Likely to to make it accessible to all audiences. I think producers/network execs think ppl need things oversimplified when it doesn't. On paper avatar should be easily translated onto screen but I think it doesn't help when you have people behind it prob with a lot of demands. I just watched 1st ep and honestly I am not mad. I will see how I feel as it goes on though. I just have no expectations.
Yeah they may as rename the show the last irony as it’s replete which such. Funny how they made the show more innately sexist by trying to supposedly remove that?
Dan, I'm older than you. I didn't watch the original in Nicolodeon, but you have to watch the original. It starts out as a kids' show, but by the end of season 3, it is one of the best series I have ever experienced, period. Just watch it. The episodes are 20 minutes each.
You don’t have to be of a specific age to appreciate the animated Avatar show. My 70 year old mother first saw it in 2022 and has now watched it all the way through more than a dozen times. It’s become one of her favorite things ever and basically knows it by heart. Heck, she knows it even better than I do now.
exactly Avatars animated show was so so so good for all ages, it was not at all silly I mean why why people say that even now when comparing to the live action show
As a mega fan I thought it came across as a very simplified version of avatar. I don't know why streamers are dead set on 8 episode it was clear this season needed like 13 or 16 to flesh out it story
Budget probably was the biggest consideration to cut out so much from the original. If the numbers are great hopefully they'll greenlight a second season with higher budget but I won't hold my breath. Fantasy shows are notorious for being cancelled prematurely because they cost so much to make, take Shadow & Bone for example.
or split one book into 2 seasons with 8 episodes each. they somehow managed to make the story feel rushed and boring at the same time, two attributes that would never match with the orginal.
I think the issue with this live action adaptation is it is trying to be something it is not. In attempt to appeal to larger audience, it is trying to be more like Witcher or Game of Thrones by focusing more on stylish action (which it does quite well) and gloomy tone. But in doing so, it is overlooking the essence of the characters and their dynamics, which made the original show a classic. The direction feels stagnant, with characters rigidly placed and delivering exposition rather than engaging dynamically with the world around them. Numerous unnecessary changes detract from the impactful moments, surprising reveals, and character development that made the original series so compelling.
I knew the show was cooked from the first scene with aang and his best friend. Literally monologue to us the whole storyline of aang being just a kid and having to shoulder all of this one power and responsibility. They literally monologued the whole thing to us LMAO. Was it so hard to start the scene with laughter? Aang playing with the kids? Show him being a kid, and show him shooing away the elders and actively trying to avoid the elders. Yano, show us the theme of him being a kid and being forced to be the avatar. It's lazy asf and I stopped watching right then and there. So lazy🤦🏾♂️
I agree with everything you mentioned. But then I would say at least most of the core characters were done well, such as Sokka, Zuko, Aang, Katara and Ozai were portrayed very well. I can see Iroh’s character was somewhat different, more active(loud) & optimistic, as opposed to his animated counterpart who was more zen(chill) & optimistic. Azula’s character was a let down, (the actress was amazing btw), but the direction the writers gave the character was off as it would’ve been better to reveal her a) in season 2 and b) have a more confident sociopathic personality like her animated version. Bumi’s reveal to Aang wasn’t great, as it would’ve been better for them to fight it out, to which Aang will come to his own realization of Bumi’s identity like in the cartoon. The choreography was well done, costumes needed a bit more tear and wear but looked great tbh, the vfx were 9/10 (did everyone honestly expect them to pull off James Cameron’s billion-dollar-costing Avatar vfx NO)! And the season played out to a great climax and conclusion. I can tell this season alone was a huge endeavour and everyone put their hearts & souls into this to make it happen and I’m grateful. If they get a second season, they can improve on some areas and give them more money to put out 10 or 13 episodes rather than 8 so characters have longer interactions with each other and their environments, and the emotional moments to linger just a bit more (i.e. a character can’t just have a 10 second moment of a single tear running down their cheek and call that emotional development).
I've only watched the M. Night movie. I've never watched the cartoons, nor have I seen the Netflix show, but I had to comment on how insightful and well articulated your review is.
@@montenegroafro4454I disagree with the bit about azula. This clearly the lead up to her becoming the psychopath that’s unleashed in the world for the next season. Her arc in this is purely a set up for how she’s originally introduced. We get to see hands on how she was manipulated to pursue perfection and I can almost guarantee it will pay off for her breakdown.
@@INRamos13 OG series did the exact same thing. the cabbage man wasn't meant as a recurring character but they found out people liked him and started adding him here and there.
Thank you Dan for doing a great description of what you are seeing in the young actors performances. I think the character of Aang would be difficult for any actor in that age range. Being a traumatic character still trying to keep your up beat nature and stoic training as a monk on paper sounds all over the place. But that relationship to early Harry Potter with Daniel was a good example.
The kid actor for Aang really tried as hard as he did, nevertheless it wasn’t easy to really find that sweet spot between performance & realism in his portrayal just like Radcliffe had trouble with in the first Potter movie. But around episode 6 was the best he did settling into the character of Aang. But I honestly feel for the majority of the season the reason his acting felt more performative was the direction because in one scene we see him experience heavy emotion but then a couple seconds later he just snaps out of it and delivers another line of motivation for his character’s emotional development like wtf. But by the end of the season I’m glad he found a solid footing into Aang’s character, which will be a lot easier when they do season 2 if they get renewed.
I feel like the filming of Aang’s scenes may have been rushed due to limitations on how long child actors are allowed to work, which doesn’t give a director enough time to really work with the actor to get the performance they need.
@@closebenTrue, I think time was probably a factor in the amount of takes they had to do in scenes. Also, considering production wrapped up 18 months ago meant they also spent the majority of time working on the vfx to make it as great as they possibly could with the budget. So with them giving a lot of time to vfx and other elements in production, the writing and acting performances suffered as a result.
i feel like you should just watch the original show for your own sake. it's only 61 episodes, it's one of the best animated shows ever (i guarantee you it's better than this no matter how good this is), and it's perfectly enjoyable as an adult, no nostalgia required. I first fully watched it when I was definitely older than its intended audience and I still thought it was amazing. Just watch it because it's a great show that everyone should watch, imo. That said, the first season is definitely the worst of the original show as well, so the fact that the first season earned your approval bodes well because it's definitely only going up from here (unless they royally screw it up).
I noticed in this Aang never does any water bending except at the end when he becomes the water kaiju which isn’t really bending since he was in the avatar state, but he was using water. I don’t understand why they did that.
Yeah, that was a really odd change to make. Aang being naturally good at water bending while katara is still learning and being frustrated with him, was a big part of their early relationship. The change they made just seemed unnecessary.
She had some golden child issues (compare Isabella from Encanto minus the psychotic villainy), but yeah, Azula didn’t even start to fear Ozai might favor Zuko over her until Zuko’s return in Book 3, and she would never have let any insecurity or frustration show in public until the start of her breakdown near the end of the show. The show doesn’t understand Azula at all, and I can see no way for them to make her the terrifying villain she needs to be.
@@handlebarsmustache So you are in the "stop showing Uncle Ben and the Wayne's dying" camp. I won't argue against that camp if it's the fourth or fifth adaptation in a new medium. But the US isn't like China and Japan who will fund one for one adaptations that take as long as they need.
@@Dryltd Yeah, but in the time it takes for the next season of the live-action series to start, you could get through a decent chunk of the animated series. Not to mention there are sources online that can get you episode options that stick to the book stuff. I'm not even disagreeing with how you feel, but if this is a reasoning of time, a live-action series takes a good while to get going again.
@@motherplayer I think young actors are mostly inexperienced due to the fact they are young actors. So I give a bit of grace and tend to blame directors first. So getting new young actors is not a solution I jump to.
Overall I liked it, I didn’t mind the changes to the story and really liked the new additions. The problem for me was the changes to the characters and their arcs, they lost a lot about what made the characters special
That's not what anyone did. And this season was better than the og season 1 in a few ways. While the og season 1 took it's time which made the story flow more. But the things added in were pretty cool. Idk why ppl are comparing them.
I really liked the way the included some stories from Season 2, such as The Avatar State, The Swamp, and even elements of Avatar Day, however the inclusion of the Cave of Two Lovers felt really contrived and forced into the story. Having said that I was so happy to hear SECRET TUNNEL.
When I heard about this project I imagined a much more detailed retelling. I pictured a lot more small subtle character moments (for all the characters) such as what we say in “zuko alone” (one of my fav eps). But this show is even less detailed than the original, and instead of fleshing out the story even further they just change it up, but not even in a good way, it’s more shallow in essentially every way. Initially hearing about the show I was very excited, but I think after seeing so many recent projects have such an appalling quality of writing I think my expectations slowly got lower and lower, and completely sunk once we started seeing stuff released about the show. But wow I am truly baffled at the quality of writing and dialogue in this show, it’s truly horrendous. The fact that the creators not only directed the gran gran actor to deliver her lines the way she did but actually thought it should make the final cut of the show… wow lol as soon as I saw/heard that i was like “uh oh”, I was expecting the show to be mediocre while hoping it would be good but wow I am truly baffled at how low the quality of writing and storytelling is for this. Truly baffled
i think roku is fine. he still had serious moments with his conversation with aang but i came into this show expecting a unique take not a 1:1 adapt. whoever has, has already ruined it for themselves. i’m in 7 episodes and i love it so far. have my personal nitpicks with for sure in fact the origin i didn’t approve but im sold and want a season 2
@@captainrice09 I also really enjoyed this overall but literally the only thing I hate is the interpretation of Roku. It doesn’t capture his character at all and he serves no purpose in this version when he was a really important character in the original.
4:52 That's bad acting. The very definition of bad acting is what you just said! Lol The child hasn't the emotional maturity to give the lines any nuance. You're aware he's just saying the lines without understanding the meaning of what he's saying. That is the core reason why some actors are bad at their craft.
I give younger actors some latitude. I also think a flat dialogue reading is much worse than what we got here. I’d rather see the artifice behind the performance than just get nothing at all from the actor. That, to me, is bad acting. A complete lack of emotion in any form.
I absolutely loved this adaptation, especially Zuko, Sokka, Ozai, and Azula. Aang was good too. Iroh's character didn't work for me, they completely stripped away his craziness but still made him say the same crazy lines which felt forced. And while Katara looked the part, I really think she lacked a lot of expressiveness.
Hot take: They should bring in Mark Hamill to play General Fong (the character Daniel Dae Kim voiced in the origional show) in Season 2, just for the role reversal (and Mark would just be great in that role.)
I highly recommend watching the animated series, Dan! I was 21 when it came out! My BF and I watched it and we loved it! We're married now, and we reguarly rewatch the animated show. I also rewatched the animated eps 1 & 2 prior to watching the Netflix show. We saw episode 1 of the live action show last night, and we thought it was okay. I think it missed the humor of the animated series, and I felt it was too serious. I miss Aang's childlike innocence because his character growth from child to Avatar can be seen from s1 to s3 to when he finally confronts Fire Lord Ozai. I like the little bit of backstory and scenes of the genocide of the Airbenders, but I think there was also less importance made with the comet - that had more gravity in the later season. Edit to add: Jett and the Freedom fighters were not in Omashu. In the animated series, they were in a totally separate place in the earth kingdom.
