Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender fails to capture the spirit of the original series with poor characterization and weak visuals.

Simply put, Netflix’s take on Avatar: The Last Airbender is bad. At best, the show serves as a constant reminder of how amazing the original Nickelodeon cartoon was. At worst, it makes M. Night Shyamalan‘s 2010 The Last Airbender film feel like a mercy because at least that poor effort was only 2 hours long. Granted, there are some saving graces. Most of the cast is good, with relative newcomer Dallas Liu (PEN15) as Fire Prince Zuko, veteran character actor Ken Leung (Industry) as Commander Zhao, and the great Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) as Fire Lord Ozai being the prime standouts (yes, the show is very pro-Fire Nation, at least in making that the best part of this first season). Additionally, the bending visual effects look fantastic. But none of these pros are enough to bring balance to this world.

From the opening minutes, it becomes clear that this live-action remake aims to be both a dark and violent fantasy epic for the post-Game of Thrones crowd, while also trying to capture the silly and cartoony fun of the source material. However, this balancing act of sorts never fully clicks in the 8-episode season.

Lol surprising no one the show is ass

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  • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
    ·
    9 months ago

    This is bad:

    Granted, there are some interesting results from Netflix’s approach, with the season able to make explicit what the children’s cartoon couldn’t. The fear of war and genocide and years of occupation weigh heavily on the characters we meet along the way, particularly Aang’s companions — the waterbender Katara (Kiawentiio) and her brother Sokka (Ian Ousley) who was left to protect his village when all the men left for battle. The problem is that the show can’t fully commit to a singular tone. Just when it’s about to make a poignant observation about the cost of war, it reminds the audience that it is still based on a cartoon and introduces an insane wacko character that feels out of place in this otherwise more adult adaptation — I’m looking at you, Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar).

    Tries to become everything but becomes nothing.