The new live-action Avatar, the Last Air Bender, directed by Albert Kim, sets out to capture the magic of the original show and redeem themselves from the horrible Last Air Bender movie. Sadly, the show is just okay and does not hold up to the legacy of the first show. It kind of feels like the worst way to experience the story.
The story of the show feels like a badly summarized version of the original show that you would hear from a friend. They took the 20 episodes of the animated series first season and tried to cram into 8-hour-long episodes, which would mean a lot got cut. One of the biggest things that got cut was Sokka’s first season character arc, from a boy with a very sexist ideology to somebody who recognizes women as warriors, which removed some great scenes like when Sokka, after meeting the Kyoshi warriors and initially underestimating them, goes on to join them for a brief time, which is a really impactful scene.
Another thing that was kind of just badly done was the writers trying to go for a more serious tone in the remake compared to the original, like the fire scars and fire benders burning people alive. This does make the show seem much more serious, but it also feels like they made the characters less childlike and more boring in their effort for maturity. For the original story, it starts off childlike in the beginning, but it did have very serious moments, and the story got a lot more serious as the stakes grew, which this version just kind of misses.
However, one thing the show does really well is the production, in which the effects like the bending and the flying bison look really good, and the sets look great as well. But the costumes are just okay. Another great thing is that the fights are really exciting to watch. My favorite was the fight between Katara and the water-bending master, since it was very creative. The show is also just grueling to watch compared to the original since the episodes are almost an hour long. Which could be solved by just splitting the 8 episodes into shorter episodes. The soundtrack is really good because they decided to make their own versions of songs instead of just taking the songs straight from the original.
All in all, the show is alright, but it is just a worse experience compared to the show. But if you’re a newcomer to the series, then it will be just fine to watch. Also, people finishing the show most likely won’t have to be concerned about whether it’ll get a second season because of its overwhelming success.
