Avatar: Fire and Ash
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: December 19, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 59 Critic Reviews
Positive:
35
Mixed:
19
Negative:
5

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
SlashfilmBill BriaDec 16, 2025
Avatar: Fire and Ash is a triumph of genre filmmaking, proof that sci-fi/action can be both deliriously daring and thoroughly thrilling. At this point, I can't wait to go back to Pandora. Read full review
91
The Film StageConor O'DonnellDec 16, 2025
Cameron wrings the most from his environment and its inhabitants, not just for the sake of going-for-broke, but to deliver something thematically resonant, folding the first two films on top of each other. Read full review
90
IGNMax ScovilleDec 16, 2025
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. But what it lacks in novelty, it more than makes up for with refinement on every level. Read full review
89
PolygonMatt PatchesDec 16, 2025
Fire and Ash bursts with genre details and imaginative flourishes, in a way that has me worried Cameron might be cramming in every idea as he goes out in a blaze of glory (despite promises of Avatar 4 and 5). Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 17, 2025
This is as good as spectacle moviemaking gets: old-fashioned in intention but fully modern in execution. It may not stand quite as high as its two predecessors, but the fall-off is neither extreme nor precipitous. Read full review
88
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiDec 16, 2025
No. 3, with a reported price tag of more than $400 million, is the most visually glorious of the trio, adding fresh and imaginative beings and environments that further flesh out one of the all-time great fantasy locales. Read full review
85
The AtlanticDavid SimsDec 19, 2025
For Avatar fans, I have great news: The latest installment of James Cameron’s magical-alien adventure saga is here, and you’re going to love it. . . The bad news for anyone not already on board: This film has no interest in you. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerDec 16, 2025
Fire And Ash is terrific entertainment that occasionally gives the impression of well-appointed vamping; it’s almost enough to wonder if all the meticulous writer’s-room blueprinting of two-to-four Avatar sequels might have done as much harm as good. Viewers who just long for more time in Pandora are in luck: Cameron may not see a way out himself. Read full review
80
Total FilmJordan FarleyDec 16, 2025
The most action-packed Avatar yet still has the capacity to dazzle, with Oona Chaplin's Varang turning up the heat. Even if a frustrating lack of resolution and some repetitive storytelling choices make this feel more like The Way of Water part 2. Read full review
80
Radio TimesJames MottramDec 16, 2025
If spending time in the bio-luminescent forests and turquoise oceans of an alien planet is your thing, then Fire and Ash does everything you’d hope. It’s a marvel of CG craftsmanship and of Cameron’s pursuit of perfection. Read full review
80
EmpireBen TravisDec 16, 2025
In a bigger, busier and burlier Avatar, James Cameron once again displays his blockbuster mastery. Despite some repetitive moments, this is truly epic cinema, more than worth plugging into for three hours. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanDec 16, 2025
The new movie, for all its inevitable Breathless Technological Advances, 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. Read full review
80
Screen DailyTim GriersonDec 16, 2025
It is as visually extraordinary as its predecessors and, while the film contains some of those earlier pictures’ weaknesses, the deficiencies are starting to feel like charming quirks in an otherwise transporting series. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriDec 16, 2025
Fire and Ash is in some ways the messiest of the three Avatar movies, but it’s also the richest, the one in which we most lose ourselves, the one that makes us wonder about these characters and constantly peer into those rapturous backgrounds, trying to see forever. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushMatt SingerDec 16, 2025
Every time one of these Avatar movies comes out, everyone jokes about how they’re gussied-up cartoons and people online joke about how no one cares about them. Then the film actually arrives in theaters and it’s epic and exciting and gorgeous and heartbreaking. Would I be interested in a James Cameron motion picture not set on Pandora? Absolutely. But after Fire and Ash, which really might be my favorite of the Avatar films to date, I’m also okay if he just stays on Pandora forever. Read full review
80
Little White LiesKambole CampbellDec 16, 2025
Some will find the earnest silliness which ties a lot of Fire and Ash​’s beats together tiresome, but – along with the work of some very gifted digital artists – it’s what keeps them feeling real and not just empty capitalisation on a billion dollar box office.
