The main reason One Piece worked pretty well (I think they rushed the fish men which took away from some other things, but mostly good), was because the creator was there to keep them in check. So when the creators left Avatar, it was a bad sign which made sense that the shows declines as it goes along.
I think they folded the key beats enough, but I think Arlong Park and Usopp in particular might have needed a little more cooking time (I like the actors for them all, but Usopp in particular feels a little like he could do with a bit more screen polish. Maybe when we see him get more into the crafty, tinkerer potential of the character we'll see some shine on our sniper)
There's a power level dynamic here too - Oda has a MASSIVE degree of power over One Piece that the ATLA creators don't have over ATLA. The only thing the ATLA creators could do was to leave, whereas Oda could step in and say "No. There is no romance on the Going Merry." and Netflix had to cut that shit out. Netflix could say "Sexism is bad, we don't want any here." and all ATLA creators could do was go "We out, peace!".
i don't think it has anything to do with that. you don't need to be the original creator to understand what made the original product work and you can certainly screw up an adaptation even with og creators present, we've seen that time and time again. live action one piece worked because the creator understood the source material
Yeah the OG Avatar is the only good one. Korra ruins the shared lore, comics ruin ATLA's characters. (old comics are fine though, I think. don't know about games) And yeah something is off with TDP, the morality is wanky af.
I’d argue that ATA & TLK were never truly together in harmony considering that the latter caused massive damage to the world-building of the former especially in Book 2, otherwise that was a solid intro. Also the fact they did both Sokka and Katara dirty by watering down their development, along with what they did to Aang is truly a Netflix moment.
Yeah I don't see how removing large amount of Sokka's character growth makes him a better character (and it undermines Katara and Suki's stories too). Instead Sokka's story is basically a generic "character sorta doubts himself".
The fact that they turned my girl Katara into a vanilla version of her already affirms my desire to not watch this remake. Pretty effects aren't enough for me
@@skeith1543Not to mention it also ruined Katara's character growth arc as well because both her and Sokka's character growth all stem from the whole sexism thing from the original show! I still remember the actor, who plays as Sokka, went full-on male feminist complaining about sexism in the original show which made him sound sexist himself when he said that women couldn't handle sexism.
@@JKurayamiit had good ideas, but even those where poorly executed, the first half of season one was interesting outside of Korra herself who was intolerable from the get go
@@AgntFL It had some good ideas but also some really stupid ones. Like opening the spirit portal, which caused massive destruction, and then we were supposed to think the people who were mad about that were in the wrong. It's like no! If my house was destroyed, I'd be pissed at Korra, too. They also fucked with the legacy characters and made Aang a shitty dad. I can't hate it completely, because there was potential.
@@amyrat151it’s funny how you completely misunderstand the point of the sprit destruction. They never act like people shouldn’t be mad for the spirit portal being opened, they explore all the consequences of it over the course of the third and fourth seasons. The takeaway is that change isn’t all bad, but it also isn’t all good.
Removing all the motivation and character development is unforgivable. Thank you for the review. Even Paku (in the cartoon) was super interesting with the little screen time he had by provoking Katara. There had to be a hidden motivation of him wanting to push her to her limits. Part of him was curious on how she will perform under anger, even with him being sexist.
Dude, no need to apologize for “rambling”. In fact, I contend that you weren’t rambling; what I heard was in-depth analysis. You may have ranted a little bit, but it was necessary to convey what you did. I hope it was as cathartic for you, as it was informative for us. Excellent piece man.
They also destroyed Katara's arc with Pakku. She hardly trained with the scroll and she says shes her own master to an expert fire bender like Zuko and beat him?? That felt very Rey Palpatine vs Kyko Ren to me on episode 7.
Very Mary Sue of her to just proclaim to be the best, with no training, and then beat men who’ve dedicated their lives to honing their skills. Because girls rule, boys drool God I hate Netflix these days
On top of all those complaints I'd add the fact they basically fucked up every major revelation that had an impact on characters or the viewer. Yeah, the air benders genocide might have been effective, but as a result there's no mystery for the viewer and no thinking: What the hell happened here? Instead you're waiting for characters to catch up with what you know. Second example would be king Bumi revealing he's Aang's friend right from the start and not to mention the complete fuckup of his character (in the original he didn't complain Aang was gone, instead he did his best to prepare him for what fate was about to throw his way). I'm also kind of suspecting that avatars telling Aang to handle this alone is a way to cut out the whole chakras storyline (where one required to abandon friends to achieve the avatar state).
