I feel like the majority of us can collectively agree that nothing can top the original animated avatar show. It’s part of a lot of our childhoods and gives us that feeling of nostalgia, definitely a show to rewatch, or maybe watch its sequel series, The Legend of Korra. It’s nearly been 17 years since its release; it came out in 2007. 

There has been a movie previously, but it was in 2010 and was widely agreed by most critics to be one of the worst films of all time. For many years they have discussed creating a new movie. Back in 2018, there was an announcement, but after plans to start production in 2019, they called it off for the following years because of the COVID-19 breakout as well as creative differences. 

Even before the new series dropped, there had been talk about the expectations of how the series would be, most being negative. This is honestly a common reaction to these releases with live versions of cartoon shows so I assumed it was all talk. Many people have stated that they believe we shouldn’t always feel the need to turn animated shows into live-action, and honestly, I agree. We have seen this similar reaction to a recent drop earlier last year, One Piece, which ended up being well received once it was released. In most cases, not even the level of production can determine if the show will be loved by the public or not.

Upon its release, the new series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was not as bad as people claimed it would be. It wasn’t that great either.

Obviously, with the same storyline, it was enjoyable, so that deserves its credit. The visual effects they show for each element were done incredibly well, which is important as that’s the main part.

As each episode went on, I noticed that some characters weren’t executed well. Both their personalities as well as their appearance. I can see how they can change it up to make it more of their character, but it has to work for the overall artistic success of the project. One visual example was Princess Yue’s wig. I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who immediately noticed when she was introduced, but I later saw some articles and reviews on the same topic of it not looking good on screen.

Although, I’ve acknowledged the small parts in the show that reminded me of its humor from the animation. We’re shown the cabbage guy from the Earth Kingdom and how his merchant stall gets burned during the conflict, I feel like that was a cool easter egg to see.

Overall, I expected worse after hearing the announcement of its new live-action show on Netflix. After watching it through, it wasn’t terrible It’s not something I’d rewatch but I feel like the wrong light is being directed towards it and we should give it more credit.