For sure, season 1 should have been 10 eps, s2 really ought to be around 12 and s3 will probably have to be 14 episodes if they want to tell the story properly.
Considering how much the deck is stacked against them, it was pretty good. They got the look and tone right, established the major players and explored slightly different aspects of the characters. They don't need to, and probably shouldn't, tell the original story beat for beat. The original animated series is right there streaming if that is what you want. I am actually hoping they can get through the original story, and tell some new ones with the good cast they have assembled. .
I liked it and thought it was great. I watched it sporadically before on Nickelodeon and have since watched though on Netflix. I liked some of the changes and it was generally well done even despite the fast pacing
I watched a bit of it. Thought it was rather childish, poorly acted and very "I'll talk to you and explain the plot" dialogue. The old show don't tell rule clearly not evident in this show. Also very gruesome in parts. In the first 5 mins a character is incinerated. Its a graphic demise. Not really family material despite the show aimed at teenagers (or adults that want to feel like teenagers!).
You’re quite right about the lack of “show don’t tell”. I find it baffling that Hollywood filmmakers are still failing in this. Overeall I felt this really captured the heart of the original, but I feel like most people would only enjoy it if they’ve seen the original, where the writing and storytellign is much stronger. It sounds like you haven’t seen it? I highly reccomend wathcing the full original series and then you may be inclined to revisit this version. I think the whole season is worth it just for how well they adapted Zuko’s character and actually improved upon him from the first original season.
I discovered the cartoon while on vacation in the Caribbean when I was 23. I came home, bought all 3 books and have rewatched it time after time. As for this show, I think too much was truncated and mixed together to indulge in long unnecessary fights, and long drawn out dialogue. The humor of the show has been almost completely sucked out, and team Avatar spends 80% of the show separated. How are we supposed to be invested in them as a true team? At only an hour shorter than Book 1 of the cartoon I don't think this would be a younger audiences best entry into the franchise.
I’ve watched the original around 125 times, and I was shocked by how much I loved this. With some really great changes that I feel justify this show’s creation and did these characters justice
As a fan of the original My 3 biggest complaints are thus; 1. The order of the stories. Admittedly switching up the storylines isn’t always a bad thing & it does work in some instances in the show. However it felt more like the makers were trying to put every iconic part they could into season 1, just in case the show doesn’t get renewed. That is not how you should make any adaptation & leads me to my second big complaint. 2. All the intrigue is gone. Because of the changing of the order of everything we are given Aangs entire background from the moment the show starts. There is no hard hitting reveal of the air nations demise. There is no trying to figure out who the King of Omashu is. There is no wondering what side Iroh is on, or his relationship with Zuko. There is no waiting to see the fire nations full brutality. It’s all given to us in the first couple of episodes and usually right away in the episode. Even if 100% of the people watching were familiar/fans of the original doesn’t mean the show should just give you all the information up front and skip out on the intrigue. 3. They REALLY fucked up some of the characters motivations. The fact that Aang didn’t run away, he just genuinely got lost in a storm while clearing his head, really bothers me. His guilt over purposely abandoning his role as the Avatar is a HUGE part of his internal struggle, motivation & arc (I also really didn’t like that Gyotso was just totally cool with him being taken away.) Then there’s what they did to Bumi… The point of Bumi is that while you think he is simply a crazy old man, he is actually counting on you to think that. It’s a persona he keeps to hide the fact that he is ALWAYS the smartest & most powerful person in the room. Above even that though, is the fact that Bumi ALWAYS has a plan & EVERYTHING he does is for the betterment/protection of his people, his city, & to bring an end to the war with minimal casualties. The fact that in this version, Bumi was actually upset at Aang, basically tried to kill him, & then Aang reminded him of hope or whatever, completely missed the point of who the character of Bumi is. To me, what they did to him is tantamount to pure character assassination. There are other examples, but those are the ones that really bother me. If they can’t get these characters right, & if writers/showrunners don’t understand what they did to the characters with these changes, it makes me really skeptical of what they will do with the rest of the show. There are other complaints I have but those are all minor in comparison to these big ones.
I actually liked the parts where it deviated from the original show a lot, and as a long time fan of the og, I absolutely loved the opening scene and first episode
I don’t understand how the show can have more run time and feel so very very rushed. Ang never water bending once, suddenly no-one needs a teacher to become a master, Haybye being sidelined, Roku being useless, and every scene being force fed with dialogue. I just could not get into it as a fan of the original.
Fell in love with Nickelodeon show in 2010 as a sophomore in college when a friend got us invested into the show. Definitely top 3 favorite animated show ever. Really glad this Netflix live -action did a really good job re-doing the show thus far in 8 episodes and about 8hours of showtime. Uncle Iroh is definitely a favorite character, and glad they did a good job this far.
Totally agree, hated at first, episode 1 was lame but by the end i was so invested into the caracters and the World. 8/10. The animated is better 10/10 anyways I can enjoy both.
Live action creators didn't want to copy paste the animated series as it is and few of the plot changes made by them are pretty good and welcoming as well. I did enjoy watching many of the changes (like Azula and Sozin's intro) as they offered different and fresh perspectives. But it has its own demerits as well: 1) Characterisation is something that was extra ordinary in the OG series (Aang was goofy yet wise and brave but here he is shown to be always frightened and somewhat coward, Katara was passionate, strong willed but here she almost carried the same expression throughout and why on Earth did they tone down Sokka's sarcasm. He was such a lively guy.) Honestly actors playing main characters seriously needs to improve especially Aang and Katara. (PS: Maria Zhang’s acting stood out for me as she portrayed her interest in Sokka quite perfectly. Actors playing Zuko, Iroh and Ozai acted brilliantly as well.) 2) And why is the casting overloaded with Chinese/South east asian origin actors? The main theme of the original series was peace and harmony between extremely diverse nations. Probably this is why the original creators left this project sighting creative differences. 3) The OG creators had excluded visual references of the genocide against air nomads for a purpose as it was meant to be a kids show. But in netflix without such restrictions they could have explored it much deeper and it would have been fresh for us as well. I was expecting to see more of Aang's past and the wiping out of air nomads. The genocide portion could have been longer considering the effort they had put to show it visually. At least 1 episode dedicated for it would have given ample time for the buildup. However it lasted only for 25 odd minutes so it felt rushed to me. 4) There is no suspense at all in the writing. Everything was just direct and linear. 5) This has very less humour than the animated one. Comparison with original is inevitable as the bar is set so high that it's very difficult to match those standards. So considering the above mentioned issues, the OG stands miles ahead than this live action at least for me and I wouldn't agree with anyone calling this as better than the original itself..
Unlike adapting a book or a game into a tv show, this was adapting a tv show into a tv show, so I don't understand why one would make changes to the plot and characters, especially if you can't improve on the original. They should have either gone 100% as per the original show or do something different like Korra, to do bits and pieces makes no sense.
@@TheBlobablob Yes and it was a huge benefit to the rest of the show. The first season was about world building and getting to know the characters personalities and relationships with other characters(mainly the main trio). Most of the characters are very flat and uninteresting. Ozai, Zuko, Iroh were well done but the rest were bad. I feel bad for the actor playing Azula. One of the most feared and capable characters is a original is a whiney child. And the most important character in the original show Katara is written horribly. Katara is the main reason Aang becomes who he is and keeps the group together.
Another issue is the they give us too much in such little time. In the series you grow with the characters and learn about their layers eventually down the line. Here, they develop them by the episodes. They throw every important bit about the character back to back to back
Been on the fence about watching the new adaptation, but I think I owe it to the creative team involved to actually watch it, considering how much I love the original animated series.
Dan, most people that watched avatar didn't watched it in 2005 when we were kids, but on 2020 when it blew up due to Covid, Netflix and binge watching, yes, the first season is the most "kid friendly" season, but onwards it turns into game of thrones animated (with a good ending), please do yourself a favor and watch it.
My biggest problem with this adaptation is the dialogue. Characters are constantly spouting exposition to make sure that the audience knows what's going on, no matter how unnecessary it is or how awkward it feels. Having said that, it looks fantastic, and I think the actors will grow into their roles better as the series goes on. The way they compressed the story is a mixed bag... Sometimes it works fine, but other times (particularly in episode five) it's a mess of conflicting motivations and unresolved plot threads -- or as you described, it's "blobby". I remain hopeful that the writers will learn from the missteps and that the next two seasons will be much stronger.
@@Dryltd Here's are two fixes: better writting and show runners who understood the story better. Would this show have kept the original creators (similar to One Piece), Netflix's Avatar could have been amazing - if not even perfect.
@@Luke_Go You are biased against it before it was made. Which is fair. Were the original creators involved in Korra? Did Korra stick to cannon? Despite the Live actions flaws it stuck to cannon. We can argue about imaginary scripts until the cows come home. Which I plan to do just not here.
@Dryltd I'm not talking about any other Last Airbender product. This is about Netflix' Avatar and I compare it to what it could have been (that is called potential). Here are two simple questions to see how biased you are: 1. Do you think the dialogue in this show was great? 2. Has the rule of 'show don't tell' been followed?
@@Luke_Go question 1. It was good. Question 2. Yes. From the story presented what didn't they show? As you said we aren't talking about other products which includes the original. Your bias is the other products.
I really enjoyed this live action. As an old fan I was more focused on the experience, characters and nostalgia ❤ The casting was great 🌸 Zuko and Iroh was amazing!!! Episode 6 was just perfect, best episode in the show.
I found this to be more of a reimagning than an adaptation. So many changes and choices, however I didn't feel any of the changes improved on the original. So it fell pretty flat for me. It felt less nuanced
@@Staynerwatched it growing up, and at least 50 times since then(the original) but the 41 and them showing respect to zuko and zhao fucking with zuko after he became admiral is about all thats been good from this story line. Thats different at least. Why is wong shi tong just randomly popped in? Why are sokkanand katara in the spirit world? Wack
I think it's a good thing that it's more of a reimagination. If it was a 1:1 adaptation, it'd only be able to be inferior to the original. There are a few changes that I do feel improved on the original: -Zuko's crew being the soldier whose lifes he saved indirectly -A more emotionally vulnerable Iroh, whose relationship with Zuko was more of a friends dynamic instead of a mentor & student dynamic (well, calling it an improvement isn't accurate, it's just a change I think worked really well) -Admiral Jao's portrayal was great. He felt like an actually threat due to all his scheming, unlike the cartoon Jao, who was just a hothead.
@@EaastonCams When Sokka and Katara entered the spirit world, I thought it made sense. Hei Bai had been taking people to the spirit world, so I thought they were taken to the spirit world by Hei Bai. What made me convinced of this was because of the lackluster explanation they gave for how they were able to follow Aang to the spirit world. I was sitting there, expecting the real reveal for why they were in the spiritworld, but the reveal never came... So, is the dumb and lackluster explanation they gave really the canon reason for why they entered the spiritworld? That entire episode felt all over the place.
