My wife has been waiting for the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender with trepidation. Why, it is one of her favorite shows and her memories of watching the animated show, they’re very important. I think that’s been the concern for a lot of people. Animated shows, especially anime, which this feels adjacent to, often don’t turn out the best. Though, Netflix did do well with One Piece, so is Avatar: The Last Airbender a hit for them?

Avatar: The Last Airbender Plot

Let’s just talk quickly about the plot. I won’t spoil much of what happens, only what is in the first episode, and sets the context.

Aang is the Avatar, someone who can learn and master the elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. But he’s young, still learning, when the Fire Nation, those who can bend fire, declare war on the rest of the world. He goes off on the run and ends up frozen in ice for 100 years. When he comes out of the ice, war is still happening. But the Fire Nation has a much stronger foothold than before. And he still needs to figure out what it means to be the Avatar and how to stop the war.

Animated versus Live Action

Obviously, this is the main question for most people. How does the live action version hold up against the animated version. And I think, as did my wife, that it holds up well. I know there will be some people who nitpick around it and say that it doesn’t do everything identical to the animated version. In which case, I recommend that they watch the animated version again. But for the most part, it does a great job with it.

If I were to critique the live action version and find a few negatives, I’m not sure that all of the acting is as dynamic as the voice acting was. And there are a couple of times where the bending doesn’t look perfect. It looks really good, but it doesn’t look perfect. That’s mainly around Aang flying, which doesn’t matter what it is, it doesn’t look perfect even in a big budget film, Wonder Woman I’m looking at you.

What It Changes

The big thing that it changes is that it tones down the goofiness. Now, note that I didn’t say that it gets rid of the goofiness. It certainly doesn’t do that. But it does tone it down. And with that it leans into the reality of the war that the Fire Nation has brought upon the Earth, Wind, and Water nations.

This, I think, is an important change. Again, I don’t want it beat for beat. If I wanted it like that, I’d watch the animated show. But also, some of the goofiness wouldn’t translate as well to live action. It’d undercut what the show really ends up getting right about the series. And I’ll touch on that soon. Some of the silly things that Aang does or Momo’s antics, or even Sokka’s ticks wouldn’t translate as well into live action.

But It Does It Justice

And let’s focus in on this. The Netflix show does the animated series justice. Mainly because it nails getting the heart of the show down. The struggle for Aang, Sokka, Katara, and others is real in the show. And the live action version leans into that as the focus. Mainly, because it can. It’s still a show that kids can watch, just slightly older kids, because of how it handles the story.

I don’t think I can emphasize this enough. Avatar: The Last Airbender is about Aang’s struggle. But it’s not just about that. Everyone desires that the Avatar saves them and ends the war. But everyone is lost and grieving because of the war. And that dynamic of hope, or loss of hope, the scheming and planning. The violence and helping, all of that translates so well throughout the first season of the show.

Final Thoughts on Avatar: The Last Airbender

I really want to express how good this show is. Not just for people who have watched the animated series. I think that Netflix’s adaptation of it is a great opportunity for new fans to be created. And that is important to have a show continue to grow that way. And the numbers of Netflix are proving it out that people are excited for the show.

The changes that they make, and I mentioned toning down the goofiness, are good. I know that there were a lot of complaints about making Sokka less sexist. The point of that is that he changes. But the show demonstrates clearly that you can still have those arcs without making it as blatant. I see him still as sexist in how he treats and protects Katara, but it’s not a blatant way that he handles it. It’s from a protective source and he’s still learning to overcome and change and not feel like his sister can’t handle it.

I want the next season now. And I hope that Netflix can make it quickly and do it justice. There are characters I want to see show up. And there are a lot of arcs that I really want to see develop over time. We start to see the hint at them with Uncle Iroh and others, but I want to see how they can continue to grow the series.

Have you watched it? And did you enjoy it?

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