---
title: "Avatar: Fire and Ash"
year: 2025
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/avatar-fire-and-ash"
fi1m_id: "avatar-fire-and-ash"
imdb_id: "tt1757678"
tmdb_id: 83533
wikidata_id: "Q29580929"
fi1m_score: 58
critics_score: 57
critics_reviews: 14
published: "2026-09-09"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:47.035234+00:00"
region: "ES"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

Directed by James Cameron · 3h 18m · ICAA 12 · Science Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy

## Identity

Avatar: Fire and Ash

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/avatar-fire-and-ash
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** avatar-fire-and-ash
- **IMDb ID:** tt1757678
- **TMDB ID:** 83533
- **Wikidata ID:** Q29580929
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1757678/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/83533, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29580929

**Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 57 from 14 reviews

*In a sentence:* Five credited editors, 198 minutes, and the same war as last time, now with a volcano

> Cameron’s third visit to Pandora is as beautifully built as the first two, and it goes somewhere new only in its scenery. Oona Chaplin’s Varang is a proper villain; the film around her repeats itself for well over three hours.

## Synopsis

James Cameron returns to Pandora for a third film. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), with their children and the reef clans of Ronal (Kate Winslet) and Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), face a new enemy from the moon’s volcanic country: Varang (Oona Chaplin), leader of a Na’vi clan who live among fire and ash and have no love for the forest people. Quaritch (Stephen Lang) is still hunting the Sullys, and Spider (Jack Champion), the human boy raised alongside their children, finds his place in the family harder to hold. Sigourney Weaver returns as Kiri, with Edie Falco as General Ardmore and Joel David Moore as Norm.

## Review

James Cameron has been on Pandora since 2009, and *Avatar: Fire and Ash* is the third film he has brought back from it. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their children are at war again, this time with a Na’vi clan from the moon’s volcanic country, led by Varang (Oona Chaplin), and again with Quaritch (Stephen Lang), who has not stopped hunting them. It runs 198 minutes. Like the two before it, it is built to a standard nobody else in the business is working to, and it is the first of the three that left us feeling we had seen it before.

Start with what there is to see, because there is a great deal. Russell Carpenter shoots the ash country in reds and charcoal, so that when the fire clan attacks at night the flames light the Na’vi from below and the blue skin goes purple. Dylan Cole and Ben Procter, the production designers, give the new region a proper geography rather than a backdrop, and a long sequence with a clan called the Windtraders is the best stretch of new invention in the film. Deborah L. Scott dresses Varang’s people as if they have walked through the fire rather than round it. In a cinema, in three dimensions, the depth of it still does something to the stomach.

Chaplin is the reason to go. She plays Varang with an appetite the series has never permitted a villain: she enjoys her cruelty, she enjoys her weapons, and she looks at Quaritch in a way nobody has looked at him in three films. Most critics have picked her out and they are right. Lang is still doing the growl and it is still a good growl, though this is the third time he has snarled the same threat at the same family. Edie Falco, as General Ardmore, gets little to do and does it briskly.

The trouble is the script, by Cameron with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, and the trouble is that we have read it. The Sullys are threatened, the Sullys move, the Sullys are found, there is a battle, and then the shape repeats. *The Way of Water* did the same, but it had a whole ocean to discover while it did it. Here the new element is fire, and there is not much to swim through in fire. The dialogue is what it has always been: people announce what they feel and then feel it. Worthington is given the word family and says it often. Saldaña gets the film’s rage, and is good at it.

Five editors are credited, Cameron among them, alongside Jason Gaudio, Nicolas De Toth, Stephen E. Rivkin and John Refoua. Between them they could not find forty minutes to lose, and there are forty minutes to lose.

And yet. There is a stretch in the middle about Spider (Jack Champion), the human boy the Sullys have half-adopted, and what the family owes him and what it does not, and it moved us more than we were ready for. Champion plays him as a teenager who knows exactly how much he is tolerated, and Cameron, for once, lets a scene go quiet and stay quiet. Then the third hour arrived, and we noticed we were counting the battles, and then that we were annoyed at being made to count. Simon Franglen’s score rises at each one to tell us this is the important one, and after the fourth time we stopped believing it.