"The writers of Zuko did such a great job crafting a relatable, understandable villain." Yes, indeed, the writers of the original show did an amazing job with that. 🤣🤣
@@DanMurrellMoviesWhoa, a reply from the man himself!!! It was more of a crack at the writers of this series than your review, my dude. They succeeded by just cribbing off someone else's work. But good on them for knowing when to not change things.
I 100% agree with what you said: "It's never going to measure up and include everything from the animated series, it's an impossible task". And that's a shame that people don't understand that. And I also agree with it's never going to compare to the original. Just enjoy what they gave us.
The characters literally never changed. They were exactly the same to when they started. I don’t mind them not going beat for beat the story compared to the cartoon but the way they did it wasn’t executed well and they took it to such different extremes that it didn’t really mean anything. To me, ultimately it lacks spirit. Side note I hate the comparison to the 2010 film. People arguing it’s not as bad as the movie so it gets a pass is stupid to me.
The issue with Azula is that there is no rivalry between Zuko and her. Azula is simply better. She knows she’s better, Zuko knows she’s better, Ozai knows she’s better. Her character was ruined in the series.
Big fan of original and also enjoyed this take on the series. Fire nation actors and some of the older actors were great and i did love seeing aang and katara grow in to their roles. I also didnt mind the mixing of storylines since they did need to compact every thing in to 8 ep. .... Spoiler... Also, loved the relationship with Zuko and Iroh early on. The leaves on the vine with orchestra, just killed me. I rewatched just that scene; the kindness conveyed by Zuko in that moment was beautiful.
Avatar is my favorite show of all time and so I was ready for this adaption with open arms and an open mind to what they could do. After seeing it all I think I can firmly say this but this season is the most 6.5 or 7 out of 10 season I've seen in a hot minute. It's decent at best but also I cannot deny it does some things that I as a long time fan didn't like. I loved and liked a lot of what they did but overall I think it lacks in many areas. I think it needed at least 2 more episodes to flesh things out and help with the pacing and structure which is its biggest problem. I think if Albert Kim (showrunner) can take the criticisms of this season like he said he wanted to see then maybe we could get a better season 2 in the future.
But most of the criticism so far is that you have young actors and smashed one episode story lines together. That can't be changed. Netflix isn't going to give them more money if everyone is ripping the show for tv making constraints.
@@Dryltd you can't change the actors lol people are going to have to deal with them. They can learn and grow. The plot stuff and the structure of it all can definitely use some work.
Once again Dan an honest review of the show. I agree with most of your view points but I feel they really undercut some of the character's own narrative development by some of the changes. The removal of certain characters from the source material even though they weren't crucial to the overall story they still played a part in the main Gaang's character development.
Overall I like it. A few character changes I didn’t like, but overall it gets a pass mark. I take issue with toxic fans who criticize any little changes as bad and don’t know how to appreciate effort and change.
I’m glad you enjoyed the show and were able to articulate your thoughts on it well, seems like others are also enjoying the show too. I guess I’m pulling a James Rolfe since I kinda refuse to watch the show, only because I don’t see any personal reason for watching when the original series is already so good. I don’t see what this adaptation can offer me that the original doesn’t. Still glad that people are enjoying it and I hope Netflix actually gives it longevity
i understand the generation gap, but i would implore you to finish the animated series. i was born in 2000 and would legitimately argue those 3 seasons of last airbender is among the best stories told in visual media for my generation.
side note- i remember watching the finale of season one with my great grandmother in 2005 and her telling me it was the only cartoon she ever enjoyed watching with a grandchild because it actually had real emotion and character driven stories. (something along those lines, anyway)
Dan, I'm glad you enjoyed the live action series so far. Something I found interesting was that everything you pointed out that you liked is either more prevalent or done straight up better in the original. Especially the character relationships. For fans of the original, the new Netflix series has been very frustrating because, in comparison to the original, the remake has the subtlety of a brick through a window.
I highly highly recommend you watch the animated series. You'd understand what you are missing out on. There are many changes here that didn't make sense. The book 1 (season 1) is called "water" and Aang doesn't waterbend at all. Why bring cave of 2 lovers to season 1? What's the point? And even if you did bring, you kept Aang and Katara separate. The bonding between Katara and aang doesn't exist at all, there is no season where aang learns firebending which in turn leads to Katara learning to heal using waterbending. I could go on and on. 8 episodes to adapt a show who's lore goes as deep as avatar was a bad choice.
(spoiler) i agree with most of your points. however it's good to even give a small window for characters like Jet as they often come back later in the story
If you’re interested in another genre show with an Eastern martial arts influence, Warrior was released onto Netflix in the hopes it will get picked up by them after being moved from Cinemax to MAX already. A mediocre (at best) show live Avatar will attract a lot of viewers because it’s banking on the name of an already beloved established original show, while a much better show like Warrior (which is based on a Bruce Lee story idea) struggles to get the attention it deserves. That’s how it goes I suppose, especially when there are so many viewing options and platforms out there.
Exposition was absolutely insane but I’m really surprised they changed the minor things so drastically, like there was no reason to switch up how Aang got freed from the iceberg it was very cinematic in the animation. The silliness (not talking about regular comedy) was really off putting. Last thing, I know this is long. Give the animation a chance, from the storm onward it goes extremely hard. Great video!
It was really good! I loved the animation as a kid and still rewatch it as an adult, I think it's one of our most important modern stories up there with LOTR, Star Wars or Harry Potter. I was apprehensive of this adaptation remembering how netflix absolutely butchered 'The Witcher' but this live action turned out good! I saw a deep understanding of the original story and characters, the little thigs that were added fleshed them out even more. Like when they didn't settle for Bumi just being a crazy weird old man (which was fine for a kids' show) - live action Bumi was also full of anger and grief towards Aang because he felt abandoned both by his personal friend and the Avatar, he turned bitter and cynical after a 100 years of war, trying to protect his people at immense costs. They also used Aang's whistle here making it a physical reminder of their friendship that ultimately brought the old good Bumi back from his madness. And that's just one example!
Honestly, merging in episode 3 is my favourite part... Because in animation they were using same plot points, first for Katara then for sokka.... Like in most episodic shows, but they they use it as a theme for entire episode
I have problem on why Sokka and Katara decide to join/help Aang. Sokka hesitated to leave his tribe, but Katara convinced him to save the world in one sentence. That's it! After watching the first episode, I then watch the cartoon and see that their decision is elaborated in 2 episodes!
As a massive fan of the original, i pretty much agree with this. Its a 7 or so for me. Some of its problems couldve been solved with one extra episode or two. Once the actors settled in to what they were doing with the character , the show jumped a lot. I think its a green cast that stuck the landing and will do even better if they get a second season. I feel like the show was at its weakest when it tried to directly copy beats from the cartoon and its strongest when they were embracing what separates them.
Overall I enjoyed the live action Avatar but I felt that it would have benefited from a 10 - 12 episode season. The longer season would have allowed them to spend more time on the story points they focused on from the animated show and tell them in the correct order, I also wish they hadn't pulled story points from season 2 as takes away from next season. I look forward to seeing Toph my favourite character along with Avatar finally learning water bending which he should have begun his training in the Northern water tribe.
I couldn't watch more than two episodes...the acting's (esp. the two playing Aang and Katara) pretty bad and the show's obsessed with telling rather than showing. So much of the characterization relied on characters either talking about themselves or others describing their character traits. I want to see our characters grow, not listen to them being described. For example, if a character is a glutton, I'd rather see it for myself by them pigging out rather than them going on a monologue describing themselves or others doing it for them Also, there's no chemistry between our main trio (Sokka, Aang, and Katara) and their entire relationship was rushed. It's like the creators just assumed we watched the original animated series and will project our preconceived love for the characters onto their show, so they didn't develop their rapport/relationship at all. They go from meeting each other to practically instant family members who act like they've known each other forever. It's so jarring and unbelievable! I really wanted to like this adaptation too, but sadly, I can't pretend it's a well done series that captured the spirit and essence of the original. If anything, I would say that the showrunners missed by a mile and failed to understand what made the original animated Avatar so beloved. It's like they chose to prioritize surface level aesthetics, lore, and "grittiness" over character development. All of the major characters were either watered down or had core personality traits removed. Lol, they wanted to appeal to Game of Thrones fans without realizing that it's the complex and morally grey characters that's the heart and soul of that show. It's ironic that an animated series made for kids featured much deeper characters than this live action counterpart. All of the character flaws were either removed (Sokka's sexism is practically nonexistent, Katara's no longer fierce or headstrong, Aang no longer crushes on Katara, and Zuko is much less villainous) or heavily toned down. The creators are so determined to make the characters instantly likable that they watered down any of their supposed "problematic" traits. But forgot that in doing so (without adding new traits), you end up with much blander characters who are no longer as interesting as they could have been. This makes it even harder to build natural rapport or insert conflict between characters. Katara, esp., has zero personality and all of her scenes are excruciatingly boring to watch. By far, it's the characters and their relationships/growth that made the original Avatar so unforgettable and yet, the showrunners don't seem to understand this. If they did, they wouldn't have skimped on all the relationship building and character work. Everything's rushed to the point where none of the emotional beats feel earned and it's like the characters are just going through the motions because the director says so rather than experiencing it all organically. I really don't understand why the showrunners didn't prioritize their characters above all else and make sure they're all well developed enough for the audience to fall in love with them. After all, people will forgive anything as long as they care about your characters... And despite all the bad writing, I could've at least stay engaged as long as our cast has amazing chemistry, but alas, it's just not there...I'm bored to death. Overall, the writing and acting just isn't good enough to hold my interest...One Piece Live Action is still the gold standard when it comes to adaptations -at least they concentrated on character writing and relationships above all else.
Oh no, please continue. Yeah some parts aren't great but what they did with Zuko is amazing! I would go as far as to say that his characterization in this show is superior to that of the original.
@nwar5343 I'm happy you're still able to enjoy it! But the writing and acting flaws of many major characters are too egregious for me to overlook. I can't take anything seriously as so many things feel fake to me.
You bring up a lot of things I felt while watching the first episode, but couldn't articulate because I was so hung up on how terrible the acting is. Say all you want about needing to give child actors some slack, but Zach Tyler Eisen was 12 when he began voicing Aang.
Never watched the original so I can't compare, but I'm a 47 yr old woman and I enjoyed it. And I agree with everything you said about the acting, the fact that it was definitely a plus for binge watching (because after the first two episodes I'm not sure I would've been so keen to continue) the character development, etc...
THE MOST FAIR review of the series i've heard yet. Thank you for being objective. I share A LOT of your sentiment. What i feel is 99% of the reviews that disliked the live adaptation came from viewers who are "married" to the OG version and was not open minded enough for a new approach. I LOVE the OG ATLA, having seen it over 30 times, but reviewers need to consider the real life constraints of live shows, the difficulty of having such young actors who can visibily change in a year's worth of filming, as well as the difficulties of production for a series of this scale. I look forward to your future reviews.
is it really that hard of a concept to enjoy both for completely separate reasons? Very close minded way to view life...amazes me people that love this show so much learned so little from actually watching it
Thank you! I was really annoyed after seeing only negative reviews. It almost felt like I was the only one who liked the show. This feels more like an honest balanced review.
