Avatar The Last Airbender Netflix Live Action Series:

Let’s firstly get the trailers out of the way, shall we?

Yeah, so before I get too far, let’s get the rating out of the way, well when comparing it to the M Night Shyamalama Ding Dong film, yeah, this show is better…but comparing it to the anime show, yeah, it falls flat….and I’ll explain why….

So now it is time to talk about this show. I feel like there were some red flags right off the bat…. The first red flag was when the original producer left a while back from helping make this show…in his words, Netflix is messing up too much of my vision….. The second red flag was they decided to jam 22 episodes worth of content into eight episodes….oh joy.

Also third red flag, the developers said that with this show, they tried appealing to Game Of Thrones fans….uhhhh sorry, what? “Game Of Thrones fans?” Uhh hey u, people over at the company who made this remake, the hell do u mean Game Of Thrones fans? This isn’t Game Of Thrones….this is Avatar, The Last Airbender, appeal to them first and foremost…not Game Of Thrones….

So yeah, they decided to tone back the comedy to make it ultra-serious like Game Of Thrones….sighhhh…

Also, the director of this show revealed that they are getting rid of the sexist side of Sokka. Now yes I know sexism is terrible… on the other hand, I’m glad they got rid of his sexist side because, as stated, sexism is awful…but on the other that was one of only two of his significant characters developments, it was due to his uprising, the time period as well of why he was sexist…he had the mindset that woman can’t and shouldn’t fight in wars…which is terribly outdated (but once again time period the show is set in)..

He learned from Suki that he was wrong, and he became a better person who started accepting that, you know what? Women should have every right to fight, plus be in a war like men do and can….but now, since they decided to cut out that character development, he’s now only down to 1 character development…whoopee freaking doo..

Let’s not beat around the bushes much longer. The final rating of this show gets a solid 3/10, in my opinion….I don’t recommend it. If you want to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, may I recommend the original anime? It’s both on Netflix and Paramount Plus. Now, from here on out, there will be spoilers ahead, but instead of me re-telling the story again as I did for the show review, I’ll instead be pointing out the changes this show did that didn’t work….

So, where do I begin? Well, let’s talk about how Aang doesn’t have any charisma in this show like at all. And this goes for the rest of the main characters as well, but I will get to them soon….what I liked about Aang in the original show was he had the personality of a child…he saw life from a child’s perspective, he still had lots of joy, he was funny…

Here uhhh no no not really no…instead he is all like melatonin and gloom, being like, I know the responsibilities I need to take on…I don’t want to take on those responsibilities, I am the Avatar…yeah yeah, we know. But please say any of that with some charisma and, better yet, add some of that kid charm you had in the original show while at it….

Then you got Katara, jeepers. I think she got it the worst out of the main characters…she’s given nothing to do in this show, and what she is given, she just looks bored and has little to no charisma either….I want yall to realize what I just said…both Aang and Katara are given no charisma when they’re both supposed to have charisma…plus now we’re supposed to buy the fact they both will end up dating each other? Uh-huh, no, sorry, they both have the amount of charisma two rocks would have….yet I think two rocks have more charisma than these 2!..

BTW quick thing: Aang can now somehow fly in this series……sighhhhh, sorry, what? He can fly now? Then what’s the point of his staff with wings? Also, sorry if I don’t seem enthusiastic about him flying, but after seeing many superhero movies with flying people in them…I have now been drained of excitement from seeing flying people….thanks developers you really captured the heart and vibe of Avatar…hmm good job pffft

Anyway, we got Sokka, gotta admit, out of the leading trio, I’d say he’s kind of the least ruined…..I say kind of. Because they decided to cut back on his comedic moments…now this I take offense to, (forget the whole taking out his 1 of 2 character developments, I can either take that or leave it) but this right here is where I put my foot down…u cannot just take away Sokkas comedic manner, that’s literally the core of that character…

Oh right I keep forgetting, they really wanted to appeal to Game Of Thrones fans…again whatever the heck that means! It means nothing!

I’ll say this: the least altered character has got to be Suki….notice how I didn’t say she’s not altered at all…because she’s changed…since they took out the sexism angle of Sokka, now she’s not here to correct him. On his mindset and prove him wrong….hence why she falls in love with him, she initially fell in love with him because she saw him as a kind-hearted person who can and will learn from his mistake….here she just falls in love with Sokka just cuz….

No reason, just because…….sighhhhhh, yeah, whatever.

