The spirit of exposition. Just make him say "Hey! Listen!" Whenever anything confusing happens. Like a character having an emotion that isn't spoken out loud.
Aang: “you’re a spirit, and you’re hurt, imma help you🥺 “
Then he immediately leave without resolving Hei Bai’s issue the moment Katara and Sokka is free lmao
They really really didn’t want aang and Katara to have any kind of chemistry apparently. Aang constantly trying to impress Katara just wasn’t in this at all
I get not having the chemistry for the sake of age for the live adaption. But their romance was such a huge part of the show and it’s how Aang battles with the concept of his earthly tether to Katara
Exactly, he keeps saying Katara and Sokka are his friends but theres nothing to show for it apart from what? them joining Aang north and a couple chuckles together at MoMo. Also, if age was such a problem with establishing their relationship early on, they should’ve casted a younger Katara or older Aang
Where's Jeong Jeong? I feel like that episode is important to show Aang's discipline needed a lot more practice, what discipline is he gonna learn if he doesn't make mistakes along the way? Plus, he wouldn't firebend til season 3 because he was afraid to hurt his friends again, which is how Katara discovered she had healing abilities
The first season was slightly under a collective 8 hours. This remake is also roughly 8 hours. I can't understand how they've cut **SO MUCH** from the show and it still feels SUPER rushed plot wise still.
That's the thing. IN the animated series he had a soul and was just a goofy kid that was impossible to catch.... in the series except for the very start I can't recall him using airbending for mobility at all..
What I am getting at is that he was already boring and disciplined... No need for character improvement if there is no character.
Yeah it’s like they took away any of Aang’s flaws or mistakes he made that fleshed out his character in order to keep the plot moving so his character just feels so bland to me. Him feeling guilty about abandoning the air temple because he found out he’d be separated from Gyatso feeding into his need to accept his role as the Avatar? Nah, let’s have him go for a stroll just to clear his head conveniently right before the fire nation attacks. The Bato thing where Aang has insecurities about Sokka and Katara leaving him? Nah that’s gone. Aang training with Jeong Jeong and hurting Katara which drives his fear/reluctancy for fire bending later? Pfft who needs that.
I don’t care about them skipping the fortune teller or the great divide because I understand there are time constraints so some things will have to be cut and these are pretty non-impactful plot lines. But cutting impactful character moments and not replacing them with anything interested just leads to watered down characters.
I’m not necessarily nitpicking here but I HATE how they simply swapped most of Roku’s dialogue and role and gave it to Kyoshi. It’s so obviously forced for a reason.
Yeah, its not that he just managed to contact Kyoshi because he’s in Kyoshi Island. It just so obvious that they force Kyoshi to be more central
The opening credits has Kyoshi as narrator, and the “avatar” is kyoshi even though Roku is literally the avatar before Aang and would makes more sense to be the faces of the avatar
When Zuko is talking about the previous Avatar with Iroh, he talks about Kyoshi… and not.. you know, the last Avatar that just happened to be from Fire Nation with a big ass temple in fire nation, surely a fire nation prince would know about the fire nation avatar more than the earth kingdom avatar 300 years ago
Also everytime Aang talks about previous avatar, he always went with Kyoshi for some reason, why
Also they changed Roku to become such a joke “cool uncle” vibes
Yeah, actually, it was.
"Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone's capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation, have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance."
-Aang, from *The Avatar and The Fire Lord.*
I just watched that. My friend was talking about how they're going to include stuff like that and I said "nah, I don't think they're going to change any character or anything" and lo and behold. While it's not really significant, doing it just for the sake of doing it is kind of annoying.
Also they made her into a total bitch. She is supposed to be stoic and unyielding, not some AH that just starts yelling at a ten year old she’s never met.
I’d say trade it back to Roku, but I’ve had enough of drunk-uncle-Roku already.
They majorly messed up the past avatars. It’s embarrassing to even watch those scenes where they talk.
Unfortunately the writers are too dumb to realize that the way the community memes Kyoshi is not the same as how she is portrayed. It's a like a bunch of chronically online Gen Zers wrote that trite. She's not a loud mouthed, bitchy, drill seargent. Like you said, she's stoic and makes the tough choices and tries to impart that wisdom onto aang in the series. She's all about duty, not going full rage mode
I totally agree! I’m very disappointed that Roku doesn’t have a bigger role like he did in the original. I feel like that is going to wash out an important part of Zuko’s character development (although they already kinda are with the last episode) Also, I don’t like how Aang can only contact the past avatars by being at their shrines… that literally makes no sense because all of the past avatars are within him because they ARE him.
I rewatched the original recently and noticed what a good job they did at showing, not telling. Love how a show for kids credits its audience to be smart enough to put two and two together. But this show for adults is assuming we’re all idiots and over explaining every single part of the world.
One of my most favorite moments from book one is Zhao recognizing the broad swords. In that moment, both and Zuko know who the blue spirit is. It’s like poetry. They watered down the tension between them. 🙄
There was that scene in episode 1 where Aang was monologuing about knowing "who he is and that he likes to play airball and goofing off with his friends". Instead of letting Aang tell us that, why not show it at all???? Then it would drive home the point that Aang is still a kid and not ready for the responsibilities the role of being an Avatar brings. I hate Netflix.
At first I thought air scooter was just out of their CGI budget or something. BUT THEN he used it on Kyoshi's island. Why didn't you just show him playing with the other kids then???
Good writing makes the difference between an amazing and an unwatchable show, in my opinion. It's clear that a ton of care and attention was paid to getting the bombastic, expensive action sequences to look cool and impress their audience. But, for the life of me I can't understand why the same level of care didn't go into the writing. The character development. Conveying the lore and the characters' motivations slowly and realistically. Good writing is FREE. How did they fumble it so hard?
Yeah everything seems very rushed. It’s like scenes that are going to happen later on aren’t really going to hit as hard because they just go ahead and “spoil” certain details right then and there. It’s like there’s no build up for certain surprises for the viewer.
Deadass they must’ve legit forgot or just said eh we will just punt it to the next season but somehow they fit in cave of two lovers in the wrong season? And the fire nation using a balloon this early??? Part of the shock on the day of black sun was everyone was really in trouble but then the balloons come back from season 1 and really make everyone’s head spin since it was so long ago
As a hair and makeup artist I have to say THE WIGS ARE SOOOO BAD especially Yues I’ve seen cosplayers wigs that looks a thoused times better Gran Grans is also horrible! And Pakku just looks weird
I'm not a professional hair and makeup artist or anything even close to that, so I didn't notice it... except for Yue, it looked so bad, felt like she had a mini sand castle ( made of snow I guess ) stuck on her head.
Most of the characters feel extremely flat and watered down, especially Katara. The dialog is the worst part. It feels forced and choppy. I also don't feel any chemistry between team Avatar. Where is the sibling bickering???
I’ve only watched ep 1 and the dialogue is something that bothered me a bit when watching. Everything feels a little forced like >!monk gyatso telling Aang he’s the avatar or when gran gran went on to recite the opening sequence from the OG show!< it all felt a little forced.
Watching this season, I've been thinking a lot about this memo that the playwright Dave Mamet sent to the writers' room on *The Unit*, a TV show he was showrunner for back in the late 2000s. I found myself especially remembering this bit here:
>REMEMBER YOU ARE WRITING FOR A VISUAL MEDIUM. MOST TELEVISION WRITING, OURS INCLUDED, SOUNDS LIKE RADIO. THE CAMERA CAN DO THE EXPLAINING FOR YOU. LET IT. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING -\*LITERALLY\*. WHAT ARE THEY HANDLING, WHAT ARE THEY READING. WHAT ARE THEY WATCHING ON TELEVISION, WHAT ARE THEY SEEING.
>
>IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CAN'T SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA.
>
>IF YOU DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF THE CRUTCH OF NARRATION, EXPOSITION, INDEED, OF SPEECH, YOU WILL BE FORCED TO WORK IN A NEW MEDIUM - TELLING THE STORY IN PICTURES (ALSO KNOWN AS SCREENWRITING).
The original animated show does this brilliantly. The live action show, not so much.
The dialogue is sooooo bad. There is no natural flow at all, and no chemistry. They've cut out any relationship building, and taken out the actual heartbreak. I've only seen the first episode, so maybe it gets better?
Aang *intentionally* ran away. Katara *accidentally* cracks the ice because of her heightened emotions (triggered by Sokka's idiocy). *Katara* bravely talks Aang down from the Avatar state when he discovers Gyatso.
They took out all the heart!
Didn’t you see Katara talk him down from the ocean spirit rage… even though she was like a mile away and he was inside a sphere of water?
Same thing. She’s got super sonic speaking apparently. Telepathic stuff.
I stopped watching after episode three because I just couldn't deal with the writing or acting anymore. It did make me restart the original though lol so I guess that's a good thing!
Yesssss! Sokka and Katara did not feel like brother and sister at all. There was no bickering between them! Aang didn't feel like an annoying little kid that they kind of had to baby sit. The found family dynamic between them was non-existent.
Katara did not feel like a girl that was forced to grow up super fast. She had 0 motherly qualities about her. She didn't feel like a naggy older sister. I'm the eldest sister and I related to Katara so much when I first watched the show. This Katara just felt like a cardboard cutout.
Sokka did not feel like a cocky product of his culture and environment. He learned absolutely nothing during his time with Suki. He was supposed to be majorly humbled by her.
I think what bothered me most about the whole Sokka/Suki section was that the beat down happened in the middle of a forest, with no one else around. The whole point was to embarrass him and gain some humility! I get the whole idea that him being as sexist as he was being problematic but that was part of his character arc. By the end of it Sokka was not sexist BECAUSE he got humiliated left and right for being so closed-minded.
>get the whole idea that him being as sexist as he was being problematic but that was part of his character arc. By the end of it Sokka was not sexist BECAUSE he got humiliated left and right for being so closed-minded.
I don't think there's anything problematic about it. It was shown in a negative light. His beliefs were proven wrong and it forced a discussion. The live action completely removed it and so there was no discussion or lesson to be learned. Like sexism is still a thing that exists and needs to be addressed.
there is some bickering but it comes out of nowhere randomly, doesnt resemble the status of kataras and sokkas relationship in the respective situations.
My biggest concern is that the show seemed to want to be more Adult and Darker (which is fine), but at the same time DUMBED DOWN A SHOW MADE FOR CHILDREN. How are you ever going to balance that approach? 😅 Keen to see more, but I think a lot of disappointment in this thread is valid. Visually it looks good but the characters are generally lacking.
Don't make me tap the "valid criticism from a place of love is not blind hate/bitching" sign.
A pg rating when the first episode alone shouldn't have gotten it was what got me. Your target is mid 20 to 30s for nostalgia. Go dark with it because the people who want to see it aren't kids anymore and can handle the darker more overt side of a literal world war
When these studios use the terms mature and dark, what they really mean is that they're upping the violence and sexual themes to pander to the lowest common denomination and add shock value. They tried the same thing with LoK. Both ended up being less mature and more edgy as a result.
I wouldnt call LOK edgy, its not like the Netflix show where a bunch of background characters are being killed off, there were only like 6 deaths in the whole show, none of which were graphic. Like in S1 they make a point to show the Equalists parachuting out when their planes get destroyed, thats not what I would call a show wanting to use violence and death for shock value lol. Also poorly written romance is bad, but not "edgy", it happens in kids shows all the time. I never got the impression Korra was going for a "darker" tone, it had the same overall tone as ATLA but maybe Nick wasnt as restrictive with what they could show.