They seem to have gone in thinking "people will know the twists so we don't need to do it that way". Which makes a certain sense for the writers. But for the characters.... yeah. Learning about how something happened at the same time as we see the characters find out it a much stronger way to present it. They seem to have really dumbed it down. Plus having seen the full length version I think we are seeing a major limit in the Netflix story model of 8 episodes. You don't get enough time to really flesh things out compared to a longer story.
@neodigremo ATLA book 1 was 20 30-minute episodes. So it was just about 10 hours long. It shouldn't have been that hard to cut 10 down to 8 without losing too much. The problem Netflix seems to have is not using the time wisely. Don't get me wrong, their fixation on the 8 episode season is a problem as stories need time to breathe, but it shouldn't have been as bad here.
@@kelupthegnome2871 I see your point, and it is not a bad one, but you can do more in 3 x 20 minute episodes than a single 60 minute episode. Especially with the time devoted to fight scenes and adding a subplot for Azula that wasn't there originally and devoting half the first episode to backstory we don't really need to see.. Even if that is not an issue, 10 hours going down to 8 is removing 20% of the run time. That is a big loss. The directors version of Batman vs Superman is about 20 minutes longer, maybe 10% longer. However those extra 20 minutes thoroughly flesh out and improve the film making it more coherent and nuanced. ALTA doesn't really have all that much filler.
Bryke screwed up the comics, they screwed up Korra, and they abandoned the Netflix series. Can we all finally admit that Aaron Ehasz is the true creator of ATLA now?
Thank you. Korra was ok if it was stand alone. But they turned the bending element into basic super powers which devalues it as a whole. Same thing with the avatar state treating it like a power up and not something more powerful or respected.
Except Aaron gave full endorsement and was even given access behind production to the show. He spoke very positive about it. “Hopefully, also the tone. One of the things that was always hard about Avatar that I don’t think translated well to the movie was that it does have this balance in tone that it’s dramatic and epic and emotional, but it’s also funny and quirky and delightful. I think they’ll find that.”
More likely they left the production because of directions that Netflix was forcing on them that they didn't agree on. Seeing the finished product, which is ok but not great, you can see where the studio interfered and the show suffered as a result
Can we also acknowledge that Aang not learning fire bending and burning Katara due to his impatience should not have been cut? That's such an important episode! It makes aang not want to fire bend again, it shows that aang is still an immature and impatient child at this point in the story AND it shows how Katara discovers healing.
Zuko's agni kai with Ozai tells you all you need to know about this show. In the original show, Zuku challenged a general to a duel because he thought the general's actions were cruel and unnecessary. When his father steps into the ring instead and insists that Zuku fight him because Ozai felt Zuku's public challenge personally disrespected him Zuku knelt on the ground and refused to fight because he could not even imagine raising his hand against his own father. Instead he tried to publicly apologize to his father, ask for his forgiveness, and withdraw from the duel. This enraged Ozai so much that he publicly branded Zuko's face to mark him as a coward then banished him from the empire, with the impossible task of capturing someone who hadn't been seen in a century as the only way to earn his way back. In the live action show they actually have Zuko fighting back against Ozai. Sure, he might not be attacking but he is actively firebending and dueling him. Which is all Ozai asked him to do. The show writers completely missed the point of the scene and the characters in the name of making in more "interesting".
He even got the upper hand at some point…. I couldn’t believe my eyes when that happened. Zuko almost won the duel with Ozai????? This is our main villain? Aang will have to spend years (in this version) training for the final battle with him, but inexperienced, 13 year old Zuko almost defeated him? Ozai should feel powerful, terrifying, and impossible to beat. How could they have fucked up this badly? It’s incredible to me, truly.
So most of the problems can be attributed to “story and character”, but there’s a way to expedite even that brief sentiment: The WRITING is bad. This show was the best example of a script that was modified not from a review of the source, but from a review of a synopsis of the source. There is a legion of evidence for this, from the airbender cleanse being depicted first, to Azula’s expedient emotional breakdown, to the offensive misinterpretation of the spirit world, to the confusion regarding the essence of Iroh and king Bumi, to the general intervention of contrivance in various aspects of the narrative. Though the on-screen talent (including hair/makeup, set, costume, and choreography) have an evident respect for the source material, the writing team, and possibly the director, does not, and I think that shines through past all the bright lights and colours.