Remember how I said they didn’t mess up Suki? Well, I take that back. There’s one scene where she’s staring at Sokka behind a slightly open door while he’s shirtless….oh joy, they made her into an average teenage girl trope…..yeah this scene is just weird and unnecessary. What great times to be alive, huh? What good times to be a fan….

Also, for some reason, now Aang can change forms into past Avatars who lived while fighting off enemies….uh, huh, sure? Because I just totally remember that being a thing.

But I will admit they did nail down the outfits for each character in this show…now granted, the outfits look too clean, like the outfits haven’t been lived in even though people are wearing them….so none of anything that’s presented to us in this show feels authentic or realistic….it just feels like a highly budgeted stage play on Broadway….

Ok, moving on because we still have a bit to talk about, now let’s talk about King Boomy….ohhh boy, what did they do to my character oh boy…

But firstly, sorry if it seems I’m going everywhere…I’m venting. I need to mention that this shows filled with so much exposition dumping. Every piece of dialog is just someone explaining something…and if they’re not explaining something important so the audience can know, they are describing something that is going on right in front of them that the audience can see and figure out….hey did anyone over there ever learn the phrase “show, don’t tell” oh no wait sorry my bad I forgot we the audience are complete dumb dumbs and can’t figure out 2+2 on our own….

Thank you so much,. Modern Hollywood, you’re helping your audience becoming ever so slightly more dumber…..that or u have no faith in ur audience to understand anything.

Anyways, back to King Boomy….oh joy, where do I begin with this? Well, firstly, to no one’s surprise, Netflix totally misunderstood this character…so in the anime, King Boomy is an old friend of Aang. They both learned under the same monk masters….which is still valid here… but where this character alters from his anime counterpart is that unlike in the anime where King Boomy still cares about Aang…

In fact, he cares about him so much that he just decides to toy with Aang to test him and put him through trials to test him by uh kidnapping Aangs friends….yeah what a pleasant friend, huh? But In this live-action remake, he no longer cares about Aang…In fact, he hates Aang for some reason, which totally goes against Boomys character….

So yeah, this version hates Aang. He’s bitter (oh lovely). Why Netflix couldn’t you just keep to the exact layout of the original show? Yall already had it all there available for you….

Anyways, Aang teaches Boomy to learn not to give up and to be cheerful. Boomy says you think like a child, which Aang says, is that a bad thing?

I don’t know, Aang. I mean, kids are pretty stupid. I mean, I once saw a kid try to shove dirt up their mouth…..so yes, thinking like a kid is stupid.

So now let’s talk about

Uncle Iroh

Zuko

Fire Lord Ozai

Azula

Avatar Kyoshi

Lastly Avatar Roku

Let’s firstly mention Iroh, and he’s alright….not the worst but not the best either. Let’s just say he has the most minor character assassination done to him…..the only thing that doesn’t make him feel like Iroh is the fact that he doesn’t act or sound nearly as wise as he was in the anime…which one again why change him up when there’s already a layout for him?

Also, instead of coming off as the supporting wise uncle he was in the show, he instead comes off as a pal that tags along with u on ur adventure…As I said, he’s the one with least amount of character assassination.

But now, moving on, let’s talk about Fire Lord Ozai. Oh boy, Fire Lord Ozai…where do I begin? Well, I guess I can start by mentioning how much I don’t like that this show decided to give Fire Lord Ozai emotions of anything….yeah u heard that right this show makes Fire Lord Ozai have emotions….

So let’s get specific: this show decided to show us Fire Lord Ozai in this first season (which I still don’t know how I feel about it if u ask me), which means we get to see the Agni Kai happen….how do I think about this? Ehhh, I’m somewhat iffy….

But one thing for sure I don’t like is that during the part where he burns his son’s face, u can see Fire Lord Ozai crying a little bit while doing it….oh yes because Ozai so clearly cares about his kids oh so much…

Also, remember how, in the anime, he banished his son because his son talked out of line during a war meeting? Yeah, well, instead, here in this show, he banishes his son because get this he believes he’s been sheltering Zuko too much (because in this show, Zuko is his favorite kid, even though in the anime, Azula was his favorite)….

Also, on top of that, he visits his son while he’s recovering from his burns that he gave his own son! Huh!? Yeah, this version of Ozai cares about his son! He banishes him so he can go out there to learn things independently because he cares!

Who are you, and what have you done to Fire Lord Ozai!?

In this show he basically just banished his son because he basically came to the realization he’s been coddling his son too much…”My god me boy I’ve been coddling u too much. U need to go out there and become ur own man, so uhh I guess ur banished”….