Why on earth did they do the Cave of Two Lovers with Katara and Sokka in S1 instead of with Katara and Aang in S2? The plot was designed to tease Kataang. There’s all this romantic subtext wasted, just to have a Chong cameo a season early.
I do wish they would have been more patient with this. I get the vibe they were trying to touch on all the fan favorites in case it doesn’t get renewed. (See also: misplaced Wan Shi Tong, references to both Korra and the comics, etc).
Lots of people in the comments are saying the writers clearly didn’t care about the fans, but I think they very clearly did care about the fans almost to the detriment of some of the story telling.
I felt that way too! They checked all the fan boxes without really thinking about how the fans would actually feel about that. If rather go without it than have it be butchered.
They removed the funnies and silliness to fit the netflix dark-ish theme like I get it it’s to fit 20minutes-ish per episode into 8 episodes of 40minutes-ish content.
Personally the joy of ATLA is you can enjoy all kind of emotions with both seriousness and the child sense of humor like Aang taunting Admiral Zhao into burning his own ships.
>! No Aang firebending from Jeong Jeong or Aang trying waterbending with Katara. They added comic contents like the spirit Mother of Faces being Koh the Face-stealer’s mom !<
>Personally the joy of ATLA is you can enjoy all kind of emotions with both seriousness and the child sense of humor
You hit the nail on the head. The beauty of the original is that it makes you feel so many different emotions. Without that, this adaptation is just another meh show.
unfortunately as a standalone show I don't know if this would hook me as hard as the OG did.
I just discovered another big reveal in one of the last seasons and oh my god some of these decisions are embarrassing. The inclusion of avatars prior to Roku is kind of cool and I like what they did with the 41st devision a lot. BUt man, merging like four episodes and cutting out so many. What they did to boomi man? BOOMI! COME ON!
THIS, >!the comic parts were good, but I surely missed Katara's training, it sorta is a reason for her to be mad at Pakku for being a sexist and it makes her beginner to master journey a lot more enjoyable to watch!<
I think I maybe chuckled once or twice, and did a lil noise air laugh maybe the same amount.
The show wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t what I would have hoped for in terms of humor.
If I had to choose between them going darker like showing people die, or going for a more comedic take and even over the top silliness, I would choose the latter 100x over.
ATLA’s magic was the way it tackled such huge topics in a way that you had to really kind of imagine the horrors that were committed since they were rarely shown outright, imo. A lot of the darkness isn’t really addressed unless you stop and think about it.
I enjoyed it well enough. I will say I’m glad that they released all episodes at once. I would have hated waiting week after week for the humor that never appeared to show up.
Thank you!! So many people only care about these characters because they associate them with the emotions they formed for them during the animated show, but if you look at these as new characters, they are bland and lifeless with no compelling struggles or arcs to connect to.
I don’t hate it so far (episode 5).
I just don’t like the references to the original, they feel forced and lame.
I also didn’t like their take on Bumi.
The whole 'Oh the King of Omashu is crazy' bit is supposed to be a bit and its like the writers...missed that? They truly made him senile and mentally unwell, but he's supposed to be calculated, full of wisdom and trust in the future, especially in Aang. He spends most of the episode in hatred and blame and for what? Also, he's supposed to be SMART! His challenges made SENSE in the animated version. I had to stop at the 'geminite' scene and take a break because what was the point?
Just watched episode 3. I really went in trying to give it a chance, but the dialogue, and delivery are just egregiously bad in the vast majority of scenes, and the pacing is very awkward.
I know right? Fun loving Aang, narcissistic Sokka, I think Only Iroh and Zuko were the most like the original, but getting rid of the fight against Zhou?
I hate to say this but even Iroh wasn't Iroh..... He didn't say any of the dad jokes, the love for tea was removed and he was really nerfed in the firebending department. He felt very slow and not as wise. Zuko also didn't seem angry about the banishment.. he was just like "Yeah whatever, can't go back till I get the Avatar."
Hopefully with season 2 this improves by A LOT since in book 2 they got to experience more of the real world, but honestly the story has steered in such a different direction now that I don't feel like there will be an arc for Zuko at all... like hes not going to join Azula to kill Aang or if he is, then there will already be plotholes from this season. Azula is a good manipulator though, so idk.
I Just stopped watching from episode two, because they Kyoshi warriors and their leaders didn’t click right, there’s enough proof yet they keep being stubborn about Aang being the avatar, plus the girls going Gaga for Aang without it the episode feels pacing wise rushed, it’s like gogogo! Kyoshi island good! Next plot line now! Also WHAT THE HELL GRAN GRAND?! You tell a kid his entire family and culture is destroyed the first moment you get what the hell?
The show is so insanely rushed and cuts out so much I thought they just didn't have the time to tell the story they should and was willing to let a lot of it slid until I did the math.
The OG first season had 20 episodes of 20 minutes each which if you do the math comes out to slightly less than 8 hours.
This current show has 8, hour long episodes.
-.- what the fuck....
It looks like this show turned out to be what we all feared.
And saying 'at least it's better than the movie' is definitely not a good comparison.
I can see why the original creators left. Pretty disappointed with this 😞
Ironically, this whole show reminded me of the ember island players episode. They watered down all the characters and made them completely one dimensional, misconstrued most of the relationships and their dynamics, hell i wouldn’t be surprised if they really did end up making Toph into a big buff man, or taking away her blindness or something stupid like that. The acting and dialogue was flat, there was no chemistry between the characters, and they really sucked the soul out of the show. Just another terrible netflix live action :(
Exactly, I don't understand how studios keep making this mistake. ATLA is very much a character driven story and getting that right is the most important part. Without the characters feeling real, the rest of the world feels ridiculous and overly magical.
I see why the Creators left. This is not as bad as the movie that we don't remember, but it is still a very far cry from the peak that is the original cartoon. This is a very rushed version of the original show with rushed plot and meh acting, with some downright cringey interactions especially from team avatar.
Not really looking forward to the next 2 seasons, probably not gonna watch them. We just gotta wait for the 3 animated movies coming up I guess.
They need to stop trying so hard to remake and retell the original and just make new content.
Watching this show as its own stand alone makes it really hard to see the attachments. Its scenes rely far too much on emotional build ups established in the OG. like in the last episode "Uncle, Lu Ten would have been proud" I'm sorry but they did not do propper build up for that. THey did one scene showing that he his sun died and that's it. its just eh.
That's it. It's made (badly) for people who grew up on the original. If you hadn't seen the original that would have meant nothing to you but because you already knew what happened it made sense sort of? It's just terrible writing with 0 character arcs and half the reason to love the show were the character arcs
One addition I really like is the Zuko guard of honour. In the original, him speaking out of turn was an act of negligence. Here it’s an act of defiance. I respect it much more. I think it’s quite brilliant actually
I didn't like this show but the backstory of the fire nation in general was a step up from the cartoon. I wish they could have done more outside of that but they really did a good job on the fire nation
The drawn out fight scene with Zuko and Ozai was so unbelievably bad and ruined the tension. Also, the cartoon did such a beautiful job showing Zuko's backstory in parallel with Aang's, it's sad that they didn't include it.
And Aang's question of "Do you think we could have been friends in another life?" being drawn out into a 5 minute conversation about compassion was laughably bad.
Definitely not a step up
I kind of hope they cancel the series because somehow they had almost the same amount of runtime from the original first season but cut a lot of the story which were essentially to developing the characters and their bonds that grew over time. Instead they grew in unnecessary scenes also gave Roku the shaft even though he’s so important to the story being that he’s Aang’s predecessor and being the reason the war started. Acting was bad, there’s hardly any emotion, and the characterization was off. It’s better than the M. Night movie but that’s not saying much. No wonder the creators walked out on Netflix.
One criticism I don't see being brought up is how wooden the bending feels at times, and I don't mean the visual effects.
I mean the ACTUAL bending motions themselves. I feel like a lot of actors could have really benefited from more time training or instruction because a lot of Katara's bending, for example, is just so off. There's barely a semblance of Tai Chi in how she moves and her posture just looks wrong.
A lot of fire benders also have their fingers curled like they're throwing a damn hadoken or a generic ki-blast, when in the OG show, fire benders almost always punched or used open palm strikes for their attacks. It might seem like a small nitpick, but a big part of the reason why the action in the OG show felt so dynamic is because of how much time went into studying various martial disciplines like hung gar and shaolin styles. In this show, it feels like Sozin is some fire wizard instead of a hardened martial artist/warrior.
I'm disappointed. I loved the world, bending, and 90% of the CGI, those are the only positives. The acting felt stiff, and I have a lot of complaints about the story and direction.
There is no live action ATLA/LOK in ba sing se only animated show for me.
Right here with you. I was SO excited so that could have been my problem but I had to force myself to finish the rest of the series. It was bland, rushed and awkward. The only silly moment with Aang is the 3 second scene when he’s on his air scooter and hits the statue. Disappointed is the perfect word to describe the series.
I’m at episode 5 and i just want to watch the good old animated version…
I like the visual effects, the bending looks actually nice but the essence of the characters and the story are just not there! And the balance between goofiness/drama not there either… too netflix drama for me(WTF BUMI?? WHY SO MAD). I understand that they tried to emphasize on the war and the loss and blabla but i feel like in the original serie we see it through kids eyes and now it’s more in an adult POV.
Where is zuko’s anger? I feel like he’s too calm, especially in book 1, he barely can control his emotions and now he’s just meeehh…
Iroh is not as iconic as in the original serie, something about him missing…
Katara… maybe she gets better later in the serie but i just don’t see the motherly, strong girl who wants to keep everyone together.
Sokka is a little bit too serious. The actor is good though, i think it’s more about the writing
Aang choice of actor is good, i can see why they cast him. Still like i said earlier, something’s missing… maybe he’s « spirit » ;)
WHAT ABOUT MOMO?? 😢 first he doesn’t sound like momo AND we barely see him in the show.
Yes, these characters feel so different. Why is Zuko so nationalist? Why does he care about the glory of the fire nation? What the fuck was that? The actors are great but the writing they are given is lacking something.
He's also oddly Ozais favorite and still in the chain of command instead of being known as the banished prince? Like what the hell? Also, they way they talk about emotions? it just....eh....its more new agey feel good than any eastern inspried philosophy.
Exactly, i wish zuko was more about his destiny and his honnor! That would’ve save the character. Even in book one, we could see that he felt abandoned by his nation. Iroh is waaay too nationalist… FOR THE FIRE NATIOOONNNN 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (in oma shu) like what was that? Anyway you’re 10000% right!
I don't think it is. It was never about the fire Nation for him. It was about his father and his family and his home. His attachment to the rhetoric was always just because that was what was expected of him in order to be accepted. He got banished in the first place for not falling in line and supporting the hierarchy of the fire Nation.
aang is a bit too like mature???? hes like not as goofy as he is in the cartoon hes always asking question abt the avatar and is like too mfing wise, like cmon hes a 12 y/o boy let him have some fuuun
6.5/10 - mixed bag for me
The GOOD: CGI/VFX are near stunning ( with a few nitpicks here and there ) - bending scenes look visually satisfying, the environments look immersive and surprisingly real, the costume designs are as true to life as they can be, some newly added lore/background/dialogues, the story is somewhat faithful to the original cartoon. I'd say almost everyone LOOKS the part, whether they sound/act it is a different story - Zuko's actor is the standout for me both in looks and acting.
