The third installment of James Cameron’s Avatar franchise arrives in theaters this weekend, and the first reviews of the movie are online now. Titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, the sequel takes audiences back to Pandora for more adventures with Jake Sully and his Na’vi family, and it’s another 3D spectacle with the kind of action and visual effects that only Cameron could deliver. Some are saying it’s too much of the same, but if you’ve been blown away by the first two Avatar movies, chances are you’ll have the same experience with this installment.
Here’s what critics are saying about Avatar: Fire and Ash:
Has James Cameron made another spectacular blockbuster?
This is truly epic cinema, more than worth plugging into for three hours.
— Ben Travis, Empire Magazine
At over three hours long, this was a film I didn’t want to end.
— Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
The best big cinematic experience you can have in these modern times, and I can’t wait to see it again and again.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
It’s an immensely gratifying finale that’s well worth the wait.
— Max Scoville, IGN Movies
Cameron has taken 3D cinema to another wild dimension with a gloriously intense experience that will, frankly, leave you deliriously exhausted.
— Nick Howells, London Evening Standard
This thing is meant to be admired, consumed, and then, like holiday lights, forgotten about in a box until roughly the same time next Avatar season.
— David Crow, Den of Geek
While Fire and Ash does spectacle well because of course it does, it squanders the opportunity to close out what could be a trilogy with weight and fury.
— Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
(Photo by 20th Century Studios)
How does it compare to the other two Avatar movies?
Fire and Ash really might be my favorite of the Avatar films to date.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Where other franchises tend to suffer from diminishing returns, Avatar seems to be getting stronger and more engaging as it rolls along.
— Tim Grierson, Screen International
It’s the most violent of the three…[and] Cameron’s greatest film in the series because we are not asked to feel any sympathy for the “pink skins.”
— Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
It is a step up from the second film, The Way of Water… A better iteration of the same story.
— David Crow, Den of Geek
It doesn’t feel as visually unprecedented as the last one did. If anything, though, it’s a better film—bolder and tighter, with a more dramatically focused story—and it certainly has its share of amazements.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Avatar: Fire and Ash isn’t the technical leap forward that its predecessor was, which is to be expected after three years instead of thirteen.
— Max Scoville, IGN Movies
I can’t imagine anyone thinking this film is the best of the trilogy.
— Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
Is it not too much of a rehash?
Avatar: Fire and Ash may repeat many of the beats of Way of Water, but it does it in even more spectacular fashion.
— Siddhant Adlakha, Inverse
With truly dazzling production elements all around this is a movie hard to resist, even if you think you have already seen what wonders Cameron has in store for this franchise.
— Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
It’s not a complete retread of what’s come before, but many elements feel largely recycled from the previous two films, albeit with some new, fresh elements.
— Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
It gave me a sense of déjà vu. Some of the visuals and story beats tread very close to those in the previous films, to the point that it almost felt like deleted scenes or alternate takes intercut with new material.
— Max Scoville, IGN Movies
It is everything you’ve come to expect from an Avatar movie…but if anything, its overfamiliarity in its return to Pandora means this time around, repetitiveness is the enemy.
— Kelechi Ehenulo, Movie Marker
It’s easily the most repetitious entry in the big-screen series, with a been-there, bought-the-T-shirt fatigue that’s hard to ignore.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
(Photo by 20th Century Studios)
Does it still make other movies look bad?
It basically puts every other large-scale blockbuster of 2025 to shame.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
It’s an indictment of so much else churned out of the Hollywood blockbuster machine. Why can’t the plains of Minecraft, or the wastelands of Deadpool and Wolverine’s Void, look this eye-poppingly wondrous?
— David Crow, Den of Geek
In a time when it feels like entertainment is contracting under the weight of shoddy streaming service originals and the abundance of AI, it’s tempting to give Fire and Ash a pass just for how much it seeks to wow the viewer.
— Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com
Other blockbuster sequels tend to get duller as they struggle to outdo the size and scope of earlier instalments, but here Cameron’s mastery of spectacle reaches exciting new peaks.
