NETFLIX'S AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER REVIEW (HAVEN'T WATCHED THE ANIMATED SERIES!)

Episode 1- Aang 💨

3/5

Lots of cool action sequences, especially with the fire-bender army. It’s great that you don’t have to watch the animated series to understand the live-action. However, there are still elements I don’t quite understand.

For example, what is bending and why are some people benders whilst others aren’t. I felt that Katara’s personality was flat and boring at times. I didn’t understand her empathy for the avatar, to the point of sacrificing her village for him. A lot of the characters backstories are left ambiguous. I am hoping that this is explained more In the next episodes.

My favourite scene was Zuko’s battle with Sokka. Dallas Liu does a great job of portraying the hot-headed nature of the character. I liked his incorporation of martial arts alongside the fire-bending.

Costumes were very detailed and the home of the air bending nation was visually stunning.

Ep 2- Warrior 🗡️

2/5

The episode goes over the avatar going on a expedition to the earth kingdom to understand more about his powers. This episode definitely had a slower pace and less action then then the first until the end.  I found Sokka and Suki’s relationship to be awkward and uncomfortable to watch.

Sukki is non communicative in most of their romantic scenes and their romantic moments felt unnaturally forced into a single episode. I feel like more could have been stated about the inhabitants of Kyoshi island and their lifestyle. Avatar turning into Kyoshi wasn’t properly explained when attacking the fire nation nether was it acknowledged by the inhabitants.  It’s also an anomaly not brought up by Zuko afterwards, considering he knows how the avatar actually looks like.

Ep 3-  Omashu ⚔️

2/5

A few unexpected twists in the story. The avatar, Sokka and Katara split up which leads to a lot of unrelated scenes jumbled together. I didn’t understand the introduction of Teo as he doesn’t really join in on the missions like the others. Nether do we see him repairing the relationship with his dad In the ending.

I liked Jet and the mechanic’s betrayal but felt there needed a couple of more episodes to have it emotionally significant for viewers.

Jet gave me Peter Pan vibes with his freedom fighting band of outlaws. However, It would have been better if he trained Katara to water bend so she could help him with attacking the king. Unfortunately, when he gets caught, he betrays katara and she ends up imprisoned.

I think Katara and Jet had better chemistry initially than Sokka and Sukki. It would have been nice to see Sokka confronting Jet about his suspicion of him being a villain. I liked jets costume and it reminded me of Hiccup Haddock from HTTYD 2.

Zukos fight with the avatar was fun to watch in the marketplace. The episode definitely shows some darker scenes with Azula killing the traitor’s and uncle Iroh being captured. However, it was disappointing to not see Zuko have any emotional outburst after his uncle was arrested.

Ep 4- into the dark 🪨

1/5

I found Bumi’s character to be really obnoxious and his jokes weren’t funny. Although his antics might have been more comical to a younger audience. The avatar doesn’t really learn anything from him and his challenges could have been more imaginative.

Lots of filler comedy scenes which didn’t add much to the plotline.  In the whole episode, I only liked Uncle Iroh’s interaction with the earth kingdom guard and the fight scenes. Everyone seeing the fire nation as the enemy does become needlessly repeated.

We see a few flashbacks of Zuko and Uncle Iroh’s relationship at the end but these were spliced and without present dialogue. Would have been nice to see Zuko exchange some words of affection to his uncle in between.

I feel the show makers have started leaning towards those familiar with people the animated series as opposed to a new audience.

Ep 5- spirited away 🦉

3/5

We get to see some backstory regarding the loss of Katara’s mother. The fire nation soldier killing Katara’s mother was a emotionally stirring moment and well executed.

The introduction of a monster feeding off of the nightmares is a common anime trope. However, Katara and Sokka’s souls being in danger makes for a suspenseful revelation.

Zuko and Iroh don’t get much screen time In this episode. I’m hoping the last few episodes include the gang confronting Zuko instead of having separate moments. I am starting to see a lot of repetition in themes.

Ep 6- masks 🎭

5/5

One of the best episodes by far including lots of cool and engaging moments from start to finish. From commander Zhao’s betrayal to Zuko assisting in Aang’s escape and his flashbacks. We get to see a lot of development in Zuko and Aangs characters as they face decent opposition.

Zuko using Aaang life as a bargaining tool was an ingenious statergy. It reminded me of the scene in pirates of the Caribbean with jack sparrow and Elizabeth.