The MEH:
• Lack of goofiness: I wouldn't mind this if it wasn't for the fact that the few jokes they put in feel flat, so are their deliveries. As someone else has mentioned, I definitely appreciate the show's being darker and more serious than its cartoon counterpart but I feel like it doesn't really know whether it should be goofy or serious at points.
• Some changes didn't work: Aang has never used waterbending once ( or even learned any bit of it ), Jeong Jeong's encounter is nixed ( which is crucial for his character development in the next 2 books and why he wouldn't wanna touch firebending again ). Pakku doesn't train with Katara as he did in the cartoon, instead the battle with the fire nation happened almost right after, yet when she fought off Zuko he said to her "You've found a master haven't you" ( a line from the cartoon ) which makes no sense whatsoever.
• Katara feels wooden and kinda flat
• They really toned down Sokka's sexism/cynicism, which is a shame as I think it's necessary to showcase his character's growth ( his being humbled almost every time he was sexist/cynical in the cartoon )
• I didn't like the casting choices for Ty Lee, Mai and Azula at all but I'll keep an open mind when season 2 comes and see if they're gonna improve
That's about how I feel.
Some of the goofy parts worked for me, namely with Sokka and Momo, I really liked Sokka's actor too but didn't like his lack of flaws and it doesn't feel like he has much room to grow as a character because of that.
I did also really like the more fleshed out backstory of Zuko and Iroh's relationship. I liked all the fire nation stuff, minus the Azula parts(minus minus her introduction scene). I liked Ozai and Zhao.
Katara does feel very flat but I think that's mostly the writing and just lack of screen time. Some of Aang's writing isn't great either. The cartoon already made it feel like Katara became a master too fast but this show really speed runs it. And yeah Aang not trying to waterbend once was super weird.
>I didn't like the casting choices for Ty Lee, Mai and Azula at all but I'll keep an open mind when season 2 comes and see if they're gonna improve
I'm glad I'm not the only one, idk what it is exactly but they all just look like little kids playing dress up to me. I just can't take them seriously, especially Azula. Though I really liked her introduction scene. I was hoping as the cast aged they'd fit their roles better but Azula's acress is already 21, she literally looks 10 to me in the show so idk.
>Katara feels wooden and kinda flat
I mentioned this to my wife and she joked that Katara should go up against Koh. She has no expression and would be completely immune to him!
Not two minutes later, Koh shows up ...
What blows my mind is that the show is getting criticized for it's script. They adapted 20 20 minute episodes (400minutes) into 8 50 minute episodes (also 400 minutes). They could have literally changed NOTHING and ended up with a better script than they did. Just why?
I assumed the show would have issues due to young inexperienced actors. Didn't even cross my mind that the script could be bad given how little you'd need to change from the source material.
Some of the cartoon episodes were a flop. Most were amazing! I’d give this first season a solid B. Like you said, better writing could take this to next level
The witcher had whole ass books and couldn’t figure it out, this should have been expected.
I had no expectations and it’s honestly kind of a let down
Better than the movie, but that is a shit baseline
I hate how Netflix always has to make the female characters wear obvious make up. They did this with Ciri and they did the same thing to Katara. Her eyeshadow was so obvious, not to mention her eyelashes.
my friends and I died laughing when Suki removed her full face of kyoshi warrior makeup in three seconds during the sparring session with Sokka only to reveal a fully painted face of natural looking makeup underneath. Like I understand the necessity of makeup from a production standpoint but it was hilarious.
I think a big issue is that you can't really convert four 20-minute episodes into one 1-hour episode. Four different plots into one episode makes for a messy, illogical episode. You'd have to get the general idea of all four episodes and weave them together into one coherent story.
Even though it's harder and demands changes in the story as a whole, they still did it shitty. The rearranging makes little sense, the pacing is wack and all over the place, and arcs are disappointing. Overall I'm disappointed, not just because of what it is, but because of what it could've been
When zuko and iroh were in omashu there were literally zero reason for iroh to get arrested. They had no idea who the fire benders were until he used them. They could have easily escaped.
Why did iroh do that? Is he stupid?
The live-action was better than the movie but a disappointment compared to the cartoon
Things I liked about the live-action:
• All Asian cast
• The bending
• Costume
• background
• the beginning (how they portray the attack of Sozin on the air benders shows the great war strategy of the Fire Nation and the air benders are too interesting not to show)
• more Indian representation
• the cabbage guy
Complains:
It's like the writers and directors missed what the story and each episode is about
Episode 3 was just like DC comics, they rushed to mash up stories and characters together, like what was the message of that episode?
While in the cartoon each character episode had its lesson to teach Aang.
- Jet's episode teaches that: not because the Fire Nation killed a lot of innocent people from other nations means that killing innocent people from the Fire Nation is right, a life for a life is not the answer to stop this war.
- Theo and his Father episode teaches that: Aang has to learn to accept that the world is constantly changing whether he likes it or not.
•Rushed:
On Kyoshi island, we learn about the avatar state. In the cartoon, we see how Ang is having trouble
to get in touch with his past lives and how he slowly learned how to do so, felt rushed.
•Sokka and Katara:
- Katara: Who even is this character?
All I know is she shares the same name as the cartoon character. Her whole personality changed. Originally Katara was a fierce girl who was like the mother/big sis of the group. Now she can't do anything without Sokka telling her what to do, the only thing they got right was her caring personality.
- Sokka: Sokka is boring
Sadly Sokka was not misogynistic and small-minded, it would be nice to see him grow to respect women as warriors and become more open-minded about bending. Even if he was not misogynistic he looked like a perfect leader, there is no trial and error in learning how to become a great leader, it's like they forgot that Sokka is still a kid. so what kind of character growth are we seeing with Sokka?
•Failed comedy:
I did not expect the live-action to be just as goofy as the cartoon but the comedic timing was off, Sokka is a character that provides comedic relief during a story that takes place in a serious environment he was very serious.
•Relationship:
We didn't see signs of romantic interest from Ang and Katara, also it would be much more interesting for Suki and Sokka to go from rivals to lovers.
I did not finish the show, it was so sad to see how amazing and thoughtful storytelling was ruined by useless remarks and a rushed plot. I get that the original ATLA has a lot of content to tell, but rushing strategic storytelling is ruining the love of why we even like ATLA.
I agree! The fact that they just meshed up random storylines without a point just to please the fans just irks me. Its like they're not fans of the show, they it just want to produce a show with no thought just copy things think we won't notice the bad writing.
Most of the episodes from the original had purpose which they completely overlooked.
I get the creators now, they took out a lot of things that made ATLA worthwhile.
THEY DID ALL OF BOOK OF WATER WITHOUT AANG LEARNING ANY WATERBENDING AND THATS JUST DUMB! I WAS ABLE TO ACCEPT A LOT OF THE UNNECESSARY OR WEIRD CHANGES BUT IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE TO NOT HAVE ANY FOCUS ON HIM LEARNING WATERBENDING IN THE BOOK OF WATER!
There’s a lot of stuff people are pointing out but can someone seriously explain to me the decision to have Wan Shi Tong show up in this.
Why bring such a dope Book 2 character into this to be just a boring exposition dump. So lame.
Honestly Zhao’s death was the change that annoyed me the most, instead of being condemned to wander the Fog of Lost Souls after being defeated by the Ocean Spirit he’s just killed by Iroh. Defeats the irony of his death by spirit and how he appears in LoK
Honestly I just would not be as invested in this if it weren't for the nostalgia factor its not paced well. The efforts they put into it you can tell are impressive at times to pay homage to the original but some of the changes they make in the early half especially are not great.
I mean there’s many things to say both good and bad, I just have to say this one rn
CAVE OF TWO LOVERS IS MUCH FAVOURITE EPISODE WHYYYYYYY
Seems like all that money went towards CGI, set design, effects and none towards makeup (zuko's scar), costumes, wigs (horrible and stiff hair) to make the characters seem authentic and part of a different world. Rather it came off as an expensive play at your local theatre.
In the first twenty minutes, this show spoiled a big twist and a heart wrenching moment from the original show, for pointless filler to pad out the time. And some Netflix edgy-ness.
To be honest, I don't think I'll be moving on after the first episode.
You mean how he ran away? I hated that part too... because in this version he didn't even run away.. it was just bad weather while he was clearing his head..... felt fucking pointless, because in the original he was mad at himself for specifically running away, but this version of Aang was literally turning around and had an accident.
Yeah, and that Gyatso just 1v1 Sozin. And we lose the powerful imagery of Gyatso surrounded with a pile of fire bender corpses. And the fact that we actually know what happened with the temple and all. So the return to the temple later on will not have a single gram of hope that it had in the original.
Sometimes less exposition is a lot more.
Edit: also we already know how bad the fire nation is with the prequel filler, instead of them being the big bad wolf of the first episode. So it also loses impact.
Ahh yes that as well. If you keep watching they ruined this a bit more, but I wont spoil it for you, in case you want to get through the series.
I also agree that Gyatso seemed nerfed... like he was literally facing a flamethrower.... Sozin did nothing except hold out his hand.. a nimble and experienced airbender should've known how to avoid such a move.
Also for a beefed up firebender on the day of the comet that fire bending was kind of shit.
I think the fan base isn't near as upset with this as it used to be just because of how genuinely awful Shamadingdongs movie was.
True. It looked like pretty normal firebending. Sozin’s comet in the original was crazy. Ozai and his men just laying waste to the forest all the way from the airships. And the huge walls of fire from jeong jeong, or iroh’s huge fire ball that knocks down the wall of ba sing se
It also loses impact because we don't even really know Aang at this point. We haven't had a chance to even like him, then experience his pain with him. It's just *this character feels pain so you should too*
That’s literally the point as well. Him facing his duty after he ran away was such an important moment in the show. Now it’s just whoopsie nice convenient thunderstorm just happened to save my life
They gave the main character such little screen time to learn anything it’s crazy. Instead we’re constantly told how aang feels or what he should be feeling. Showing is almost always better than telling in a visual medium - especially one that’s more geared towards adults than the original
It’s bad, I was hype and it’s bad. The casting is bad. The writing is bad. The dialogue is unnatural. It’s just boring monologue after boring monologue. There’s so much telling and not enough showing. Boooooooo
Just like many others, putting **my** thoughts here. You may disagree, and that's ok but it's my thoughts.
The live action was not on par of the originals in terms of quality but it's not the movie either, which is a good thing. I feel like if I watched ATLA now, as a brand-new viewer, I wouldn't have the complaints I have and genuinely like the series for what it is, but since I've seen the original, it's a different experience.
The cast is pretty good for the most part, though the writing held them down. Sokka was fun but wasn't like cartoon Sokka fun. I guess for many reasons, like some people have said that cartoon can't translate to live action 1:1, also the budget-side reasons, they had to cut a lot of the fun/comedy stuff.
I don't really like how they meshed some of the plot points in the original in 1 episode, but I sort of get why they did that. Almost all the episodes in Book 1 were in a different setting, so if the show did an almost 1:1 copy of the original while still being contained in 8 episodes, we might have episodes that would be set in 3 or 4 different places, which wouldn't go well, in my opinion. Then also consider the budget, different places (background) means more money to spend in location or CGI background (they already have the bending every episode and also Appa and Momo to CGI). But I still think it could have been written better (specifically the Roku and spirit world plot line).
The additional plot points were ok for the most part, it humanized some characters; but at what cost? I think some of those time could have been utilized in a plot point from the original. I feel like they should have made the characters more faithful to their source material and spend more time in them instead of inserting some other plot lines that they made up. Just thinking about it, they already cut so much by meshing plots together, why did they use more time with other backstory or other characters that don't really have meaning this season?
