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Cast: Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Ken Leung, Elizabeth Yu, Maria Zhang, and Daniel Dae Kim.
Creator: Albert Kim
Director: Michael Goi
Streaming On: Netflix
Language: English (with subtitles)
Runtime: 8 episodes, around 1 hour each.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Review: What’s It About:
Netflix’s new live-action adaptation of Avatar:Â The Last Airbender brings Aang and his friend to the streaming service to retell the story of the animated show’s first season, bringing with it high production values, a cast of big-name actors and also the classic tale of a reluctant hero out of time trying to find the strength to battle the tyranny of an empire, all the traditional stuff that we loved from the original series.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Review: Script Analysis:
Yes, the original Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series raised the bar for TV storytelling overall thanks to its unique characters, tight narrative structure, and fascinating world-building, so it wasn’t a surprise when Hollywood decided to adapt the TV series as a blockbuster film, which sadly fell into the hands of M. Night Shyamalan who directed one of the worst live-action adaptations ever, losing everything that made the original series a modern classic. In this sense, the Netflix creators have a fine example of what not to do.
In this regard, the series feels the most faithful to the source material while also diverging from it in good and bad ways. Thankfully, and unlike the Shyamalan film, Netflix has allowed the creators to have 8 whole hours instead of less than two to tell the story of the first season of the show, which focused mainly on Aang, our main character, finding the courage to get back into the fight he once escaped from. Avatar: The Last Airbender is the classic tale of the reluctant hero, and the season manages to create an excellent rendition of that tale. There are changes, though, and many will make the purist fans angry, but there is enough balance to keep the essence of the original intact.
This first season might focus on the events of the first season of the animated show, but it brings characters from other seasons and establishes them way in advance from where they will be more critical. This decision is excellent as it allows us to see some fan favorites way in advance, but it also means that some of these participations don’t need to fit better. The perfect example is that of Azula, a character that makes her presence known in the show’s second season but appears here from the get-go, and her addition doesn’t feel very justified. There are other examples, and while they are no deal-breakers, they hurt the anticipation that their reveals at the precise time would have achieved.
The dialogue can also feel stiff at times, but this goes in combination with the acting, so it might be too harsh to blame the writers. However, the most significant change in the writing is in the tone; whereas the animated series was more lighthearted, here, the live-action series is more serious and wants to be more adult. This is a double-edged sword because the darkest events lose their impact as everything else falls within the same range, and the lack of comedy hurts some characters.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Review: Star Performance:
The Last Airbender offers a good combination of veterans and newcomers, which makes total sense with the story the series wants to tell. All the adult roles are perfectly cast, and they feel pretty natural. For example, Daniel Dae Kim feels like the perfect Fire Lord Ozai, while Ken Leung does what he does best as the despicable Commander Zhao. All these adult actors are having a great time and taking their roles seriously. However, with the youngest cast members, the consistency in quality falls short.
Gordon Cormier does a fantastic job as Aang; he can portray the character’s physicality and the most innocent aspects of Aang, although it would have been nice to see more of the humor that made the character so fun. Ian Ousley also does a great job as Sokka, and yes, he is still the funnier of the leading trio, but less than in the series, as the show wants to be more severe in this version. However, Kiawentiio, as Katara, feels way out of her depth; her characterization falls flat, lacking the spark that makes Katara so fun to watch, and her reactions sometimes feel very fake.
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Avatar: The Last Airbender Review: Direction & Music:
Avatar: The Last Airbender feels expensive and in many ways surpasses easily the production quality of the Shyamalan film, from costumes to sets and especially with the visual effects, which manage to bring the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender to life in a way that we have never seen before; the temples, islands, and creatures all look amazing, so props to the VFX teams that allow us to see Appa and Momo in all their glory, even if we would like to see more of them in every episode, they must be expensive. However, Zuko’s scar is still wrong; this time, it looks more like a black eye than a severe burn.
The direction might be one of the weakest aspects of the show, along with the acting coming from the young actors, as the show always retains the TV look that permeates so many streaming shows nowadays. The direction also fails to create action sequences that look great for the most part, as most of the battle sequences fall prey to the evil custom of having too many cuts. At this point in time, this practice of creating fight sequences feels archaic and lazy. Thankfully, the bending effects look great and have the right impact.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Review: Last Words:
Avatar:Â The Last Airbender might not reach the perfect tone balance that makes the original animated show so unique, and the acting might fall short in some parts, but as an overall effort, the series succeeds in maintaining the essence of the original and presenting the world of Avatar in the most spectacular fashion thanks to fantastic production values. The potential for the series to polish some of these rough patches in future seasons is extensive, so I am excited to see what the show does with future storylines, including the climatic finale.
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