I feel like the Netflix version kinda "expose" that maybe the story/world building are not what made the original show great. It was the characters and the dialog that made us fall in love with it. And non of that is present in the Netflix version, it has no "heart", it just goes for as many plot beats as possible while missing the point. Which is exactly what made the One Piece adaptation so great, where they changed the characters significantly, but they still felt true to the spirit of the anime.
I just can't get into this on principle. I hate this mindset that excellent animated series are all childish and can't be taken seriously unless they're made into live action. The animation medium allows so much more magic and beauty into this fictional world that simply can not be translated into live action. Even done the very best it can be done, a certain magic and charm is lost in translation. The world, the bending, it pales in comparison to the look of it in animation. I spent the first time two episodes wondering why does this need to exist? What purpose is this live action take fulfilling that wasn't available in the animated version? And why am I bothering to watch a less good version of a far superior animated show that already exists?
I wasnt a fan of this first live action season. I thought it was more a just fine. There were parts i thought were ok. It touched on what i loosely recalled from the show i saw years ago. But felt like something was missing. I think for me one of the things i liked in this adaptation was the Zuko ep. Mostly because of the turn around of Zuko's troops finding a reason to respect him and Zuko finding a form of affection from his troops when he was doing the worst. I'm not sure if this moment was in the animated show, but i thought they did a good job in live action.
Maybe I would have enjoyed it had I watched this show without knowing about the original animated series. However, as a big fan of Avatar, I found this adaptation underwhelming. I understand the challenges of recreating a live-action version scene by scene, and I'm not anticipating an exact replica. Despite some changes, I loved the live-action adaptation of One Piece because its essence remained intact. In contrast, this adaptation altered some fundamental elements of both the story and characters.
Like what? Fundamental elements? You miss the pirates. You miss sucking on frogs. You miss jokes about sewing pants. What fundamental elements? Nothing to spoil it already is out now. I am genuinely curious what is fundamental to you.
@@Dryltd Bhumi's character is entirely different. In the original series, Aang runs away from his responsibilities he doesn’t want to be the avatar, whereas in this adaptation, he merely takes a "break" with Appa. Rather than demonstrating their traits through actions, the characters tend to tell instead of showIng. For instance, Aang explicitly states, "I am just a kid, I like to goof off and have fun." Additionally, unlike in the original series, Aang doesn't learn waterbending alongside Katara, which prevents the development of their bond throughout the show. In the previous series, the past Avatars served as guides, memories, and mentors, whereas in this adaptation, Kyoshi bullies him. This is just a quarter of the flaws I've mentioned and I need more paragraphs lol, and don’t start me with acting.
@@naveen.119 Bumi is better in Live Action. He acts like someone who lived through 100 years of war unlike the original where he acts like its just another day. Aang did run away you are factually wrong on that part. They didn't focus on him waterbending because it's 8 episodes and he is the avatar he will pick it up fast because he is "so naturally gifted". You know who said that. Third, were you expecting a one for one adaptation? That's wild. This isn't Japan. We don't do that in the USA. Good thing I have my DVDs. No one can take the original from me. I wanted to see something new. You might have wanted the old. But perfection can't be repeated.
@@Dryltd You asked about the differences, and I outlined some of them. While you may appreciate those changes, I personally do not. I urge you to rewatch, as Aang doesn't run away but rather takes a break with Appa. My point regarding Aang's waterbending training isn't solely about the training itself but rather the bond forged between him and Katara through it. Regarding Bhumi's character, I respectfully disagree with your perspective. He is the strongest earthbender, has wisdom like Iroh, and a member of White Lotus. It's implausible to me that such a wise figure would fail to comprehend that Aang isn't to blame for the war. As I said in my previous post I am not expecting a one for one adaption and gave you a live action one piece example which is an american adaption.
@@naveen.119 Bumi didn't blame Aang. Bumi was teaching. Also, blaming a show for not focusing on something the show never suggest is important is not evaluating the show. It's evaluation the meta. I'm also concerned how they will address this if they get a season 2 but that is not a fault of this season. That's my knowledge of the original show. You are clearly mixing the two in your evaluation. I don't. The show picked it's favored stories. The next creator 20 years from now will pick their favorites. I miss the pirates and frogs and Jeong. But I don't fault the show for never suggesting I should look for them. I evaluate it as presented.
Just let the great animated series be animated. This series was good but bad at the same time in certain areas. Like the casting for some characters was spot on, then with others it’s kinda trash like for Mai and Azula but really spot on with characters like Firelord Ozai and Sokka. But my main issue above all is the fact that the series at times feels way too rushed in certain areas like the whole meeting and encounters with Jet progressed so damn fast. The show either needed more episodes or they shoulda cut some of those storylines that they put in there
I largely agree with you, Dan. I loved the original show (which to be fair, also started slow), but I thought this was pretty good. Started kinda rocky, but got better and better as it went until I was really enjoying it by the end on its own merits. It isn't better than the original by a long shot, but it's respectable.
The power of friendship didn’t bring Aang back. I can see from the framing why it may come off that way but Princess Yue giving the moon spirit it’s energy back made the ocean spirit relax & give Aang’s physical body back
I mostly agree with you, I absolutely adore the original show is one of the major masterpieces of humanity. First episode was BAD I mean really BAD. Episode 2 was HUGE step up like you said. From there I found it clever, you said it was cramming too much but I found the shows solution smart, you show beats of some episodes in the events of a single episode. I still think Bumi should have followed the same line the show, the way they did it here I absolutely did not like. In the show he was playing Aang here he kust sounds bitter. The spiritual world two parter did not bothered me, Aang needed that journey. Roku was not as huge as in the series and you don't get the feel that Roku failed. The north pole is where I disagree. I don't know if its a time issue or a girlboss stuff but Katara and Aang not being trained took it from the characters. Also you didn't have time to feel the impact of everything. Zuko could be more angered, by the end of the season he reached the spot. Iroh and Sokka where the best parts and Sokka not being sexist was handled well, and maybe if he was he would come out as a jerk in this context. Katara was vanished, on the show she shines so much more, she's confort, she's wise and here she's just there. Aang was too depressing there was only 1 moment he was Aang and that's when he joke to Katara "They said I didn't pay attention, actually I don't know if they did, I didn't payed attention" that's Aang he is goofy and has this silly type of humor. His heart to heart with Zuko was also on spot, the only problem is that it lasted too long and Zuko trying to fight him multiple times felt too much and took it from the moment. I think the shlw deserves to go foward, if they learned the lessons from the first season the next will be awesome. Bring me Toph!
I'm only half way through the first season, but I'd give what I've seen so far a B+. I think the best part of the live action is surprisingly the changes they've made to the story. The way they weaved together different elements/episodes to make something new, yet recognizable, is very difficult to do. I think that alone is very commendable. The actors playing Aang and Zuko definitely took their assignment seriously, Sokka and Katara are getting better, and the universe is so well executed. There's a lot to like with this show, regardless of what some bitter fans may say.
I agree that it can be good as it's own thing, but I think if you continue watching the animated show you'll see how many of the things you liked about this show actually came from the original. I disagree about the binge model in this case though, because they've squashed several things together it contributed to it feeling rushed. They've also taken things from later seasons which in some circumstances makes sense but it means that they aren't focusing on book 1, and are leaving out more than might have been necessary (this is an ongoing problem with the shorter season model IMO)... I actually want all 3 seasons of this show so that we can see what they've put together overall and whether it really works on it's own.
Anything was going to be better than the movie we don't speak of, but I really like how it shows us scenes that we never saw in the original, like the raid on the air temple.
its ironic how the live action is supposed to be more mature than the cartoon yet it simplifies it so much that it's not nearly as compelling
I am hoping that the maturity is that Aang is going to kill Ozai
@CurleyJeffersonS yeah totally ruining the original meaning by continuing the cycle of violence is a great way of showing maturity
Likely to to make it accessible to all audiences. I think producers/network execs think ppl need things oversimplified when it doesn't. On paper avatar should be easily translated onto screen but I think it doesn't help when you have people behind it prob with a lot of demands.
I just watched 1st ep and honestly I am not mad. I will see how I feel as it goes on though. I just have no expectations.
Yeah they may as rename the show the last irony as it’s replete which such. Funny how they made the show more innately sexist by trying to supposedly remove that?
Dan, I'm older than you. I didn't watch the original in Nicolodeon, but you have to watch the original. It starts out as a kids' show, but by the end of season 3, it is one of the best series I have ever experienced, period. Just watch it. The episodes are 20 minutes each.
100%
You don’t have to be of a specific age to appreciate the animated Avatar show. My 70 year old mother first saw it in 2022 and has now watched it all the way through more than a dozen times. It’s become one of her favorite things ever and basically knows it by heart. Heck, she knows it even better than I do now.
I dont know, gave it a try at age 40 and couldnt get past episode 4.
exactly Avatars animated show was so so so good for all ages, it was not at all silly I mean why why people say that even now when comparing to the live action show
@@richardclark1127 The start of season 1 in particular is more childlike, but the show starts to deepen and explores many mature themes throughout.
@@tronam At what point exactly does it stop being Teen Titans Go! and become Teen Titans?
Definitely before the last three episodes of Season 1. With very few exceptions it fires on all cylinders from then until the grand finale.
The juxtaposition of Aang and Daniel Radcliff was brilliant. I knew that was oddly familiar.
Agreed!
As a mega fan I thought it came across as a very simplified version of avatar. I don't know why streamers are dead set on 8 episode it was clear this season needed like 13 or 16 to flesh out it story
It's gonna bring in new or casual viewers but data shows 8 episodes is the sweet spot for viewers and budget
Costs more. And modern audiences only have enough attention for 6-8 episodes. After that they swipe to the next thing.
12 episodes would have been nice
Budget probably was the biggest consideration to cut out so much from the original. If the numbers are great hopefully they'll greenlight a second season with higher budget but I won't hold my breath. Fantasy shows are notorious for being cancelled prematurely because they cost so much to make, take Shadow & Bone for example.
or split one book into 2 seasons with 8 episodes each. they somehow managed to make the story feel rushed and boring at the same time, two attributes that would never match with the orginal.
Just watch the original series. It’s a classic.
Both are great in my opinion, and im a super fan.
@@nickzobel9922 glad you like the Netflix version.
the best Show ever made
The Live Action Version is inferior in every aspect
Tried to, but the original is far too kiddy for me not to roll my eyes every 5 seconds
@@richardclark1127 Dude, it’s a kids’ cartoon.
I think the issue with this live action adaptation is it is trying to be something it is not. In attempt to appeal to larger audience, it is trying to be more like Witcher or Game of Thrones by focusing more on stylish action (which it does quite well) and gloomy tone. But in doing so, it is overlooking the essence of the characters and their dynamics, which made the original show a classic.
The direction feels stagnant, with characters rigidly placed and delivering exposition rather than engaging dynamically with the world around them.
Numerous unnecessary changes detract from the impactful moments, surprising reveals, and character development that made the original series so compelling.