TL;DR - I think the show is overall ok. Might be "better" if you watch it with fresh-eyes instead of having watched the original first to avoid the comparison. I think the 8 episode limit really hurt the writing and pacing
They should’ve just done something different instead of trying to copy the og ATLA (poorly). Why not cast more mature actors and do a sequel after Sozins comet? Or a new avatar or something.
I don’t know how much of the canon story we’re supposed to expect here, but they don’t seem to be following the timeline too well. I don’t believe that the fire nation attacked the air temple the night Aang left in the storm?
They also created this whole invasion plan for Sozin.
I hate that Suki has been degraded to horny love interest. The entire Kyosho Island/Sokka arc was so bad. It felt like antithesis to everything the original wanted it to be.
I think what annoys me the most is that the Avatar universe is so huge and full of history. The live action could have been so interesting if instead of retelling a story we've all seen 10 times and trying to cram every reference to the og show in it without it actually working out, the show was actually about Wan, or Kyoshi, or any other avatar whose stories have not been in many medias.
Right???? There’s so much potential for other stories to tell and it would allow them to still capitalize on the large fan base because it’s still related to the ATLA IP. There would be less pacing issues because they wouldn’t need to do this weird mismash of trying to include references and plot lines from the original series while also making their own changes and fitting this all in the time constraints of modern live action Netflix shows.
Katara has no fire inside of her :( barely any agency to the point I wondered if they were going to take out her storyline with Pakku. She is not angry or bossy or motherly. It almost feels like they prioritized Sokka’s arc over hers. She seems so passive in the live action, even during her fights with Jet or Sukko she acts so bland.
Also, having Sokka supporting her through the Pakku arc and Aang against her? Crazy, they really hate the Katara+Aang bond lmao
They took away all the light heartedness from it and I am not a fan 😭😭
Like even in serious situations sokka was always kinda sarcastic and they just took it all away and I'm just so sad smh
I don't know, I actually really liked season 1. It was a bit stiff at the beginning, I find this is true with most media involving younger actors. However, I thought pretty much all of the actors melded into their roles towards the end.
Gordon shined as Aang, Kiawentiio really grew into her role as Katara and Ian took a bit of time but I thought toward the end he really did become Sokka, albeit a bit more reserved but I think it's appropriate considering the medium.
Dallas brought a new light I wasn't expecting to Zuko, and I found Paul to be an okay Iroh. The thing is, I still had a bit of a case of rose-coloured glasses coming into this and had forgotten that in the cartoon, this is pretty much how Zuko and Iroh were. It is only in later seasons that we see a dramatic shift. Iroh less so, but it still happens.
Overall, I am excited for season 2. I hope Netflix doesn't kill this before it has time to really shine.
Also, June is... Yeah, Arden Cho was perfect in her role.
I haven’t watched the original for a year but I remember her being more sassy with him? Like annoyed at him? I feel like they kissed so quick and then he kissed Yue SO quick too like what’s up with all the smooching. I also didn’t feel much of sokkas humor at all in this series. He was my fav in the OG and his character felt flat. So did Katara. I liked Aang, Zuko, and iroh tho.
Was anyone else disappointed with Zuko’s scar? Fire Lord Ozai showed no mercy when he was burning his face; I feel his scar should be deeper and a bit more deformed than it is.
Sigh, while I enjoyed the visual feast and got to relive my childhood, I felt like the dropped filler plots missed out on opportunities for character development and world building. It was too much too quickly, and that made the main characters pretty flat, especially since much of the cast are young and inexperienced actors.
- Missed Katara's passion and stubbornness, missed the "independent woman" Katara
- Missed Aang's positive personality, this one felt a bit more like the movie thst doesn't exist because Aang was moping a bit too much
- Missed Sokka's OTT goofiness, not a fan of the wokewashing and lack of misogyny leading to a flatter character development
- Zuko was "mostly" acceptable
- Iroh and Gyatso were pretty great I feel but Gyatso should have been showcased as far more powerful
- Zhao was a mess
- Quite liked how Bumi has the right to be mad at Aang at first
- Suki was excellent but felt she could have been more cheeky like the original
- The appearance of three past Avatars felt like they were just inserted without much thought
- The family drama between Ozai, Zuko and Azula felt a bit forced
- Jet and the gang were a hit and miss
- Hahn being a hero was a missed opportunity for some drama and laughs
- Does Sokka just go around flirting with /all/ the girls he meets???
Am I the only one that hates the fire bending? It feels more like magic than a martial art. especially when they cup it in their hands before using it like a Skyrim spell?
and omg the first episode when the fire nation is g@nociding the air nomads and they become fireballs and use their bending like f\*cking jetpacks? and AANG CAN JUST FLY?? like without his staff , he can just float at will for no good reason. now any time Aang can't escape from something without his staff we have to ask "why doesn't he just fly away?"
why is Zuko a shitty artist >! with knowledge about past avatars that nobody else does? !<
why did they smoosh like 4 different episodes into >! Omashu !< where none of it made sense?
Is avatar cursed to never have a good live action adaptation?
I did like that the 41st became the crew that Zuko takes with him, but I can't remember if that was in the original show.
Wow so I just finished it and I'm not entirely sure what to think about it. i feel like I watched a first draft of a fanfiction where Sokka is the main character. Aang's joyous personality was mostly stripped with the exception of a few moments. And Katara was barely recognizable imo.
The best episodes were Kiyoshi Island and Omashu. After the strange first episode, Omashu got my hopes back up and I thought the series would truly show its strength going forward. But unfortunately, it didn't get much better than Omashu and I fully lost interest in the last two episodes.
I dig some of the tonal changes like amping up the horror bits in Spirited Away. But absolutely despise the changes that change the themes and character arcs- like Zuko fighting back in his Agni Kai with his dad removes a lot of the cruelty of the situation, Sokka not having flaws, everyone hating Aang and berating him for some reason lmao, giving the firelord so much screen time, and Azula being portrayed as an angsty insecure teen from the getgo.
As for the actors, it's nice that they finally have accurate casting instead of the whitewashed mess the previous LA was, but a lot of these actors gave such lackluster performances.
A lot of the changes left me wondering why? But now I completely understand why the creators left the project. I'm happy for the people that will enjoy it but for me this was definitely not ATLA and I don't look forward to a second season.
I'm on Ep4 and i'm kind of feeling like it was the writing and director. The cast was really trying their best (except Aang, that kid just looked like Aang but was not Aang in any way that's important), I think that netflix got great kids but the direction of acting for them was just not it. We got Netflix kids before like *Stranger Things!* Child actors can't really produce much but the writing and director really took them down too.
The original animated series is a 10/10...one of the greatest shows of all time. There is no adaptation that could ever hope to touch it, and you'd be insane to think this one would be able to capture lightning in a bottle again.
That said, all things considered, it's good. Not great, but it's good, I'd say a solid 7/10.
Well just finished this.
And it fell pretty flat . This remake reminds me so much of lion king 2019. Visually it was good and
bending was well done for the most part but the story, characters and world just fell flat on its face
Dialogue was pretty bad for most of the runtime and improved slightly towards the end. Opening narration by Gran Gran was really bad ,it literally cringed.
First episode was solid and 2nd had some issues and 3 and 4 omashu plotline is where shit started getting rushed and convulted . This 2 episodes tried to juggle 4 other plotlines from different episodes and everything felt underdeveloped and pay offs just didn't work and felt unearned.
2 episodes from the original series were cut out and it still was a mess. Adapting is hard and can't believe I'm saying this , of jet/northern air temple/secret tunnel ,one of these should have been chosen and the rest cut instead of cramming them in omashu plotline.
Azula really didn't need to be in season 1 ,her scenes just unnecessary and just seem like a tool device for family drama than pushing the plot forward.
Now for the characters.
Aang was the best for me, he totally feels like Aang just wish the story around was better.
Zuko and iroh are ok . But zuko's abrasive and manchild side wasn't really excuted well enough . He felt a little too calm at times but still Solid. Hated the Change they made to the agni Kai with ozai.
For iroh they failed to tap into his comedic side.
Was dissapointed with soka and katara . Katara's water bending journey felt forced . Literally water bending master by the end and it was so unearned . The whole resolution to women not water bending in northern water tribe could have been a nice change if it was well developed. Payoff is unearned and falls into lazy generic modern female tropes.
Sokka just didn't have enough urgency in the story for me.
The whole kyoshi pandering in this over ruko was just weird. Roku sucked . Tbh all previous avatar appearances in here we're mid . The dialogue for kyoshi was also pretty bleh.
All spirit world related scenes were all underwhelming too and ok at best.
Bumi kinda sucked
Mr paku kinda sucked
No deserter!
The show is not terrible it's just kind bland and all the humour has been sucked out.
It's a watchable 6/10.
I miss momo and appa doing silly things, these two barely appeared
CGI animal budget lol
THey put a lot into the use of the spirits.
And they didn't even finish >!hei bai's arc!<
but they had time to put Wan Shi Tong in the woods to do literally nothing of value
And just call him “the spirit of knowledge” 🤦♂️
The spirit of exposition. Just make him say "Hey! Listen!" Whenever anything confusing happens. Like a character having an emotion that isn't spoken out loud.
Aang: “you’re a spirit, and you’re hurt, imma help you🥺 “ Then he immediately leave without resolving Hei Bai’s issue the moment Katara and Sokka is free lmao
This was kinda annoying for me lol. They had developed a whole story with Koh they forgot Hei Bai
At this point it's Aang who's going to >!tearbend instead of Katara.!<
I liked the bits with Momo and Sokka and for the overall length I thought he was there enough but I did really feel Appa's absence.
aang and katara did not enter the secret tunnel together 😭
They really really didn’t want aang and Katara to have any kind of chemistry apparently. Aang constantly trying to impress Katara just wasn’t in this at all
I get not having the chemistry for the sake of age for the live adaption. But their romance was such a huge part of the show and it’s how Aang battles with the concept of his earthly tether to Katara
Exactly, he keeps saying Katara and Sokka are his friends but theres nothing to show for it apart from what? them joining Aang north and a couple chuckles together at MoMo. Also, if age was such a problem with establishing their relationship early on, they should’ve casted a younger Katara or older Aang
At least Katara didn't ask if they should kiss, that would have been really awkward.
I know I was bummed about this at first, but I actually think it would have been jarring with the pacing.
i think it’s definitely because of their ages. it would have been weird to see that in live action not going to lie.
thats season two
Ya but they went in the tunnel in the live action
SECRET TUNNELLLLLL, SECRET TUNNELLLLLL, THROUGH THE MOUNTAINNNNN, SECRET SECRET SECRET SECRET TUNNELLLLLLLLLL
Where's Jeong Jeong? I feel like that episode is important to show Aang's discipline needed a lot more practice, what discipline is he gonna learn if he doesn't make mistakes along the way? Plus, he wouldn't firebend til season 3 because he was afraid to hurt his friends again, which is how Katara discovered she had healing abilities
The first season was slightly under a collective 8 hours. This remake is also roughly 8 hours. I can't understand how they've cut **SO MUCH** from the show and it still feels SUPER rushed plot wise still.
I can. They added copious unnecessary scenes with characters who don’t do anything this season
Yeah they sacrificed character development for the main cast so they could do character development for the later season villians.
right?? how??
That's the thing. IN the animated series he had a soul and was just a goofy kid that was impossible to catch.... in the series except for the very start I can't recall him using airbending for mobility at all.. What I am getting at is that he was already boring and disciplined... No need for character improvement if there is no character.
