The first reviews for Avatar: Fire and Ash are now live, and the initial responses are a troubling sign for the franchise’s future.
What are critics saying in Avatar: Fire and Ash reviews?
Avatar: Fire and Ash is Certified Fresh with a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite the positive score, Fire and Ash is lower than Avatar (81%) and Avatar: The Way of Water (76%).
ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim gave Avatar: Fire and Ash a 9/10 in a glowing review of James Cameron‘s epic adventure.
“Avatar: Fire and Ash is a triumph of visuals, action, and emotional sincerity,” Sim wrote. “Familiar though it may be, Fire and Ash is another breathtaking chapter in a saga that continues to redefine what cinematic spectacle can be.”
In his 2.5/4 review for RogerEbert.com, Brian Tellerico wrote, “From the unfulfilled promise of Varang & Spider to the sequences that feel like exact carbon copies of ones from The Way of Water, I can’t imagine anyone thinking this film is the best of the trilogy.”
Indiewire’s David Ehrlich gave Avatar 3 a B-, writing, “Not even a newfound interest in Na’vi power kinks can save Fire and Ash from just feeling like more Avatar.”
While admitting that Fire and Ash is better than The Way of Water, Variety’s Owen Bleiberman said the Avatar franchise “no longer feels visually unprecedented.”
For the third time since 2009, Cameron takes audiences back to Pandora in Avatar: Fire and Ash. According to the official synopsis, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their family are still grieving over the death of Neteyam. The newest threat to peace is an aggressive Na’vi known as Varang (Oona Chaplin), the leader of the Mangkwan clan (“Ash People”), who aligns with Colonel Miles Quartich (Stephen Lang) in their fight against the Sullys.
Cameron directs Avatar: Fire and Ash from a screenplay he co-wrote with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.
Avatar: Fire and Ash opens in theaters on December 19, 2025.
