Everyone has a series that defined their childhood. For some, it was Spongebob or Pokémon or Adventure Time, but for me, my childhood revolved around Avatar: The Last Airbender. I would spend hours upon hours watching Avatar and after rewatch after rewatch I still never get tired of it. Even as I got older my love for the show never stopped and probably never will. So, when I heard that Netflix would make a live-action adaptation, I was nervous but hopeful.
Based on the beloved 2005 animated cartoon of the same name, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the journey of Aang (Gordon Cormier), the current Avatar and the last of the Air Nomads, along with his friends Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley) as they try to defeat the Fire Nation’s century-long war against the other nations and bring balance to the world.
This isn’t the first time Avatar: The Last Airbender has been adapted into live-action. In 2010, M. Night Shyamalan directed a feature-length film that covered the events of the cartoon’s first season and was universally hated for many reasons. The movie adaptation was one of the worst adaptations ever due to several catastrophic changes. Still, the main criticism it faced was that it fundamentally didn’t understand what made the original so special. Netflix took a different approach and decided to make it a series instead of a movie, which gave me hope that it might have enough time to tell the story and develop the characters fully. Despite my initial optimism, after watching the entire season I was ultimately disappointed in the direction that Netflix decided to take.
The show crunches plotlines together to the point where the story becomes convoluted and hard to watch, turning important moments for character development into a shell of its original.
One of the biggest things that can make or break a show is its pacing. Netflix’s series majorly suffers from rushed overwhelming episodes due to having less than half of the cartoon’s original run. The show crunches plotlines together to the point where the story becomes convoluted and hard to watch, turning important moments for character development into shells of their originals. Before the show was released, it came out that Netflix would be taking away the “side quests” that the gang went on throughout the first season; however, this was not the case. Netflix kept the side quests in by mashing them together with other important storylines and removed all of the fun and comedic moments in hopes of delivering a more serious, darker tone for the series. In my opinion, this change was a mistake. One of the reasons why the original is so loved is because it was able to perfectly balance the more serious moments with comedic ones, allowing us to get to know the characters and their personalities in different situations.
The biggest change the Netflix series made was the absence of Sozin’s comet. In the original, the driving force of the story and the whole reason Aang begins to learn water bending is the message Roku gives him that forces him to face the reality of being the Avatar. This is a pivotal moment in the series and the absence of it makes no sense; instead, Aang is shown a vision of the Northern Water Tribe being destroyed, stripping the big reveal of its shock and surprise at the end of the season. This happens with a lot of important moments, as it feels like everything is directly told to you, removing all the emotional weight that it originally had. Additionally, for a season dedicated to water bending, not once is Aang seen learning or knowing how to water bend. The show seemed to forget that the whole purpose of its first book is about the Avatar learning his first new element; instead, he is pushed to the sideline and stuck watching as the show puts more than enough focus on Katara and Zuko.
The changes in the story weren’t the only problems that I had with the Netflix adaptation. The characters felt shallow and pairing that with the stiff and unnatural dialogue it made for a rocky ride that became more and more disappointing as the show went on. Characters like Iroh and Aang are known for their wisdom and their unique view of the world, and their live-action performances felt very out of character. Iroh turned into an old guilty man whose sole focus was looking out for his nephew Prince Zuko, and Aang became a whiny kid who had to be taught the same lesson over and over again. Aang’s lack of a personality frustrates me. A core part of his character is that he doesn’t want to be the avatar and actively tries to escape his responsibility. Throughout the show, Aang becomes one of the least developed characters despite the show being about his journey. Aang is one of the most interesting characters in the show, and it’s sad to see Netflix ignore him and his goofy personality.
The actors did the best they could with what they were given, and I’m sure with better writing they would be out of this world. The casting in this show is amazing. Each actor perfectly fits what I imagined, and it feels like they are trying their best to fully channel their characters, but the janky writing and exposition-heavy monologues ruin the flow and completely take you out of the story.
Aang is one of the most interesting characters in the show and it’s sad to see Netflix ignore him and his goofy personality.
While I didn’t like most of this show, Netflix did deliver a visually stunning show that perfectly captures the world of the animated series. Each location that the gang travels is exactly how I imagined they would look in live action, if not better. Seeing their version of the Southern Air Temple and Omashu was refreshing and breathed new life into the show. It felt like the characters were immersed in the world, despite the majority of the show being shot on a green screen or LED screen walls. The CGI wasn’t the only thing Netflix managed to get right. The costume design for each nation and character was spectacular. In the animated show, it made it easy to tell which characters were from which nation, due to the color palettes and the cultures each nation was inspired by, which the series executed flawlessly.
Going into this show, I wasn’t looking for a carbon copy of the original. What’s the point of making an adaptation just for it to be a one-to-one remake of the original? But an adaptation should only change so much. It has to enhance the story in some way; otherwise, it could make things worse. Most of the changes Netflix made came at the cost of vital character and relationship development that the main trio desperately needed to feel human and relatable. The show takes every chance it gets to hold the viewers’ hand and shove information in your face in order to get the payoff they want, without making the effort to establish any mystery or stakes to make the moment feel important. Without the emotional weight, these moments become bland and lack what made them so special in the first place.
An adaptation should only change so much. It has to enhance the story in some way otherwise it could make things worse.
Every format is different and changes need to be made to fit and flow properly in a new medium. Many adaptations have successfully pulled this off, like The Last of Us and Netflix’s One Piece, without disrespecting the source material and making unnecessary changes. I understand that they had to leave things out due to it shortening the runtime to eight episodes compared to the original’s 24, but had they made the season half of the original’s it would have given them more room to flesh out the story and characters without trying to shove everything into one or two episodes.
Netflix’s adaptation has a lot going for it and with the announcement of seasons two and three, it has the potential to become a great show if it takes a step back and looks at what it needs to do differently.
