First Avatar: Fire & Ash Reactions Are Mostly Positive, But There Are Some Criticisms We Can't Ignore

We are just a couple of weeks away from returning to Pandora, as James Cameron's latest epic blockbuster spectacle, "Avatar: Fire and Ash," is nearly upon us. Unlike "The Way of Water," audiences have not waited over a decade for a new adventure with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and the Na'vi. Instead, it's only been three years, even if the second film's success reinforced the idea that everyone on the planet is running to the theater to see Cameron deliver unparalleled cinematic bliss on the big screen.

The new film will put us more than halfway through James Cameron's plan for a five-movie epic in the world of "Avatar." By now, most of the franchise's world has been established, and it's time to start heading toward some sort of conclusion, or at least a climax. Sure, Cameron keeps saying he has a way to end the franchise if the new movies aren't profitable, but that seems increasingly unlikely, so we'll likely see his full vision realized. All this is to say, "Avatar: Fire and Ash" just had its first screenings, and industry professionals and critics have already seen the movie and begun sharing their thoughts. Unsurprisingly, these are mostly overwhelmingly positive, praising Cameron's eye for visuals and for spectacle, with Collider's Perri Nemiroff saying "Visually, every single stitch of this movie is breathtaking."

Yet, there is some criticism in the early reactions, and they mostly have to do with the movie packing in a lot of story and some of it feeling repetitive. As freelance writer Jesse Hassenger describes it, this is "the first James Cameron sequel that feels kinda like a regular follow-up rather than an innovative re-envisioning of its predecessor's world."

Even the more mixed reactions still agree that "Avatar: Fire and Ash" is spectacular and visually dazzling, with Comicbook.com writer Chris Killian calling it, "every bit as gorgeous as you'd expect," while freelance critic Mike Ryan simply said "there's nothing else like it."

Still, the criticisms are intriguing. Many critics seem to agree that "Fire and Ash" repeats many beats from "The Way of Water," with CBR editor Sean O'Connell outright calling this "a remake" of the previous film, saying "whole narratives are recycled."

This is a bit concerning, but also not hugely surprising. With "Fire and Ash" following the Sully family traveling to yet another wildly different clan within Pandora, it's likely we're getting yet another fish out of water story, the third in the franchise. James Cameron knows the plot of "Avatar" isn't hugely important and it isn't essential to go for that much nuance in the story because they are meant to be simple but universal, which is the key to these movies' success. Indeed, the magic of "Avatar" is that the story is not that complicated or novel, but it serves as an entry point into a vast fictional universe, a fully fleshed-out world that's the real star of the franchise.

The other criticism of "Fire and Ash" seems to be that the movie is a "bridge movie" as InSession writer JD Duran described it. Again, this isn't really surprising, but it is quite intriguing.

Now that we're in the third of five parts, the "Avatar" saga is fully in its second act, so "Fire and Ash" has to do a lot of set-up for the last two films. We know the fourth film is set to introduce a time jump, following the 16-year time jump between the first two films.

We also suspect "Fire and Ash" could have Jake Sully get captured by the human forces, which I have speculated in the past to be the beginning of the end for the Toruk Makto. Indeed, with two movies to go before the saga is over, combined with James Cameron's many comments about this franchise being a family saga rather than one man's epic, it's very likely the next films will shift focus from Jake to his kids, especially by the time the franchise eventually makes its way to Earth, as Cameron's producer Jon Landau (RIP) once teased. Before that can happen, Jake Sully needs to be taken out of the picture one way or another, and this seems to be the film where that storyline kicks in.

Granted, this is just the type of development that would make a movie feel like a bridge, as it is very possible "Fire and Ash" ends on a big cliffhanger, and most of the movie is set up for the big conflict in the next one — but then again, so was "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," and that movie is still magnificent.

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" hits theaters on December 19, 2025.