[*Aliens*](https://film.one/film/aliens) (1986) and *Terminator 2* (1991) each had one idea and ran it to the end. The *Avatar* films have one idea too, and it was all said in 2009. What has changed since is the machinery, and Cameron now appears to trust the machinery to carry the story on its own.

See it in a cinema or leave it. On a big screen the ash country and the sea battles hold you by size alone, and the three hours pass faster than they have any right to. At home the same pictures will look like an expensive cartoon about a family who keep having the same argument.

*Fi1m score 58, published 9 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews split widely, from raves to flat dismissals, and the split is about story rather than craft. Almost every critic agrees the spectacle is the draw: the 3D, the fire-lit volcanic landscapes and the land, sea and sky battles are described as immersive and technically superb, and Oona Chaplin’s Varang is repeatedly singled out as the freshest thing in it.

The reservations cluster just as tightly. Most critics find the plot a rerun of the second film, with a family drama that runs long, dialogue that clunks and battles that repeat until fatigue sets in. The Guardian and The Telegraph call it dull and creatively stuck; The Wrap finds its anti-corporate message undercut by its own origins. The dissenters in the other direction are notable: /Film calls it the best of the series, while Polygon and The Ringer argue the Spider storyline gives it a heart the sceptics miss. The consensus is admiration for the machine and boredom with the script.

## Straight answers

**Is Avatar: Fire and Ash worth watching?**

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* is worth watching only in a cinema, and only for those who want another three hours on Pandora; we scored it 58. Oona Chaplin's Varang is a proper villain and the ash country is handsomely built, but the script repeats the last two films for 198 minutes. At home it will look like an expensive cartoon.

**How long is Avatar: Fire and Ash, and what is it rated?**

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* runs 3h 18m and is rated 12 by the ICAA in Spain. It is a science fiction and adventure film.

**Where can I watch Avatar: Fire and Ash in Spain?**

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* is streaming on Disney+ in Spain, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from €4.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Avatar: Fire and Ash, and is it suitable for children?**

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* is a UK 12A, with long battle sequences and a villain who plainly enjoys her cruelty, but nothing we found graphic. Children who managed the earlier films will manage this one; the fire clan's night attacks may frighten the youngest, and the 198-minute length is the harder test.

**How does Avatar: Fire and Ash compare to Avatar: The Way of Water?**

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* is the weaker of the two: it is built to the same standard as [*Avatar: The Way of Water*](https://film.one/film/avatar-the-way-of-water) but repeats that film's shape without its ocean of things to discover. The earlier film has the whales and a last hour of Cameron at his best; this one has Oona Chaplin's Varang, the best villain of the series, and not much else that is new.

**Do you need to have seen the other Avatar films before Avatar: Fire and Ash?**

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* is the third film in the series and it assumes you know the Sully family, Quaritch's grudge and the human boy Spider from the earlier two. The war is simple enough to follow cold, but the middle stretch about Spider, the best thing in it, lands only if you know how he came to be there; start with the first film instead.

**What should I watch after Avatar: Fire and Ash?**

After *Avatar: Fire and Ash*, try [*Princess Mononoke*](https://film.one/film/princess-mononoke) (1997, Fi1m 88): Forest gods, iron works and a war where both sides have a case; Miyazaki did this first. Then [*The Emerald Forest*](https://film.one/film/the-emerald-forest) (1985, Fi1m 66): A white boy raised by an Amazon tribe; Spider’s dilemma, played straight and in the real jungle; and [*Dune: Part Two*](https://film.one/film/dune-part-two) (2024, Fi1m 84): Desert war, a messiah nobody asked for, and set pieces that know when to stop.

**What order should I watch the Avatar films in?**

Release order is the safe choice for Avatar, and it is the order [our collection page](https://film.one/collections/avatar) lists them in. *Avatar: Fire and Ash* is the most recent of the 3 Avatar titles on Fi1m; before it comes [*Avatar: The Way of Water*](https://film.one/film/avatar-the-way-of-water). [The full order.](https://film.one/collections/avatar.md)

