Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Doesn’t Soar as High as Its Source Material, But Is Still a Rock-Solid Adaptation

Avatar: The Last Airbender is often considered among the best animated series of all time, and for good reason. Over its 61-episode run, it deftly balanced contrasting elements: humor and weighty themes, episodic adventures and overarching storytelling, a fantastical setting with grounded details, and much more. And despite working in the broad realm of a fantasy epic, its characters and the 100-year war of imperial conquest they faced were portrayed with a specificity that captured the emotional reality of living in this world on fire. Even setting aside its nostalgia, it’s one of those rare stories that offers as much, and maybe more, for me as an adult as it did when I first caught it on Nickelodeon as a kid.

For all these reasons, Netflix’s new live-action spin on this beloved show has a lot on its shoulders, a weight increased by previous disappointment, as this fanbase has already been burned by a hot-mess 2010 film adaptation that virtually no one enjoyed. While the initial promotional material for this fresh take seemed promising and featured sets and costuming that appeared aesthetically accurate to the source material, there was a social media snafu when comments during the press tour appeared to fundamentally misunderstand the appeal of the original, such as the decision to seemingly limit the one-off “detours” that were important to the cartoon’s tone or removing Sokka’s misogynistic behavior, which was a key character flaw that others helped him overcome.

So, which is it: does this latest adaptation recapture lightening in a bottle, or were the warning signs an indication that this retread would be another miss? In short, although Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender can’t fully capture the magic of its predecessor and falls into some of the pitfalls alluded to by the previously mentioned promotional soundbites, it still captures enough of the impact and gravitas of what came before to make this retelling land. After initially struggling to reconcile the original’s “detours” with a more serialized plot, it eventually sets up a string of episodes that capture the cathartic moments, weighty subject matter, and joyful undercurrents that made this tale so affecting. The animated version is still undeniably the definitive one, but there are enough interesting additions here, especially in the final stretch, to make things worthwhile for those who already know how this adventure goes.

If you’ve somehow never seen the intro theme that plays before each episode of the cartoon, the story follows Aang (now played by Gordon Cormier), a 12-year-old Airbender tasked with saving the world. He’s the reincarnation of the Avatar, the only person capable of mastering all four elements: water, earth, fire, and air. After the Fire Nation begins a war for global domination, Aang must learn how to use the other three elements to stop the Fire Lord Ozai’s (Daniel Dae Kim) conquest.

As for the live-action adaptation, the series loosely adapts the first season of the original. However, as alluded to by showrunner Albert Kim, it adopts the serialized style of most modern TV, telling this story through eight, hour-long episodes instead of 24-minute ones. At first, this method squares awkwardly with the episodic nature of this journey, which relied on slowly endearing us to these characters and their circumstances through short-form tales that elegantly tied into their overarching goal. You know, like how television used to work before prestige TV convinced everyone the medium had to almost exclusively exist as expensive, 8-hour movies.

Although this live-action show has almost the same runtime as the animated one, the first half of this season can sometimes be briskly paced because storylines from different episodes of the original are smashed together in an attempt to make things work in this new form. This stretch still has quite a few highlights, like a maximalist action scene where we witness a legendary bender unleash their abilities, but many side characters aren’t given enough room to breathe in this new format.

Additionally, the problems alluded to in the press tour are felt; Sokka’s (Ian Ousley) arc with the Kiyoshi warriors feels less resonant because we don’t get to see him grow past being a backward-thinking jerk, and Team Avatar’s “detours,” which were often orchestrated because Aang was avoiding his responsibilities, aren’t quite as prevalent, meaning there’s less time for exploring the exciting corners of this world.

However, while it may be tempting to conclude from these shortcomings that the creators of the Netflix show fundamentally misunderstand this story, the second half of the season makes it clear that this isn’t the case. Part of this stretch’s success comes from how the episodes it adapts much more neatly fit into this new format, with the fifth and sixth episodes cleanly combining two highlights from the original, while the last two are perhaps the best showcase for the benefits of this live-action approach. The climax brings to life moments of visceral, large-scale destruction, culminating in a sequence that gleefully riffs on a kaiju cinema and brings out the strengths of this presentation.