80
Next Best PictureDan BayerDec 16, 2025
“Fire and Ash“reaffirms Cameron as one of our greatest storytellers and the Avatar series as the pinnacle of Hollywood blockbuster entertainment. Read full review
80
Screen RantTodd GilchristDec 16, 2025
Thrilling and sumptuous, James Cameron’s latest chapter in this ongoing saga is probably the best one to date, with painstaking world-building, sweeping action and stunning imagery. It also feels too often like a remake of its predecessor, with characters, conflicts and plot developments that even the most devoted fans may find repetitive. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerDec 16, 2025
If future films deliver similar spectacle and true, epic filmmaking, then this lengthy sequel can afford to be a prelude. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJan 6, 2026
Pandora—the stunningly imagined planet of James Cameron’s Avatar enterprise—has been populated by something unexpected and extraordinary: compelling characters. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshDec 18, 2025
[Cameron's] anti-colonialist, pro-Indigenous cri de coeur is inspiring, if a bit on the nose, but we can forgive that, because the visual spectacle is just so breathtakingly beautiful, the emotional stakes palpable, and the intention is so earnest. It’s good to be back on Pandora. Read full review
75
Original-CinJim SlotekDec 16, 2025
It’s a decent, eye-catching, stay-the-course addition for Cameron, who has pretty much turned his entire career to this franchise, a la George Lucas with Star Wars. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzDec 16, 2025
The bulk of Fire and Ash feels distressingly derivative of what came before, down to ultra-specific plot beats Read full review
75
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerDec 16, 2025
Everything is always loud, from the music to the visual design to the emotions. It's an approach ensuring that Cameron's message will be heard by even the most distracted viewer. Read full review
70
The RevealKeith PhippsDec 23, 2025
The film’s fundamental earnestness and Cameron’s gift for astounding visuals and kinetic action scenes usually offset most of the flaws and a nagging sense of déjà vu. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesAmy NicholsonDec 16, 2025
Cameron’s affection for the place is still a convincing reason to hang out in outer space until the popcorn visionary finally returns to our planet. But plot-wise, the story is the same as ever. Read full review
70
ColliderRoss BonaimeDec 16, 2025
This third Avatar film might not have the groundbreaking impact of the first film, or the vast improvement that The Way of Water had over what came before it, but Fire and Ash is still an exceptional moviegoing experience that proves there’s still plenty of gas in this tank. Read full review
68
The Film VerdictAlonso DuraldeDec 16, 2025
Director and co-writer James Cameron has a lot to say about colonization and guns and the environment and, while that messaging is noble and right-minded, it’s delivered with blunt force. The 3D here is stunning, but the metaphors come at your face with the same propulsion as the images. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichDec 16, 2025
I know that Cameron has committed himself to another two sequels, and now I know why he’s starting to hedge about whether or not he wants to direct them himself; even the most orgiastic moments in “Fire and Ash” left me feeling like he’s ready to come back down to Earth. Read full review
65
Film ThreatAlan NgDec 18, 2025
Ultimately, it’s fine. Yet, considering its cinematic history, fine is never good enough. Read full review
63
Washington PostSonia RaoDec 17, 2025
The plot simply doesn’t have enough juice. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesDominic BaezDec 16, 2025
The action is fierce, kinetic and basically nonstop in “Fire and Ash.” The ending sequence goes on a bit too long (as does the movie in general, at 195 minutes), but it’s all generally entertaining, if you forgive the fact that the spectacle replaces the story for the most part. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittDec 16, 2025
James Cameron’s third adventure in his blockbuster sci-fi franchise, is just as cool a watch as the previous films, yet also as narratively frustrating. Endless subplots, scattershot character development and borrowed story beats backfire on “Fire and Ash,” although it does benefit from an unhinged but relatable villain whose presence keeps it interesting. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoDec 16, 2025
Great sequels don’t just repeat, they build. This one treads beautifully-rendered water. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJake CoyleDec 16, 2025
For those whose trips to Pandora have made less of an impact, “Fire and Ash” is a bit like returning to a half-remembered vacation spot, only one where the local ponytail style is a little strange and everyone seems to have the waist of a supermodel. Read full review
60
The Travers TakePeter TraversDec 26, 2025
What was once riveting now feels rote. What once made us want more of the same now makes us eager for the shock of the new. Read full review
60
StatusBrian LowryDec 19, 2025
A 197-minute epic that piles on breathless rescues and battles in a manner whose ultimate goal seems to be exhaustion as an artistic choice, if not outright “Kneel before Zod” submission. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearDec 18, 2025
You may feel, with its immersive 3D set pieces and screensaver imagery blown up to IMAX proportions, that you’re entering a bold new world. But transportive is not the same as transcendent. The piles of ash here looks and sounds phenomenal. What you would not give to feel some actual fire burning behind all of this. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 18, 2025
