‘The worst yet’: Avatar 3 Fire and Ash stumbles with critics

The first critical reactions to Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third instalment in James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, have been mixed to negative, with many critics calling it the weakest film in the series so far.

The film has opened with a 70 per cent score on Rotten Tomatoes, marking the lowest Tomatometer rating for an Avatar film to date.

For comparison, Avatar (2009) holds an 81 per cent critics’ score, while Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) stands at 76 per cent. Despite high expectations, Fire and Ash has struggled to match the reception of its predecessors.

Several leading publications were particularly harsh in their assessments. The Guardian rated the film 2 out of 5, describing it as a “three-hour hunk of nonsense” and criticising Cameron’s continued reliance on 3D technology at a time when much of the industry has moved on. The review also noted the franchise’s increasingly predictable elemental themes.

The BBC was more severe, awarding the film 1 out of 5 and calling it “the longest and the worst yet” in the series. Its review criticised the film for what it described as “197 minutes of screensaver graphics, clunky dialogue, baggy plotting and hippy-dippy new-age spirituality,” comparing the experience to an outdated arcade game.

IndieWire noted a strong sense of déjà vu, arguing that the film lacks both the spectacle and narrative freshness that once defined the franchise. The Telegraph also rated the film 1 out of 5, likening it to “£300m of glitter tipped into a fish tank” and questioning how much more the series has to offer audiences, despite the franchise’s global box office total exceeding $5 billion.

However, not all reviews were negative. IGN offered a more balanced take, acknowledging repetition but noting that Cameron continues to expand and rework his ideas at scale. Deadline praised the film as a large-scale war epic, highlighting the intensity and magnitude of its action sequences. Den of Geek described the film as a “shallow spectacle” but still an aesthetic achievement, while Empire rated it 4 out of 5, calling it “epic cinema” despite some repetitive elements.

Avatar: Fire and Ash had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and is the latest chapter in Cameron’s long-running sci-fi saga, which continues to divide critics even as it maintains strong audience interest.