alchemicink (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alchemicink) wrote2024-02-29 08:59 pm
alchemicink) wrote2024-02-29 08:59 pm
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Live action Avatar the Last Airbender review
I thought about writing a full, professional-esque review of Netflix's new live action Avatar the Last Airbender series. But then I decided I am simply too tired for that (also I did not take notes while watching 😅)
So I thought I'd just write a bulletpoint list of thoughts instead... which still ended up being incredibly wordy anyway. So this is basically a full review after all 😂
Beware! Lots of spoilers ahead if you haven't watched yet!
☆ The first episode was a bit rough
I felt like the acting, particularly with the younger cast (and Gran Gran), made the first episode a bit difficult to get into. Shoehorning in the opening narration from the animated series didn't help any either, as anyone who's watched the animated series is going to automatically compare it to the original voice over. And another problem: honestly, you can tell when they're filming on greenscreens.
But I do think it gets much better as the series progresses. You can tell the actors feel a bit more comfortable in their roles as the story moves forward. After the first episode, I didn't feel like it was distracting at all, and I was more engaged with the story to notice the greenscreens (or whatever the technical term is)
☆ I liked the added scenes we didn't get in the original animated series
I thought it was a nice idea to show what Azula was doing back in the Fire Nation. If this version ends up getting more seasons, her character is now already well-established with her ambitions and motivation, so they won't need to spend time building that up from scratch.
The added scene of Lu Ten's funeral (💔) also did a good job of showing Iroh and Ozai's relationship along with Iroh and Zuko's.
As for the scenes of the Air Nomads getting attacked... I can't decide how I feel about having to see that onscreen. But that goes along with my next point...
☆ The emphasis on war was a good choice
I think it's easy to forget sometimes in the original series that this is a world at war. Not entirely, of course. But there are plenty of moments, especially in season one, when you only focus on the Gaang, and you temporarily forget that there's a war happening and affecting everyone else.
So I liked that this series added a few small parts that really showed how others were being affected by the war. Like the Earth Kingdom soldier who told Iroh what it was like on the other side of the wall during the seige of Ba Sing Se. And the brief resistance movement that tried to get to the Fire Lord. (Too bad that didn't work out for them.) Even Jet gets to share a little more of his backstory here than he ever does in the original. And conversely, June the Bounty Hunter gets a moment to talk about how she benefits from war.
Yeah, all these moments do bring the tone down to a little less optimistic one than the original had, but I think it's an understandable tradeoff. The world has been 100 years without hope, and you really feel it in this version.
(And so many people get burned alive in this version, that it was never going to be as exactly funny and cheerful as the original 😬)
☆ Combining arcs in Omashu wasn't bad, even though Bumi was weird
I really enjoyed the choice to include Jet and the Mechanist storylines in Omashu, mostly because it meant that I didn't know exactly what was going to happen next during those two episodes. Even including the tunnels under Omashu (from the beginning of season two) was nice too. I think that whole part of the story worked pretty well, in terms of keeping it interesting and also emphasizing, again, the effects of war.
I did not, however, enjoy this version of Bumi. (Gotta be honest, I don't really care for the animated version much either.) I don't mind changes, but his characterization just seemed so off that he felt unrecognizable. I don't know... it just didn't vibe as well as the other changes.
I did love his stupid giant hat tho 😀
☆ Suki!!!
I don't have anything profound to say here. I just really love Suki in any version. The actor portraying her was lovely, and I think the makeup looks cool in real life.
☆ Concerns about cutting out the sexism were overblown
Before the live action series came out, there was an interview where they mentioned cutting out the sexist moments from Sokka. A lot of people took offense to that idea because "it's integral to his character arc" in the original series.
Did we watch the same show? Sokka is kinda annoyingly sexist towards women when he's first introduced in the cartoon, but Suki beats that out of him in episode 4 (of a 60 episode series) and it's never an issue again. I'd argue that his bigger character arc is figuring out how to function as a leader and fill his dad's shoes.
And that's exactly what they focused on in the live action version. So changing a few of his actions in the earliest parts of the series didn't really make a difference.
And, for the record, this version does keep the sexist attitudes about women fighters when they get to the Northern Water Tribe. (Does it handle it well? Uh... your mileage may vary. But it is there!)
☆ Katara is the one who suffers from lack of a character arc
While Sokka gets moments to develop his struggles with trying to live up to leadership expectations, Katara's main focus is learning waterbending. We do get to see that a few times as they're traveling, but not often and not really anything compelling. By the time she reaches the North, she's just a prodigy I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To be fair, I interpret her main arc in the cartoon is about grief and not really her bending skills, but it's not touched on very often there either.