### Reviews we read (23)

- **Evening Standard**, Nick Howells (4/5): The technical spectacle and 3D immersion are unsurpassed, plunging viewers into relentless action and a phosphorescent world, though the familiar story of tribal conflicts and earnest themes lacks sophistication. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron-sam-worthington-zoe-saldana-b1262787.html)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (80/100, inferred): The critic finds it the richest and craziest of the Avatar films, with Cameron fully indulging his vision and remixing his motifs in an expertly realized, never-boring spectacle. They single out the freewheeling earnestness and the tactile, vivid world of Pandora for praise. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/james-cameron-lets-his-freak-flag-fly-in-avatar-fire-and-ash.html)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (55/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a dizzying overload of new creatures, landscapes, melodramatic plots and battles that ultimately produces whiplash rather than transport. Cameron’s signature mix of pulp and poetry is on display but fails to cohere here. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/movies/avatar-fire-and-ash-review.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the third Avatar film a gigantically dull and uninteresting spectacle that fails to deliver an emotional arc despite its volcanic world-building and action. The new character Varang adds a witchy sex interest but cannot salvage the repetitive, impervious franchise entry. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/dec/16/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (30/100, inferred): The critic views it as the most repetitious entry in the series, with fatigue setting in despite the spectacle and Oona Chaplin's standout witchy villainy. They single out the lack of fresh narrative inspiration and risible dialogue for complaint. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron-sam-worthington-1236450205/)
- **The i Paper**, Sarah Carson (30/100, inferred): The film is interminable and repetitive with a thin plot full of clichés, relying on flashy 3D effects and battles that feel like a theme-park ride rather than meaningful cinema or storytelling. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/survived-avatar-3-no-one-should-4082580)
- **The Telegraph** (25/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as mind-numbing and stuck in a creative cul-de-sac, with repetitive elements like pterodactyl races and bioluminescent scenes that add little new to the franchise despite its visual scale. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2025/12/16/avatar-fire-and-ash-film-review/)
- **Empire**, Ben Travis: Cameron escalates the family drama and action with new villains and spectacular battles, delivering the most ambitious and immersive Avatar yet despite some repetitive plotting and length. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/avatar-fire-and-ash/)
- **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★☆☆☆): The critic notes narrative burnout in the franchise but praises the visual spectacle, 3D clarity, and Oona Chaplin’s charismatic performance as the gun-crazed witch Varang amid the formulaic story. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/eac6f81d-548f-4e63-bb2e-6a3b99bb234d)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Amy Nicholson: The critic praises the dynamite new villains, especially Varang and Quaritch, and the surreal details of Pandora but complains that the recycled eco-warrior plot and overlong family drama make it feel like a home movie. Cameron’s affection for the world remains a draw despite narrative repetition. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-12-16/avatar-fire-ash-review-sam-worthington-zoe-saldana-sigourney-weaver-stephen-lang-james-cameron)
- **Radio Times**, James Mottram (★★★★☆): The critic praises the bold, brash return to Pandora with its full-on conflict, standout new antagonist Varang, and immersive 3D visuals, calling it a marvel of CG craftsmanship despite the length and simplistic message. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/app/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-yet-another-marvel-of-cg-craftsmanship-from-james-cameron/)
- **Screen Daily**: The critic describes it as a thrilling, immersive journey that is visually extraordinary and stronger in engagement than predecessors, highlighting Cameron’s mastery of spectacle and fresh visual details while noting clunky dialogue as a lingering weakness. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-camerons-third-trip-to-pandora-is-thrilling-immersive-journey/5211689.article)
- **Sight and Sound**: The critic calls it a big, goofy spectacle more concerned with scale than sophistication, noting its draggier structure of repeated battles while praising Cameron's commitment to emotional and technological development of characters and the power of matriarchy theme. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/avatar-fire-ash-big-goofy-spectacle-that-wears-its-heart-its-sleeve)
- **The Times** (★★☆☆☆): The critic criticizes the lazy rehash of previous films with added erotica via the new character Varang, finding the Mangkwan Na’vi and fire theme simplistic and the overall effort uninspired. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-vvfgn79jc)
- **Total Film**, Jordan Farley: It remains a technical marvel with some of the year's best action filmmaking, delivering on spectacle and immersion even amid franchise familiarity. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/avatar-fire-and-ash-review)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman: The critic calls it bolder and tighter than the second film with awesome action sequences and amazements, though it no longer feels visually unprecedented. The story and characters work fine but the franchise risks feeling like reruns. [Read](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron-1236605109/)
- **/Film**, Bill Bria (10/10): The critic calls it the best Avatar film yet, praising its conceptual depth, emotional resonance, and spectacular action set pieces like the Windtraders sequence. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/2052082/avatar-fire-and-ash-review/)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (85/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as a thrilling, intense 3-hour-plus war epic and visual knockout that expands the Pandora universe with land, sea and sky action. Exceptional performances, especially from the leads and supporting cast in performance capture, are singled out for making the characters feel authentic and emotionally engaging. [Read](https://deadline.com/2025/12/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron-third-trip-pandora-1236649641/)
- **Polygon**, Matt Patches (85/100, inferred): The critic lauds the film's technical spectacle and emotional family drama as a rebuke to AI-generated content, emphasizing human-crafted nuance in performances and set pieces. They highlight the Sully family's moral dilemmas around Spider and the satisfying narrative closure. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/avatar-fire-ash-review/)
- **The Ringer**, Miles Surrey (75/100, inferred): The review centers on Spider as the franchise's emotional linchpin, crediting Cameron with making the character's goofy arc compelling through themes of identity, belonging, and family bonds. It praises the heartfelt ethical dilemmas and the way personal stakes elevate the story despite some silliness. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2025/12/22/movies/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-spider-quaritch-james-cameron)
- **Den of Geek**, David Crow (3/5): The critic praises the film's visual splendor and immersive spectacle as an aesthetic triumph that overwhelms the senses, but criticizes its shallow, repetitive story and lack of thematic depth or novelty after three films. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron-shallow/)
- **NME**, Matt Maytum (3/5): The critic highlights the impressive VFX, 3D, and action set pieces as must-see spectacle but notes the film retreads familiar ground, suffers from episodic plotting and repetition, and feels like it is running out of steam. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron-sam-worthington-3918856)
- **The Wrap** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the sequel repetitive and hypocritical, essentially rehashing the previous film's structure and character arcs with less novelty and impact despite the visual spectacle. The film's messaging on capitalism and environmental themes is undermined by its own corporate origins and padded storytelling. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/avatar-fire-and-ash-review-james-cameron/)

