Avatar: Fire and Ash 2025 Movie Review
Some time ago in the previous century, James Cameron first developed the idea for the Avatar films. When he realized that the tools available at the time weren’t sufficient to fully realize his vision, he refused to compromise and made a decision: to put the project completely on ice until technology caught up with what he had imagined. Over the following years, he focused primarily on technological research, working on innovative filming systems and motion-capture methodologies.
Only in the 2000s did Cameron bring the project back to life in a technologically groundbreaking process. Following the astronomical success of the first film, Cameron began mapping out an entire saga, spanning multiple films and decades of work, all while developing new technologies that would allow him to expand the world he’d created in innovative new directions. The second film, The Way of Water, was released some 13 years (!) after the first, marking a noticeable shift in approach: less a technological showmanship and more with an emphasis on character and story, with the technology serving as a tool to enhance the experience rather than dominate it.
Fire and Ash arrives at a point where the technology is fully mature with Cameron completely adept at using it, and the story is ripe and well developed. Unsurprisingly, the film is visually stunning and, in my opinion, absolutely must be seen in an IMAX theater. Given its bloated runtime, it’s hard for me to imagine watching this at home on a TV – it would diminish so much of what makes the experience work.
The issue, however, is that it feels like the technological innovation aspect has reached a saturation point of sorts. The visual spectacle, while impressive, is no longer that far from what we’ve come to expect from other major blockbusters in recent years – at least in the way it is perceived by the viewer. Anyone who remembers the frenzy surrounding the original film’s release in 2009 will recall just how unprecedented it felt at the time, while now we kind of got used to it.
On the plus side, what’s been lost in terms of the original film’s jaw-dropping “wow” factor is made up for by a level of technical maturity that allows Cameron to fully unleash his unique strengths as an action master. The result is some of the most ambitious and visually stunning action sequences I’ve seen in quite some time – with long stretches of the film functioning as pure, awe-inducing spectacle.
Unlike the second film, which opened with a significant time jump, this one picks up exactly where its predecessor left off-for better and for worse. On one hand, it maintains that feeling I love that this is one long, continuous epic rather than a series neatly divided into chapters. On the other hand, the film makes little effort to refresh viewers on key plot details or world-building elements, which may leave audiences who haven’t revisited the previous film in a while feeling a bit lost.
From what I remember, there’s noticeably more humor here than in the earlier films, and the story does indeed venture into interesting narrative territory. A lot of characters get more depth, new intriguing characters are added, and the stakes are at an all-time high. At the same time, a lot of it feels familiar, safe, even recycled-and there’s a sense that the plot is beginning to circle back on itself. The ending left me desiring something a bit more as well.
The film lays intriguing groundwork for the (at least additional two) upcoming sequels, and if Cameron takes some of the criticism aimed at the second and third films to heart, there’s real potential here for an amazing conclusion.
This has to be said: as good as the film is, and as much as I genuinely enjoyed it, it is unquestionably too long. Very few films, in my view, justify a runtime of around three hours – and this one pushes past that by roughly a quarter of an additional hour, which feels extremely excessive. It’s not that the film is boring, but tighter script editing could have made the experience far smoother for many viewers. The only real upside to watching it at home might be the ability to take breaks – but when a movie reaches the point where a break feels necessary, it’s usually a sign that the writer and editor became a little sloppy.
It may sound like I’m being mostly critical here, but the fact is I really did enjoy the film on the pure “experience” level. While far from perfect, it’s highly entertaining and presents a sweeping, richly textured story that delivers breathtaking action and visuals that truly shine on the big screen.
Will I be able to re-watch it soon? Not likely. But James Cameron knows what he is doing, and the initial experience is definitely one to be had. Imagine a big-budget adventure/war film that blends classic sci-fi and fantasy elements – with characters and story in the background that we are invested in for years already.
Fire and Ash isn’t a film that will change your outlook on life – or on cinema, for that matter – but it makes up for that by being a rare kind of spectacle, even by 2025 standards. As the third entry in a planned five-film series, it represents the midpoint of what has effectively become the life’s work of a visionary director who has devoted decades of his life to realizing the fruits of his imagination. While it’s very enjoyable and succeeds in pushing the story into interesting places, it’s also guilty of leaning too heavily on familiar tropes from previous installments, and ultimately feels like it could have been a bit more refined.