Critic Reviews Are All Saying The Same Thing About Avatar: Fire And Ash

Contains spoilers for "Avatar: Fire and Ash"

It's almost time for another "Avatar" film to hit theaters. If you'd like to hear a recap of some reviews of "Avatar: Fire and Ash" before heading out to watch the movie, then click our video above, which tells you everything you need to know about what critics really think of the flick before purchasing tickets. And the grand consensus seems to be — it's all right. 

If you like the world of Pandora, this is more of the same: more of the Sully family fighting to survive, another dive into Na'vi culture, and another enemy for them to defeat — this time smattered with a sense of grief as they cope with the aftermath of Neteyam's death in "Avatar: The Way of Water." To quote The Wrap's review: "The Sully family is back and they're doing all the stuff they did last time, but slightly different and not as good." Some critics mentioned that they had problems telling the Sully children apart — it looks like James Cameron's belief that "Avatar: The Way of Water" would help fans remember the character's names did not pan out.

If any of this is your jam, however, then "Fire and Ash" will likely thrill you. You'll also be happy to spend over three hours in Pandora — something many critics found intimidating to agitating. "'Avatar: Fire and Ash' never lets you forget you're looking at a screen, especially as hour three starts ticking by," Time magazine remarked. Numerous early watchers felt the length was elephantine, but also praised the film for one particular aspect.

James Cameron's "Avatar" films always come with this guarantee: they're going to be visually gorgeous. Even negative reviews of "Avatar: Fire and Ash," such as one posted by IndieWire, remark upon the movie's beauty. "The action is clean, massive, and staged at a level several cuts above Hollywood's usual CGI slopfests," the review declares — while also noting those visuals rarely provide the thrills they did in the two previous movies. 

Plenty of reviews noted the film's repetitiveness, lack of originality and embarassing dialogue. But the news isn't all bad. "We're lucky to be living in a world where this movie exists because, warts and all, it's proof positive that big, blockbuster, commercial cinema can still be a work of art," raved Gizmodo. 

Perhaps the movie is helped by its darker portrayal of the Na'vi world, as previously teased by James Cameron and delivered upon by the existence of the Mangkwan clan. In any event, lots of critics were willing to praise "Fire and Ash" for its small beauties — even if its bigger plot points drove them crazy. Want to make up your own mind? Click our video above, which does an even better job of summing up what the critics think of the movie.