A couple of days ago and to my surprise Netflix released the serialization/live-action of Avatar: The Last Airbender. If you don't know anything about this basically the original is anime/cartoon that aired through Nickelodeon in 2005. It had 3 seasons with 62 episodes in total and is considered one of the best and most anime/cartoons out there. To give you an idea it has a 9.3/10 in IMDb with over 350k reviews.
You can imagine how happy i was when i found out that there is a brand new series about it. Note that there was already a movie which was pretty bad. Now because NETFLIX has a woke agenda in my eyes, it tends to ruin mostly everything that already exists and the original content comes from books, anime, manga, novels etc. Thus, i had my concerns before i even watched it and my concerns were actually true to some extent.
Plot
So the plot is pretty straightforward and we have a universe where most of the people are part of a certain clan/kingdom let's say, based on some elements. We got the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe and the Airmonks. Basically, as the name suggests each nation/tribe/clan has an affinity towards an element. That means that in each of these nations, a lot of people have let's say powers to control the relevant Element.
To be more specific, the Fire Nation can manipulate fire, the Water Tribe can manipulate water and other forms of it like Ice and the list goes on. Ofc not everyone can manipulate the elements and even those that do so need the practice to get better. One set rule though, is that nobody can use more than 1 main element, except one person in the world, the AVATAR.
The Avatar is let's say a random person with a pure heart and such, that has the ability to learn how to use every element. Not only that but he/she has a special connection with all the past Avatars who somehow live inside of him. Also, the Avatar position is like a rotation role, that each time a human from a different nation would be deemed as the next one!
This time the Avatar in line is a young boy called Aang an Airbender who through a storm gets stuck in ice for 100 years. At the same time when that same storm occurs, the Fire Nation attacks the Airbender monks and basically kills all of them. 100 years later Katara and Sokka two teens from the water tribe find Aang who wakes up from his sleep and tries to figure out what's going on.
Apparently, the Fire Nation rules the world and only some strongholds remain. Aang along with his new friends embarks on a journey to learn more about the world, to find people that would train him and teach him how to use the other elements and ofc stop the war and win over the fire king.
What I Liked and What I Didn't
First of all, there are 8 episodes out there and ofc there will be a 2nd season, most likely. The setting, the aesthetics the CGI and everything related to these is honestly spot on. They did a freaking amazing work and even the use of any of the elements seems quite real. Kudos to the team behind it once again.
Another great thing is the acting. Most of the actors did a great job, they seem to be genuinely interested in providing a great experience to the viewers and most of them look alike to cartoon/anime ones. Because we are talking about NETFLIX though they need to add some wokeness and ruin some things just for the sake of it.
On the one hand, we have characters that look almost identical and even have a lot of easter eggs like the cabbage guy who is basically the actual voice actor himself. On the other hand, we have characters like Azula and Mei who look like failed cosplayers. Bumi and Iroh are great though!
What the show lacks though is character development which is extremely stupid given that you actually have a source. Literally, you have everything you need already, you simply need to copy/paste and mission accomplished. I don't get why this is happening always.
Zuko's character has way more depth than what we see, Sokka even though the actor is doing great work if you check the cartoon/anime he is so much more. For example, you see him joking and making fun of women all the time. He may even seem "sexist" which is why i believe NETFLIX didn't show that aspect, but the actual truth is more complicated.
You see Sokka needed to act as a Leader and protector of his tribe from a young age. He also has a younger sister Katara who loves and feels his responsibility to protect her at every cost. That's why he doesn't want his little sister and all the girls to fight, maybe to have more survival chances than the boys. Through the cartoon/anime and Sokka traveling the world meeting strong women and at the same time watching his sister becoming stronger and braver, he gets to completely change his mind and respect women more than anything. Do you see it now? Do you see how stupid people on Netflix are?
Finally, even though i can say a lot more i will say only one thing that i didn't like. Katara in the series seems better than Aang. She receives zero training and through a scroll, she basically learns how to even use ice, while Aang who is the freaking Avatar doesn't learn anything new. Ofc in the cartoon/anime Katara undergoes training multiple times and ofc she gets better and better.
Overall, in my eyes, it is a decent attempt but we need more, way more. I would probably give it a 6.5-7/10 max and if the same continues in season 2 i would maybe drop my rate to 6. One of the things that made a lot of people get hooked on the anime/cartoon is the deep character development of almost every main character, something we don't actually see through Netflix. I would strongly suggest watching the anime/cartoon if you have the time!
Posted using CineTV