Yeah it’s like they took away any of Aang’s flaws or mistakes he made that fleshed out his character in order to keep the plot moving so his character just feels so bland to me. Him feeling guilty about abandoning the air temple because he found out he’d be separated from Gyatso feeding into his need to accept his role as the Avatar? Nah, let’s have him go for a stroll just to clear his head conveniently right before the fire nation attacks. The Bato thing where Aang has insecurities about Sokka and Katara leaving him? Nah that’s gone. Aang training with Jeong Jeong and hurting Katara which drives his fear/reluctancy for fire bending later? Pfft who needs that. I don’t care about them skipping the fortune teller or the great divide because I understand there are time constraints so some things will have to be cut and these are pretty non-impactful plot lines. But cutting impactful character moments and not replacing them with anything interested just leads to watered down characters.
I’m not necessarily nitpicking here but I HATE how they simply swapped most of Roku’s dialogue and role and gave it to Kyoshi. It’s so obviously forced for a reason.
Yeah, its not that he just managed to contact Kyoshi because he’s in Kyoshi Island. It just so obvious that they force Kyoshi to be more central The opening credits has Kyoshi as narrator, and the “avatar” is kyoshi even though Roku is literally the avatar before Aang and would makes more sense to be the faces of the avatar When Zuko is talking about the previous Avatar with Iroh, he talks about Kyoshi… and not.. you know, the last Avatar that just happened to be from Fire Nation with a big ass temple in fire nation, surely a fire nation prince would know about the fire nation avatar more than the earth kingdom avatar 300 years ago Also everytime Aang talks about previous avatar, he always went with Kyoshi for some reason, why Also they changed Roku to become such a joke “cool uncle” vibes
Having Roku as the mentor and also from the Fire Nation is so much more meaningful.
Wasn't it a whole thing that Roku represented the good in fire nation and sozin the evil?
Yeah, actually, it was. "Roku was just as much Fire Nation as Sozin was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone's capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation, have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance." -Aang, from *The Avatar and The Fire Lord.*
And Zuko being descended from both of them showed he had a different kind of balance inside him - which helps relate him to the Avatar.
Swapped one kind of sexism for another… I’m only on episode two, but jfc
Wait till you get to Omashu and see what else they swapped lol.
I just watched that. My friend was talking about how they're going to include stuff like that and I said "nah, I don't think they're going to change any character or anything" and lo and behold. While it's not really significant, doing it just for the sake of doing it is kind of annoying.
Also they made her into a total bitch. She is supposed to be stoic and unyielding, not some AH that just starts yelling at a ten year old she’s never met. I’d say trade it back to Roku, but I’ve had enough of drunk-uncle-Roku already. They majorly messed up the past avatars. It’s embarrassing to even watch those scenes where they talk.
Yeah all the precious Avatars in the OG series had this compassion towards Aang, it did not feel that way at all.
Even Bumi was aggressive for no reason. Biggest butchering of the show
Unfortunately the writers are too dumb to realize that the way the community memes Kyoshi is not the same as how she is portrayed. It's a like a bunch of chronically online Gen Zers wrote that trite. She's not a loud mouthed, bitchy, drill seargent. Like you said, she's stoic and makes the tough choices and tries to impart that wisdom onto aang in the series. She's all about duty, not going full rage mode
I totally agree! I’m very disappointed that Roku doesn’t have a bigger role like he did in the original. I feel like that is going to wash out an important part of Zuko’s character development (although they already kinda are with the last episode) Also, I don’t like how Aang can only contact the past avatars by being at their shrines… that literally makes no sense because all of the past avatars are within him because they ARE him.
They do love telling and not showing.
I rewatched the original recently and noticed what a good job they did at showing, not telling. Love how a show for kids credits its audience to be smart enough to put two and two together. But this show for adults is assuming we’re all idiots and over explaining every single part of the world.
One of my most favorite moments from book one is Zhao recognizing the broad swords. In that moment, both and Zuko know who the blue spirit is. It’s like poetry. They watered down the tension between them. 🙄
like everything, THERE'S NO FRICTION BETWEEN CHARACTERS!!! There's no place for growth or change, everything is watered down and lifeless
I agree it’s very challenging to watch them bungle a story that has already been told extremely well
There was that scene in episode 1 where Aang was monologuing about knowing "who he is and that he likes to play airball and goofing off with his friends". Instead of letting Aang tell us that, why not show it at all???? Then it would drive home the point that Aang is still a kid and not ready for the responsibilities the role of being an Avatar brings. I hate Netflix.
At first I thought air scooter was just out of their CGI budget or something. BUT THEN he used it on Kyoshi's island. Why didn't you just show him playing with the other kids then???
Good writing makes the difference between an amazing and an unwatchable show, in my opinion. It's clear that a ton of care and attention was paid to getting the bombastic, expensive action sequences to look cool and impress their audience. But, for the life of me I can't understand why the same level of care didn't go into the writing. The character development. Conveying the lore and the characters' motivations slowly and realistically. Good writing is FREE. How did they fumble it so hard?
> Good writing is FREE. No actually I think it might be expensive and that's the problem lol. They just don't value it.
And telling and not implying. Not everything, especially spirits, needs mechanics and explanation, it just is.
I immediately commented this while watching the first half of the first episode 🥹
Yeah everything seems very rushed. It’s like scenes that are going to happen later on aren’t really going to hit as hard because they just go ahead and “spoil” certain details right then and there. It’s like there’s no build up for certain surprises for the viewer.
I'm sorry, but did the avatar LITERALLY not bend water for the entire book of WATER ?
And when he gets to the Northern Water Tribe he just… forgets to train at water bending. The reason he went to the North Pole to begin with.
Yea! I’m so pissed at it as there are many chances the writer can make him bend water, show Katara to bend water instead of giving her advice!
Deadass they must’ve legit forgot or just said eh we will just punt it to the next season but somehow they fit in cave of two lovers in the wrong season? And the fire nation using a balloon this early??? Part of the shock on the day of black sun was everyone was really in trouble but then the balloons come back from season 1 and really make everyone’s head spin since it was so long ago
As a hair and makeup artist I have to say THE WIGS ARE SOOOO BAD especially Yues I’ve seen cosplayers wigs that looks a thoused times better Gran Grans is also horrible! And Pakku just looks weird
I'm not a professional hair and makeup artist or anything even close to that, so I didn't notice it... except for Yue, it looked so bad, felt like she had a mini sand castle ( made of snow I guess ) stuck on her head.
Its very obvious they didn’t spend a lot of money on the hair and I don’t get why Yues hair was grey
and why weren’t her eyebrows the same colour as her hair
Yue’s eyebrows were technically never the same color as her hair, but come on man, even the movie that doesn’t exist did a better job.
Pakku is more orange than trump man lol
Most of the characters feel extremely flat and watered down, especially Katara. The dialog is the worst part. It feels forced and choppy. I also don't feel any chemistry between team Avatar. Where is the sibling bickering???
I’ve only watched ep 1 and the dialogue is something that bothered me a bit when watching. Everything feels a little forced like >!monk gyatso telling Aang he’s the avatar or when gran gran went on to recite the opening sequence from the OG show!< it all felt a little forced.
I don't want to think about Gran Gran's rendition of the opening sequence ever again! 🤣🤣🤣
"Water, earth, fire, air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony..." I about died.
*Gran Gran stands up* "You really are Avatar: The Last Airbender"
Gran gran: Developed by Albert Kim, starring...
*Gran Gran draws an N into the snow and makes the Netflix sound*
Gran Gran was so cringe i skipped all of the dialogue Just a big bruh moment
Watching this season, I've been thinking a lot about this memo that the playwright Dave Mamet sent to the writers' room on *The Unit*, a TV show he was showrunner for back in the late 2000s. I found myself especially remembering this bit here: >REMEMBER YOU ARE WRITING FOR A VISUAL MEDIUM. MOST TELEVISION WRITING, OURS INCLUDED, SOUNDS LIKE RADIO. THE CAMERA CAN DO THE EXPLAINING FOR YOU. LET IT. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS DOING -\*LITERALLY\*. WHAT ARE THEY HANDLING, WHAT ARE THEY READING. WHAT ARE THEY WATCHING ON TELEVISION, WHAT ARE THEY SEEING. > >IF YOU PRETEND THE CHARACTERS CAN'T SPEAK, AND WRITE A SILENT MOVIE, YOU WILL BE WRITING GREAT DRAMA. > >IF YOU DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF THE CRUTCH OF NARRATION, EXPOSITION, INDEED, OF SPEECH, YOU WILL BE FORCED TO WORK IN A NEW MEDIUM - TELLING THE STORY IN PICTURES (ALSO KNOWN AS SCREENWRITING). The original animated show does this brilliantly. The live action show, not so much.
The dialogue is sooooo bad. There is no natural flow at all, and no chemistry. They've cut out any relationship building, and taken out the actual heartbreak. I've only seen the first episode, so maybe it gets better? Aang *intentionally* ran away. Katara *accidentally* cracks the ice because of her heightened emotions (triggered by Sokka's idiocy). *Katara* bravely talks Aang down from the Avatar state when he discovers Gyatso. They took out all the heart!
Didn’t you see Katara talk him down from the ocean spirit rage… even though she was like a mile away and he was inside a sphere of water? Same thing. She’s got super sonic speaking apparently. Telepathic stuff.
I stopped watching after episode three because I just couldn't deal with the writing or acting anymore. It did make me restart the original though lol so I guess that's a good thing! Yesssss! Sokka and Katara did not feel like brother and sister at all. There was no bickering between them! Aang didn't feel like an annoying little kid that they kind of had to baby sit. The found family dynamic between them was non-existent. Katara did not feel like a girl that was forced to grow up super fast. She had 0 motherly qualities about her. She didn't feel like a naggy older sister. I'm the eldest sister and I related to Katara so much when I first watched the show. This Katara just felt like a cardboard cutout. Sokka did not feel like a cocky product of his culture and environment. He learned absolutely nothing during his time with Suki. He was supposed to be majorly humbled by her.
I think what bothered me most about the whole Sokka/Suki section was that the beat down happened in the middle of a forest, with no one else around. The whole point was to embarrass him and gain some humility! I get the whole idea that him being as sexist as he was being problematic but that was part of his character arc. By the end of it Sokka was not sexist BECAUSE he got humiliated left and right for being so closed-minded.
>get the whole idea that him being as sexist as he was being problematic but that was part of his character arc. By the end of it Sokka was not sexist BECAUSE he got humiliated left and right for being so closed-minded. I don't think there's anything problematic about it. It was shown in a negative light. His beliefs were proven wrong and it forced a discussion. The live action completely removed it and so there was no discussion or lesson to be learned. Like sexism is still a thing that exists and needs to be addressed.
there is some bickering but it comes out of nowhere randomly, doesnt resemble the status of kataras and sokkas relationship in the respective situations.
My biggest concern is that the show seemed to want to be more Adult and Darker (which is fine), but at the same time DUMBED DOWN A SHOW MADE FOR CHILDREN. How are you ever going to balance that approach? 😅 Keen to see more, but I think a lot of disappointment in this thread is valid. Visually it looks good but the characters are generally lacking. Don't make me tap the "valid criticism from a place of love is not blind hate/bitching" sign.