I knew the show was cooked from the first scene with aang and his best friend. Literally monologue to us the whole storyline of aang being just a kid and having to shoulder all of this one power and responsibility. They literally monologued the whole thing to us LMAO. Was it so hard to start the scene with laughter? Aang playing with the kids? Show him being a kid, and show him shooing away the elders and actively trying to avoid the elders. Yano, show us the theme of him being a kid and being forced to be the avatar. It's lazy asf and I stopped watching right then and there. So lazy🤦🏾♂️
exactly!
I agree with everything you mentioned. But then I would say at least most of the core characters were done well, such as Sokka, Zuko, Aang, Katara and Ozai were portrayed very well. I can see Iroh’s character was somewhat different, more active(loud) & optimistic, as opposed to his animated counterpart who was more zen(chill) & optimistic. Azula’s character was a let down, (the actress was amazing btw), but the direction the writers gave the character was off as it would’ve been better to reveal her a) in season 2 and b) have a more confident sociopathic personality like her animated version. Bumi’s reveal to Aang wasn’t great, as it would’ve been better for them to fight it out, to which Aang will come to his own realization of Bumi’s identity like in the cartoon.
The choreography was well done, costumes needed a bit more tear and wear but looked great tbh, the vfx were 9/10 (did everyone honestly expect them to pull off James Cameron’s billion-dollar-costing Avatar vfx NO)! And the season played out to a great climax and conclusion. I can tell this season alone was a huge endeavour and everyone put their hearts & souls into this to make it happen and I’m grateful. If they get a second season, they can improve on some areas and give them more money to put out 10 or 13 episodes rather than 8 so characters have longer interactions with each other and their environments, and the emotional moments to linger just a bit more (i.e. a character can’t just have a 10 second moment of a single tear running down their cheek and call that emotional development).
I've only watched the M. Night movie. I've never watched the cartoons, nor have I seen the Netflix show, but I had to comment on how insightful and well articulated your review is.
@@montenegroafro4454I disagree with the bit about azula. This clearly the lead up to her becoming the psychopath that’s unleashed in the world for the next season.
Her arc in this is purely a set up for how she’s originally introduced. We get to see hands on how she was manipulated to pursue perfection and I can almost guarantee it will pay off for her breakdown.
To be fair, it's not Avatar without cabbages.
They overplayed their hand on that fanservice tho. Made me cringe.
And no Na'vi. It's not Avatar without them.
🤭
@@INRamos13 OG series did the exact same thing. the cabbage man wasn't meant as a recurring character but they found out people liked him and started adding him here and there.
I loved how they teased us with the "My cabbages" line fuck when he finally said it I died
"my cabbages" and we got "secret tunnel"@@msaqvall1955 ..........the show's f@#&ing perfect
Dan, you should finish S1 of the original show for comparison. That version of the finale is good enough to hook you for the rest.
Thank you Dan for doing a great description of what you are seeing in the young actors performances. I think the character of Aang would be difficult for any actor in that age range. Being a traumatic character still trying to keep your up beat nature and stoic training as a monk on paper sounds all over the place. But that relationship to early Harry Potter with Daniel was a good example.
The kid actor for Aang really tried as hard as he did, nevertheless it wasn’t easy to really find that sweet spot between performance & realism in his portrayal just like Radcliffe had trouble with in the first Potter movie. But around episode 6 was the best he did settling into the character of Aang. But I honestly feel for the majority of the season the reason his acting felt more performative was the direction because in one scene we see him experience heavy emotion but then a couple seconds later he just snaps out of it and delivers another line of motivation for his character’s emotional development like wtf. But by the end of the season I’m glad he found a solid footing into Aang’s character, which will be a lot easier when they do season 2 if they get renewed.
I feel like the filming of Aang’s scenes may have been rushed due to limitations on how long child actors are allowed to work, which doesn’t give a director enough time to really work with the actor to get the performance they need.
@@closebenTrue, I think time was probably a factor in the amount of takes they had to do in scenes. Also, considering production wrapped up 18 months ago meant they also spent the majority of time working on the vfx to make it as great as they possibly could with the budget. So with them giving a lot of time to vfx and other elements in production, the writing and acting performances suffered as a result.
i feel like you should just watch the original show for your own sake. it's only 61 episodes, it's one of the best animated shows ever (i guarantee you it's better than this no matter how good this is), and it's perfectly enjoyable as an adult, no nostalgia required. I first fully watched it when I was definitely older than its intended audience and I still thought it was amazing. Just watch it because it's a great show that everyone should watch, imo. That said, the first season is definitely the worst of the original show as well, so the fact that the first season earned your approval bodes well because it's definitely only going up from here (unless they royally screw it up).
“Only 61 episodes” 😂
@@skinoff89 The best 60 episodes of your life.
@@skinoff89 some animes are like 400 bro
@@legochickenguy4938 i know that’s why it’s funny that 61 is seen as not a lot all things considered
@@Dryltd i couldn’t get into it personally but im glad it has a strong fanbase
I noticed in this Aang never does any water bending except at the end when he becomes the water kaiju which isn’t really bending since he was in the avatar state, but he was using water. I don’t understand why they did that.
Yeah, that was a really odd change to make. Aang being naturally good at water bending while katara is still learning and being frustrated with him, was a big part of their early relationship. The change they made just seemed unnecessary.
they set it up so the next ssn will be him learning wbending
Money. Waterbending effects are expesive, lol.
@@finalfan321 ooooohhhh for book two water and earth. Ooooohhhhhhh.
Dan, the people want your review of the original series!
Azula and Zuko didn't even have a rivalry. Azula never struggled. She was Ozai's favorite; the golden child.
She had some golden child issues (compare Isabella from Encanto minus the psychotic villainy), but yeah, Azula didn’t even start to fear Ozai might favor Zuko over her until Zuko’s return in Book 3, and she would never have let any insecurity or frustration show in public until the start of her breakdown near the end of the show. The show doesn’t understand Azula at all, and I can see no way for them to make her the terrifying villain she needs to be.
In the age of streaming I feel like the idea that reboots and remakes “introduce characters and story’s to a new generation” doesn’t really work
I am not watching 1000 episodes of One Piece. So you better introduce the characters to a new generation.
@@handlebarsmustache So you are in the "stop showing Uncle Ben and the Wayne's dying" camp. I won't argue against that camp if it's the fourth or fifth adaptation in a new medium. But the US isn't like China and Japan who will fund one for one adaptations that take as long as they need.
@@Dryltd Yeah, but in the time it takes for the next season of the live-action series to start, you could get through a decent chunk of the animated series. Not to mention there are sources online that can get you episode options that stick to the book stuff. I'm not even disagreeing with how you feel, but if this is a reasoning of time, a live-action series takes a good while to get going again.
The original is right there. And its so much better
@@motherplayer I think young actors are mostly inexperienced due to the fact they are young actors. So I give a bit of grace and tend to blame directors first. So getting new young actors is not a solution I jump to.
Overall I liked it, I didn’t mind the changes to the story and really liked the new additions. The problem for me was the changes to the characters and their arcs, they lost a lot about what made the characters special
Im very worried about azula. That girl doesnt seem to pull it off at all
Yea, after seeing how they depicted her in season 1, i do not at all think they are going to make the character the legit psychopath she is.
The OG can’t be beat and can we stop trying to “legitimise” animated shows with sub par live action shows. I’m sick of it.
🤝
That's not what anyone did. And this season was better than the og season 1 in a few ways. While the og season 1 took it's time which made the story flow more. But the things added in were pretty cool. Idk why ppl are comparing them.
@@mania4270 No idea, it's clearly not trying to usurp the animated cartoon as the superior retelling of the story, that's utter ridiculous.
@@mania4270You don’t understand why people are comparing a remake with the original?? Like it all You want but it’s very existence invites comparison.
@@mania4270 writing-wise the OG animated show is far superior to this live action bizarro version of ATLA
Watching the review of this made me excited for you to continue watching the animated version. It's so good.
The "mostly new story" adapted in episode 4 is actually a Season 2 episode. It's a baffling, terrible decision.
Disagree. I also don't think you are baffled. Especially since you know it was season 2 stuff.
I'm baffled by how they decided to prematurely cripple their own potenial Season 2
I really liked the way the included some stories from Season 2, such as The Avatar State, The Swamp, and even elements of Avatar Day, however the inclusion of the Cave of Two Lovers felt really contrived and forced into the story. Having said that I was so happy to hear SECRET TUNNEL.
Please watch the rest of the animated show youll love it 😭
😂😂😂 lol he stopped watching before the best part, Book 2
@@maiden5427 book 3 has some legendary moments as well.
The Puppetmaster turned child me into a fan of the horror genre 😂
When I heard about this project I imagined a much more detailed retelling. I pictured a lot more small subtle character moments (for all the characters) such as what we say in “zuko alone” (one of my fav eps). But this show is even less detailed than the original, and instead of fleshing out the story even further they just change it up, but not even in a good way, it’s more shallow in essentially every way. Initially hearing about the show I was very excited, but I think after seeing so many recent projects have such an appalling quality of writing I think my expectations slowly got lower and lower, and completely sunk once we started seeing stuff released about the show. But wow I am truly baffled at the quality of writing and dialogue in this show, it’s truly horrendous. The fact that the creators not only directed the gran gran actor to deliver her lines the way she did but actually thought it should make the final cut of the show… wow lol as soon as I saw/heard that i was like “uh oh”, I was expecting the show to be mediocre while hoping it would be good but wow I am truly baffled at how low the quality of writing and storytelling is for this. Truly baffled
I’m mad he don’t learn water bending through the esp.
Hated the Roku scenes and the imagery there. Looked like a bogus setting made on the volume. feeling mixed on this first season overall tbh..
Same, bad casting for him honestly but loved him temple
i think roku is fine. he still had serious moments with his conversation with aang but i came into this show expecting a unique take not a 1:1 adapt. whoever has, has already ruined it for themselves. i’m in 7 episodes and i love it so far. have my personal nitpicks with for sure in fact the origin i didn’t approve but im sold and want a season 2
So just like how it looked in the cartoon? XD because it was literally the same setting
@@yournobody6487There's difference between bad green screen setting vs a polish sprit world.
@@captainrice09 I also really enjoyed this overall but literally the only thing I hate is the interpretation of Roku. It doesn’t capture his character at all and he serves no purpose in this version when he was a really important character in the original.
4:52
That's bad acting. The very definition of bad acting is what you just said! Lol The child hasn't the emotional maturity to give the lines any nuance. You're aware he's just saying the lines without understanding the meaning of what he's saying. That is the core reason why some actors are bad at their craft.
I give younger actors some latitude. I also think a flat dialogue reading is much worse than what we got here. I’d rather see the artifice behind the performance than just get nothing at all from the actor. That, to me, is bad acting. A complete lack of emotion in any form.
I absolutely loved this adaptation, especially Zuko, Sokka, Ozai, and Azula. Aang was good too. Iroh's character didn't work for me, they completely stripped away his craziness but still made him say the same crazy lines which felt forced. And while Katara looked the part, I really think she lacked a lot of expressiveness.
Luke Skywalker will always be my Ozai.
Hot take: They should bring in Mark Hamill to play General Fong (the character Daniel Dae Kim voiced in the origional show) in Season 2, just for the role reversal (and Mark would just be great in that role.)
