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mickaeldelcey
Reviews
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024)
Some flaws, but the potential for greatness in future seasons
It is difficult to adapt a beloved show. If the original is really great, in a sense, the adaptation can only be worse.
This adaptation is miles above the movie that-shall-not-be-named, but it still disappointed many fans. I understand that. Some of it is just nostalgia. The avatar animated show was amazing, but season 2 and 3 are when it really took off. Season 1 was good, with great moments, but not yet a masterpiece. So a lot of expectations were too high and probably unreachable.
At the same time, comparisons are unavoidable. The show was allowed to make changes: take a different tone, change the episode format, etc... But knowing the great source material that was available in the animated, some choices are still baffling.
Overall, the show did many things really well. The visuals, first, were amazing, with few exceptions. From the sets and costumes to CGI landscapes and bending, it was really both beautiful and faithful to the world. The action was often good or great. Most importantly, it had its heart in the right place.
The issues start to appear in the plot. This show tried to keep many story beats from the original, but in only 8 episodes, that meant mashing together many plotlines together. This more often than not failed, rushing through too many things at once. The show was at its best when it let one a single plotline breath into a full episode. If future seasons are adapted, I hope they dare to cut more (or even better increase the episode count, even if this means higher budget).
The constant rush is probably part of the reason we never get to really enjoy the Gaang, either individually or as a group. We see too little of their dynamic, as they are often split apart to follow different plotlines. And individually, we simply have too little of them being them, instead focusing on them doing things to move along the dense plot. Their flaws are mostly removed, reducing their space to grow. Their personality is more often that not explained instead of being shown. Hearing "I like goofing off" does not quite give the same effect as actually seeing a character goofing off. Zuko and Iroh are the only ones to really get meaningful character moments. Since characters were arguably the strongest point of the original, it is sad to see this.
At the end, is it a pleasant show? Yes, I think so. But I don't think the quality was here to bring new viewers to think "this was a masterpiece". For me, it is a solid 8. Once I removed my expectations, I enjoyed the show, and some episodes, episode 6 in particular, really gave me high hopes for the future.
If netflix greenlights more seasons, which I really hope, I think the potential is there. If the writers can learn from this season, give more time for our characters to shine, start showing instead of telling, and otherwise keep the visual quality and the obvious care they had for the show, I think we COULD have a masterpiece.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legends (2024)
Spectacular visuals
I think many of us avatar fans were a bit apprehensive before this episode. How would this final showdown translate in a live-action. And I think even the most pessimistic viewers would agree, they did a heck of a job.
We should also remember that season 1 of the animated show did not have the best visuals, it improved in the following seasons and became amazing with Korra. So however great the animated episode was, seeing it finally getting the scale it deserves with this live action adaptation was really amazing.
The CGI was really top-notch but also the use of colours in the different moments, including the almost black-and-white feel was really well done.
The nitpick: the emotional beats were a little off. The timing of Iroh's threat, the sacrifice, etc... whether from the acting or scene direction, those big moments did not land as hard as they should have. And let's not speak about Momo... Just no!
So overall, a good episode, really epic in scale, which despite some weaknesses brings a satisfying conclusion to a flawed but promising first season adaptation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The North (2024)
Not bad, not great
This episode was very middle-of-the-pack for me. They did not overstuff it with contents like some of the earlier ones in the series, which is a good thing. It more or less followed a single one of the animated episode, but added new lore.
There was however many weak points in this episode. I try to stay away from direct comparisons, but there are some very puzzling choices. In an episode that is to a large extent about learning waterbending, why is Aang still not even trying? I am guessing they are leaving the "learning waterbending" arc for a "time jump" between season 1 and 2 due to the actors ageing. Still, this was one of the reasons for their presence here, so why?
I have also mixed feelings about Pakku not deciding to teach Katara and her becoming "her own master". Admittedly, the reason he eventually accepts in the animated was weak, and the idea that Pakku changes his minds only after the attack in the next episode is more grounded, kind of matching how women's rights was advanced after WW2 in some countries because of how much women contributed to the economy during the war effort. Still, Katara becoming a master without training and in such a short time is dubious, and the "Girl Power" aspect is not a good enough reason for this. To be fair, it was also too fast in the animated.
Finally, last rambling: Azula's arc... Was this whole for this? I really think removing Azula from season 1 would have been better. Her arrival in season 2 and her cold deadly strength was absolutely amazing in the animated. Now we see her as physically strong but emotionally weak, which is really sad.
So overall, a decent episode, but with many small aspects preventing it from being thoroughly enjoyable.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Masks (2024)
(Almost) perfect
This is hands down the best episode of the season. It captures the essence of what made avatar such a beloved cartoon. It actually follows "the Blue Spirit" episode almost scene by scene, also adding key ideas from "the Storm" episode. The fact that these 2 episodes were already some of the best of season 1 is a big factor in this episode's strengths. But impressively enough, the adaptation improves on them with a genius move: making Zuko's crew the 41st division. So much more impactful than the "saving the guy" scene from "the Storm" and this leads to one of the most powerful scene in this show.