☆ The spirit world detour was interesting but took too long
I can understand consolidating storylines, but Aang's various detours before rescuing Katara and Sokka (and the others) from Koh took way too long! I knew the spirit wouldn't eat them, but dang, he totally had time for it.
Koh being voiced by George Takei, however, was an excellent choice though.
The other thing I enjoyed about the spirit world stuff was that it felt reminiscent of one of my favorite episodes from the cartoon: "The Swamp." I feel like if they do a season 2, they'd probably cut that, so I appreciated the inclusion here instead.
☆ Loved the whole Blue Spirit arc
10/10. No notes.
☆ Did not really care about the stuff at the Northern Water Tribe
But I also didn't really care about it in the original version either. In this version, Aang getting a vision of the destruction beforehand really ruins the narrative tension, because you already know what's going to happen. (Even if you hadn't seen the show before.)
Zhao's death is also less satisfying in this version. Poetic justice would be letting the eldritch ocean spirit drown him!
I thought Yue was fine, but some of the changes to her character felt a little off like Bumi too.
☆ The 41st!
I can't remember now if the 41st Division being Zuko's crew is explicitly stated in the original series (I don't think it is). But I did really like that reveal here. They may not like being at sea, but at least they weren't massacred in battle thanks to Zuko!
It doesn't excuse Zuko's snappy behavior to everyone, but also... Zuko is a grouchy, traumatized teenager. So... it is what it is.
Lastly...
☆ One last goodbye to Gyatso
Maybe a controversial(?) opinion, but I liked that Aang was able to speak with his old friend one last time, even though it was briefly and in the spirit world.
He never gets this chance in the cartoon, and understandably so because people don't get to speak to the dead. Part of Aang's story in that version is moving past his denial/deflection and taking responsibility for what he needs to do. Speaking to Gyatso wouldn't have helped with that.
But Aang in this version is more openly weighed down with the guilt of not being there for his people. He's a lot more openly sad in this version. And I don't think anyone else was going to remind him to let go of that guilt. So I think he deserved a quick magical chat with Gyatso in this version.
(Also, I just liked the Gyatso actor and was happy to see him again.)
Anyway, that's my review. Despite a few missteps, I was thoroughly entertained while watching. It's not 100 percent like the original animated series, but it's not supposed to be! So I liked it 😊 even if many other people didn't.
Feel free to share your own thoughts about the series too! (Even if you disagree with mine)
So I thought I'd just write a bulletpoint list of thoughts instead... which still ended up being incredibly wordy anyway. So this is basically a full review after all 😂
Beware! Lots of spoilers ahead if you haven't watched yet!
☆ The first episode was a bit rough
I felt like the acting, particularly with the younger cast (and Gran Gran), made the first episode a bit difficult to get into. Shoehorning in the opening narration from the animated series didn't help any either, as anyone who's watched the animated series is going to automatically compare it to the original voice over. And another problem: honestly, you can tell when they're filming on greenscreens.
But I do think it gets much better as the series progresses. You can tell the actors feel a bit more comfortable in their roles as the story moves forward. After the first episode, I didn't feel like it was distracting at all, and I was more engaged with the story to notice the greenscreens (or whatever the technical term is)
☆ I liked the added scenes we didn't get in the original animated series
I thought it was a nice idea to show what Azula was doing back in the Fire Nation. If this version ends up getting more seasons, her character is now already well-established with her ambitions and motivation, so they won't need to spend time building that up from scratch.
The added scene of Lu Ten's funeral (💔) also did a good job of showing Iroh and Ozai's relationship along with Iroh and Zuko's.
As for the scenes of the Air Nomads getting attacked... I can't decide how I feel about having to see that onscreen. But that goes along with my next point...
☆ The emphasis on war was a good choice
I think it's easy to forget sometimes in the original series that this is a world at war. Not entirely, of course. But there are plenty of moments, especially in season one, when you only focus on the Gaang, and you temporarily forget that there's a war happening and affecting everyone else.
So I liked that this series added a few small parts that really showed how others were being affected by the war. Like the Earth Kingdom soldier who told Iroh what it was like on the other side of the wall during the seige of Ba Sing Se. And the brief resistance movement that tried to get to the Fire Lord. (Too bad that didn't work out for them.) Even Jet gets to share a little more of his backstory here than he ever does in the original. And conversely, June the Bounty Hunter gets a moment to talk about how she benefits from war.
Yeah, all these moments do bring the tone down to a little less optimistic one than the original had, but I think it's an understandable tradeoff. The world has been 100 years without hope, and you really feel it in this version.