There are writing problems I have noticed, and I could even improve scenes easily. I am not even a "writer" (I write computer code and scientific articles mostly). The writing was amateurish at some places, like a first time fanfiction.
Maybe the live action could’ve worked if the show had more episodes. I don’t get why these live action shows are so short? Just one or two more episodes can go to great lengths to progress character development and storylines
@@MarvNARK no actually. The media industry did this specifically to save on money from last year's writer strikes. One, it means paying your writers an film crew less for less episodes, but also inadvertently paying writers about the same just for less work
Removing the sexism was such a flop, ESPECIALLY because it wasnt like. A glaring issue. It was a small one that Sokka overcame and by the end of season one, barely existed. There was the sexist abilism in Toph's introduction, but that was gone after that episode, too. But it WAS important! This show didn't understand the story it was adapting.
I feel like the real problem is they didn't green light the entire 3 seasons at once... Because as others tried explaining to me, well now his Kyoshi arc is about his leadership and competence as a warrior.... But as I reminded them, that was what Sokka's "Day of Black sun" and "the Master" arcs were about, not this arc.
This is SO fecking SPOT ON! Thank you! This just proves that Netflix can't hire good or even decent writers and directors. They got a brilliant neatly wrapped package served on a platinum platter and they took a steamy glittery shite on it.
Can we just stop with this trend of taking beloved animated properties and trying to turn them into live action? There's nothing live action brings to the table that animation doesn't, other than just being harder while simultaneously looking cheaper. People say the 80's and 90's were defined by sequels, but at least sequels are something new. The 10's and 20's have so far been defined purely by inferior remakes, showing how creatively bankrupt the entertainment industry has become.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Aang doesn't water bend even once. We don't get to meet Jeong Jeong and lastly why are we getting the owl spirit this early cuz we know it's part of the reason that Appa is kidnapped. I will give it credit for the stuff they added with the 41st division.
I don't think Aang waterbended at all. I even commented on twitter that I was wondering if he was going to do any actual waterbending in the Book titled 'Water'.
Netflix should have stayed a streaming platform. They're extremely hit and miss when it comes to their original content and lately it's been only miss. I have no regrets for canceling Netflix.
Rebel Moon is the only saving grace of Netflix now that stranger things is ending.. Rebel Moon 2 will blow dune 2 out of the water... #restorethesnyderverse "The 1 movie in the whole world" - Zack Snyder (the best movie director in the whole world)..
To be fair even the OG creators couldn't do good writing in Kora. And the head writer went to do the dragon prince which was good season 1 through 3 but fell of a cliff after that. It might have just been lightning in a bottle. Apparently good writing is hard to come by
Watching this show felt a lot like when you're a kid and you have to let someone else play with your toys, but you can't stand it because you keep saying, "That’s not how that goes!"
2:13. Very true. If they were to actually make an attempt of making an avatar movie series, it would take them THREE movies just to adapt book one if they did it the right way. It is a big story and it shouldn’t be shrunken down into chunks. A huge issue with Netflix’s version is the fact that the main stories were sped up like they were speedrunning through the story without giving proper pacing. The characters also don’t have allot of chemistry together. Aang, Katara, and Sokka are supposed to be buddies, and all they talk about is the fire nation and never actually have a chance to be friends like in the cartoon. That’s the main problem. In giving less episodes, they’ve allowed less time for the story to be told, and they’ve allowed basically close to zero character to be developed. They dug themselves into a corner, and if they want to recover, they have to put more episodes into the next season to actually allow time for the story to unfold naturally and let the characters progress, OR make the episodes two hours long so that each episode is movie length and there’s no issue with pacing. Then I agree with the other point on how there’s a few miscasts. Right off the bat when they introduced the evil trio from the fire nation I already knew they kicked the bucket. It’s a shame. They got Zuko right, but they fumbled on his girlfriend, and his sister. Aang was an okay casting. I just wish they had picked better, actors? Other than that there’s more than a few things wrong like how Ozai has already been shown on screen in present time when that was supposed to be a surprise that was shown to the viewers in book 3. Sure in the cartoon he had flashbacks, but they didn’t let you see him till the end.
Avatar: The Last Airbender past the original series has had a terrible Expanded Universe. The Legend of Korra, M. Night’s 2010 film, and now the Netflix reboot series. I guess it was lightning in a bottle for the A:TLA franchise I suppose.
@@IAmPhoenixXxXx agreed. Nothing is canon past the original tv series. Korra is not canon! The Last Airbender 2010 is not canon! Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024 is not canon!
