At this point it’s a known fact: James Cameron doesn’t just make movies, he builds events. The original ‘Avatar’ (2009) still sits atop the box office throne at $2.9 billion, with ten Oscar nominations and three wins to its name. Thirteen years later, the sequel ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ proved the franchise hadn’t lost a step, pulling in $2.3 billion, scoring another Best Picture nomination, and once again taking home the Oscar for its dazzling visual effects. Cameron owns three of the top four highest-grossing films of all time, and with ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’ he has his foot on the gas once again.

Clocking in at a hefty three hours and seventeen minutes, ‘Fire and Ash’ dives right back into Pandora just moments after the events of ‘The Way of Water.’ The human-run Resources Development Administration may have taken a loss, but they’re regrouping, still determined to terraform Pandora for an Earth humanity that has already trashed its own planet. The Sully family remains with the Metkayina reef clan, carrying the heavy emotional weight of losing Neteyam (Jamie Flatters).

Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), fully Na’vi and fully wired for battle, knows what’s coming. Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) is raw with grief, her fury barely contained and increasingly dangerous, especially toward Spider (Jack Champion), the human boy living among the Na’vi. Spider’s situation grows even more complicated with the return of Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang), now reborn as a Recombinant hybrid engineered to survive Pandora. Being caught between surrogate family and biological father puts Spider at the emotional center of the storm.

Returning favorites fill out the ranks: Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), the enigmatic Na’vi teenager tied to Grace Augustine’s legacy; Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), crushed by guilt over his brother’s death; and Metkayina leaders Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet), whose uneasy dynamic with Neytiri still crackles. The standout newcomer is Varang, leader of the Ash People, performed with an entirely captivating and commanding presence by Oona Chaplin. Forged by catastrophe after a volcanic eruption destroyed her homeland, Varang brings scorched-earth energy to the franchise and instantly claims scene-stealer status. It’s a performance that leaps off the screen.

Visually, Cameron goes bigger, bolder, and fiercer. While ‘The Way of Water’ held a focus on ocean beauty, ‘Fire and Ash’ shifts hard toward land and sky, unleashing action sequences of staggering scale. This chapter is defined by volcanic landscapes, aerial warfare, and nonstop forward momentum. If you thought Cameron had already shown you everything Pandora could do, think again.

Yes, the spectacle is overwhelming, but what keeps ‘Fire and Ash’ locked in is its heart. The Sully family remains the emotional backbone, giving the film real stakes amid all the chaos. Cameron and co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, with story support from Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno, balance the firepower with character-driven storytelling that never gets lost in the noise. That being said, the themes of family and purpose can appear rehashed from the two prior franchise instalments, but the visuals are enough to elevate every aspect of Cameron’s passion project.

Worthington and Saldaña deliver their strongest work in the franchise, while Dalton and Champion continue to grow into compelling emotional anchors. Weaver remains convincing as a young Na’vi, and Lang adds unexpected depth to Quaritch, especially through his complicated bond with Spider.

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ is unfiltered blockbuster filmmaking. It hits structurally appropriate emotional beats within an unimaginable scale. One thing remains certain with all three ‘Avatar’ films: these are some of the best-looking films ever to grace the big screen.

Our score: ★★★★☆

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ releases December 19, 2025.

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