(And so many people get burned alive in this version, that it was never going to be as exactly funny and cheerful as the original 😬)
☆ Combining arcs in Omashu wasn't bad, even though Bumi was weird
I really enjoyed the choice to include Jet and the Mechanist storylines in Omashu, mostly because it meant that I didn't know exactly what was going to happen next during those two episodes. Even including the tunnels under Omashu (from the beginning of season two) was nice too. I think that whole part of the story worked pretty well, in terms of keeping it interesting and also emphasizing, again, the effects of war.
I did not, however, enjoy this version of Bumi. (Gotta be honest, I don't really care for the animated version much either.) I don't mind changes, but his characterization just seemed so off that he felt unrecognizable. I don't know... it just didn't vibe as well as the other changes.
I did love his stupid giant hat tho 😀
☆ Suki!!!
I don't have anything profound to say here. I just really love Suki in any version. The actor portraying her was lovely, and I think the makeup looks cool in real life.
☆ Concerns about cutting out the sexism were overblown
Before the live action series came out, there was an interview where they mentioned cutting out the sexist moments from Sokka. A lot of people took offense to that idea because "it's integral to his character arc" in the original series.
Did we watch the same show? Sokka is kinda annoyingly sexist towards women when he's first introduced in the cartoon, but Suki beats that out of him in episode 4 (of a 60 episode series) and it's never an issue again. I'd argue that his bigger character arc is figuring out how to function as a leader and fill his dad's shoes.
And that's exactly what they focused on in the live action version. So changing a few of his actions in the earliest parts of the series didn't really make a difference.
And, for the record, this version does keep the sexist attitudes about women fighters when they get to the Northern Water Tribe. (Does it handle it well? Uh... your mileage may vary. But it is there!)
☆ Katara is the one who suffers from lack of a character arc
While Sokka gets moments to develop his struggles with trying to live up to leadership expectations, Katara's main focus is learning waterbending. We do get to see that a few times as they're traveling, but not often and not really anything compelling. By the time she reaches the North, she's just a prodigy I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To be fair, I interpret her main arc in the cartoon is about grief and not really her bending skills, but it's not touched on very often there either.
☆ The spirit world detour was interesting but took too long
I can understand consolidating storylines, but Aang's various detours before rescuing Katara and Sokka (and the others) from Koh took way too long! I knew the spirit wouldn't eat them, but dang, he totally had time for it.
Koh being voiced by George Takei, however, was an excellent choice though.
The other thing I enjoyed about the spirit world stuff was that it felt reminiscent of one of my favorite episodes from the cartoon: "The Swamp." I feel like if they do a season 2, they'd probably cut that, so I appreciated the inclusion here instead.
☆ Loved the whole Blue Spirit arc
10/10. No notes.
☆ Did not really care about the stuff at the Northern Water Tribe
But I also didn't really care about it in the original version either. In this version, Aang getting a vision of the destruction beforehand really ruins the narrative tension, because you already know what's going to happen. (Even if you hadn't seen the show before.)
Zhao's death is also less satisfying in this version. Poetic justice would be letting the eldritch ocean spirit drown him!
I thought Yue was fine, but some of the changes to her character felt a little off like Bumi too.
☆ The 41st!
I can't remember now if the 41st Division being Zuko's crew is explicitly stated in the original series (I don't think it is). But I did really like that reveal here. They may not like being at sea, but at least they weren't massacred in battle thanks to Zuko!
It doesn't excuse Zuko's snappy behavior to everyone, but also... Zuko is a grouchy, traumatized teenager. So... it is what it is.
Lastly...
☆ One last goodbye to Gyatso
Maybe a controversial(?) opinion, but I liked that Aang was able to speak with his old friend one last time, even though it was briefly and in the spirit world.
He never gets this chance in the cartoon, and understandably so because people don't get to speak to the dead. Part of Aang's story in that version is moving past his denial/deflection and taking responsibility for what he needs to do. Speaking to Gyatso wouldn't have helped with that.
But Aang in this version is more openly weighed down with the guilt of not being there for his people. He's a lot more openly sad in this version. And I don't think anyone else was going to remind him to let go of that guilt. So I think he deserved a quick magical chat with Gyatso in this version.
(Also, I just liked the Gyatso actor and was happy to see him again.)
Anyway, that's my review. Despite a few missteps, I was thoroughly entertained while watching. It's not 100 percent like the original animated series, but it's not supposed to be! So I liked it 😊 even if many other people didn't.
Feel free to share your own thoughts about the series too! (Even if you disagree with mine)
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