Much better than you thought it would be

The live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix series never seemed like a good idea. Why even try it to remake one of the most beloved animated series of all time, especially since someone else had already tried once and done it so badly that the fandom agreed to erase it from their collective memory?

Well, Netflix is ​​apparently addicted to this live-action remake idea, so here we are. They want a megafranchise, drawing from multiple seasons of the original show and possibly even more from Korra, and it all starts here. And despite the mountain of skepticism, including myself considering the original as one of my favorite shows, I have to say that Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender is much better than I thought it would be. In the end, I really enjoyed it.

Throughout the show, you can tell this is made by a cast and crew who really love the source material. Yes, yes, I absolutely read all the interview excerpts that made it sound like they were changing, removing, or adding things that sounded bad. Seemed like a lot of red flags to me. But in practice, I don’t think these changes overwhelm the whole thing, and the whole thing is very much an attempt at a love letter to the animated series. There are countless scenes and lines that are identical to the original, even if some structural changes are made for the sake of adaptation. I didn’t find anything particularly damaging.

It’s not as good as the cartoon series. Of course it isn’t. This is the colored pencil painting of the Mona Lisa, where it might be great on its own, but it’s just a completely different medium that could never live up to the original masterpiece. So I think you have to grade on a curve here. I don’t know how superfans will react to the series and I’m sure many of them won’t be forgiving of aspects of it. I also don’t know what this will do to “onboard” new fans who haven’t seen the original, so I approached Netflix’s adaptation of One Piece (which was good!). Here, all I can say is that as a fan, I thought they did a good job.

The biggest hit here is the casting. Many have noted how uncannily the casting choices resemble the cartoon characters, but in terms of channeling these characters, it really works. Right off the bat, I have to say the most impressive performance is Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, who portrays the rage that covers rejection expertly throughout the series. He’s joined again by another perfect casting choice in Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Iroh, whose only fault is that he’s… tall.

While they take more time to warm up, Ian Ousley’s Sokka and Gordon Cormier’s Aang are great and anchor the series. No, Sokka isn’t so much into “girls are bad” here, but he’s still struggling with the same insecurities that led to that mindset, and is Sokka. I think Cormier’s Aang starts off really rough with his line delivery, but as the show goes on, so does he, and for an Aang who’s supposed to be as young as he is, Cormier ends up fulfilling the role masterfully . Again, pre-release there was this concern that they made Aang darker and more serious than the original show, and that’s something that just isn’t the case in this version. Yes, he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, but he’s still this goofy kid at his core.

The Fire Nation crew is great. Daniel Dae Kim is terrifying as Fire Lord Ozai. Ken Leung is great as the vicious, vicious Commander Zhou. I thought Yu as Elizabeth’s Azula might have been a mistake at first since she’s an actress who does it not he’s really like the original character, but he’s got that fire, no pun intended. In the end, you will believe in her capacity for cruelty.

You may notice that the only omission here is Kiawentiio’s Katara. Out of all the characters, she was the least good for me. There is nothing bad for her performance, but given Katara’s cornerstone role on the show, I just wasn’t getting the same energy from her. She shines in the top match of the series, but before that, she doesn’t feel as good as most of her teammates. Maybe that could change in future seasons (which I’d say the show deserves).

The visuals are mostly Good. There are many times when things get too green for my liking, sailing boats, riding Appa. But sometimes the VFX are great. Appa himself moves amazingly. The cityscapes are beautiful. And while no, you’ll never beat the furious animated bending battles from the original show, these are actually too good to be live action.

Another thing that works for the show is its pacing. Looking back, it was really crazy for M. Night Shyamalan to try to pack an entire season into one movie, but here? There are eight episodes that are usually around 50-60 minutes. The first season of the show had 20 episodes that were closer to 20-22 minutes each. If you do this math, there is almost the same or even more time to tell the story than the original book 1 had, and it allows the show to breathe.

It’s hard. I know that no matter what, this show won’t please everyone. It really was almost unfair to have people trying to replicate such a beloved series. But while this pattern is hit or miss especially on Netflix, I’d consider it a success. My rather low expectations have been exceeded and I’m really interested to see how the next two books handle the original. Give me Toph. And after that? Of course, give me Korra. Let’s do it. It’s not my money.

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