About "Avatar: The Last Airbender"
Creator: Albert Kim
Director: Michael Goi, Roseanne Liang, Jabbar Raisani, Jet Wilkinson
Production: Netflix
Cast: Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Daniel Dae Kim, Matthew Yang King, Ken Leung, Ruy Iskandar, Elizabeth Yu, Lim Kay Siu, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Amber Midthunder, Casey Camp-Horinek, Thalia Tran, Momona Tamada
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Runtime: 8 episodes, each 60 mins
IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatometer: 59% tomatometer, 75% audience score
My Rating: 4/5
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 is the live-action adaptation of a popular animated series of the same name and is one of the most anticipated shows of 2024.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show close to my heart. I love all the characters, which rarely happens. So I was sure the live-action wouldn't do justice to it. And I was partly right and partly wrong. Avatar The Last Airbender really does try to capture the original essence of the animated series. They sometimes excel at it and sometimes fumble.
Whenever we talk about live-action adaptations, we have to evaluate if they're truly needed. As a reader and animation fan, I say no. But some people prefer realism in their fiction. So this live-action adaptation of Avatar The Last Airbender is for them.
The creators didn't change the plot much. I liked how some events are given a proper backstory and more depth, especially when viewed from the perspective of each nation.
The Water Nation was depicted well, especially the Northern Water Tribe. I loved how they shot the disappearance of the moon goddess. It really gave the Avatar The Last Airbender a much-needed epic climax.
The Earth Nation, however, gave me some things to nitpick. The narrative says the Earth Nation is struggling, but the pristine and spotless image doesn't convey this. It looks too perfect and detracts from the storytelling.
The Fire Nation was handled the best. I loved how Avatar The Last Airbender really gave depth to every major Fire Nation character. I especially liked the confrontation between Uncle Iroh and the Earth Nation soldier about his siege of Ba Sing Se. Moreover, I loved Azula's portrayal. Her psychotic nature came out well.
My least favorite was unfortunately Sokka. The actor who plays Sokka is the most skilled actor of the three friends, but he's given less to work with. The seriousness of the plot doesn't allow Sokka's humour to shine through, making him completely devoid of it.
Katara captures the original character the best. I loved her portrayal. The actress really embodies the character to near perfection. Aang is cast perfectly. The actor might not be the most skilled, but he captured Aang's childishness and uncertainty about his abilities very well.
I was most worried about the Zuko casting. But I must say the actor playing Zuko did a phenomenal job with what he was given. I see great potential in this actor. He has the makings of a superhero in the future.
Uncle Iroh doesn't seem to be at peace with his past like the animated version. He seems to still carry the burden of his actions. However, I loved that he interacted with Aang from the very beginning.
Overall, I loved how the adaptation was handled. Avatar The Last Airbender doesn't surpass the original, but it did a good job.