@@roger_towny_jr If he can refrain from using his Joker voice (again), then sure.
I highly recommend watching the animated series, Dan! I was 21 when it came out! My BF and I watched it and we loved it! We're married now, and we reguarly rewatch the animated show. I also rewatched the animated eps 1 & 2 prior to watching the Netflix show.
We saw episode 1 of the live action show last night, and we thought it was okay. I think it missed the humor of the animated series, and I felt it was too serious. I miss Aang's childlike innocence because his character growth from child to Avatar can be seen from s1 to s3 to when he finally confronts Fire Lord Ozai. I like the little bit of backstory and scenes of the genocide of the Airbenders, but I think there was also less importance made with the comet - that had more gravity in the later season.
Edit to add: Jett and the Freedom fighters were not in Omashu. In the animated series, they were in a totally separate place in the earth kingdom.
Have more episodes in the next season it will do wonders for the pacing. I’m personally thinking 12-13.
For sure, season 1 should have been 10 eps, s2 really ought to be around 12 and s3 will probably have to be 14 episodes if they want to tell the story properly.
Considering how much the deck is stacked against them, it was pretty good. They got the look and tone right, established the major players and explored slightly different aspects of the characters. They don't need to, and probably shouldn't, tell the original story beat for beat. The original animated series is right there streaming if that is what you want. I am actually hoping they can get through the original story, and tell some new ones with the good cast they have assembled. .
I liked it and thought it was great. I watched it sporadically before on Nickelodeon and have since watched though on Netflix. I liked some of the changes and it was generally well done even despite the fast pacing
I watched a bit of it. Thought it was rather childish, poorly acted and very "I'll talk to you and explain the plot" dialogue. The old show don't tell rule clearly not evident in this show.
Also very gruesome in parts. In the first 5 mins a character is incinerated. Its a graphic demise. Not really family material despite the show aimed at teenagers (or adults that want to feel like teenagers!).
You’re quite right about the lack of “show don’t tell”. I find it baffling that Hollywood filmmakers are still failing in this. Overeall I felt this really captured the heart of the original, but I feel like most people would only enjoy it if they’ve seen the original, where the writing and storytellign is much stronger.
It sounds like you haven’t seen it? I highly reccomend wathcing the full original series and then you may be inclined to revisit this version. I think the whole season is worth it just for how well they adapted Zuko’s character and actually improved upon him from the first original season.
I discovered the cartoon while on vacation in the Caribbean when I was 23. I came home, bought all 3 books and have rewatched it time after time. As for this show, I think too much was truncated and mixed together to indulge in long unnecessary fights, and long drawn out dialogue. The humor of the show has been almost completely sucked out, and team Avatar spends 80% of the show separated. How are we supposed to be invested in them as a true team? At only an hour shorter than Book 1 of the cartoon I don't think this would be a younger audiences best entry into the franchise.
I’ve watched the original around 125 times, and I was shocked by how much I loved this. With some really great changes that I feel justify this show’s creation and did these characters justice
As a fan of the original My 3 biggest complaints are thus;
1. The order of the stories. Admittedly switching up the storylines isn’t always a bad thing & it does work in some instances in the show. However it felt more like the makers were trying to put every iconic part they could into season 1, just in case the show doesn’t get renewed. That is not how you should make any adaptation & leads me to my second big complaint.
2. All the intrigue is gone. Because of the changing of the order of everything we are given Aangs entire background from the moment the show starts. There is no hard hitting reveal of the air nations demise. There is no trying to figure out who the King of Omashu is. There is no wondering what side Iroh is on, or his relationship with Zuko. There is no waiting to see the fire nations full brutality. It’s all given to us in the first couple of episodes and usually right away in the episode. Even if 100% of the people watching were familiar/fans of the original doesn’t mean the show should just give you all the information up front and skip out on the intrigue.
3. They REALLY fucked up some of the characters motivations. The fact that Aang didn’t run away, he just genuinely got lost in a storm while clearing his head, really bothers me. His guilt over purposely abandoning his role as the Avatar is a HUGE part of his internal struggle, motivation & arc (I also really didn’t like that Gyotso was just totally cool with him being taken away.) Then there’s what they did to Bumi… The point of Bumi is that while you think he is simply a crazy old man, he is actually counting on you to think that. It’s a persona he keeps to hide the fact that he is ALWAYS the smartest & most powerful person in the room. Above even that though, is the fact that Bumi ALWAYS has a plan & EVERYTHING he does is for the betterment/protection of his people, his city, & to bring an end to the war with minimal casualties. The fact that in this version, Bumi was actually upset at Aang, basically tried to kill him, & then Aang reminded him of hope or whatever, completely missed the point of who the character of Bumi is. To me, what they did to him is tantamount to pure character assassination. There are other examples, but those are the ones that really bother me. If they can’t get these characters right, & if writers/showrunners don’t understand what they did to the characters with these changes, it makes me really skeptical of what they will do with the rest of the show.
There are other complaints I have but those are all minor in comparison to these big ones.
I actually liked the parts where it deviated from the original show a lot, and as a long time fan of the og, I absolutely loved the opening scene and first episode
I don’t understand how the show can have more run time and feel so very very rushed. Ang never water bending once, suddenly no-one needs a teacher to become a master, Haybye being sidelined, Roku being useless, and every scene being force fed with dialogue. I just could not get into it as a fan of the original.
Fell in love with Nickelodeon show in 2010 as a sophomore in college when a friend got us invested into the show. Definitely top 3 favorite animated show ever. Really glad this Netflix live -action did a really good job re-doing the show thus far in 8 episodes and about 8hours of showtime. Uncle Iroh is definitely a favorite character, and glad they did a good job this far.
Totally agree, hated at first, episode 1 was lame but by the end i was so invested into the caracters and the World. 8/10. The animated is better 10/10 anyways I can enjoy both.
Live action creators didn't want to copy paste the animated series as it is and few of the plot changes made by them are pretty good and welcoming as well. I did enjoy watching many of the changes (like Azula and Sozin's intro) as they offered different and fresh perspectives.
But it has its own demerits as well:
1) Characterisation is something that was extra ordinary in the OG series (Aang was goofy yet wise and brave but here he is shown to be always frightened and somewhat coward, Katara was passionate, strong willed but here she almost carried the same expression throughout and why on Earth did they tone down Sokka's sarcasm. He was such a lively guy.) Honestly actors playing main characters seriously needs to improve especially Aang and Katara. (PS: Maria Zhang’s acting stood out for me as she portrayed her interest in Sokka quite perfectly. Actors playing Zuko, Iroh and Ozai acted brilliantly as well.)
2) And why is the casting overloaded with Chinese/South east asian origin actors? The main theme of the original series was peace and harmony between extremely diverse nations. Probably this is why the original creators left this project sighting creative differences.
3) The OG creators had excluded visual references of the genocide against air nomads for a purpose as it was meant to be a kids show. But in netflix without such restrictions they could have explored it much deeper and it would have been fresh for us as well. I was expecting to see more of Aang's past and the wiping out of air nomads. The genocide portion could have been longer considering the effort they had put to show it visually. At least 1 episode dedicated for it would have given ample time for the buildup. However it lasted only for 25 odd minutes so it felt rushed to me.
4) There is no suspense at all in the writing. Everything was just direct and linear.
5) This has very less humour than the animated one.
Comparison with original is inevitable as the bar is set so high that it's very difficult to match those standards. So considering the above mentioned issues, the OG stands miles ahead than this live action at least for me and I wouldn't agree with anyone calling this as better than the original itself..
Unlike adapting a book or a game into a tv show, this was adapting a tv show into a tv show, so I don't understand why one would make changes to the plot and characters, especially if you can't improve on the original. They should have either gone 100% as per the original show or do something different like Korra, to do bits and pieces makes no sense.
I liked it overall. A 7/10 with room for improvement for a S2.
agreed. and it grew along like Dan said. the element effects were acceptable
Basically what S1 from the animated show is.
@@Staynerexactly people are forgetting that season 1 was the worst season of the show.
@@TheBlobablob Yes and it was a huge benefit to the rest of the show. The first season was about world building and getting to know the characters personalities and relationships with other characters(mainly the main trio). Most of the characters are very flat and uninteresting. Ozai, Zuko, Iroh were well done but the rest were bad. I feel bad for the actor playing Azula. One of the most feared and capable characters is a original is a whiney child. And the most important character in the original show Katara is written horribly. Katara is the main reason Aang becomes who he is and keeps the group together.
The guy playing Sokka looks more like the cartoon character the cartoon character
It's a perfectly fine show that I am hoping at least gets a second season
Another issue is the they give us too much in such little time. In the series you grow with the characters and learn about their layers eventually down the line. Here, they develop them by the episodes. They throw every important bit about the character back to back to back
Exactly, much of the emotional weight of the show is lost with it.
Been on the fence about watching the new adaptation, but I think I owe it to the creative team involved to actually watch it, considering how much I love the original animated series.
Just go in with an open mind. There's always sacrifices in live action. Adaptions but I respect what they did with it
Dan, most people that watched avatar didn't watched it in 2005 when we were kids, but on 2020 when it blew up due to Covid, Netflix and binge watching, yes, the first season is the most "kid friendly" season, but onwards it turns into game of thrones animated (with a good ending), please do yourself a favor and watch it.
My biggest problem with this adaptation is the dialogue. Characters are constantly spouting exposition to make sure that the audience knows what's going on, no matter how unnecessary it is or how awkward it feels.
Having said that, it looks fantastic, and I think the actors will grow into their roles better as the series goes on. The way they compressed the story is a mixed bag... Sometimes it works fine, but other times (particularly in episode five) it's a mess of conflicting motivations and unresolved plot threads -- or as you described, it's "blobby".
I remain hopeful that the writers will learn from the missteps and that the next two seasons will be much stronger.
This show fell well short of its potential.
(yeah, it's better than the movie, but is that really any measurement?)
Potential? Potential was wasted by the Movie. Potential was squandered by CG for elemental fighting is super expensive. Potential is too vague.
@@Dryltd Here's are two fixes: better writting and show runners who understood the story better.
Would this show have kept the original creators (similar to One Piece), Netflix's Avatar could have been amazing - if not even perfect.
@@Luke_Go You are biased against it before it was made. Which is fair. Were the original creators involved in Korra? Did Korra stick to cannon? Despite the Live actions flaws it stuck to cannon. We can argue about imaginary scripts until the cows come home. Which I plan to do just not here.
@Dryltd I'm not talking about any other Last Airbender product. This is about Netflix' Avatar and I compare it to what it could have been (that is called potential).
Here are two simple questions to see how biased you are:
1. Do you think the dialogue in this show was great?
2. Has the rule of 'show don't tell' been followed?
@@Luke_Go question 1. It was good. Question 2. Yes. From the story presented what didn't they show? As you said we aren't talking about other products which includes the original. Your bias is the other products.
I feel like they skipped many episode and what I watched is the recap version.
Hmm, I want to like it more but I just can't.
I really enjoyed this live action. As an old fan I was more focused on the experience, characters and nostalgia ❤ The casting was great 🌸 Zuko and Iroh was amazing!!! Episode 6 was just perfect, best episode in the show.