Would explain why the creators of the cartoon left. They spent two years developing this and all of a sudden leave due to "creative differences"? Well we now see what those creative difference are. "Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped.” "But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.” - DiMartino Basically the same reason Cavill left The Witcher. Butting heads with untalented hacks. There I said it and I will always say it until they prove otherwise.
It's Katara that completely ruins it!! She is supposed to have very important relationship chemistry with so many characters - Aang, Toph, Zuko.. And I don't see her pulling off any of that..
I think the avatar based anime fans might like this but for me the distracting part was the dialogue which sometimes felt pretty simplistic. I kinda wanted a bit more reality grounded dialogue instead of this partly exposition based dialogue where there seems to be very little nuance in the dialogue.
It feels to me that the ratio of good to bad writers was 30/70. Whoever tackled the fire nation was good and funny enough that's what we get the most new matrerial from. The rest clung to the source material but in order to justify it they mixed it up without any knowledge of how it worked. That's how we get confusing story lines next to "classic scenes" that lost their meaning in the context. Nothing that was further developed past the "interesting idea" stage. - "Hey what if..?" - "...Yeah yeah we'll take it. Moving on!"
The biggest issue with new series is the amount of tell instead of showing dialog. It's the most basic thing you learn when being a creative writer! I think that a lot of the actors struggled so much because the dialog they have to act is so unnatural!! There are some good actors who did way better work in other roles.
M. Night Shyamalan has already done enough damage to the Last Air Bender in 2010. And Netflix doesn't have very good reputation either. So, I'm not going to waste my life on it anymore.
Don’t waste your time. I was gonna watch the entire series before looking up reviews, ect. I stopped at episode 3 and couldn’t go on. I’ve been watching reviews since and I know the entire series just from watching reviews and small clips. I will not be returning to that trash series. The acting is AWFUL. You’ll feel NOTHING (emotionally) while watching these actors on screen. It’s so cringe and awkward.
Why make a live action adaptation in the first place? The original animated show is still accessible and is still good to watch even decades later in the future.
People are out there saying it’s for those who have not watch the original… my response? well then that’s just their fault, why should OG fans pay the price
Remaking a popular franchise through public domain can save more money than rebuying a license catalog of which prices can change based on demand and redistribution if you're like Netflix it's basically a gamble with a name brand in the hopes that it pays off to get more subscriptions
Animation wasnt the problem, the problem was story telling... meaning the script sucked. No wonder the creators left. I knew it would be bad if they DID THE SAME THING THEY DID BEFORE... literally, they saw what was happening with the movie and they said no, f this shut im out
I like your intro. Anyway, the best part of the show is the crew Zuko and Iroh had episode 6, if you saw the episode, you know why. 7:15 I think the creators of the Netflix version of the show confused the personalities of Roku and Iroh, these characters have each other's personalities. 10:05 great pun, it’s interesting that a lot of people use this pun, regardless if it’s intentional or not. 20:15 yes, it’s true, Aang isn’t Zaheer and Guru Lahima, it’s weird.
@@SharpAsRavenClaws Because then Zuko speaking up would have changed things. He lost the fight, and yet he also got to change the plans? Plus, the Firelord would not give him men who, if they learned what happened, would support and appreciate Zuko. And also... he would still have to send another division to die, and it would be the second best choice? No way.
"Long ago, the Avatar cartoons lived in harmony." No we didn't. Korra fans seem to have a "Terminate on sight" order out on anyone who says the first show was better.
This remake is so out of touch. They did not add in the original love relationship between Aang and Katara. It’s the stupid writer and new creator’s fault. I demand we should give the two of them a taste of their own medicine.
One of the biggest problems I had with this series was how they left out the plot about Roku having to tell Aang about the return of Sozin’s Comet and how every day Aang doesn’t defeat the Fire Lord is a day closer to the end of the world. Excuse me? Why would you leave out such an important detail? The Doomsday Clock is ticking and the characters never learn about it? Also when it comes to Kyoshi, Roku and Kuruk, I felt like Aang couldn’t care less about his past lives at the end of it all.
It sucks that the doomsday clock scenario was taken out, but I get it. The story can't take place over one year because the kid actors are going to be aging faster than the story. Doing all 3 Books might take the production team 5 years or more, so the Aang actor would be old enough to drive by the end of it. To say the whole story takes place over a single year just isn't practical.
