DMR - Deweys Movie Reviews - Podcast · DMR

Episode 133 - Avatar: Fire & Ash – Another Masterpiece or Pandora Fatigue?

January 12, 2026·28 min·5 clips

Dewey opens the show by welcoming listeners back to DMR and marking the start of 2026. He spends a little time on the holiday season and thanks listeners for supporting the channel. He says he wanted to give Avatar: Fire and Ash its own separate review because it landed in his Top 10 for 2025. The film is introduced as a long one, running three hours and 12 minutes. He sets the stage with James Cameron's universe and keeps the tone casual from the start. He revisits the first Avatar film and the conflict between the Na'vi and the humans. He names Stephen Lang's Colonel Miles Quaritch as the main human threat. He calls Quaritch a menace and says the character is extremely hard to kill. He explains that Quaritch dies at the end of the first film. He then lays out how the second film brings him back in an Avatar body using copied memory from before his death. That leads into a reminder that the second film expands Pandora through its water side of the world. He says he liked that sequel because it worked as a strong follow up to the original. He also notes that the second film was more ocean based and used whale like creatures as part of the action. From there he moves into the newer film and its larger cast. He mentions Britton Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, and Jack Champion as part of the Sully family and the broader story. Spider becomes a major point of focus. Dewey says Spider has a lot to do in this film and becomes central to the human side of the conflict. He suggests that something happens to Spider on Pandora that gives the humans a big breakthrough. He also feels Spider may be given too much to do. The review keeps returning to the idea that the franchise still has room to grow if Cameron can find a new direction. He wonders aloud whether the next step would be snow, underwater, or something else, since water has already been covered. The episode closes by recommending the film on VMAX or IMAX if possible and by teasing future DMR coverage, including Stranger Things season five.

As heard by us

A straightforward Pandora check-in that keeps the praise and doubts moving.

Dewey's review of Avatar: Fire and Ash centers on the runtime, the film's place as the third chapter in James Cameron's universe, and the question of whether the franchise still has room to move forward.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

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Want a blunt, conversational take on Avatar's third trip back to Pandora?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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