Avatar: The last airbender

My daughter and I recently completed the 8-episode series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) on Netflix. The storyline unfolds in a world where tribes are aligned with the elements-Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Some members of each tribe can "bend" or control their respective elements, while only one person, the Avatar, has mastery over all four elements. After the Avatar disappears for over a hundred years, the Fire Nation seizes the opportunity to attempt world domination. Meanwhile, children from the Water Tribe stumble upon the long-lost Avatar, possibly just in time to save humanity.

This series is directed by Michael Goi (American Horror Story), Roseanne Liang (My Wedding and Other Secrets), Jabbar Raisani (Lost in Space), and Jet Wilkinson (Home and Away). It stars Gordon Cormier (The Stand), Kiawentiio (Beans), Ian Ousley (Young Sheldon), and Daniel Dae Kim (Lost).

This live-action adaptation does an impressive job recreating the Avatar universe, characters, and storyline. While some of the acting feels slightly uneven, and a few character designs may not entirely match the animated series, overall, this is a commendable relaunch. The universe is stunning, especially the creatures and visual effects for bending. The bending abilities look fantastic, adding to the visual appeal. There are also well-incorporated subplots and side stories from the original cartoon. The characters' struggles are well-portrayed, and the series ends at a fitting point. There's a lot to appreciate here.

In conclusion, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a solid live-action relaunch of the beloved animated series. I'd give it an 8/10 and strongly recommend it.

I understand that adapting a cartoon series scene by scene into a live adaptation is impractical. However, removing the lead character's pivotal arc, which was integral to the essence of the original story, weakens the storytelling. The Aang portrayed lacks the innocence and depth of the 12-year-old protagonist we grew to love; instead, he's presented as a young adult novel archetype warrior.

Moreover, the characters seem to lack the comedic traits that defined them, resulting in scenes that feel devoid of emotion and overly somber.

The direction feels stagnant, with characters rigidly placed and delivering exposition rather than engaging dynamically with the world around them.

Numerous unnecessary changes detract from the impactful moments, surprising reveals, and character development that made the original series so compelling.

While I appreciate the efforts put into the visuals and action sequences, they shouldn't be the sole focus of a production with such a substantial budget.

I know Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most popular and loved animated shows of all time. They even tried to make a movie about it back in 2010 the is universally panned. The animated series has a 9.4 rating here and the movie only a 4.0 so people have been hungry for a good live adaptation of the animated series for a long time. It's finally here. It's almost impossible to please everyone who liked the original animated series because everyone has their own expectations on how it should be and they hate when it differs even a little from the original. They don't seem to understand how they don't have the luxury of having unlimited episodes and get go as in depth as the original, it has to be adapted into only 8 episodes per season. I had no problem at all, I liked this series so much that I binged all 8 episodes in only 2 days. I just couldn't stop watching and already looking forward to next season.

I'm too exhausted with these pointless live action remakes of animated classics to get angry anymore. This Netflix redo of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is at best competent, with handsome production design and costuming. Storywise, it strips out the humor of the original, leaving us with grim imitations of the characters we so loved. The sadsack reimagining of the feisty Katara is particularly horrid.

The acting is spotty. Some of the performers are pretty good, but so many of the line readings come off like community theater. Where's the passion?

While not the fiasco the previous live action feature was, this new AVATAR is just pointless. Yeah it's not bad, but why settle for not bad when the original show was great? I'd rather just rewatch the old one for the hundredth time.

No misunderstanding, I'm loving the latest Netflix live action series. I've really liked One Piece, Yu-Yu Hakusho and Avatar, and I finally see that things are being done right.

The issue with Avatar is another: it's born from a cult series that is very difficult to fill. On the one hand, it has effects that are sometimes very noticeable in terms of green screens. On the other hand, between chapter 3 and 6, so many stories are mixed together that it's a literal mess. We have a good cast, but perhaps the weakest point is Ang himself during some moments. Chapter 2 was a delight, I really liked 7 and 8. It feels like there isn't as much chemistry between the main trio and perhaps the Ang-Katara ship wasn't seen at all during this season. The best thing for me is the Zuko and Ioh plot that develops very well. Well, that's why the title of my review: given the original material, it can and should give more...I look forward to the next seasons.