Fire & Ash Reactions Reveal If James Cameron’s Franchise Has The Juice For Another Billion Dollar Hit

Critics are finally giving their impressions on Avatar: Fire and Ash, as the beloved fantasy franchise continues. With 2025 getting closer to its end, one of Hollywood’s most legendary directors will be part of concluding the year, with James Cameron bringing his billion-dollar series back to the big screen.

As Avatar: Fire and Ash is only a few weeks away from its theatrical release, multiple members of the press have been able to screen the film in advance and are finally sharing their initial reactions to Cameron’s highly anticipated entry. Check out several social media reactions below:

ScreenRant’s Graeme Guttman stressed that while there is “definitely a middle chapter feel” to the Avatar: Fire and Ash story, Cameron’s sequel is praised for how “overwhelmingly immersive” the follow-up is.

ScreenRant’s Molly Freeman shared how Cameron’s 2025 installment “is visually stunning, and it has a better spectacle-to-story balance than previous films in the series,” but with some “story choices” that are “bizarre” ones.

While feeling it’s “albeit an overly long one,” ScreenRant’s Tatiana Hullender celebrated Avatar: Fire and Ash for being “a bonafide cinematic experience.”

ScreenRant’s Gregory Nussen added how the third outing “rehashes Way of Water, but better?” while elaborating on the “club-footed story, technically great,” but with weaker points, such as “dialogue atrocious, politically the same de-colonial, anti-military stab.”

Variety’s Jazz Tangcay declared Avatar: Fire and Ash as a “staggering achievement of moviemaking,” including its “gorgeous visuals” along with “thrilling new characters.”

After three films, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff “still can’t get over how magical” the Avatar movies are, stating that “there’s a noticeable increase in complexity in quite a few aspects of the production.”

Mama’s Geeky’s Tessa Smith calls Cameron’s threequel “gorgeous to look at & certainly has its moments,” while also sharing how the latest chapter “falls into the same trap of repetition as the previous films.”

Courtney Howard commented how “James Cameron still has the sauce, making the epic spectacular feel emotionally impactful,” adding that Avatar: Fire and Ash “is what movie theaters were built for.”

Mike Ryan “truly love that these movies exist,” despite “a couple beats were repeated from the previous film.” However, in the end, Ryan praised that “for over three hours I was on a different planet.”

The Avatar: Fire and Ash cast and Cameron will be taking the “audiences back to Pandora in an immersive new adventure with Marine turned Na’vi leader Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Na’vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and the Sully family.” Cameron, who directed the third installment, also wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, while the three of them worked on the story with Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno.

James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash is scheduled to open in theaters on December 19.

Release Date

December 19, 2025

Runtime

195 Minutes