Beyond this, the series renders the nuances of its source material throughout, including the internal journeys of its characters. We see Aang struggle with his responsibilities, but also how his reemergence is a ray of hope in a previously hopeless era, witness Katara’s quest to finally pursue bending, and feel Sokka struggle with expectations to become a great warrior. My personal favorite is how this adaptation highlights the familial bond between Zuko (Dallas Liu) and his Uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), as flashbacks thoughtfully fill in the gaps in this tender relationship. It all captures how this angsty teen struggles between the toxic expectations of a father he idolizes and the loving guidance of his uncle. While the cast’s journeys to these moments of self-discovery have been remixed, their growth is still emotionally resonant. And this retelling not only captures the hurt that this 100-year war has caused our central group, but everyone else they come across, a sentiment conveyed in every scarred forest and beaten down populace we encounter.

Sometimes, this new take even goes as far as amplifying aspects of the original. For instance, we see more of Fire Lord Ozai and his machinations to turn his children Zuko and Azula (Elizabeth Yu) against each other to create a “stronger” heir, an excellent shorthand for this society’s cruel prioritization of raw force above all else. As previously mentioned, the season climax (which you can likely guess the subject matter if you’ve seen the cartoon) uses its live-action presentation to convey the grandeur of this final battle.

The adaptation also generally nails the look of this world. The costuming choices seamlessly adapt these characters without brushing over their iconic elements, a considerable feat considering how rarely designs from animated series make this jump gracefully. The sets don’t look cheap or inauthentic either, and these architecture and vistas help firmly place us in this space. The compositing is also generally quite good, and as far as the backdrops are concerned, there isn’t a jarring dissonance between the CGI and practical details.

However, if there’s an area of its visuals I have mixed feelings about, it’s the bending sequences. Although the martial arts that undergird bending come across as authentic, the elemental abilities themselves are less impactful than one would hope. The original animation was simply far better at getting across these fantastical abilities, as the CGI used here doesn’t always capture the physical smack of being blown away by a gust of Airbending or the crack of a water whip. If there was one thing I was hoping for from this live-action take, it was some theatrical Wuxia-inspired battles, and a few specific scenes aside, these abilities felt a tad more underwhelming than I would have hoped for.

Tied to this, another area that can be up and down is the direction, cinematography, and editing, which can sometimes be inert. For example, when we’re first introduced to an iconic band of rebels, the shots and cuts used lack impact, a problem exacerbated by my memory of the striking visual language used to establish them in the animated series. Perhaps an even bigger issue direction-wise is that it often seems there should have been additional takes for some of these line readings. It isn’t that the performances are wholly awful, but they can definitely be inconsistent. This also impacts the comedic timing, which doesn’t come across as punchy as you would want, as the original’s melding of dialogue, voice acting, and character animation sold its jokes so effortlessly that things can feel forced here by comparison.

Netflix’s take on Avatar: The Last Airbender can be rough around the edges. It doesn’t always make the best case for why this story needed to be retold using the blueprint of contemporary television, and it’s easy to take small jabs at its shortcomings compared to the animated show. However, despite its imperfections, it still manages to make good on the sturdy bones of this tale, expressing the personal journeys wrapped up in this grandiose, world-threatening quest. It tackles heavy ideas about the cost of imperialism for the victims of war and how it rots the society that carries it out, the pain of living in a broken era, and the trying process of coming into responsibilities. But it also captures moments of levity, the possibility for change, and, most of all, our protagonist as a symbol of hope.

While a cynical part of me wants to say there isn’t much reason for this live-action version to exist, especially when the original is accessible on multiple streaming platforms, if that’s what it takes for some subset of people to engage with this beautiful story, then so be it.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is now streaming on Netflix. 

Elijah Gonzalez is an assistant TV Editor for Paste Magazine. In addition to watching the latest on the small screen, he also loves videogames, film, and creating large lists of media he’ll probably never actually get to. You can follow him on Twitter @eli_gonzalez11.

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