The Avatar films are better known for their groundbreaking visual effects than their storytelling prowess, but the franchise’s first two installments have earned plenty of positive reviews and notable accolades — including Best Picture nominations at the Oscars. Thanks to director James Cameron’s ambitious vision and revolutionary approach to realizing the world of Pandora, Avatar and its 2022 sequel Avatar: The Way of Water are Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, highlighting that their appeal goes beyond just impressive special effects. Many were curious to see if this December’s Avatar: Fire and Ash could follow suit, and now the first wave of reviews are in.
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As of this writing, Avatar: Fire and Ash has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 70% with 107 reviews submitted. While that’s certainly a positive mark, it’s also the lowest rating for the Avatar franchise. The 2009 original is the highest with 81%, while The Way of Water earned a 76%. The first two Avatar films are Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes; Fire and Ash isn’t there yet, and it won’t unless its score improves to at least 75%.
What Are Critics Saying About Avatar: Fire and Ash?
No critics consensus has been added yet, but a skim over the published Avatar: Fire and Ash reviews paints a solid picture of the various pros and cons. Unsurprisingly, the visual effects are once again receiving widespread praise. Cameron’s latest is being hailed as a technical marvel that is stunning to take in on the biggest of screens (an IMAX 3D showing would be worth the premium rate). This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone who has been following the Avatar franchise since its inception. At this point, state-of-the-art visual effects are the property’s calling card, and anything less would have been a disappointment.
The other common point popping up across multiple reviews is more negative. Even those who are high on Fire and Ash can’t help but admit that the story falls flat this time around. Words like “repetitive” and “familiar” were used to describe the narrative, underscoring that Cameron is retreading old ground from the previous films. This was a critique mentioned in some of the early Fire and Ash social media reactions, so it isn’t surprising to see it come up again in the full reviews. There are those who feel Oona Chaplin’s Varang is a fresh addition as the franchise’s first Na’vi antagonist, but Fire and Ash still doesn’t do enough over the course of its protracted run time to truly stand out.
It is important to keep in mind that only a fraction of the Avatar: Fire and Ash reviews have been submitted on Rotten Tomatoes. As a comparison, Avatar has 334 reviews counted and The Way of Water has 453. So there should still be hundreds of more Fire and Ash reviews that come in over the next several days, which could cause the score to fluctuate one way or the other. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact the next wave of reviews has. Odds are, the score won’t make any drastic swings from here; the initial reviews are typically indicative of where the consensus will ultimately land. There’s still an outside chance of Fire and Ash continuing the franchise’s Certified Fresh streak if enough people feel the technical marvel outweighs any narrative shortcomings.
In the build up to Fire and Ash‘s release, Cameron has hinted that he could be patient as he develops Avatar 4 and Avatar 5. The production timeline could change based on the Fire and Ash box office, but the critical response illustrates Cameron would be smart to take some time off and pursue other projects for the time being. Avatar has a rich lore and mythology that’s worth continuing to explore on screen, but the takeaway from these reviews is that the films could benefit from some kind of creative shakeup. The novelty of seeing Pandora and its inhabitants rendered has worn off by now, so if Avatar is to continue beyond Fire and Ash, the narrative needs to be up to par.
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