The original animated Avatar: The Last Airbender show premiered on Nickelodeon on February 21st, 2005 and concluded with its final episode on July 19th, 2008. Since then, it has become a huge phenomenon with its fanbase only growing bigger and bigger over the years. It was such a big hit that the studios decided to recreate that success in the form of a live action adaptation. Unfortunately, that adaptation was helmed by M. Night Shyamalan and once it released in July of 2010, it quickly became one of the most widely hated films ever to be put on screen. It is currently viewed as M. Night Shyamalan’s worst film of his career with a mere 5% Rotten Tomatoes score. With multiple rolls being miscast, wooden acting on all fronts, and the inability to capture the spirit of the original as well as cover many important plotlines from the series of episodes into an hour and 43-minute-long film, all plans for a trilogy were quickly discarded.

Now here we are over 13 years later and Netflix has decided to make another attempt at a new live-action adaptation, but this time in the form of a series and with the original creators of the animated series developing the show. Everything looked very promising this time around… Until the original creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino decided to exit the project due to creative differences. The concern from fans have only grown since then as recent promotional material has left some fans even more worried regarding the looks of certain characters. Some have already taken to the internet saying that this might be M. Night Shyamalan 2.0.

As a huge fan of the original show, like many who will be watching this new version, I can easily say that this show is without a doubt so much better than the M. Night Shyamalan film, which I know is not saying much. However, in my humble opinion, it still doesn’t hold a candle to the original series, which also goes without saying as the original series is a classic that is forever stapled to pop culture. However, this new live-action series does its best to stand on its own. It will be nearly impossible to not compare this to the previous mediums, so I will do my best to keep the comparisons to a minimum.

Fans be warned that this is definitely not a shot-for-shot adaptation of the original series. And even the story elements that are familiar have had certain details changed or moved around or axed out completely. One of the most notable differences is that this series goes a darker and more serious route in terms of tone. Not that there isn’t the occasional lightheartedness in the show, but there are moments where Fire Nation soldiers attack unknown characters and you witness everything. They do not shy away from how brutal and ruthless the Fire Nation is in this show and this does give the show more of an edge.

As far as the characters go, I do feel like they are very well represented in this series for the most part. There is one character, Bumi (Utkarsh Ambudkar), in episode four that I felt wasn’t well represented. People have already seen the character and have heavily criticized how he looks, but I’m more disheartened by what they did to his character. The physique is very hard to accomplish and make believable in live-action so I feel like they did what they could to match the appearance of his cartoon counterpart. But aside from that, I thought the characters looked great and the actors portraying them did a very good job.

As for the main cast, I thought Aang (Gordon Cormier) was perfectly cast. Katara (Kiawentio Tarbell) was good. Sokka (Ian Ousley) was also good and yes, he does have a sense of humor this time. Zuko (Dallas James Liu) was great as well as his uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee). And unlike the first season of the original series, you actually get to see a lot more of Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) in this series and he was quite the menacing presence which is exactly what you want from the main antagonist. And I would say that for the most part, most of the side characters were all very well cast and did excellent jobs portraying their characters.

The overall aesthetic of the show was also really well done. Seeing the world of the Four Nations come to life in live-action, done correctly, was definitely mesmerizing. From the set design to the costume designs, I thought everything looked great. The costumes definitely looked represented the characters well without it looking like cosplay.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the original series and are skeptical on the quality of this new Netflix show, I think you’ll enjoy it quite a bit if you’re willing to give it a fair shot. And if you’ve never seen the original series, I think this version just might win you over. Maybe even enough to make you want to give the original series a look. I believe this show has the capability to cater to both fans and non-fans alike. So give it a shot and see for yourself.

All 8 Episodes Were Reviewed and are Streaming on Netflix

4/5

Nick Nitkowski