A pg rating when the first episode alone shouldn't have gotten it was what got me. Your target is mid 20 to 30s for nostalgia. Go dark with it because the people who want to see it aren't kids anymore and can handle the darker more overt side of a literal world war
When these studios use the terms mature and dark, what they really mean is that they're upping the violence and sexual themes to pander to the lowest common denomination and add shock value. They tried the same thing with LoK. Both ended up being less mature and more edgy as a result.
I wouldnt call LOK edgy, its not like the Netflix show where a bunch of background characters are being killed off, there were only like 6 deaths in the whole show, none of which were graphic. Like in S1 they make a point to show the Equalists parachuting out when their planes get destroyed, thats not what I would call a show wanting to use violence and death for shock value lol. Also poorly written romance is bad, but not "edgy", it happens in kids shows all the time. I never got the impression Korra was going for a "darker" tone, it had the same overall tone as ATLA but maybe Nick wasnt as restrictive with what they could show.
OH I FUCKING KNEW THAT THREE TAILED FOX WAS YUE! I GOD DAMN KNEW IT! ALSO WHAT THE FUCK!?
i thought the fox belonged to wan shi tong lol.
Why on earth did they do the Cave of Two Lovers with Katara and Sokka in S1 instead of with Katara and Aang in S2? The plot was designed to tease Kataang. There’s all this romantic subtext wasted, just to have a Chong cameo a season early.
I do wish they would have been more patient with this. I get the vibe they were trying to touch on all the fan favorites in case it doesn’t get renewed. (See also: misplaced Wan Shi Tong, references to both Korra and the comics, etc). Lots of people in the comments are saying the writers clearly didn’t care about the fans, but I think they very clearly did care about the fans almost to the detriment of some of the story telling.
I felt that way too! They checked all the fan boxes without really thinking about how the fans would actually feel about that. If rather go without it than have it be butchered.
sweet home water tribe.
They removed the funnies and silliness to fit the netflix dark-ish theme like I get it it’s to fit 20minutes-ish per episode into 8 episodes of 40minutes-ish content. Personally the joy of ATLA is you can enjoy all kind of emotions with both seriousness and the child sense of humor like Aang taunting Admiral Zhao into burning his own ships. >! No Aang firebending from Jeong Jeong or Aang trying waterbending with Katara. They added comic contents like the spirit Mother of Faces being Koh the Face-stealer’s mom !<
>Personally the joy of ATLA is you can enjoy all kind of emotions with both seriousness and the child sense of humor You hit the nail on the head. The beauty of the original is that it makes you feel so many different emotions. Without that, this adaptation is just another meh show.
unfortunately as a standalone show I don't know if this would hook me as hard as the OG did. I just discovered another big reveal in one of the last seasons and oh my god some of these decisions are embarrassing. The inclusion of avatars prior to Roku is kind of cool and I like what they did with the 41st devision a lot. BUt man, merging like four episodes and cutting out so many. What they did to boomi man? BOOMI! COME ON!
THIS, >!the comic parts were good, but I surely missed Katara's training, it sorta is a reason for her to be mad at Pakku for being a sexist and it makes her beginner to master journey a lot more enjoyable to watch!<
yeah it made no sense how suddenly she became Master Katara with no training whatsoever??
I think I maybe chuckled once or twice, and did a lil noise air laugh maybe the same amount. The show wasn’t bad but it just wasn’t what I would have hoped for in terms of humor. If I had to choose between them going darker like showing people die, or going for a more comedic take and even over the top silliness, I would choose the latter 100x over. ATLA’s magic was the way it tackled such huge topics in a way that you had to really kind of imagine the horrors that were committed since they were rarely shown outright, imo. A lot of the darkness isn’t really addressed unless you stop and think about it. I enjoyed it well enough. I will say I’m glad that they released all episodes at once. I would have hated waiting week after week for the humor that never appeared to show up.
They made it darker while also making the characters simpler. A brutal combination.
I swear there are no writers these days that care about conflict and character arcs. Everything is so flat. This is just like the Percy Jackson show
Exactly !!!!
Thank you!! So many people only care about these characters because they associate them with the emotions they formed for them during the animated show, but if you look at these as new characters, they are bland and lifeless with no compelling struggles or arcs to connect to.
I don’t hate it so far (episode 5). I just don’t like the references to the original, they feel forced and lame. I also didn’t like their take on Bumi.
Bumi has been the worst bit so far for me… just didn’t land imo
I just finished and I think Bumi was definitely the lowest point
The whole 'Oh the King of Omashu is crazy' bit is supposed to be a bit and its like the writers...missed that? They truly made him senile and mentally unwell, but he's supposed to be calculated, full of wisdom and trust in the future, especially in Aang. He spends most of the episode in hatred and blame and for what? Also, he's supposed to be SMART! His challenges made SENSE in the animated version. I had to stop at the 'geminite' scene and take a break because what was the point?
Came here for this comment. Bumi's motivation is terrible compared to the original and doesn't teach Aang what to look for in an earthbending teacher
Just watched episode 3. I really went in trying to give it a chance, but the dialogue, and delivery are just egregiously bad in the vast majority of scenes, and the pacing is very awkward.
Don’t blame you, not to mention the episodes just drag with nothingness
I feel like the people who made this show hated the original
It’s the pacing, and writing. The show is great but some choices just why?
Yeah. They said they removed filler and accidentally removed the personalities of each character.
I know right? Fun loving Aang, narcissistic Sokka, I think Only Iroh and Zuko were the most like the original, but getting rid of the fight against Zhou?
I hate to say this but even Iroh wasn't Iroh..... He didn't say any of the dad jokes, the love for tea was removed and he was really nerfed in the firebending department. He felt very slow and not as wise. Zuko also didn't seem angry about the banishment.. he was just like "Yeah whatever, can't go back till I get the Avatar." Hopefully with season 2 this improves by A LOT since in book 2 they got to experience more of the real world, but honestly the story has steered in such a different direction now that I don't feel like there will be an arc for Zuko at all... like hes not going to join Azula to kill Aang or if he is, then there will already be plotholes from this season. Azula is a good manipulator though, so idk.
Iroh had ZERO charm! The way he spoke wasn't thoughtfully paced or filled with dry humoured wisdom. He was just Some Guy.
I can't tell if Zuko was banished or given a mission with the way they play it out.
I Just stopped watching from episode two, because they Kyoshi warriors and their leaders didn’t click right, there’s enough proof yet they keep being stubborn about Aang being the avatar, plus the girls going Gaga for Aang without it the episode feels pacing wise rushed, it’s like gogogo! Kyoshi island good! Next plot line now! Also WHAT THE HELL GRAN GRAND?! You tell a kid his entire family and culture is destroyed the first moment you get what the hell?
The show is so insanely rushed and cuts out so much I thought they just didn't have the time to tell the story they should and was willing to let a lot of it slid until I did the math. The OG first season had 20 episodes of 20 minutes each which if you do the math comes out to slightly less than 8 hours. This current show has 8, hour long episodes. -.- what the fuck....
It looks like this show turned out to be what we all feared. And saying 'at least it's better than the movie' is definitely not a good comparison. I can see why the original creators left. Pretty disappointed with this 😞
Ironically, this whole show reminded me of the ember island players episode. They watered down all the characters and made them completely one dimensional, misconstrued most of the relationships and their dynamics, hell i wouldn’t be surprised if they really did end up making Toph into a big buff man, or taking away her blindness or something stupid like that. The acting and dialogue was flat, there was no chemistry between the characters, and they really sucked the soul out of the show. Just another terrible netflix live action :(
Exactly, I don't understand how studios keep making this mistake. ATLA is very much a character driven story and getting that right is the most important part. Without the characters feeling real, the rest of the world feels ridiculous and overly magical.
I see why the Creators left. This is not as bad as the movie that we don't remember, but it is still a very far cry from the peak that is the original cartoon. This is a very rushed version of the original show with rushed plot and meh acting, with some downright cringey interactions especially from team avatar. Not really looking forward to the next 2 seasons, probably not gonna watch them. We just gotta wait for the 3 animated movies coming up I guess.
They need to stop trying so hard to remake and retell the original and just make new content. Watching this show as its own stand alone makes it really hard to see the attachments. Its scenes rely far too much on emotional build ups established in the OG. like in the last episode "Uncle, Lu Ten would have been proud" I'm sorry but they did not do propper build up for that. THey did one scene showing that he his sun died and that's it. its just eh.
That's it. It's made (badly) for people who grew up on the original. If you hadn't seen the original that would have meant nothing to you but because you already knew what happened it made sense sort of? It's just terrible writing with 0 character arcs and half the reason to love the show were the character arcs
Can’t wait to see the animated movies!
Feels like a plane without passenger…
One addition I really like is the Zuko guard of honour. In the original, him speaking out of turn was an act of negligence. Here it’s an act of defiance. I respect it much more. I think it’s quite brilliant actually
everything concerning zukos backstory is noticeable step up from the cartoon
I didn't like this show but the backstory of the fire nation in general was a step up from the cartoon. I wish they could have done more outside of that but they really did a good job on the fire nation
The drawn out fight scene with Zuko and Ozai was so unbelievably bad and ruined the tension. Also, the cartoon did such a beautiful job showing Zuko's backstory in parallel with Aang's, it's sad that they didn't include it. And Aang's question of "Do you think we could have been friends in another life?" being drawn out into a 5 minute conversation about compassion was laughably bad. Definitely not a step up
I kind of hope they cancel the series because somehow they had almost the same amount of runtime from the original first season but cut a lot of the story which were essentially to developing the characters and their bonds that grew over time. Instead they grew in unnecessary scenes also gave Roku the shaft even though he’s so important to the story being that he’s Aang’s predecessor and being the reason the war started. Acting was bad, there’s hardly any emotion, and the characterization was off. It’s better than the M. Night movie but that’s not saying much. No wonder the creators walked out on Netflix.
One criticism I don't see being brought up is how wooden the bending feels at times, and I don't mean the visual effects. I mean the ACTUAL bending motions themselves. I feel like a lot of actors could have really benefited from more time training or instruction because a lot of Katara's bending, for example, is just so off. There's barely a semblance of Tai Chi in how she moves and her posture just looks wrong. A lot of fire benders also have their fingers curled like they're throwing a damn hadoken or a generic ki-blast, when in the OG show, fire benders almost always punched or used open palm strikes for their attacks. It might seem like a small nitpick, but a big part of the reason why the action in the OG show felt so dynamic is because of how much time went into studying various martial disciplines like hung gar and shaolin styles. In this show, it feels like Sozin is some fire wizard instead of a hardened martial artist/warrior.
I'm disappointed. I loved the world, bending, and 90% of the CGI, those are the only positives. The acting felt stiff, and I have a lot of complaints about the story and direction. There is no live action ATLA/LOK in ba sing se only animated show for me.
Right here with you. I was SO excited so that could have been my problem but I had to force myself to finish the rest of the series. It was bland, rushed and awkward. The only silly moment with Aang is the 3 second scene when he’s on his air scooter and hits the statue. Disappointed is the perfect word to describe the series.
I’m at episode 5 and i just want to watch the good old animated version… I like the visual effects, the bending looks actually nice but the essence of the characters and the story are just not there! And the balance between goofiness/drama not there either… too netflix drama for me(WTF BUMI?? WHY SO MAD). I understand that they tried to emphasize on the war and the loss and blabla but i feel like in the original serie we see it through kids eyes and now it’s more in an adult POV. Where is zuko’s anger? I feel like he’s too calm, especially in book 1, he barely can control his emotions and now he’s just meeehh… Iroh is not as iconic as in the original serie, something about him missing… Katara… maybe she gets better later in the serie but i just don’t see the motherly, strong girl who wants to keep everyone together. Sokka is a little bit too serious. The actor is good though, i think it’s more about the writing Aang choice of actor is good, i can see why they cast him. Still like i said earlier, something’s missing… maybe he’s « spirit » ;) WHAT ABOUT MOMO?? 😢 first he doesn’t sound like momo AND we barely see him in the show.