I do not score this a 10 because of one thing only: the beginning. The whole Roku sub-plot was completely rushed in the first 10 min. If the "Winter's solstice" plotline could not be its own episode, it would have been better dropped altogether. Roku could have easily appeared in future seasons, especially season 3. This is sadly a problem tainting most of the series.
Fortunately, most of the episode was top notch, and I hope, this episode alone will bring people in and make sure we get another season :)
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Spirited Away (2024)
An oddity
This episode stands out for many reasons. Its setting most obviously, but also its structure. While many episodes in this adaptation suffered from overstuffing, this one kept a single clear storyline. Despite this, it did not quite work because it was fairly aimless. We follow along without really knowing where or why we are going, and the episode felt like a mere setup for the next one.
It still had good moments. It gave us nice insights into the trauma of some characters, which is great to set-up their arcs. It also had a cathartic reunion.
On the downside, while I am willing to accept the breaking of dozens of rules and pieces of lore from the original show in this episode, the new interpretation of Azula's story is just not working for me. I feel that it weakens her character.
Overall, some may like the very unusual and fantastical elements of this episode. Personally, I appreciated the character moments and the breathing space the episode provided, but there was a lack of direction and clear hook which prevented me from fully enjoying the episode.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Into the Dark (2024)
Mixed bag
Second part of the mash-up, and perhaps even more egregious in how it tries to weave so many stories into one. Including stories from season 2 for some reasons. As for the Omashu episode, the story fails by not having time to go deep and actually create meaningful arcs.
The saddest thing is that it is not all bad. Bringing a soldier from Ba Sing Se who suffered and lost a brother at the hands of Iroh was a very smart idea, and the execution was ok. It is one of a couple of changes from the cartoon which I thought really added to the story.
But this is brought down by the relatively weak tunnel plot line with Sokka and Katara and the very iffy King Bumi story. For that latter I think the idea of Bumi having lost hope after 100 years of war could have worked well, but it is difficult to feel this in a character that is also very playful and over-the-top. The whole thing was unconvincing. Again, with more time, this may have worked, but these nuances were simply lost under the weight of the story bloat.
I think season 2 could be great if the writers gain more confidence in their ability to deviate from the animated and accept to make more cuts to unnecessary story lines.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Omashu (2024)
Mash-up
This is the first part of a two-part story set in Omashu which tries to mash-up a great number of cartoon stories... and in my opinion results in being the weakest point of the series.
These 2 episodes for the most parts do not advance the plot. They are "filler episodes". And that's fine. Actually, some of the strongest episodes of the original cartoon could be considered filler episodes. They did not affect much the plot, but they had strong character moments and were key to the character and emotional arc of the whole series.
Here, it feels like the show just tried so hard to stick to key events of the original animated show. But these events are largely meaningless in themselves. Jet could have been dropped without compromising the story. But Jet's episode was a show of how horrors could be committed on both sides of a war. Jet targeting a village of innocent fire nation people in the cartoon made that point stronger than by targeting an earth nation traitor in the live action.
At the end, this episode did not work well, it was just bland. Nothing bad, and as usual the graphics and set designs are top notch. In addition, the action sequence was fun, if not a little cartoonish. But I think they may have gotten a better result by focusing on a single story line instead of spreading thin, to give more place for character moments.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Warriors (2024)
This series at its best
This I think was the adaptation at its best. Instead of trying to stuff several of the animated stories into one, this one follows mostly a single original episode, but with the additional breathing room provided by the longer episode format. In addition, the deviations from the original episode, in particular the presence of our favourite tall glowy woman, worked to great effect. The action scene was a standout of the episode.
It is not a masterpiece, mostly because it does not contribute much to the character arcs, but it is a very enjoyable episode fully worth of the animated one it is inspired by.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Aang (2024)
Good but flawed
Some avatar fans seem to put an unfairly high bar on this adaptation. The animated series was a masterpiece, but if we're all honest, the first couple of episodes were not. Good, yes, but by no means perfect.
So with this in mind, this live action version is actually quite decent, at times maybe even better than the original. Some of the new material would not have worked in the kid-oriented animated show, but added a welcomed layer to the story and emotional arc. The visuals are (mostly) excellent, with beautiful sets and costumes and for the most part good looking bending.
Sadly, there are a number of flaws preventing the episode from being truly great. The acting is hit and miss and some of the dialogues/monologues felt unnatural. The earthbending was also a bit off. Finally, maybe the worst CGI was the avatar state. Did they really have to use a fully CGI character?
I don't know if it is good enough to bring new viewers. The fact that I already care for these characters surely helped some of the emotions connect while it may fail to do the same to someone else. Still, I feel that this is a promising start, and I hope netflix greenlights more seasons because I think the imperfections can be ironed out and we have all the ingredients for a great show in the future.