I don’t think it sucked, I don’t think it was amazing either. As a person who grew up watching the series I didn’t mind it much though the writing was fucking terrible in many places, I really liked how they humanized zuko earlier in the story with the story about the division he saved from being sent to die…then there’s the butchering of bummi…there’s lots of potential in my opinion, most of the kids also weren’t so experienced when they filmed this so i feel season 2 would be much better
Before I watch this review, note I’ve never seen the cartoon but my wife loves it. I’m going to bet they tried to cram too much information in 8 episodes and the writers suck because half of them are activists or partially re-tar-did.
I tried watching the first episode, and good god, the beginning was slow. I didn't watch the rest of the series. If your show can't capture my attention, why watch it? And you're right about the characters. They felt VERY toned down.
With what we have been given so far, I doubt it. A lot of the Toph stuff is going to be gone, the Zuko and Iroh stuff will be gone, and they already ruined Azula.
I agree with you 100% on the sexism issue. The classic series showed what sexism is, why it’s a problem, and how it can be overcome. This series pretends sexism doesn’t exist.
I honestly don't understand how the writing can be THIS bad. I could've written the entire show in under 2 hours and it would've turned out much better. It just can't be possible to be this bad accidentally. It has to be deliberate, i.e. sabotage.
BRO I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY!!!! For years I’ve said this franchise is CURSED. The games, movie, live-action, they all seem deliberately done BAD!!!! Idk what’s going on behind the scenes but did Mike & Bryan piss someone off within the industry?!? Idk. I’m at a loss for words with this franchise….. I’m glad I came across your comment lol. Someone doesn’t want this franchise to succeed.
The show isn't as ugly as we feared, quite as poorly acted as we feared, or even as poorly written as we feared It's greatest sin aside from falling short in other areas, is that it utterly failed to capture the soul of the original. Something Netflix One Piece was able to do to shock of everyone.
This is one of the proof that no matter how good your actors are, how good your cinematics and sets are, all will come down to the quality of writings and obviously the writings on this one was not good. Scriptwriters seems like intentionally makes the conversation boring as much as possible.
I think they relied too much on Flashbacks, and "Team Avatar" felt more like coworkers than friends. Felt needed more scenes of them together. I didnt mind uncle Iroh but agree on Azula. How in the book of water does Aang not learn waterbending? The big strange line was Zuko saying to Katara you found a master and Katara saying she was a master. Like... what? I dont think its terrible like the movie but a lot of room for improvement.
I found that halfway through episode two that I didn’t care for any of the characters. The characterization is done so poorly for just about all of them.
That Zuko/Katara scene was so dumb. She was trying to act all badass and I wasn't buying for a second. I was saying to myself, "Bitch, shut up. You're about to get wrecked," because Katara was so passive now and Dallas Liu (Zuko) was so much more convincing with the action stuff.
@@thoriasunlimited4053 In the animated series Zuko does say to Katara so you found a master. But that's because she did, and she didn't need a witty response to show she was strong because her actions were showing it. Also made sense for to lose since only had Pakku training for a day or two at most while Zuko trained his whole life. The creators of this show need to understand show not tell and sometimes less is more ie, don't have to beat in everything as long as writing is good but was really lacking at times.
The show was definitely an improvement over the movie. And i agree with most of what you've said, biggest issue is the exposition dumps all over the place, and watering down of all the characters, other than that, the first 2 episodes and 6-8 are actually not too bad, 3-5 are a mess
I did not like they changed Oma and Shu into a lesbian couple. I didn't like the snide comment during Koh the Facestealer scene. I don't like the rewrite on Zuko's burn origins, or Sokka's sexism...both were very important for his and other character growth. I don't like how fast Katara is progressing BEFORE finding her first master. She basically becomes the team tank after meeting Jet. Kyoshi island was cool seeing Her possess Aang and beat everyone down. But, I preferred seeing Suki kiss Sokka's cheek over seeing them kiss. Beyond those complaints, it's been okay. I look forward to seeing Bloodbending, Toph, and the dragondance (if they're even added...) The original is still better in every way, imo.
Finally watching reviews now that I’ve finished and rewatched a few episodes and I remember thinking to myself “imagine getting up and putting that on to wear all day” when Ozai was on screen. The costumes really do look weird.
I’m just starting the show, and there are plenty of times where the show has me, then loses me. For instance, What doesn’t make sense is why Zuko still has his Eyebrow where his scar is. Your hair definitely won’t grow back after getting burnt. When they get burnt off, they’re gone. Cartoon Zuko’s brow didn’t grow back. How does the cartoon come off more realistic than the actual “realistic” live action take on the avatar.