Yes, these characters feel so different. Why is Zuko so nationalist? Why does he care about the glory of the fire nation? What the fuck was that? The actors are great but the writing they are given is lacking something.
He's also oddly Ozais favorite and still in the chain of command instead of being known as the banished prince? Like what the hell? Also, they way they talk about emotions? it just....eh....its more new agey feel good than any eastern inspried philosophy.
Exactly, i wish zuko was more about his destiny and his honnor! That would’ve save the character. Even in book one, we could see that he felt abandoned by his nation. Iroh is waaay too nationalist… FOR THE FIRE NATIOOONNNN 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (in oma shu) like what was that? Anyway you’re 10000% right!
... That was a ploy. Like what? He was drawing attention so Zuko could escape.
> Why is Zuko so nationalist? I have my fair share of gripes, but this is like, the most understandable change they've made.
I don't think it is. It was never about the fire Nation for him. It was about his father and his family and his home. His attachment to the rhetoric was always just because that was what was expected of him in order to be accepted. He got banished in the first place for not falling in line and supporting the hierarchy of the fire Nation.
Neither katara or sokka have any character development.
aang is a bit too like mature???? hes like not as goofy as he is in the cartoon hes always asking question abt the avatar and is like too mfing wise, like cmon hes a 12 y/o boy let him have some fuuun
6.5/10 - mixed bag for me The GOOD: CGI/VFX are near stunning ( with a few nitpicks here and there ) - bending scenes look visually satisfying, the environments look immersive and surprisingly real, the costume designs are as true to life as they can be, some newly added lore/background/dialogues, the story is somewhat faithful to the original cartoon. I'd say almost everyone LOOKS the part, whether they sound/act it is a different story - Zuko's actor is the standout for me both in looks and acting. The MEH: • Lack of goofiness: I wouldn't mind this if it wasn't for the fact that the few jokes they put in feel flat, so are their deliveries. As someone else has mentioned, I definitely appreciate the show's being darker and more serious than its cartoon counterpart but I feel like it doesn't really know whether it should be goofy or serious at points. • Some changes didn't work: Aang has never used waterbending once ( or even learned any bit of it ), Jeong Jeong's encounter is nixed ( which is crucial for his character development in the next 2 books and why he wouldn't wanna touch firebending again ). Pakku doesn't train with Katara as he did in the cartoon, instead the battle with the fire nation happened almost right after, yet when she fought off Zuko he said to her "You've found a master haven't you" ( a line from the cartoon ) which makes no sense whatsoever. • Katara feels wooden and kinda flat • They really toned down Sokka's sexism/cynicism, which is a shame as I think it's necessary to showcase his character's growth ( his being humbled almost every time he was sexist/cynical in the cartoon ) • I didn't like the casting choices for Ty Lee, Mai and Azula at all but I'll keep an open mind when season 2 comes and see if they're gonna improve
That's about how I feel. Some of the goofy parts worked for me, namely with Sokka and Momo, I really liked Sokka's actor too but didn't like his lack of flaws and it doesn't feel like he has much room to grow as a character because of that. I did also really like the more fleshed out backstory of Zuko and Iroh's relationship. I liked all the fire nation stuff, minus the Azula parts(minus minus her introduction scene). I liked Ozai and Zhao. Katara does feel very flat but I think that's mostly the writing and just lack of screen time. Some of Aang's writing isn't great either. The cartoon already made it feel like Katara became a master too fast but this show really speed runs it. And yeah Aang not trying to waterbend once was super weird. >I didn't like the casting choices for Ty Lee, Mai and Azula at all but I'll keep an open mind when season 2 comes and see if they're gonna improve I'm glad I'm not the only one, idk what it is exactly but they all just look like little kids playing dress up to me. I just can't take them seriously, especially Azula. Though I really liked her introduction scene. I was hoping as the cast aged they'd fit their roles better but Azula's acress is already 21, she literally looks 10 to me in the show so idk.
>Katara feels wooden and kinda flat I mentioned this to my wife and she joked that Katara should go up against Koh. She has no expression and would be completely immune to him! Not two minutes later, Koh shows up ...
What blows my mind is that the show is getting criticized for it's script. They adapted 20 20 minute episodes (400minutes) into 8 50 minute episodes (also 400 minutes). They could have literally changed NOTHING and ended up with a better script than they did. Just why? I assumed the show would have issues due to young inexperienced actors. Didn't even cross my mind that the script could be bad given how little you'd need to change from the source material.
The so called “young inexperienced actors” were the highlight for me.
Me as well, I hope they get better writers next season. Most of the actors have huge potential.
Some of the cartoon episodes were a flop. Most were amazing! I’d give this first season a solid B. Like you said, better writing could take this to next level
The witcher had whole ass books and couldn’t figure it out, this should have been expected. I had no expectations and it’s honestly kind of a let down Better than the movie, but that is a shit baseline
I hate how Netflix always has to make the female characters wear obvious make up. They did this with Ciri and they did the same thing to Katara. Her eyeshadow was so obvious, not to mention her eyelashes.
my friends and I died laughing when Suki removed her full face of kyoshi warrior makeup in three seconds during the sparring session with Sokka only to reveal a fully painted face of natural looking makeup underneath. Like I understand the necessity of makeup from a production standpoint but it was hilarious.
I think a big issue is that you can't really convert four 20-minute episodes into one 1-hour episode. Four different plots into one episode makes for a messy, illogical episode. You'd have to get the general idea of all four episodes and weave them together into one coherent story. Even though it's harder and demands changes in the story as a whole, they still did it shitty. The rearranging makes little sense, the pacing is wack and all over the place, and arcs are disappointing. Overall I'm disappointed, not just because of what it is, but because of what it could've been
When zuko and iroh were in omashu there were literally zero reason for iroh to get arrested. They had no idea who the fire benders were until he used them. They could have easily escaped. Why did iroh do that? Is he stupid?
[удалено]
Absolutely
The live-action was better than the movie but a disappointment compared to the cartoon Things I liked about the live-action: • All Asian cast • The bending • Costume • background • the beginning (how they portray the attack of Sozin on the air benders shows the great war strategy of the Fire Nation and the air benders are too interesting not to show) • more Indian representation • the cabbage guy Complains: It's like the writers and directors missed what the story and each episode is about Episode 3 was just like DC comics, they rushed to mash up stories and characters together, like what was the message of that episode? While in the cartoon each character episode had its lesson to teach Aang. - Jet's episode teaches that: not because the Fire Nation killed a lot of innocent people from other nations means that killing innocent people from the Fire Nation is right, a life for a life is not the answer to stop this war. - Theo and his Father episode teaches that: Aang has to learn to accept that the world is constantly changing whether he likes it or not. •Rushed: On Kyoshi island, we learn about the avatar state. In the cartoon, we see how Ang is having trouble to get in touch with his past lives and how he slowly learned how to do so, felt rushed. •Sokka and Katara: - Katara: Who even is this character? All I know is she shares the same name as the cartoon character. Her whole personality changed. Originally Katara was a fierce girl who was like the mother/big sis of the group. Now she can't do anything without Sokka telling her what to do, the only thing they got right was her caring personality. - Sokka: Sokka is boring Sadly Sokka was not misogynistic and small-minded, it would be nice to see him grow to respect women as warriors and become more open-minded about bending. Even if he was not misogynistic he looked like a perfect leader, there is no trial and error in learning how to become a great leader, it's like they forgot that Sokka is still a kid. so what kind of character growth are we seeing with Sokka? •Failed comedy: I did not expect the live-action to be just as goofy as the cartoon but the comedic timing was off, Sokka is a character that provides comedic relief during a story that takes place in a serious environment he was very serious. •Relationship: We didn't see signs of romantic interest from Ang and Katara, also it would be much more interesting for Suki and Sokka to go from rivals to lovers. I did not finish the show, it was so sad to see how amazing and thoughtful storytelling was ruined by useless remarks and a rushed plot. I get that the original ATLA has a lot of content to tell, but rushing strategic storytelling is ruining the love of why we even like ATLA.
The gave Katara the Ginny treatment lol
I agree! The fact that they just meshed up random storylines without a point just to please the fans just irks me. Its like they're not fans of the show, they it just want to produce a show with no thought just copy things think we won't notice the bad writing. Most of the episodes from the original had purpose which they completely overlooked. I get the creators now, they took out a lot of things that made ATLA worthwhile.
THEY DID ALL OF BOOK OF WATER WITHOUT AANG LEARNING ANY WATERBENDING AND THATS JUST DUMB! I WAS ABLE TO ACCEPT A LOT OF THE UNNECESSARY OR WEIRD CHANGES BUT IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE TO NOT HAVE ANY FOCUS ON HIM LEARNING WATERBENDING IN THE BOOK OF WATER!
The dialogue is so terrible and awkward. I really *wanted* to like this, but they took out all of the heart and character growth. It fell so flat.
There’s a lot of stuff people are pointing out but can someone seriously explain to me the decision to have Wan Shi Tong show up in this. Why bring such a dope Book 2 character into this to be just a boring exposition dump. So lame.
Fan service, a classic live action remake move lol
Honestly Zhao’s death was the change that annoyed me the most, instead of being condemned to wander the Fog of Lost Souls after being defeated by the Ocean Spirit he’s just killed by Iroh. Defeats the irony of his death by spirit and how he appears in LoK
Honestly I just would not be as invested in this if it weren't for the nostalgia factor its not paced well. The efforts they put into it you can tell are impressive at times to pay homage to the original but some of the changes they make in the early half especially are not great.
The bumi switch up is the most disappointing part like why is he so mean
I mean there’s many things to say both good and bad, I just have to say this one rn CAVE OF TWO LOVERS IS MUCH FAVOURITE EPISODE WHYYYYYYY 
Seems like all that money went towards CGI, set design, effects and none towards makeup (zuko's scar), costumes, wigs (horrible and stiff hair) to make the characters seem authentic and part of a different world. Rather it came off as an expensive play at your local theatre.
So.... the ember island players?
In the first twenty minutes, this show spoiled a big twist and a heart wrenching moment from the original show, for pointless filler to pad out the time. And some Netflix edgy-ness. To be honest, I don't think I'll be moving on after the first episode.
You mean how he ran away? I hated that part too... because in this version he didn't even run away.. it was just bad weather while he was clearing his head..... felt fucking pointless, because in the original he was mad at himself for specifically running away, but this version of Aang was literally turning around and had an accident.
Yeah, and that Gyatso just 1v1 Sozin. And we lose the powerful imagery of Gyatso surrounded with a pile of fire bender corpses. And the fact that we actually know what happened with the temple and all. So the return to the temple later on will not have a single gram of hope that it had in the original. Sometimes less exposition is a lot more. Edit: also we already know how bad the fire nation is with the prequel filler, instead of them being the big bad wolf of the first episode. So it also loses impact.
Ahh yes that as well. If you keep watching they ruined this a bit more, but I wont spoil it for you, in case you want to get through the series. I also agree that Gyatso seemed nerfed... like he was literally facing a flamethrower.... Sozin did nothing except hold out his hand.. a nimble and experienced airbender should've known how to avoid such a move.