The fight sequences are models of spatial coherency and escalating tension, and they grab you wholly, turning a movie into a full-body workout. That feeling dissipates whenever the fighting stops, the story cranks back up and somebody calls someone else “bro,” which happens too often. Read full review
60
NMEMatt MaytumDec 17, 2025
The clarity, dynamism and sheer scale of the action is near enough unparalleled, and it’s hard to argue you don’t get your money’s worth. Still, Cameron is going to have to think outside the (Pandora’s) box and change the game for any future installments. Read full review
60
Time OutPhil de SemlyenDec 16, 2025
When the foot comes off the gas, the cracks become apparent. Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyDec 16, 2025
Fire and Ash, I’m sure, will find its place in the canon. But that doesn’t excuse its flaws. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithDec 19, 2025
The third entry features visual effects that are no longer novel, which means the writing deficiencies are now impossible to overlook. Without a compelling story, what emerges is not a movie but . . . a ride. Read full review
50
TimeStephanie ZacharekDec 16, 2025
Cameron’s vision is no longer the future, but a nostalgia trip, a very expensive form of deja vu. Movie magic can take many forms, but rarely is it as calculated as this, confusing awe with stupor. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonDec 16, 2025
Basically, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is the same movie as “Avatar: The Way of Water,” the franchise’s prior installment. The only difference is that fire is the primary element, and the new villain looks like a gigantic, enraged chicken. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineKeith UhlichDec 16, 2025
The crystal clarity of Russell Carpenter’s cinematography is often unnerving, as is the uncanny nature of Pandora’s computer-generated flora and fauna, which never truly seem alive and vital. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 16, 2025
Avatar: Fire and Ash will doubtless join its predecessors in the billion-dollar club. It can't miss. It follows the formula of the previous two films — stunning advancements in film technology coupled with mind-numbing plot, evidently a lucrative combo. Don't get me wrong, these movies look great, genuinely so. They're just so dumb. Read full review
45
The Daily BeastNick SchagerDec 16, 2025
To a greater extent than its franchise mates, Avatar: Fire and Ash is drunk on its own extravagance, unaware that it’s offering up nothing new that might justify its absurd Sturm und Drang. Read full review
42
The Film MavenKristen LopezDec 19, 2025
If you've been ride or die for this series since its inception then there's little that will change that. For those looking for a good time at the movies, Avatar: Fire and Ash offers some thrilling visuals but little else. The story is repetitive and unfocused, the characters dull and lacking depth. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeDec 16, 2025
Rarely has anything looked simultaneously so spectacular and so monotonous. It’s like being drowned to drunken death in a lake of curaçao. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 16, 2025
Avatar is as gigantically uninteresting and colossally impervious to criticism as ever: a vast, blank edifice that placidly repels objection. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyDec 16, 2025
Yes, the movie offers gargantuan-scale spectacle, imposing technological wizardry and virtually nonstop action involving over-qualified and mostly unrecognizable actors in motion-capture suits. But 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. Read full review
40
The TimesKevin MaherDec 16, 2025
It’s difficult to convey just how little dramatic urgency there is in a film that’s effectively a computer-generated diorama, one that’s filled with fantastical flora and fauna and mystical beings who are all dressed up with nowhere to go. Read full review
40
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiDec 16, 2025
The only way ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ could be more hypocritical, and taken less seriously, is if the characters also yelled “Hypocrisy sucks!” while sitting on Whoopee cushions. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 18, 2025
James Cameron was very much running out of interesting things to say and show in his “Avatar” franchise with the second movie, Avatar: The Way of Water. The third film, Avatar: Fire and Ash confirms that fear and adds on a dose of dread for good measure. On no, the 70something sci-fi impressario has two more “Avatars” in the works. Read full review
38
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen JohnsonDec 16, 2025
Cameron is such a good filmmaker that even though he seems to be out of ideas, the three-hour, 17-minute running time chugs along efficiently on pure craftsmanship. But is that enough? Read full review
30
LooperAlistair RyderDec 16, 2025
The armies of visual effects teams at James Cameron's disposal struggle to hide the fact he's now on autopilot, expanding the world of Pandora without offering anything that feels particularly fresh. Even the set pieces failed to arouse much excitement. Read full review
20
The TelegraphRobbie CollinDec 16, 2025
Some of us saw a while ago that turning Avatar into a franchise would prove to be a creative cul-de-sac. Having reached the top of the street three years ago, Cameron spends all of Fire and Ash trying to turn his enormous articulated lorry around. The back-up beeper is beeping, the spinning yellow lights are spinning, and he’s just knocked over his third wheelie bin. I do hope he eventually gets out. Read full review
20
BBCNicholas BarberDec 16, 2025
The strange thing is that, while the first Avatar seemed exhilaratingly futuristic, the third film seems like a relic of an earlier era. Read full review
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