## Details

- **Director:** James Cameron
- **Director:** James Cameron
- **Screenplay:** James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
- **Story:** Shane Salerno, James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, Josh Friedman, Amanda Silver
- **Cinematography:** Russell Carpenter
- **Editor:** John Refoua, Stephen E. Rivkin, James Cameron, Nicolas De Toth, Jason Gaudio
- **Music:** Simon Franglen
- **Production design:** Dylan Cole, Ben Procter
- **Costume design:** Deborah Lynn Scott
- **Producer:** Jon Landau, James Cameron
- **Cast:** Sam Worthington as Jake; Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri; Sigourney Weaver as Kiri; Stephen Lang as Quaritch; Oona Castilla Chaplin as Varang; Jack Champion as Spider; Kate Winslet as Ronal; Cliff Curtis as Tonowari
- **Runtime:** 3h 18m
- **Certificate (ICAA):** 12
- **Release (Spain):** 19 December 2025
- **Genres:** Science Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy
- **Part of:** [Avatar](https://film.one/collections/avatar.md) · 3 of 3
- **Budget:** $350 million
- **Box office:** $1.49 billion
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma1x7ikpid8

## Where to watch in Spain

- Disney+: streaming, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent €4.99, uhd
- Apple TV: rent €5.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy €11.99, sd
- Apple TV: buy €13.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-10.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Princess Mononoke* (1997), Fi1m 88: Forest gods, iron works and a war where both sides have a case; Miyazaki did this first. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/princess-mononoke.md)
- *The Emerald Forest* (1985), Fi1m 66: A white boy raised by an Amazon tribe; Spider’s dilemma, played straight and in the real jungle. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-emerald-forest.md)
- *Dune: Part Two* (2024), Fi1m 84: Desert war, a messiah nobody asked for, and set pieces that know when to stop. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dune-part-two.md)
- *Aguirre, the Wrath of God* (1972), Fi1m 91: Herzog sends conquistadors down a river and lets the jungle win; ninety minutes, no volcano needed. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/aguirre-the-wrath-of-god.md)
- *Embrace of the Serpent* (2015), Fi1m 82: Two explorers, one Amazon shaman, and colonial ruin told from the riverbank rather than the boat. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/embrace-of-the-serpent.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/avatar-fire-and-ash