[Review] Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025): James Cameron delivers another Immersive Blockbuster Experience that Dazzles more than it Surprises

This holiday season, James Cameron has released yet another instalment in his money-making, record-breaking franchise, Avatar. I caught Avatar: Fire and Ash at a media preview last week with my son, and it is clear to us why this long awaited return to Pandora is on its way to be one of the year’s biggest cinematic events. No mean feat, but this is almost guranteed of all Cameron’s films and we will delve into the why.

As the third instalment in the Avatar series, the film arrives with huge expectations. While we are divided on its narrative ambition, it is clear that Fire and Ash is an experience designed first and foremost for the cinema.

Visually, Fire and Ash is nothing short of astonishing.

Cameron continues to be one of the rare filmmakers who understands how to make three dimensional presentation feel essential rather than decorative. The film’s environments, from volcanic landscapes to bioluminescent forests and sweeping aerial views, feel richly textured and alive.

Creatures and character designs are rendered with extraordinary detail, creating a sense of immersion that consistently draws us into the world of Pandora.

I am always sceptical of three dimensional films as money-grubbing excesses, but with each Avatar movie, I am won over by how naturally the depth and scale are integrated into the storytelling. Fire and Ash pushes this to the next level, setting the highest bar.

Set in the aftermath of The Way of Water, the story follows Jake Sully and his wife Neytiri as they grapple with grief while facing renewed threats from humans and a newly introduced Na’vi faction known as the Ash People.

Led by Varang, this more aggressive tribe adds a darker energy to the film and shifts the moral landscape in interesting ways.

The narrative is fast paced, packed with near constant action and high emotional stakes, rarely giving the audience much breathing room across its lengthy 195 minutes runtime, the longest yet in the trilogy.

That momentum, however, comes at a cost. The story tends to lean heavily on familiar beats from earlier films, with themes of colonialism, environmental destruction and family loyalty revisited rather than reimagined. Plot conveniences and logical gaps are present, seemingly in service of keeping the spectacle moving forward. The dialogue and character development can sometime feel functional rather than nuanced, especially when compared to the extraordinary effort lavished on the film’s visuals.

Nonetheless, there is no denying the craftsmanship on display.

The action sequences are elaborate and thrilling, the sound design is enveloping, and the emotional core, centred on family and loss, lands effectively for many viewers.

Without giving away any spoilers, there were geniune moments when we felt overwhelmed with emotions, rooting for the Scully crew and his people against the evil human race in the movie. Ironic if you map this back into real life where we know we are the ones destroying planet Earth with our polluting, wasteful ways and consumerism.

While Fire and Ash is unlikely to convert those who never connected with the Avatar series, it delivers exactly what fans and general audiences expect from a James Cameron blockbuster: scale, intensity and technical excellence.

This is not an art house film, nor does it pretend to be. Instead, it is a confident piece of big screen entertainment that embraces its role as a cinematic event. For all the debate about whether the franchise is repeating itself, Avatar: Fire and Ash makes a strong case for being seen in theatres, ideally on the largest screen possible. It once again demonstrates Cameron’s unmatched ability to transport audiences into another world, and that alone will likely ensure its success when it opens in Singapore and worldwide.

Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in Singapore cinemas from 18 December.