What really makes this third chapter (or, experience, if you prefer) really stand out, though, is its emotional and character-driven core, resonance, and complexity. Several characters have strong dilemmas and unresolved issues, including grief over the loss of loved ones, and morally gray feelings of prejudice and hatred, with the term "alien" having more than one perspective or definition, whether human or inhuman, outcast or accepted. Warrior/mother Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and son Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) are both still traumatized by the death of a son and brother, respectively. The latter struggles with himself and his place in all of this (with one particular scene that hit me hard). Adopted daughter Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) also continues to search for answers to who she is and where/what/who she really comes from. 

Then there’s the menacing and persistent Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who, now in an artificial body with only memories of the malevolent soldier, continues his never-ending mission to finish what he started years ago, but with as much three-dimensionality as he had in the last go-around. I was wondering what his true motives were, including when he forms an alliance with the merciless Varang (Oona Chaplin), the leader of an equally merciless (or nihilistic?) tribe of Na'vi, known as the Ash People. Or, is he just stuck with a “dead man’s memories,” instead of being more/better than that? The same goes for his complicated relationship to his human son Spider (Jack Champion), whose safety and presence on the central moon planet of Pandora could set off a chain of events, for better or worse. Fire and Ash really takes its time to allow us to invest in and care about (or have mixed feelings about) these characters. 

Despite a few familiar elements, the overall tone and subversive saga recalls The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, with characters fighting for the future for different reasons. Themes of community, family, hope and hopelessness, faith or the lack of it, triumph and tragedy, and what is passed from one generation to the next (and what isn’t) play strongly into many of these arcs in a larger world presented here. It’s a story of unexpected separations, team-ups, and missions, especially through physical and emotional pain and sorrow. That includes brutal and intense warfare, with some bloody and/or grotesque moments or images. 

Even in the midst of pervasive spiritual references to an environmental deity (the goddess known as Eywa), there is some surprising general revelation, with moments/scenes that echo the Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac, and the New Testament story of Lazarus. Make no mistake, Avatar maintains and further emphasizes its secular and pantheistic worldview. Still, I find it fascinating that such Biblical-related elements are there as well—and maybe just as strong. 

Whether or not Cameron and company decide to proceed with the proposed fourth and fifth installments, they’ve certainly achieved something rare in cinema, whether we like it or not. Lest we forget, Cameron really knows how to go big and dramatic. And not just with visuals.