The internet loves to say that James Cameron’s Avatar films have “no cultural impact”, despite being among the highest-grossing films of all time. A brief scroll of social media will find posts claiming that no one remembers any characters, there is no cosplay community, and the classic “nobody I know has seen those movies.” While those familiar talking points often generate social media engagement, they downplay the true impact of the Avatar films: the enormous leaps in VFX and the way Cameron has embraced experiential cinema. 

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third film in the saga, taking place shortly after 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water. We rejoin Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Sandaña), and their children as they face the familiar foe of humans exploiting Pandora’s natural resources, as well as a new threat from rival Na’vi leader Varang (Oona Chaplin) and her fire tribe.

Of course, there’s also the ever-present danger of Quarich (Stephen Lang), who has his own (horny) motivations for teaming up with Varang and seeking revenge against Jake. He’s big, he’s blue, and he’s having an absolute blast.

Together, the parents and the kids, including spiritual 14-year-old Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) and adopted human Spider (Jack Champion), journey to new parts of the planet, find new animal companions, fight various battles, form bonds, and spark romances in a sweeping but basic story about family and respecting the natural world.

The Avatar films have always had simplified narratives, which is part of the reason they have such a strong international appeal. A story about preserving nature and fighting back against colonialism is an easy basis for what these films really are: a visual feast with Cameron flexing just how far he can push the limits of VFX to create some of the most spectacular, photorealistic CGI ever put to screen.

The spectacle is just as satisfying in Avatar: Fire and Ash. The hot air balloon-like floating jellyfish of the wind traders, the way sunlight interacts with the sea in the underwater sequences, the skin details in closeups of Varang, the endless depth of the forest when viewed in 3D, and the seamless blending of Champion and the CG environment are genuinely mindblowing. Audiences can be so desensitized to VFX now that it’s very satisfying to witness something truly spectacular like this. 

It also feels like each film in the series is reflective of Cameron’s vision. Hate him or love him, the man is an auteur, and the Avatar films are the stories he wants to tell. There are enough strange choices in here—like having 76-year-old Weaver playing a teenage girl or the bizarre daddy issues triangle between Jake, Quaritch, and Spider—that you can feel Cameron leaning into the weirdness of his creation. Avatar: Fire and Ash is like if the wild vision of Megalopolis was helmed by one of the most successful commercial filmmakers in the game. Cameron is doing exactly what he wants here, and you’re either on board with that or you aren’t.

Martin Scorsese received a lot of pushback for comparing the Marvel films to amusement park rides, but Cameron seems to have embraced that for his Avatar franchise. These films are about the experience, about popping on your 3D glasses and letting the IMAX screen fill your field of vision as you and your fellow audience members spend a few hours transported to the world of Pandora. When the visual experience is this spectacular, you’ll feel like you got your money’s worth from this ride once the credits roll.