— Tim Grierson, Screen International
How are the visuals?
Visually, Fire and Ash continues the franchise’s tradition of overwhelming scale and immersive design. Cameron’s control of expansive world-building is as impressive.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
This is about the most spectacular spectacle you could ever ask for — utterly transportive, technically masterful. It’s near-unfathomable that barely anything on screen actually exists; so photo-real, you never even think about it.
— Ben Travis, Empire Magazine
Avatar: Fire and Ash is a cinematic wonder and highlights what can still be done with computer-generated special effects when care and love are poured into it.
— Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
The amount of sheer imagination on display is staggering.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
The movie moves at a clip and looks like hundreds of millions of bucks have been spent, which isn’t the same thing as saying that its 3D visuals, a mix of standard- and High Frame Rate sources, are particularly beautiful.
— Keith Uhlich, Slant Magazine
Unlike the first two installments, this sequel doesn’t feature any new environments, but the computer-generated Pandora remains a sight to behold – whether in the skies, in the forests or underwater.
— Tim Grierson, Screen International
If Fire and Ash has one key visual flaw, it’s that Cameron, after getting us accustomed to the film’s hyper-smooth 3D at a higher frame rate, returns on occasion to the more traditional 24 fps for fleeting drama. The transition makes these more intimate scenes come off as jittery.
— Siddhant Adlakha, Inverse
(Photo by 20th Century Studios)
Does it have spectacular action sequences?
When the action kicks into gear, it’s still a glorious spectacle with Cameron’s speciality on full display.
— Kelechi Ehenulo, Movie Marker
No one stages action with the blend of vastness and logistical detail that Cameron does. It’s as if we were watching mystic beasts from The Lord of the Rings fly through the sets of Blade Runner.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
I would dare to say you could put the first two films together, and it still wouldn’t add up to the fierce levels and magnitude of the fight in this one.
— Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Avatar 3’s large-scale battles, hand-to-hand combat, and aerial sequences are stunning. The film’s pacing builds slowly into its apex, adding layers upon layers of slightly larger action set pieces until it pays off in action that never loses the emotional elements and narrative stakes that are set up.
— Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
There’s a daring rescue mission that’s honestly one of the best action sequences ever in an Avatar, climactic in its splendor, catharsis, and crowd-pleasing nature.
— Brian Truitt, USA Today
A first-act attack on the air-jellyfish-riding Wind Traders – a brief but joyous inclusion of a new clan – is thunderously exciting, while the final battle, sprawling across sea and sky, is perhaps the biggest brawl Pandora has ever seen.
— Ben Travis, Empire Magazine
The battles may become routinely episodic, but there are plenty of them, which might be all many audiences care about seeing through their 3D glasses.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
How is the screenplay?
That Cameron wants to push into heavier themes at this point in his career speaks well of his ambition as a storyteller.
— Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
As with most Cameron screenplays, any dramatic or historically knotty idea is mostly straightened out or glossed over in favor of the commercial beats that he knows how to play to the hilt.
— David Crow, Den of Geek
Cameron hasn’t lost his zesty storytelling brio, even if the story he tells is starting to feel like his version of the Star Wars prequels. As in: It’s fine, but do we actually care about it.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
It’s a more streamlined, personal story that Cameron and his writing team of Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Josh Friedman, and Shane Salerno tell, albeit still carrying the clunky narratives that hampered Way of Water.
— Kelechi Ehenulo, Movie Marker
Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver simply pile on the lore and multiply the clashes, to numbing rather than invigorating effect.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Cameron’s clunky dialogue — long a problem with his films — continues to be a liability. And similarly, Fire And Ash’s characters are not especially well-drawn.
—
The screenplay, by Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, is again a sprawling mass of pulp inanities and video-game cliches.
— Donald Clarke, Irish Times
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios)
Is it a more emotional sequel?
Avatar: Fire and Ash is as emotionally resonant as it is visually beautiful…also the most heartfelt.
— Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
Fire and Ash frequently finds genuine emotional weight…the film’s examination of grief and cycles of violence is thoughtful and often effective.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
In its grandest moments, it’s more emotionally affecting than anything Cameron has made before..
— Siddhant Adlakha, Inverse
Cameron hasn’t lost the human touch as he delivers emotional fireworks and meaningful dramatic turns.
— Tim Grierson, Screen International
The family focus is clearly where Cameron’s heart lies, yanking at these tangled threads. The emotion here is deceptively complex, the film daring to go deeper, frequently to shocking places.
— Ben Travis, Empire Magazine
There are a lot of feelings in Avatar: Fire and Ash.
— Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
What feels inescapable about Fire and Ash is the sense of emotional stasis.
— Clarisse Loughrey, Independent
Do any performances stand out?
Lang’s performance in Fire and Ash has elevated him to one of my favorite villains in recent memory, especially in his scenes with Chaplin. The two of them don’t chew scenery – they devour it like a five-course meal.
— Max Scoville, IGN Movies
The franchise is powered by Lang’s macho, witty portrayal of the deliciously loathsome Quaritch.
— Tim Grierson, Screen International
Oona Chaplin’s Varang is the standout.
— Joseph Robinson, Fish Jelly Films
Chaplin’s presence as Varang is lightning in a bottle.
— Siddhant Adlakha, Inverse
Chaplin is so slinky and strange in the role, a seductress with a blow dart full of hallucinogenic drugs and promethean desires, that she immediately emerges as the film’s standout.
— Clarisse Loughrey, Independent
Varang is the most interesting new addition here, and Chaplin plays her as a bloodthirsty sorceress, her yellow eyes aflame with rage as she shrieks about ripping out hearts.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Zoe Saldaña gives another spectacular performance as Neytiri. It’s at a point that it’s a real shame that her performance in these films hasn’t been recognized as it should.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
(Photo by ©20th Century Studios)
Is it easy to look past its flaws?
The deficiencies are starting to feel like charming quirks in an otherwise transporting series.
— Tim Grierson, Screen International
Who else out there is giving us space-whale politics, mystical mycelial networks, and children questing to witness the face of God? Flaws and all, it’s a privilege to witness.
— Ben Travis, Empire Magazine
If there are any aesthetic quibbles to be had, they vanish like mist beneath a neon-tinged sunrise in a movie this uniformly rapturous.
— David Crow, Den of Geek
What it lacks in novelty, it more than makes up for with refinement on every level.
— Max Scoville, IGN Movies
Fire and Ash, I’m sure, will find its place in the canon. But that doesn’t excuse its flaws.
— Clarisse Loughrey, Independent
Will it leave us wanting more Avatar movies?
Bring on Avatar 4 and 5, as Cameron’s overall sequel plan enters part two. He’s pretty good at those.
— Ben Travis, Empire Magazine
There will probably be more Avatar movies down the line, but if this is where they end, there could not be a more suitable parting plea.
— Siddhant Adlakha, Inverse
Would I be interested in a James Cameron motion picture not set on Pandora? Absolutely. But after Fire and Ash…I’m also okay if he just stays on Pandora forever.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
The knowledge that Cameron has at least two more of these in the works might be great for the New Zealand economy — not so much for anyone who cares about original movies.
— David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Should we see it on the big screen in 3D?
This is still the only movie franchise that I feel needs to be seen on the best screen possible and in 3D, as it’s really the only great film 3D experience.
— Julian Lytle, RIOTUS
Enough has been said about how much Avatar films need to be seen in theaters, but if you’ll allow me to beat a dead direhorse for a moment, it’s true – especially in 3D.
— Max Scoville, IGN Movies
I was able to experience 3D without it triggering my vertigo and motion sickness. Instead, I was totally immersed in Pandora and put Avatar 3 among the top theatrical experiences I have had the pleasure of having.
— Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community
If spending three hours and 15 minutes in a theater intimidates you, stay home and look at social media on your phone. It will be your loss.
— Matt Singer, ScreenCrush
Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19, 2025.
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