I wish we would have more wholesome moments between Aang and Zuko. For example, Zuko wears a wig and pretends to be Azula, tricking Zaho into handing over Aang. However, midway in a fight with Aang he’s wig falls for a parody moment.

I didn’t expect the koh to give up Aangs friends and thought there would be a fight in the end. I felt that the cliffhanger from the previous episode was a little unnecessary. It would have been good to see Aang suffering a temporary meltdown as he does face greater tribulation these last few episodes.  

Episode 7- up north🧊

2/5

The episode heats up immediately with Commander Zhao lacing Zuko’s vessel with explosives. It was a little unusual of Zhao to not question the blue spirit and his  capture of the avatar.

However, any earlier interest is faltered as we tiredly watch Aang and his friends visit another nation and receive the same attitudes about the fire nation. Although, I understand its importance, it wouldn’t hurt for the creators to introduce different dialogue. However, it was a little refreshing to see the north water tribe not be cowering.

Introducing a second love interest for Sokka seemed silly and pointless. Particularly as we already had a entire episode about his relationship with Suki. I feel like a new love interest would have suited Katara more, given Jet’s betrayal.

Although, I did feel like there was more heartfelt moments between Sokka and the princess than Sukki. Sokka making out with a girl previously engaged was very out of character.

Katara’s feminist rant with Pakku was unnecessary and wasn’t very helpful with the incoming fire nation. Especially, as her and Sokka got the avatar captured after being trapped by Koh.

Although I liked her fight with Pakku, we don’t really get to see her waterbending evolving through the episodes. As a result, her new skills seem very much unexplained.

Avatar meeting with Kuruk was reminiscent of his previous experience with past avatars. A lot of them besides Avatar Kyoshi seem uninterested in helping him unlock his potential. I didn’t understand why Kuruks wife wasn’t freed from Koh when avatar gave him his mothers statue.

Azula’s tantrums and training montages are needlessly repetitive. I really wanted to see her take on her father in a Agni kai as Zuko did in the past. Especially since she refused a direct order. I hope that her leaving the fire nation gives her more character development.

I was looking forward to this episode given how action-packed the previous one was. However, I feel like this episode stiffens a storyline that was beginning to show promise. I am interested to see what happens in the season finale.

Episode Eight- Legends 🐟

5/5

The episode was definitely fitting for the season finale. Lots of cool action-packed moments and commander Zhao was definitely a formidable villain. It was refreshing to see him have an alternate plan instead of capturing the avatar.

However, I did feel Aang could have done more to sweep the fish towards him while Zhao was distratced. Although, princess Yue and Hahn’s deaths were emotional, we didn’t see enough of them for it to be as impactful as it could have been.

It was cool seeing Aang push his abilities with the help of the spirit. Zuko’s battles with both Zhao and Katara were fast-paced and choreographed well. Zhao’s revelation to Zuko about Ozai was a excellent plot-twist. It was interesting to see Zuko struggle to accept the harsh reality of his father’s motives. However, I feel it may have been more believable if uncle Iroh had made the revelation instead.

Zuko seemed a little broken in the end, and it will be interesting to see how his character develops in season 2. Azula’s successfull seige of Omashu and Bumi’s imprisonment was another interesting development. I am interested to see her character develop outside of the fire nation palace.

23/40 - 58%

Best episodes

Episode 6

Episode 8

Worst episodes:

Episode 4

Episode 2

Final thoughts:  

Avatar : The Last Airbender provides a fast-paced adventure series detailing the lives, experiences and identity struggles of Aang and his friends. Although the series lacks consistency in action the constant injection of plot-twists and cliffhangers keeps viewers second guessing.

I found Zuko’s storyline and some of Aang’s scenes to be the most interesting moments in the series. Dallas Liu does a great job in showing Zuko’s rage and blind loyalty well as he’s uneasiness at times.

I liked Sokka and Katara’s scenes initially, but I felt their character development is often overshadowed by Aang’s missions. Katara’s emotional scenes felt deadpan and lacking any emotion.

There are a lot of unnecessary repetitions in themes and attitudes. However, there is a lot of effort put into the costumes, CGI effects for the bending  and visuals. It was nice to see Aang mature closer to the end of the season and become more offensive in the face of his enemies.

I hope that more characters are introduced in season 2. I also hope that there is more creativity in the storyline that suits the live-action narrative. I personally haven’t watched the animated series, however the live-action has piqued my interest.

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