Where in the anime he was more like this, “How dare u speak out of term during a war meeting! How dare u defile ur own father! That’s it ur banished! I don’t care that ur my son! Ur dead to me! Be gone cripple!”….yeah where’s that ruthlessness in this remake?

Yeah too put it lightly Ozai is no longer the ruthless blood-cold father that he’s portraid as in the anime show….

Sigh moving on to Zuko…..

Well for the most part I actually do like Zuko in this show, in fact the actor portraying him does a great job playing Zuko…..my only one issue with him in this show is they kinda made him whiney, take one scene for instance where Zuko and Aang are at a supermarket and they’re battling each other (I say battling very loosely) and Aang starts spouting out things that’s in Zuko’s diary (also yes he has a diary in this show for some reason)…

Which Zuko says how did u know that….wait a minute u stole my diary!! Groan, yeah that’s a line he said…u stole my diary….what is he a spoiled brat?

Ok moving onto Azula, well there’s not much to say here because she’s barely a character in this show…what I mean by that is she has no resemblance to the anime version whatsoever, she’s a total bland/clean slate in this show….she’s there don’t get me wrong but she may as well not be…..also for some reason the developers had the brilliant idea to give us more screen time of Azula in this season even though she was only introduced at the end of season 1….

Also we get to see her 2 friends as well, Mai and Ty Lee for some reason….but what i think might be the biggest insult to Azula (we’ll besides not resembling her anime counterpart) is that the developers decided to make Azula a jealous sibling who wants to prove her worth to their father because Zuko is his favorite in this show…

Yep, the creators of this Netflix show have completely missed the mark, they don’t know what the characters are like in the show at all….firstly do I even need to mention that Azula was always Fire Lord Ozai’s favorite kid? Also she was never jealous of Zuko…hell she had little to no emotions in the original show…so where’s this jealousy come from?

Oh quickly wanna mention about Koh The Face Stealer….I just don’t understand why but Netflix once again completely misunderstood a character….for some reason the developers thought It be the best idea to have Aang have this side plot where the Face Stealer has his friends captive and has to retrieve a lost item that Koh wants back…..

Yeah thats not a thing in the original show, but I’ll dive into that in a small bit….

Now let’s talk about Avatar Roku and Avatar Kyoshi at the same time…

Ok this session will be quick….my only issues with these 2 characters is they make Avatar Kyoshi stuck up and harsh when that’s never been her character….she just hounding Aang when he entered the spiritual realm and saw her spirit….yeah sure I guess she’s just stubborn now…

Oh speaking of the spirit realm! Both Sokka and Katara can just enter the spirit realm as well for some reason! Even though that’s never been a thing….only Aang could enter the spirit realm, he’s the thing that ties the spirit realm to the mortal realm together….

So the fact that Sokka and Katara can just randomly enter the spirit realm breaks canon…..btw quick thing in the spirit realm they do meet the giant spirit owl they met in season 2…no idk why he’s here in season 1…but now this worries me for season 2 because does thus mean due to them rushing to add as much as possible in season 1…even though some of which didn’t appear in season 1…

Does that mean we won’t have that important iconic episode in season 2 where they go to the library and find out about Sozins Comet? Showrunners don’t do that! Don’t skip that episode….

Then there’s Avatar Roku, ohhhhh boy, so remember when I mentioned the whole Koh The Face Stealer side plot? Well, Aang goes and talks to Avatar Roku to ask him about the thing that Koh has lost and if he can tell Aang where it is so he can go get it to save his friends…..

So what do they do with Avatar Roku that I dislike? Well, they made him into comedic relief…..and I’m done I’m just gonna leave it at that, if I talk about this show any longer I am gonna burst a vein or a heart….

Oh last thing I wanna bring up, Aang never learns Water Bending in this season for some reason….yeah head-scratcher am I, right? Because in the anime he learns Water Bending along with Katara in season 1, hence why book one is called Water…..who came up with the decision for him not learning it? This is just dumb…

I think yall get the idea this show fumbled so much, there were poor decisions made…sometimes the scripts the actors were given…ok look I don’t blame the actors at all but instead I blame the direction and script they were given…not even a good actor can make shitty dialog sound Shakespearean…..

So overall was I disappointed by this remake? Yep, will I ever watch this season again? Nope….are they making seasons 2 and 3? Yep, unfortunately…will I watch them? Probably just to write a review on them….but I’m not sure yet…

Overall I also don’t recommend this show…..hope yall enjoy this review please share it with people u know thanks.