I think the biggest disappointment about the netflix series is that they failed to capture the spirit of Uncle Iroh unlike how the Shyamalon movie did. The only good thing I can say about that film for the most part.
This actually had MORE time than the original, so they didn't need to cut ANYTHING, realistically. Truncate a bit, sure, because the animation is faster and more snappy. But not cut. This show had over half an hour LONGER than the original, at 400 (20 episodes at 20 mins each, minus opening/credits), versus 432 (8 episodes at 60 minutes, minus 48 minutes of credits). This show had MORE time than the original. That's no excuse
Yep I agree. GoT did a far superior job on the hounds scar and that was like a decade and a half ago. Zukos scar should have a far more altered texture rather than color, it’s like they didn’t even look up burn scars on google
You perfectly encapsulate my anger with this show, the reaction channels are just glazing, theavatarist is the worst, bro was glazing so hard that he was basically saying please invite me to more stuff
Some works of animation simply don't lend themselves to reaching equal levels of quality in live-action. People could benefit from accepting that and stop seeking to translate something that, in certain aspects, just doesn't translate as well. If it didn't have profit potential, I don't think studios would be repeatedly trying to adapt this IP to begin with. I believe that, deep down, even a number of the creatives on staff know this version ultimately can't measure up to the cartoon. The first question to ask when adapting anything is "Why? What could an adaptation add to this source material and/or its legacy?" If your version falls short and adds nothing to justify the effort, then why make it at all except for money?
I think you're views and opinion on this are THE most concrete and objective, at least it sounds that way haha. i agree on all counts. The costumes/wardrobe is a really big miss for me. They look like party city cosplayers. I wish things would be more tattered and worn. Even stuff that's supposed to look old and worn has perfect seems and looks brand new. "immersion" broken immediately lol.
Just to add to characters they ruined, Kyoshi yelling at Aang gave "Harry did you put your name in the goblet of fire!" vibes, she's supposed to be cold and tactical. Then Avatar Roku being essentially Iroh, just goofy, when he's supposed to be the one to add context to the war. Also, they did my man Bumi so wrong, he was angry? That's not neutral jing at all. I knew when the show runners left I wouldn't be happy. Super mad about how they ruined Azula and Katara. They claim to have removed sexism, but pretty sexist to do the strong female characters a disservice.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The acting is HORRENDOUS!!!!!!!!! Idgaf how beautiful it looks visually but if I can’t connect to the actors it’s a no for me. Especially when the acting is bad, it really disengages me 🥴
The original creators of the series leaving the Netflix ATLA adaptation didn't necessarily mean that the show would turn out bad but it definitely wasn't a good sign.
I don't like the scene where Katara, Aang, and Sokka arrive at Kyoshi Island and when they are attacked by the Kyoshi warriors Katara says "don't hurt him" "he's the avatar". One of the Kyoshi warriors says "impossible". "There has to be a sign that he is the avatar" and then the Kyoshi statue just glows and one of the Kyoshi warriors say "that must be a sign" and then boom the next scene plays. Just bad writing and too much cutting for the budget and time. This scene is not like the cartoon because the Kyoshi warriors know about the history of the avatar and that the next avatar is slated to be an airbender. And that the there is no more airbenders alive. And Aang shows them just a little bit of air bending. 🤦🏾♂️Cmon Netflix do better 😂
The fundimental problem with doing a live action show like this is the fact that ATLA , despite some meh episodes here and there, is generally a near perfect series with a solid beginning, middle and end. So retelling it just feels unneccesary to begin with.
I think the show would have been great with a few (dozen) more revisions to the script and more time to SHOW (not tell) the story. I want to think that the acting is bland because the writing is bland, because the actors do have moments where they show some emotional range. The great parts (there are a few of them) of this version I would dare say are BETTER than the OG, but yeah there are too many bad parts to outweigh them. I've seen most reviews describe this S1 as a mixed bag, so that is pretty much spot on. C'mon writers. Do us proud and give us a worthy S2 and onward.
