Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

For 197 minutes, Avatar: Fire and Ash tries to top The Way of Water by mostly doing The Way of Water again. Hunters circle the tulkun, the clans gather for a giant fight at sea, and Quaritch keeps coming back like a sequel option nobody turned down. The script is stiff and almost joke-free, and Jake Sully still talks entirely in speeches. Then the screen does something nobody else can pull off. The Mangkwan, an aggressive Na’vi clan, ambush a convoy of floating merchant ships and set the sky on fire, and it’s one of the most jaw-dropping action scenes James Cameron has ever staged. Kiri, reaching for Eywa and getting no answer, is the closest thing to a new idea. Spider, a human kid who suddenly can breathe Pandora’s air, is the other. It made $1.49 billion worldwide on a reported $350 to $400 million. A 6.3 because the spectacle is unmatched and the story is on repeat. $245.57 says you check the runtime twice before buying a ticket to the next one and buy it anyway.

What works: The fire clan’s ambush on the floating merchant ships is stunning, and the visual world-building is still in a league of its own.

What doesn’t: The plot recycles the last movie’s whale hunt and sea battle, and the dialogue is so stiff and humorless that the runtime starts to weigh on you.

Who it’s for: Anyone near the biggest screen in town who goes to Avatar for the view, not the plot.