At this point with the Avatar movies, you’re either on board or you’re not. For the people that aren’t on board with the grand storytelling and epic saga of Pandora, you’re not gonna find what you’re looking for with Avatar: Fire and Ash. However, if you’re into these films, there’s a lot to like when it comes to the third in this lengthy trilogy and beyond.

This is the continuing story of Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his family as they deal with the human incursion on Pandora and the prolonged quest from Quaritch (Stephen Lang) to take him into custody. The film also stars Zoe Saldana as Neytiri, Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, Oona Chaplin as the villainous Varang, Kate Winslet as Ronal, Jack Champion as Spider, Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, and features performances from Edie Falco, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, David Thewlis, and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss. Of course, the film was directed by James Cameron, and written by Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver.

The film follows up on the attack by the humans in Avatar: The Way of Water and the death of Jake and Neytiri’s son, Neteyam. That wound is a deep one for a bunch of different characters in the film, and it affects them in differing ways. For Jake and Neytiri, it’s the loss of a child; for their kids, it’s the loss of a sibling, but it goes even deeper than that. He died protecting Spider, so he feels responsible, and that even crosses over with Neytiri, who has mixed feelings towards the human boy. This also moves into the motivation for Quaritch to find his son, Spider.

It all coalesces into this melting pot of emotions and motivations that really makes Avatar: Fire and Ash the most interesting of the three films so far. That doesn’t even take into account the other plotlines involving the Tulkun and how they’re dealing with the renegade Payakan. Even more so, there’s a meeting of all the different Tulkun that are meeting for their annual mating rituals, which draws attention from the humans trying to harvest them for the amrita in their brains.

Oh, and there are an evil faction of Na’vi called the Ash People, led by a witch, Varang, who wants to destroy the other tribes because of their belief in a god that failed them. And Varang enters into a relationship with Quaritch, who wants to use them for his own personal gain.

Yes, James Cameron is cooking with this one.

Starting off with the visuals, the movie is stunning. Everything about the film from a visual standpoint is astounding. Like they did in Avatar: The Way of Water, the movie changes up the frame rate during certain scenes, which only adds to the feeling of the action going on. When they’re flying around or boats are racing on the water, the movie gives audiences a visual feast for the eyes. The action setpieces here, like a raid from the Ash People or the gigantic, blown-out final battle, are enough to make you sit forward in your chair and lock in. The look of these CG characters when they’re interacting with real people like Spider or other humans is also seamless. I tried my HARDEST to find somewhere where it looked like something was off, and I couldn’t.

As for those performances, there are plenty of good ones in the film, but the best one goes to Stephen Lang as Quaritch. He might be in a Na’vi body, but the dude is 100% player-hater still. He hates Jake Sully with every fiber of his being and wants nothing more than to embarrass him, and then kill him. This movie only cements that as he enlists other tribes to go after and hunt Sully and his family. Where the greatness comes out though, is in the scenes he’s with Spider and the mental gymnastics he has to go through. Early on in the film, he actually captures Jake Sully, but is forced to let him go, so that they can save Spider from the Ash People.

Other than him, Zoe Saldana is fantastic as Neytiri as she navigates keeping her family safe. Her interactions with Varang are also worth the price of admission. Cameron and Co. build up their interactions until they reach a fever pitch when they finally get that big confrontation with one another. Oona Chaplin is absolutely devlish as Varang and a massively welcome addition to the cast.

Jack Champion as Spider is also a highlight with a large portion of the story following him and how he has to wrangle with being the only human in a clan of Na’vi. His work with Lang, Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and the rest of the cast only makes his performance stand out. He’s really one of the MVPs of the film.

Of course, all of this builds until a massive multi-layered final battle that lasts for like 45 minutes. It’s James Cameron at his finest. You get moments where you don’t know who’s going to survive, moments where bad guys get dealt with in increasingly satisfying ways, and a one-on-one confrontation between Jake Sully and Quaritch. Yes, this also sounds like Avatar: The Way of Water. It recently came out that these two movies were supposed to be one part, instead of two, so that makes sense why they would be similarly structured. However, with that being said, I don’t really care that the two movies feel similar, because they both are fantastic.

There are plenty of moments in Avatar: Fire and Ash that made me swoon with glee, delight, horror, and satisfaction. Some of the shots in this movie are breathtaking, including one where the Ash People ride in as an eclipse is happening in the third act. It’s all designed and made to be the most fist-pumping experience for an audience.

Like I said before, if you don’t want to watch a 3+ hour epic about aliens that features some of the most breathtaking visuals on a movie screen in 2025, you won’t enjoy this movie. But for those that want a truly old-school, throwback, audience-pleasing epic, Avatar: Fire and Ash is that.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is stunning. A true triumph. James Cameron has crafted a beautiful movie that is among the most satisfying of the year. Across the board, it’s got everything you’d want out of a spectacle at the movie theater.

Avatar: Fire and Ash releases in theaters on December 19th, 2025.

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