Watched the first episode- thought the airbenders were silly old beans: we have information about the fire nation attacking- let’s gather all our kind and have a feast - during a comet and not make any plans to save our kind… and let’s pretend we would send Aang away by himself to master all elements and fight the fire Lord by himself…
@@selfinvoking3418 no, they have information that the fire nation is planning something which is why they told Aang that day that he's the Avatar. They also know about sozin's comet and the power it gives fire benders. Sure they don't know about the genocide but knowing enough of what they do, won't it have been wise to not throw a huge festival or at least not let their guard down so much? This is why making changes to original stories can create potholes. You have to think every angle through. Also, why do they need to be in one place? The fire nation is more than equipped to take them all at once, especially with the comet on the way. Just saying
Soooo agreeing with your points! Do you think they could cast 20 year olds for Aang and the main gang with better results? The age of the characters is not that important anyways, for example Aang could be 20 yo and still have a meltdown over having to be the avatar!
Part of the charm is that these impossible burdens are on the shoulders of mere children who need to grow up and rise to the occasion. In don't think it would feel right with older actors. Aang being a mere kid is a huge part of his characterisation, as well as with Sokka and Katara having to grow up too fast. Age them up and that aspect is muted, even if it could be retained to some degree.
The costumes looked just like that: costumes. Not clothing worn by characters. That small difference makes a huge impact. For further evidence, look at LOTR costuming, and compare it to Rings of Sour.
You rambled a very important point. All these small changes that they make to "correct" the things they deem problematic, have much further reaching consequences for the whole than they seem to realize (and that's when the changes are small). I'll keep my own rant about the arrogance of thinking you should correct the original work out of this : )
The main reason One Piece worked pretty well (I think they rushed the fish men which took away from some other things, but mostly good), was because the creator was there to keep them in check. So when the creators left Avatar, it was a bad sign which made sense that the shows declines as it goes along.
I think they folded the key beats enough, but I think Arlong Park and Usopp in particular might have needed a little more cooking time (I like the actors for them all, but Usopp in particular feels a little like he could do with a bit more screen polish. Maybe when we see him get more into the crafty, tinkerer potential of the character we'll see some shine on our sniper)
I didn't agree w the cast of the main character.
_edit_
He looked like Peter Pan
There's a power level dynamic here too - Oda has a MASSIVE degree of power over One Piece that the ATLA creators don't have over ATLA. The only thing the ATLA creators could do was to leave, whereas Oda could step in and say "No. There is no romance on the Going Merry." and Netflix had to cut that shit out. Netflix could say "Sexism is bad, we don't want any here." and all ATLA creators could do was go "We out, peace!".
They created Korra and the comics. They ain't that great
i don't think it has anything to do with that. you don't need to be the original creator to understand what made the original product work and you can certainly screw up an adaptation even with og creators present, we've seen that time and time again. live action one piece worked because the creator understood the source material
When Nickelodeon makes a fun adventure, Netflix makes a horror show to see how badly they can break down a child.
Such an accurate review
wow imagine that. A genocide is terrible pft just absurd
NETFLIX RUINED AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER.
They ruined their adaptation but nothing will ruin the original Avatar cartoon
@@zemox2534 except the original creator coming back destroying the cartoon to people up three times canceled Korra
*Looks at "The Legend of Korra"*
"The truth is, the franchise was f-cked from the start."
Only the original Avatar series is near perfect. 💯 Every expansion has been bad.
And look at Dragon Piss cashing off what ATLA already did.
Yeah the OG Avatar is the only good one. Korra ruins the shared lore, comics ruin ATLA's characters. (old comics are fine though, I think. don't know about games)
And yeah something is off with TDP, the morality is wanky af.
I’d argue that ATA & TLK were never truly together in harmony considering that the latter caused massive damage to the world-building of the former especially in Book 2, otherwise that was a solid intro.
Also the fact they did both Sokka and Katara dirty by watering down their development, along with what they did to Aang is truly a Netflix moment.
Yeah I don't see how removing large amount of Sokka's character growth makes him a better character (and it undermines Katara and Suki's stories too). Instead Sokka's story is basically a generic "character sorta doubts himself".
The fact that they turned my girl Katara into a vanilla version of her already affirms my desire to not watch this remake. Pretty effects aren't enough for me
THey didn't Girlboss her? Color me surprised. They cut out Sokka's personality and his character growth arc.
@@skeith1543 they cut out. One- ONE sexist remark on kiyoshi island, and left all his girl chaser energy in it. Suck it up
@@skeith1543Not to mention it also ruined Katara's character growth arc as well because both her and Sokka's character growth all stem from the whole sexism thing from the original show! I still remember the actor, who plays as Sokka, went full-on male feminist complaining about sexism in the original show which made him sound sexist himself when he said that women couldn't handle sexism.