Zuko and Iroh really steals the show in this series.. I love watching both of them alot
I found this to be more of a reimagning than an adaptation. So many changes and choices, however I didn't feel any of the changes improved on the original. So it fell pretty flat for me.
It felt less nuanced
The 41 armada
The bumy bitterness
Kyoshi
Sokkas more flash out journey
And a lot more point
@@Staynerwatched it growing up, and at least 50 times since then(the original) but the 41 and them showing respect to zuko and zhao fucking with zuko after he became admiral is about all thats been good from this story line. Thats different at least. Why is wong shi tong just randomly popped in? Why are sokkanand katara in the spirit world? Wack
I think it's a good thing that it's more of a reimagination. If it was a 1:1 adaptation, it'd only be able to be inferior to the original.
There are a few changes that I do feel improved on the original:
-Zuko's crew being the soldier whose lifes he saved indirectly
-A more emotionally vulnerable Iroh, whose relationship with Zuko was more of a friends dynamic instead of a mentor & student dynamic (well, calling it an improvement isn't accurate, it's just a change I think worked really well)
-Admiral Jao's portrayal was great. He felt like an actually threat due to all his scheming, unlike the cartoon Jao, who was just a hothead.
Boohoo
@@EaastonCams When Sokka and Katara entered the spirit world, I thought it made sense. Hei Bai had been taking people to the spirit world, so I thought they were taken to the spirit world by Hei Bai. What made me convinced of this was because of the lackluster explanation they gave for how they were able to follow Aang to the spirit world.
I was sitting there, expecting the real reveal for why they were in the spiritworld, but the reveal never came...
So, is the dumb and lackluster explanation they gave really the canon reason for why they entered the spiritworld?
That entire episode felt all over the place.
"The writers of Zuko did such a great job crafting a relatable, understandable villain." Yes, indeed, the writers of the original show did an amazing job with that. 🤣🤣
The movie Zuko was based on the same character and definitely didn't turn out as well. So someone did something right.
@@DanMurrellMoviesWhoa, a reply from the man himself!!! It was more of a crack at the writers of this series than your review, my dude. They succeeded by just cribbing off someone else's work. But good on them for knowing when to not change things.
I 100% agree with what you said:
"It's never going to measure up and include everything from the animated series, it's an impossible task".
And that's a shame that people don't understand that. And I also agree with it's never going to compare to the original. Just enjoy what they gave us.
The characters literally never changed. They were exactly the same to when they started. I don’t mind them not going beat for beat the story compared to the cartoon but the way they did it wasn’t executed well and they took it to such different extremes that it didn’t really mean anything. To me, ultimately it lacks spirit.
Side note I hate the comparison to the 2010 film. People arguing it’s not as bad as the movie so it gets a pass is stupid to me.
The issue with Azula is that there is no rivalry between Zuko and her. Azula is simply better. She knows she’s better, Zuko knows she’s better, Ozai knows she’s better. Her character was ruined in the series.
Big fan of original and also enjoyed this take on the series. Fire nation actors and some of the older actors were great and i did love seeing aang and katara grow in to their roles. I also didnt mind the mixing of storylines since they did need to compact every thing in to 8 ep.
....
Spoiler...
Also, loved the relationship with Zuko and Iroh early on. The leaves on the vine with orchestra, just killed me. I rewatched just that scene; the kindness conveyed by Zuko in that moment was beautiful.
Avatar is my favorite show of all time and so I was ready for this adaption with open arms and an open mind to what they could do. After seeing it all I think I can firmly say this but this season is the most 6.5 or 7 out of 10 season I've seen in a hot minute. It's decent at best but also I cannot deny it does some things that I as a long time fan didn't like. I loved and liked a lot of what they did but overall I think it lacks in many areas. I think it needed at least 2 more episodes to flesh things out and help with the pacing and structure which is its biggest problem. I think if Albert Kim (showrunner) can take the criticisms of this season like he said he wanted to see then maybe we could get a better season 2 in the future.
But most of the criticism so far is that you have young actors and smashed one episode story lines together. That can't be changed. Netflix isn't going to give them more money if everyone is ripping the show for tv making constraints.
@@Dryltd you can't change the actors lol people are going to have to deal with them. They can learn and grow. The plot stuff and the structure of it all can definitely use some work.
Once again Dan an honest review of the show. I agree with most of your view points but I feel they really undercut some of the character's own narrative development by some of the changes. The removal of certain characters from the source material even though they weren't crucial to the overall story they still played a part in the main Gaang's character development.
Overall I like it. A few character changes I didn’t like, but overall it gets a pass mark. I take issue with toxic fans who criticize any little changes as bad and don’t know how to appreciate effort and change.
I’m on like episode 5 but I actually like it.
I’m glad you enjoyed the show and were able to articulate your thoughts on it well, seems like others are also enjoying the show too. I guess I’m pulling a James Rolfe since I kinda refuse to watch the show, only because I don’t see any personal reason for watching when the original series is already so good. I don’t see what this adaptation can offer me that the original doesn’t. Still glad that people are enjoying it and I hope Netflix actually gives it longevity
i understand the generation gap, but i would implore you to finish the animated series. i was born in 2000 and would legitimately argue those 3 seasons of last airbender is among the best stories told in visual media for my generation.
side note- i remember watching the finale of season one with my great grandmother in 2005 and her telling me it was the only cartoon she ever enjoyed watching with a grandchild because it actually had real emotion and character driven stories. (something along those lines, anyway)
Dan, I'm glad you enjoyed the live action series so far. Something I found interesting was that everything you pointed out that you liked is either more prevalent or done straight up better in the original. Especially the character relationships. For fans of the original, the new Netflix series has been very frustrating because, in comparison to the original, the remake has the subtlety of a brick through a window.
I highly highly recommend you watch the animated series. You'd understand what you are missing out on.
There are many changes here that didn't make sense. The book 1 (season 1) is called "water" and Aang doesn't waterbend at all.
Why bring cave of 2 lovers to season 1? What's the point? And even if you did bring, you kept Aang and Katara separate.
The bonding between Katara and aang doesn't exist at all, there is no season where aang learns firebending which in turn leads to Katara learning to heal using waterbending.
I could go on and on. 8 episodes to adapt a show who's lore goes as deep as avatar was a bad choice.
(spoiler) i agree with most of your points. however it's good to even give a small window for characters like Jet as they often come back later in the story
I couldn’t place the Man of Steel line but I knew I heard it before! Thank you, it’s been driving me crazy for a week
If you’re interested in another genre show with an Eastern martial arts influence, Warrior was released onto Netflix in the hopes it will get picked up by them after being moved from Cinemax to MAX already. A mediocre (at best) show live Avatar will attract a lot of viewers because it’s banking on the name of an already beloved established original show, while a much better show like Warrior (which is based on a Bruce Lee story idea) struggles to get the attention it deserves. That’s how it goes I suppose, especially when there are so many viewing options and platforms out there.
Exposition was absolutely insane but I’m really surprised they changed the minor things so drastically, like there was no reason to switch up how Aang got freed from the iceberg it was very cinematic in the animation. The silliness (not talking about regular comedy) was really off putting.
Last thing, I know this is long. Give the animation a chance, from the storm onward it goes extremely hard. Great video!
I'm older than Dan and I loved the animated series. One of the best TV shows of any kind, of all time.
It was really good! I loved the animation as a kid and still rewatch it as an adult, I think it's one of our most important modern stories up there with LOTR, Star Wars or Harry Potter. I was apprehensive of this adaptation remembering how netflix absolutely butchered 'The Witcher' but this live action turned out good! I saw a deep understanding of the original story and characters, the little thigs that were added fleshed them out even more.
Like when they didn't settle for Bumi just being a crazy weird old man (which was fine for a kids' show) - live action Bumi was also full of anger and grief towards Aang because he felt abandoned both by his personal friend and the Avatar, he turned bitter and cynical after a 100 years of war, trying to protect his people at immense costs. They also used Aang's whistle here making it a physical reminder of their friendship that ultimately brought the old good Bumi back from his madness. And that's just one example!
Honestly, merging in episode 3 is my favourite part... Because in animation they were using same plot points, first for Katara then for sokka.... Like in most episodic shows, but they they use it as a theme for entire episode
Iroh and Ozai realistically represent two side of a father, a compassionate and a narcissistic one
I would love to see you do a review of the original series
I have problem on why Sokka and Katara decide to join/help Aang. Sokka hesitated to leave his tribe, but Katara convinced him to save the world in one sentence. That's it!
After watching the first episode, I then watch the cartoon and see that their decision is elaborated in 2 episodes!
As a massive fan of the original, i pretty much agree with this. Its a 7 or so for me. Some of its problems couldve been solved with one extra episode or two. Once the actors settled in to what they were doing with the character , the show jumped a lot. I think its a green cast that stuck the landing and will do even better if they get a second season.
I feel like the show was at its weakest when it tried to directly copy beats from the cartoon and its strongest when they were embracing what separates them.
Overall I enjoyed the live action Avatar but I felt that it would have benefited from a 10 - 12 episode season. The longer season would have allowed them to spend more time on the story points they focused on from the animated show and tell them in the correct order, I also wish they hadn't pulled story points from season 2 as takes away from next season. I look forward to seeing Toph my favourite character along with Avatar finally learning water bending which he should have begun his training in the Northern water tribe.
Sokka and Katara don’t even feel like siblings.
I couldn't watch more than two episodes...the acting's (esp. the two playing Aang and Katara) pretty bad and the show's obsessed with telling rather than showing. So much of the characterization relied on characters either talking about themselves or others describing their character traits. I want to see our characters grow, not listen to them being described. For example, if a character is a glutton, I'd rather see it for myself by them pigging out rather than them going on a monologue describing themselves or others doing it for them
Also, there's no chemistry between our main trio (Sokka, Aang, and Katara) and their entire relationship was rushed. It's like the creators just assumed we watched the original animated series and will project our preconceived love for the characters onto their show, so they didn't develop their rapport/relationship at all. They go from meeting each other to practically instant family members who act like they've known each other forever. It's so jarring and unbelievable!
I really wanted to like this adaptation too, but sadly, I can't pretend it's a well done series that captured the spirit and essence of the original. If anything, I would say that the showrunners missed by a mile and failed to understand what made the original animated Avatar so beloved.
It's like they chose to prioritize surface level aesthetics, lore, and "grittiness" over character development. All of the major characters were either watered down or had core personality traits removed. Lol, they wanted to appeal to Game of Thrones fans without realizing that it's the complex and morally grey characters that's the heart and soul of that show.
It's ironic that an animated series made for kids featured much deeper characters than this live action counterpart. All of the character flaws were either removed (Sokka's sexism is practically nonexistent, Katara's no longer fierce or headstrong, Aang no longer crushes on Katara, and Zuko is much less villainous) or heavily toned down.
The creators are so determined to make the characters instantly likable that they watered down any of their supposed "problematic" traits. But forgot that in doing so (without adding new traits), you end up with much blander characters who are no longer as interesting as they could have been. This makes it even harder to build natural rapport or insert conflict between characters. Katara, esp., has zero personality and all of her scenes are excruciatingly boring to watch.