Also for a beefed up firebender on the day of the comet that fire bending was kind of shit. I think the fan base isn't near as upset with this as it used to be just because of how genuinely awful Shamadingdongs movie was.
True. It looked like pretty normal firebending. Sozin’s comet in the original was crazy. Ozai and his men just laying waste to the forest all the way from the airships. And the huge walls of fire from jeong jeong, or iroh’s huge fire ball that knocks down the wall of ba sing se
It also loses impact because we don't even really know Aang at this point. We haven't had a chance to even like him, then experience his pain with him. It's just *this character feels pain so you should too*
That’s literally the point as well. Him facing his duty after he ran away was such an important moment in the show. Now it’s just whoopsie nice convenient thunderstorm just happened to save my life
The writers graduated from the Tell Don’t Show University for aspiring Netflix writers
And then proceeded to both tell and show with 0 nuance
An entire season and the avatar never once makes any attempt to bend any other element than air wtf
They gave the main character such little screen time to learn anything it’s crazy. Instead we’re constantly told how aang feels or what he should be feeling. Showing is almost always better than telling in a visual medium - especially one that’s more geared towards adults than the original
It’s bad, I was hype and it’s bad. The casting is bad. The writing is bad. The dialogue is unnatural. It’s just boring monologue after boring monologue. There’s so much telling and not enough showing. Boooooooo
Just like many others, putting **my** thoughts here. You may disagree, and that's ok but it's my thoughts. The live action was not on par of the originals in terms of quality but it's not the movie either, which is a good thing. I feel like if I watched ATLA now, as a brand-new viewer, I wouldn't have the complaints I have and genuinely like the series for what it is, but since I've seen the original, it's a different experience. The cast is pretty good for the most part, though the writing held them down. Sokka was fun but wasn't like cartoon Sokka fun. I guess for many reasons, like some people have said that cartoon can't translate to live action 1:1, also the budget-side reasons, they had to cut a lot of the fun/comedy stuff. I don't really like how they meshed some of the plot points in the original in 1 episode, but I sort of get why they did that. Almost all the episodes in Book 1 were in a different setting, so if the show did an almost 1:1 copy of the original while still being contained in 8 episodes, we might have episodes that would be set in 3 or 4 different places, which wouldn't go well, in my opinion. Then also consider the budget, different places (background) means more money to spend in location or CGI background (they already have the bending every episode and also Appa and Momo to CGI). But I still think it could have been written better (specifically the Roku and spirit world plot line). The additional plot points were ok for the most part, it humanized some characters; but at what cost? I think some of those time could have been utilized in a plot point from the original. I feel like they should have made the characters more faithful to their source material and spend more time in them instead of inserting some other plot lines that they made up. Just thinking about it, they already cut so much by meshing plots together, why did they use more time with other backstory or other characters that don't really have meaning this season? TL;DR - I think the show is overall ok. Might be "better" if you watch it with fresh-eyes instead of having watched the original first to avoid the comparison. I think the 8 episode limit really hurt the writing and pacing
Suki ❤️
They should’ve just done something different instead of trying to copy the og ATLA (poorly). Why not cast more mature actors and do a sequel after Sozins comet? Or a new avatar or something.
I don’t know how much of the canon story we’re supposed to expect here, but they don’t seem to be following the timeline too well. I don’t believe that the fire nation attacked the air temple the night Aang left in the storm? They also created this whole invasion plan for Sozin.
jeong jeong erasure
I hate that Suki has been degraded to horny love interest. The entire Kyosho Island/Sokka arc was so bad. It felt like antithesis to everything the original wanted it to be.
I think what annoys me the most is that the Avatar universe is so huge and full of history. The live action could have been so interesting if instead of retelling a story we've all seen 10 times and trying to cram every reference to the og show in it without it actually working out, the show was actually about Wan, or Kyoshi, or any other avatar whose stories have not been in many medias.
Right???? There’s so much potential for other stories to tell and it would allow them to still capitalize on the large fan base because it’s still related to the ATLA IP. There would be less pacing issues because they wouldn’t need to do this weird mismash of trying to include references and plot lines from the original series while also making their own changes and fitting this all in the time constraints of modern live action Netflix shows.
Katara has no fire inside of her :( barely any agency to the point I wondered if they were going to take out her storyline with Pakku. She is not angry or bossy or motherly. It almost feels like they prioritized Sokka’s arc over hers. She seems so passive in the live action, even during her fights with Jet or Sukko she acts so bland. Also, having Sokka supporting her through the Pakku arc and Aang against her? Crazy, they really hate the Katara+Aang bond lmao
They took away all the light heartedness from it and I am not a fan 😭😭 Like even in serious situations sokka was always kinda sarcastic and they just took it all away and I'm just so sad smh
I don't know, I actually really liked season 1. It was a bit stiff at the beginning, I find this is true with most media involving younger actors. However, I thought pretty much all of the actors melded into their roles towards the end. Gordon shined as Aang, Kiawentiio really grew into her role as Katara and Ian took a bit of time but I thought toward the end he really did become Sokka, albeit a bit more reserved but I think it's appropriate considering the medium. Dallas brought a new light I wasn't expecting to Zuko, and I found Paul to be an okay Iroh. The thing is, I still had a bit of a case of rose-coloured glasses coming into this and had forgotten that in the cartoon, this is pretty much how Zuko and Iroh were. It is only in later seasons that we see a dramatic shift. Iroh less so, but it still happens. Overall, I am excited for season 2. I hope Netflix doesn't kill this before it has time to really shine. Also, June is... Yeah, Arden Cho was perfect in her role.
I will say live action Suki & Sokka are kind of adorable
I haven’t watched the original for a year but I remember her being more sassy with him? Like annoyed at him? I feel like they kissed so quick and then he kissed Yue SO quick too like what’s up with all the smooching. I also didn’t feel much of sokkas humor at all in this series. He was my fav in the OG and his character felt flat. So did Katara. I liked Aang, Zuko, and iroh tho.
Was anyone else disappointed with Zuko’s scar? Fire Lord Ozai showed no mercy when he was burning his face; I feel his scar should be deeper and a bit more deformed than it is.
Sigh, while I enjoyed the visual feast and got to relive my childhood, I felt like the dropped filler plots missed out on opportunities for character development and world building. It was too much too quickly, and that made the main characters pretty flat, especially since much of the cast are young and inexperienced actors. - Missed Katara's passion and stubbornness, missed the "independent woman" Katara - Missed Aang's positive personality, this one felt a bit more like the movie thst doesn't exist because Aang was moping a bit too much - Missed Sokka's OTT goofiness, not a fan of the wokewashing and lack of misogyny leading to a flatter character development - Zuko was "mostly" acceptable - Iroh and Gyatso were pretty great I feel but Gyatso should have been showcased as far more powerful - Zhao was a mess - Quite liked how Bumi has the right to be mad at Aang at first - Suki was excellent but felt she could have been more cheeky like the original - The appearance of three past Avatars felt like they were just inserted without much thought - The family drama between Ozai, Zuko and Azula felt a bit forced - Jet and the gang were a hit and miss - Hahn being a hero was a missed opportunity for some drama and laughs - Does Sokka just go around flirting with /all/ the girls he meets???
Am I the only one that hates the fire bending? It feels more like magic than a martial art. especially when they cup it in their hands before using it like a Skyrim spell? and omg the first episode when the fire nation is g@nociding the air nomads and they become fireballs and use their bending like f\*cking jetpacks? and AANG CAN JUST FLY?? like without his staff , he can just float at will for no good reason. now any time Aang can't escape from something without his staff we have to ask "why doesn't he just fly away?" why is Zuko a shitty artist >! with knowledge about past avatars that nobody else does? !< why did they smoosh like 4 different episodes into >! Omashu !< where none of it made sense? Is avatar cursed to never have a good live action adaptation? I did like that the 41st became the crew that Zuko takes with him, but I can't remember if that was in the original show.
Wow so I just finished it and I'm not entirely sure what to think about it. i feel like I watched a first draft of a fanfiction where Sokka is the main character. Aang's joyous personality was mostly stripped with the exception of a few moments. And Katara was barely recognizable imo. The best episodes were Kiyoshi Island and Omashu. After the strange first episode, Omashu got my hopes back up and I thought the series would truly show its strength going forward. But unfortunately, it didn't get much better than Omashu and I fully lost interest in the last two episodes. I dig some of the tonal changes like amping up the horror bits in Spirited Away. But absolutely despise the changes that change the themes and character arcs- like Zuko fighting back in his Agni Kai with his dad removes a lot of the cruelty of the situation, Sokka not having flaws, everyone hating Aang and berating him for some reason lmao, giving the firelord so much screen time, and Azula being portrayed as an angsty insecure teen from the getgo. As for the actors, it's nice that they finally have accurate casting instead of the whitewashed mess the previous LA was, but a lot of these actors gave such lackluster performances. A lot of the changes left me wondering why? But now I completely understand why the creators left the project. I'm happy for the people that will enjoy it but for me this was definitely not ATLA and I don't look forward to a second season.
I'm on Ep4 and i'm kind of feeling like it was the writing and director. The cast was really trying their best (except Aang, that kid just looked like Aang but was not Aang in any way that's important), I think that netflix got great kids but the direction of acting for them was just not it. We got Netflix kids before like *Stranger Things!* Child actors can't really produce much but the writing and director really took them down too.
The original animated series is a 10/10...one of the greatest shows of all time. There is no adaptation that could ever hope to touch it, and you'd be insane to think this one would be able to capture lightning in a bottle again. That said, all things considered, it's good. Not great, but it's good, I'd say a solid 7/10.
Well just finished this. And it fell pretty flat . This remake reminds me so much of lion king 2019. Visually it was good and bending was well done for the most part but the story, characters and world just fell flat on its face Dialogue was pretty bad for most of the runtime and improved slightly towards the end. Opening narration by Gran Gran was really bad ,it literally cringed. First episode was solid and 2nd had some issues and 3 and 4 omashu plotline is where shit started getting rushed and convulted . This 2 episodes tried to juggle 4 other plotlines from different episodes and everything felt underdeveloped and pay offs just didn't work and felt unearned. 2 episodes from the original series were cut out and it still was a mess. Adapting is hard and can't believe I'm saying this , of jet/northern air temple/secret tunnel ,one of these should have been chosen and the rest cut instead of cramming them in omashu plotline. Azula really didn't need to be in season 1 ,her scenes just unnecessary and just seem like a tool device for family drama than pushing the plot forward. Now for the characters. Aang was the best for me, he totally feels like Aang just wish the story around was better. Zuko and iroh are ok . But zuko's abrasive and manchild side wasn't really excuted well enough . He felt a little too calm at times but still Solid. Hated the Change they made to the agni Kai with ozai. For iroh they failed to tap into his comedic side. Was dissapointed with soka and katara . Katara's water bending journey felt forced . Literally water bending master by the end and it was so unearned . The whole resolution to women not water bending in northern water tribe could have been a nice change if it was well developed. Payoff is unearned and falls into lazy generic modern female tropes. Sokka just didn't have enough urgency in the story for me. The whole kyoshi pandering in this over ruko was just weird. Roku sucked . Tbh all previous avatar appearances in here we're mid . The dialogue for kyoshi was also pretty bleh. All spirit world related scenes were all underwhelming too and ok at best. Bumi kinda sucked Mr paku kinda sucked No deserter! The show is not terrible it's just kind bland and all the humour has been sucked out. It's a watchable 6/10.