Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Review – The Good and The Bad
The latest series adaption of the famous Avatar: The Last Airbender (ATLA) has already premiered, and fans have already binge-watched it. We can say that we’re glad that things were finally addressed the way they should be and that it truly did justice to the characters of ATLA.
But with the latest series out, we must address how it made us love the entire plot, the cast, and how each character played their role. However, with that, we must highlight the places that the show lacked and it could’ve used a little ‘bending power’ to do better.
Before we dive into the series, we recommend that you stream the series on at least an HD or above resolution. Why? Because finding Iroh compressed on your mobile screen won’t do justice and you can only rejoice from (spoilers) Zuko’s Firebending and Azula’s Lightening Generation if you have a good display.
And since we’re talking about high resolution, that means more data consumption. What now? Well, you can go for an internet plan without data caps, for which, we recommend Xfinity as it offers a 1 TB data cap, good enough to stream ATLA on Netflix at 4K! Fancy that, so get a plan by contacting Xfinity customer service phone number today.
The Good – We Liked the Bending CGI!
Yes, for a second, we and the fans were worried about firebenders finding fire to bend or earthbenders being unable to move anything while literally standing on the land. But, the latest series did justice to the overall bending abilities.
The use of CGI was though prominent, it gave meaningful impact and brought out the true display of bending prowess. We can say that waterbending could’ve been improved a little as it wasn’t as impactful as fire or earthbending.
Still, the overall visual effects were simply aesthetic and we rejoiced every moment of it. We cannot stress enough that one of the visual effects, the fire booster (using firebending to fly and propel) was used as quickly as in the first episode! A bold move indeed!
Apart from this, Appa, Momo, and other animals in the series were perfect. Sure, Appa could’ve been a little slim, and Momo’s voiceover could’ve been better, but it was acceptable.
The Good – Amazing Backstory Coverage
‘Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked’. But why did it do so and how? Netflix made a great impact narrating the early story of the Fire Nation attacking the Air Nomads.
We got to see Fire Lord Sozin, whose plan of attacking the Air Nomads is simply mind-boggling. Plus, we saw the battle of the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads, and how they were wiped out with Aang fleeing just moments before the attack.
Next, in the ‘Spirited Away’ episode, we saw Katara’s and Sokka’s backstories, more likely haunting memories that Koh used to manipulate them. Something, we didn’t quite catch in the anime, and certainly not in the movie at all.
Zuko’s backstory was important and Netflix didn’t miss it. The series added much more with the element of compassion that stops him from attacking his father, Fire Lord Ozai. It was amazing and the way it was made into the series was worth watching!
Not to mention the emotional scene where Iroh, known as the Dragon of the West, cries at his son’s funeral. Zuko comforting him and the entire scene, it was just so emotional (sobs).
The Bad – The Spirit World Controversy
We saw how the series brought several spirits from the anime alive. However, the series couldn’t do justice entirely and we have several reasons for that. Koh, the infamous face stealer spirit tricks victims into showing emotions and then steals them. But, THE AVATAR CLEARLY LOOKED AFRAID, AND IT DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!
Yes, a lot of the fans noticed this, this should’ve been his end but unfortunately, the series decided to go with it. Next, we saw how the series mixed several episodes, trying to connect things, and somehow gotten away with it but not subtly.
The spirit of knowledge, Wan Shi Tong was supposed to be in a library but instead, he’s just taking a stroll in the forest. The Hei Bai, the ferocious venom-looking spirit, made a slight appearance only.
Not to mention, there was no sign of Avatar Roku’s dragon taking him to his Shrine in the Fire Nation territory. Moreover, just like Kyoshi’s Avatar, Roku’s Avatar was supposed to make a spectacular entrance as well. Instead, the team decided to just let things go and bring June, the bounty hunter, which was also uncalled for since her story was supposed to be separate.
The Bad – Emotional Control – Not So Much
We can say that things went the opposite way from what they should’ve. We’re talking about emotional display here, and for starters, we’re going to talk about Katara and Sokka while mentioning Azula and Ozai.
Clearly, Azula was meant to be more fierce and show a merciless display. However, in the series, she’s just too emotional. We saw in ‘The Eclipse’ Episode from the original series where Azula was easily able to lie to Toph who can sense people’s heartbeat with her earthbending.
Azula: ‘I’m a pretty good liar. I am a 400-foot-tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings’.
Toph, after waiting for a moment: ‘Okay, you’re good’.
This shows that she’s able to control herself and her emotions, but in the latest series, we see the exact opposite as she gets pissed off at Zuko finding the Avatar and her father praising him. Speaking of which, Ozai was way too calm to be the Fire Lord, which again was the complete opposite of his profile in the series.
Even though the pyrotechnics were amazingly displayed in the throne room, it still didn’t go well with his personality. This brings us to Sokka and Katara being not too emotional. Let’s just say they suddenly realized how big of a deal it was, to find the Avatar and the last airbender.
But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be emotional, especially Katara. Her display of emotions was just off the course and it looked like she struggled with it. Even fighting with Paku was looking like it was still recording. Not to mention Yue wasn’t able to pull her character off too.
Closing Thoughts
There were many things that were off about the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender series. However, we can say that the things that were on point and even better did justice and pulled off the entire series so far. Let’s wait and see how the next season will embed the story with Omashu and Ba Sing Se under focus this time.
