TV Review: Netflix’s Live-Action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” Is a Masterfully Crafted Letdown
“Avatar: The Last Airbender” has been a beloved cartoon series among fans for about twenty years, since its premiere. Co-created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, the initial series was well-received by critics and gave rise to an expanded world. That’s why there was a lot of excitement when DiMartino and Konietzko, who serve as co-showrunners and executive producers, revealed that Netflix will be launching a “reimagined” live-action “Avatar” television series. That happiness, however, was short-lived as the two quit the project due to alleged “creative differences.”
Now that Netflix has officially unveiled its long-awaited adaptation of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” creator, writer, and showrunner Albert Kim of “Sleepy Hollow” is in charge. Fans would wish the streamer had left DiMartino and Konietzko’s masterwork alone, even though the series is far from the disaster that was M. Night Shyamalan’s poorly thought out and white-washed film version.
The live-action “Avatar,” which had to condense the 20 episodes of the animation series’ first season into just eight hours, gets off to a rather promising start. Following millennia of peaceful coexistence, the arrogant Fire Nation, under the leadership of Fire Lord Sozin (Hiro Kanagawa), rebels against the other three countries of the globe, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Air Nomads, in an attempt to seize dominance. The prologue of the series is narrated in glorious color using amazing CGI and special effects, detailing the history of the battle and the early life of precocious Airbender Aang (Gordon Cormier) before he vanishes.
It’s a lively starting point for both newbies and longstanding “Avatar” fans, allowing them to rapidly get up to speed in the days leading up to Aang’s discovery that he is the Avatar—the master of all four elements—and his 100-year imprisonment in the ice. The Fire Nation’s comet-fueled battle rages on, destroying the Air Nomads and inflicting devastation on the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom in the Avatar’s absence.
A hundred minutes into the first chapter, “Avatar” jumps ahead in time. Aang is unintentionally awakened when Katara (Kiawentiio), the only water bender of the Southern Water Tribe, and her overly protective brother Sokka (Ian Ousley) stumble across his resting location. Despite their initial misgivings, the two accept Aang as a friend and accompany him in his mission to learn about the other elements, put an end to the conflict between the Fire Nation and the rest of the Earth.
Even while the show’s imagery and Asian and Indigenous performers give it authenticity, most of the cast’s performances fall short of the story’s weight, no matter how sincere they may be. A lot of the series’ depictions fall short of being really emotional, which is necessary for a program that focuses on the horrors of war, dictatorship, and genocide. In terms of tone, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” should be compared to Disney+’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” or the subtle subtlety of the “Harry Potter” film adaptations. Instead, though, what should have been a thunderous epic journey is reduced to a whining thud by corny acting and some Disney Channel-esque language.
Upon reflection on the first animated “Avatar,” it is evident that DiMartino and Konietzko had different ideas about Aang and this world. The aspects that distinguished and elevated the animation work are absent from the live-action series due to their unwavering supervision. In the end, “Avatar: The Last Airbender” seems more like a theatrical production than a painstaking attempt to fully submerge the viewer in this magnificently created universe.