By far, it's the characters and their relationships/growth that made the original Avatar so unforgettable and yet, the showrunners don't seem to understand this. If they did, they wouldn't have skimped on all the relationship building and character work. Everything's rushed to the point where none of the emotional beats feel earned and it's like the characters are just going through the motions because the director says so rather than experiencing it all organically.
I really don't understand why the showrunners didn't prioritize their characters above all else and make sure they're all well developed enough for the audience to fall in love with them. After all, people will forgive anything as long as they care about your characters...
And despite all the bad writing, I could've at least stay engaged as long as our cast has amazing chemistry, but alas, it's just not there...I'm bored to death.
Overall, the writing and acting just isn't good enough to hold my interest...One Piece Live Action is still the gold standard when it comes to adaptations -at least they concentrated on character writing and relationships above all else.
Oh no, please continue. Yeah some parts aren't great but what they did with Zuko is amazing! I would go as far as to say that his characterization in this show is superior to that of the original.
@nwar5343 I'm happy you're still able to enjoy it! But the writing and acting flaws of many major characters are too egregious for me to overlook. I can't take anything seriously as so many things feel fake to me.
@@usagi77777772003 ah yeah, well at least you have the new animated movies from avatar studios to look forward to!
You bring up a lot of things I felt while watching the first episode, but couldn't articulate because I was so hung up on how terrible the acting is. Say all you want about needing to give child actors some slack, but Zach Tyler Eisen was 12 when he began voicing Aang.
In the words of the Joker, "And here we go"...
Never watched the original so I can't compare, but I'm a 47 yr old woman and I enjoyed it. And I agree with everything you said about the acting, the fact that it was definitely a plus for binge watching (because after the first two episodes I'm not sure I would've been so keen to continue) the character development, etc...
THE MOST FAIR review of the series i've heard yet. Thank you for being objective. I share A LOT of your sentiment. What i feel is 99% of the reviews that disliked the live adaptation came from viewers who are "married" to the OG version and was not open minded enough for a new approach. I LOVE the OG ATLA, having seen it over 30 times, but reviewers need to consider the real life constraints of live shows, the difficulty of having such young actors who can visibily change in a year's worth of filming, as well as the difficulties of production for a series of this scale. I look forward to your future reviews.
Dan do yourself a huge favour and try to watch the rest of the cartoon. It is a masterpiece.
Unless you absolutely hate animation there is no reason to watch this over the original
is it really that hard of a concept to enjoy both for completely separate reasons? Very close minded way to view life...amazes me people that love this show so much learned so little from actually watching it
@@yournobody6487 opportunity cost bro thats why
@@Bakert112 😂what? You just talking to talk?
@@yournobody6487 fine if you don’t get it
@@Bakert112 theres nothing to get you just vomited random words 😂
Thank you! I was really annoyed after seeing only negative reviews. It almost felt like I was the only one who liked the show. This feels more like an honest balanced review.
I feel like the Netflix version kinda "expose" that maybe the story/world building are not what made the original show great.
It was the characters and the dialog that made us fall in love with it.
And non of that is present in the Netflix version, it has no "heart", it just goes for as many plot beats as possible while missing the point.
Which is exactly what made the One Piece adaptation so great, where they changed the characters significantly, but they still felt true to the spirit of the anime.
It's an ok show but pointless. It adds nothing to the story but takes away nuance.
I just can't get into this on principle. I hate this mindset that excellent animated series are all childish and can't be taken seriously unless they're made into live action.
The animation medium allows so much more magic and beauty into this fictional world that simply can not be translated into live action. Even done the very best it can be done, a certain magic and charm is lost in translation. The world, the bending, it pales in comparison to the look of it in animation.
I spent the first time two episodes wondering why does this need to exist? What purpose is this live action take fulfilling that wasn't available in the animated version? And why am I bothering to watch a less good version of a far superior animated show that already exists?
I wasnt a fan of this first live action season. I thought it was more a just fine. There were parts i thought were ok. It touched on what i loosely recalled from the show i saw years ago. But felt like something was missing.
I think for me one of the things i liked in this adaptation was the Zuko ep. Mostly because of the turn around of Zuko's troops finding a reason to respect him and Zuko finding a form of affection from his troops when he was doing the worst. I'm not sure if this moment was in the animated show, but i thought they did a good job in live action.
Maybe I would have enjoyed it had I watched this show without knowing about the original animated series. However, as a big fan of Avatar, I found this adaptation underwhelming. I understand the challenges of recreating a live-action version scene by scene, and I'm not anticipating an exact replica. Despite some changes, I loved the live-action adaptation of One Piece because its essence remained intact. In contrast, this adaptation altered some fundamental elements of both the story and characters.
Like what? Fundamental elements? You miss the pirates. You miss sucking on frogs. You miss jokes about sewing pants. What fundamental elements? Nothing to spoil it already is out now. I am genuinely curious what is fundamental to you.
@@Dryltd Bhumi's character is entirely different. In the original series, Aang runs away from his responsibilities he doesn’t want to be the avatar, whereas in this adaptation, he merely takes a "break" with Appa. Rather than demonstrating their traits through actions, the characters tend to tell instead of showIng. For instance, Aang explicitly states, "I am just a kid, I like to goof off and have fun." Additionally, unlike in the original series, Aang doesn't learn waterbending alongside Katara, which prevents the development of their bond throughout the show. In the previous series, the past Avatars served as guides, memories, and mentors, whereas in this adaptation, Kyoshi bullies him. This is just a quarter of the flaws I've mentioned and I need more paragraphs lol, and don’t start me with acting.
@@naveen.119 Bumi is better in Live Action. He acts like someone who lived through 100 years of war unlike the original where he acts like its just another day. Aang did run away you are factually wrong on that part. They didn't focus on him waterbending because it's 8 episodes and he is the avatar he will pick it up fast because he is "so naturally gifted". You know who said that. Third, were you expecting a one for one adaptation? That's wild. This isn't Japan. We don't do that in the USA. Good thing I have my DVDs. No one can take the original from me. I wanted to see something new. You might have wanted the old. But perfection can't be repeated.
@@Dryltd You asked about the differences, and I outlined some of them. While you may appreciate those changes, I personally do not. I urge you to rewatch, as Aang doesn't run away but rather takes a break with Appa. My point regarding Aang's waterbending training isn't solely about the training itself but rather the bond forged between him and Katara through it. Regarding Bhumi's character, I respectfully disagree with your perspective. He is the strongest earthbender, has wisdom like Iroh, and a member of White Lotus. It's implausible to me that such a wise figure would fail to comprehend that Aang isn't to blame for the war. As I said in my previous post I am not expecting a one for one adaption and gave you a live action one piece example which is an american adaption.
@@naveen.119 Bumi didn't blame Aang. Bumi was teaching. Also, blaming a show for not focusing on something the show never suggest is important is not evaluating the show. It's evaluation the meta. I'm also concerned how they will address this if they get a season 2 but that is not a fault of this season. That's my knowledge of the original show. You are clearly mixing the two in your evaluation. I don't. The show picked it's favored stories. The next creator 20 years from now will pick their favorites. I miss the pirates and frogs and Jeong. But I don't fault the show for never suggesting I should look for them. I evaluate it as presented.
that bad wigs really stand out.
Just let the great animated series be animated. This series was good but bad at the same time in certain areas. Like the casting for some characters was spot on, then with others it’s kinda trash like for Mai and Azula but really spot on with characters like Firelord Ozai and Sokka. But my main issue above all is the fact that the series at times feels way too rushed in certain areas like the whole meeting and encounters with Jet progressed so damn fast. The show either needed more episodes or they shoulda cut some of those storylines that they put in there
I hope you give the animated version a chance too just like what you gave the live adaptation. Watch the animated series after. 🙏
I largely agree with you, Dan. I loved the original show (which to be fair, also started slow), but I thought this was pretty good. Started kinda rocky, but got better and better as it went until I was really enjoying it by the end on its own merits. It isn't better than the original by a long shot, but it's respectable.
The power of friendship didn’t bring Aang back. I can see from the framing why it may come off that way but Princess Yue giving the moon spirit it’s energy back made the ocean spirit relax & give Aang’s physical body back
That was the event that spurred it, but the meaning behind it (sacrifice, love for your friends) is what I meant by that.
I mostly agree with you, I absolutely adore the original show is one of the major masterpieces of humanity.
First episode was BAD I mean really BAD.
Episode 2 was HUGE step up like you said.
From there I found it clever, you said it was cramming too much but I found the shows solution smart, you show beats of some episodes in the events of a single episode.
I still think Bumi should have followed the same line the show, the way they did it here I absolutely did not like. In the show he was playing Aang here he kust sounds bitter.
The spiritual world two parter did not bothered me, Aang needed that journey. Roku was not as huge as in the series and you don't get the feel that Roku failed.
The north pole is where I disagree. I don't know if its a time issue or a girlboss stuff but Katara and Aang not being trained took it from the characters. Also you didn't have time to feel the impact of everything.
Zuko could be more angered, by the end of the season he reached the spot.
Iroh and Sokka where the best parts and Sokka not being sexist was handled well, and maybe if he was he would come out as a jerk in this context.
Katara was vanished, on the show she shines so much more, she's confort, she's wise and here she's just there.
Aang was too depressing there was only 1 moment he was Aang and that's when he joke to Katara "They said I didn't pay attention, actually I don't know if they did, I didn't payed attention" that's Aang he is goofy and has this silly type of humor. His heart to heart with Zuko was also on spot, the only problem is that it lasted too long and Zuko trying to fight him multiple times felt too much and took it from the moment.
I think the shlw deserves to go foward, if they learned the lessons from the first season the next will be awesome.
Bring me Toph!
This show vs one piece clearly shows the difference in lack of original creators.
To each their own. I couldn't get through 3 episodes of One Piece
Totally agree
L take @@spydey2k
Some ppl hated one piece. I'm the biggest one piece fan but I enjoyed the last airbender more
@spydey2k @mr.prince8701 It may be not for you but stats don’t lie, look at critics scores and audience scores of these two shows.
I hope Toph is great in this next season.
I'm only half way through the first season, but I'd give what I've seen so far a B+.
I think the best part of the live action is surprisingly the changes they've made to the story. The way they weaved together different elements/episodes to make something new, yet recognizable, is very difficult to do. I think that alone is very commendable.
The actors playing Aang and Zuko definitely took their assignment seriously, Sokka and Katara are getting better, and the universe is so well executed.
There's a lot to like with this show, regardless of what some bitter fans may say.
I agree that it can be good as it's own thing, but I think if you continue watching the animated show you'll see how many of the things you liked about this show actually came from the original. I disagree about the binge model in this case though, because they've squashed several things together it contributed to it feeling rushed.
They've also taken things from later seasons which in some circumstances makes sense but it means that they aren't focusing on book 1, and are leaving out more than might have been necessary (this is an ongoing problem with the shorter season model IMO)... I actually want all 3 seasons of this show so that we can see what they've put together overall and whether it really works on it's own.
Anything was going to be better than the movie we don't speak of, but I really like how it shows us scenes that we never saw in the original, like the raid on the air temple.