Avatar: Fire and Ash was released into theaters on December 19th, 2025. The third installment to the franchise brings new characters and concepts to the big screen while maintaining the connections from the first and second films.
Most reviews of this film have not been positive; many people are disappointed in the third movie in the trilogy. A lot of people claim that the second film, Avatar: The Way of Water, was a copy and paste of the original Avatar movie. However, after watching the most recent movie, people have also come to the conclusion that Fire and Ash is nearly identical to The Way of Water.
The first movie and the second had varying concepts and characters, with Pandora being expanded on in the second film with new landscapes and even new types of Na’vi (the native people to the planet). Fans were expecting this in Fire and Ash as well, but the only world expansions the audience experienced was the volcano area that surrounds the newly introduced clan of Na’vi and the traveling merchant types of Na’vi as well. Both of which were only on screen for less than ten minutes. The majority of the movie (again) took place on and in the water, as did the second film. The tropes and conflicts remained from the second film as well, most of which were identical other than having slight differences, like characters. The climax felt like a repeat, as if there was no original idea for the third film other than some minor character developments and scenes, which were not the main focus.
Nearing the end of the film, the audience gets a lot of action and fight scenes, very similar to how The Way of Water ended. This leads up to the climax and what seemed like was going to be a major character death; unfortunately, none of the main characters faced death due to their plot armor. They were too important to the plot and therefore could not die in case of future installments. Would it have made the movie more meaningful and emotional? Absolutely. But, just like in a lot of movies, plot armor exists and main characters cannot be killed because they are just that: main characters.
Despite all the negative aspects, there were still a lot of breathtaking and heart-wrenching moments throughout the film. The visuals were once again astounding, since they have developed majorly from where the first film started. There is so much movement in the CGI that everything really feels alive all through the movie. The new landscape of the volcano was really well done, even if it was only in the movie for a few minutes. The human city was also really interesting to see now that it was fully built and developed. The audience got to see how the humans cope with having a city on a planet where they cannot survive without their artificial air and machinery.
The new villain character, Varang, was interesting to see, although she and her clan were a bit weird. Her connection with Quaritch was very sudden and strange. From what was shown in the trailers, it was clear that they ended up working together. What wasn’t expected was how close they got outside of that. Varang’s character was really unique, and from what was given about her backstory, it was tragic. Unfortunately, besides the few seconds of background knowledge she gave, there isn’t much else given about her. Some more of her story would have been helpful, as well as the other Na’vi who follow her.
Overall, I’d give this movie about three out of five stars. It was a fun time to go see, and yes, it was as emotional as I was expecting. Would I go see it in theaters again? No, I don’t think it’s worth my money and time. Is it worth seeing at least once? For huge fans, I’d say yes. But for people like me who have barely set foot into the waters of this franchise, probably not. I don’t think the three hours and fifteen minutes of screentime was worth my money. Had I known what I do now, I would have waited for it to be out of theaters. This, however, is just my opinion; I know that not everyone will agree with me, but I thought I’d share in case anyone was interested and I could save someone their money.
