When I first heard about the live-action “Avatar: The Last Airbender” coming to Netflix, I was skeptical. As a hardcore fan by the time I reached kindergarten, I was worried that I’d get a repeat of the horror show that was the 2010 live-action movie. But as the cast list was released, I felt my hope slowly rekindle. Here’s a little list of my favorite parts and opinions of the series!
Katara is probably my favorite actress! Katara was a character I’ve adored since I was very young. She was probably the first character in a show that I became obsessed with. When I heard that “Anne with an E” actress, Kiawentiio, was playing her, I was overjoyed! And personally, I think she did a great job!
Sokka was actually funny! Anyone who watched the abysmal Avatar: The Last Airbender movie back in 2010 knows that vampire Jackson Rathbone did a terrible job showcasing Sokka’s notable humor. So, thank you Ian Ousley!
I didn’t mind the squishing-together of episodes. A lot of fellow ATLA fans had the opinion of not liking how the Netflix adaptation pressed a few episodes, like Jet’s introduction and the Northern Air People. To me, it made sense for the show. It would be hard for the Netflix adaptation to follow the animated series exactly. And personally, I don’t want to see a scene-by-scene replication of the animated series because the two series shouldn’t be exactly the same. So hey, I don’t mind the speed-up timeline.
The casting (once again) was pretty awesome! Stop the Dallas Liu hate. He did amazing and I loved his whiny Zuko. Iroh? Ozai? Need I say more? And oh goodness, that cutie playing Aang was precious. Gordon Cormier portrayed his silliness and child-likeness so well!
The fight scenes and special effects were INCREDIBLE! From the first look at the massacre of the Airbenders, I knew the special effects were going to be next level. This was another huge contrast to the 2010 movie and I absolutely loved it. There were multiple points where my watch party shouted “WOAH!”. So, yeah. 100/10.
I can’t wait for the next two seasons! See Avatar: The Last Airbender, on Netflix!