Avatar: Fire and Ash Rotten Tomatoes Score Ends a 40-Year James Cameron Streak

For decades, James Cameron has been the king of the box office — not just because his films consistently deliver jaw-dropping spectacle that demands to be seen on the biggest of screens, but also because he has a knack for delivering high-quality blockbusters. Though Cameron has never received an Oscar nomination for his screenwriting, he has a knack for crafting well-told stories populated by memorable characters. Even in the case of the Avatar franchise, where narrative isn’t the strong suit, there are still plenty of great characters that prove the series isn’t as forgettable as some say. With that in mind, fans were curious to see how Avatar: Fire and Ash would be received beyond the praise for the visual effects.

Unfortunately, Fire and Ash marks the end of a trend. Not only is it the lowest-rated Avatar movie on Rotten Tomatoes (67% as of this writing), it’s also the first time since 1981’s Piranha II: The Spawning that a Cameron-directed feature film is not Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Until now, every Cameron movie dating back to the original Terminator, which came out 41 years ago, earned a Certified Fresh mark — even his documentaries.

Avatar: Fire and Ash Proves James Cameron Should Take a Break From the Franchise

In order for a film to be considered Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, its critics score needs to be at least 75%. The odds of Avatar: Fire and Ash reaching that figure now are low. Currently, there are 253 reviews counted, meaning a majority of critics have already weighed in with their thoughts. Fire and Ash‘s score could still fluctuate a bit as more reviews are submitted (The Way of Water has 454 reviews counted), but the threequel would need to improve by eight percentage points to get to Certified Fresh territory, which is unrealistic. If Fire and Ash was going to be Certified Fresh, it would have happened by now.

The Avatar franchise continues to astound with revolutionary visual effects, but it has seen diminishing returns with review scores each time out, and Fire and Ash could be an inflection point. The general consensus is that Fire and Ash finds Cameron retreading old ground, with the film struggling to bring new things to the table with regard to the narrative. Perhaps the biggest critique is that Fire and Ash replays some of the same story points as previous entries, which is surprising given Cameron’s penchant for innovating. Even Fire and Ash‘s biggest addition to the series lore (the villainous Ash People) are underdeveloped in favor of hitting familiar beats.

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Though Avatar 4 and Avatar 5 are currently dated for 2029 and 2031, Cameron has hinted that he could step away from the franchise for a bit. Fire and Ash‘s box office performance will determine how quickly Avatar 4 comes to fruition, though Cameron has also said there are other films he wants to make and he doesn’t want to be exclusively working with Avatar for the next several years. This is arguably for the best; the reception to Fire and Ash (which also has lower box office projections than The Way of Water) illustrates Cameron could use a break to recharge his creative batteries. Taking on a different kind of project would be a great palate cleanser after spending close to two decades making sprawling sci-fi epics.

It seems wild to say this, but a case can be made that the novelty of Avatar has worn off a bit. The first movie was unlike anything viewers had ever seen, and The Way of Water benefitted from the extended gap between releases. When it arrived 13 years after the original, returning to Pandora felt fresh and exciting because it had been so long and the technology had evolved so much. In contrast, Fire and Ash came out just three years after The Way of Water, meaning the leap forward in visual effects isn’t as significant, and there isn’t a strong enough story to make up for that. Cameron has confirmed that there is a time jump between Fire and Ash and Avatar 4, so now feels like the perfect time to go on hiatus and make people miss the franchise a bit before coming back. Cameron could also use the extra time to address critiques of Fire and Ash and retool the stories for subsequent installments.

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