@@annienunyabiz6627 where did she hide her fighting skills? they never had a rematch, she was teaching him
@@okami-chan9772 Was this in an interview?
The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra were never in harmony.
But anyway, good intro.
100%. I think LoK has some ok parts. But overall, I never liked it much to watch it a second time.
@@JKurayamiit had good ideas, but even those where poorly executed, the first half of season one was interesting outside of Korra herself who was intolerable from the get go
@@AgntFL Yeah, I couldn't stand her as the main character.
@@AgntFL It had some good ideas but also some really stupid ones. Like opening the spirit portal, which caused massive destruction, and then we were supposed to think the people who were mad about that were in the wrong. It's like no! If my house was destroyed, I'd be pissed at Korra, too. They also fucked with the legacy characters and made Aang a shitty dad. I can't hate it completely, because there was potential.
@@amyrat151it’s funny how you completely misunderstand the point of the sprit destruction. They never act like people shouldn’t be mad for the spirit portal being opened, they explore all the consequences of it over the course of the third and fourth seasons. The takeaway is that change isn’t all bad, but it also isn’t all good.
Removing all the motivation and character development is unforgivable. Thank you for the review.
Even Paku (in the cartoon) was super interesting with the little screen time he had by provoking Katara. There had to be a hidden motivation of him wanting to push her to her limits. Part of him was curious on how she will perform under anger, even with him being sexist.
Dude, no need to apologize for “rambling”. In fact, I contend that you weren’t rambling; what I heard was in-depth analysis. You may have ranted a little bit, but it was necessary to convey what you did. I hope it was as cathartic for you, as it was informative for us. Excellent piece man.
It's not rambling -- it's wordbending!
You don't have to burn yourself for that intro 😔
He does what he must for the world. He is truly the most selfless of the Avatars.
They also destroyed Katara's arc with Pakku. She hardly trained with the scroll and she says shes her own master to an expert fire bender like Zuko and beat him??
That felt very Rey Palpatine vs Kyko Ren to me on episode 7.
Very Mary Sue of her to just proclaim to be the best, with no training, and then beat men who’ve dedicated their lives to honing their skills. Because girls rule, boys drool
God I hate Netflix these days
On top of all those complaints I'd add the fact they basically fucked up every major revelation that had an impact on characters or the viewer. Yeah, the air benders genocide might have been effective, but as a result there's no mystery for the viewer and no thinking: What the hell happened here? Instead you're waiting for characters to catch up with what you know. Second example would be king Bumi revealing he's Aang's friend right from the start and not to mention the complete fuckup of his character (in the original he didn't complain Aang was gone, instead he did his best to prepare him for what fate was about to throw his way). I'm also kind of suspecting that avatars telling Aang to handle this alone is a way to cut out the whole chakras storyline (where one required to abandon friends to achieve the avatar state).
They seem to have gone in thinking "people will know the twists so we don't need to do it that way". Which makes a certain sense for the writers.
But for the characters.... yeah. Learning about how something happened at the same time as we see the characters find out it a much stronger way to present it.
They seem to have really dumbed it down.
Plus having seen the full length version I think we are seeing a major limit in the Netflix story model of 8 episodes. You don't get enough time to really flesh things out compared to a longer story.
The show is not about the genocide. It's about Aang and the other characters. None of them were there, so why show it?
And Uncle Iroh!
@neodigremo ATLA book 1 was 20 30-minute episodes. So it was just about 10 hours long. It shouldn't have been that hard to cut 10 down to 8 without losing too much. The problem Netflix seems to have is not using the time wisely.
Don't get me wrong, their fixation on the 8 episode season is a problem as stories need time to breathe, but it shouldn't have been as bad here.
@@kelupthegnome2871 I see your point, and it is not a bad one, but you can do more in 3 x 20 minute episodes than a single 60 minute episode. Especially with the time devoted to fight scenes and adding a subplot for Azula that wasn't there originally and devoting half the first episode to backstory we don't really need to see..
Even if that is not an issue, 10 hours going down to 8 is removing 20% of the run time. That is a big loss. The directors version of Batman vs Superman is about 20 minutes longer, maybe 10% longer. However those extra 20 minutes thoroughly flesh out and improve the film making it more coherent and nuanced.
ALTA doesn't really have all that much filler.
Bryke screwed up the comics, they screwed up Korra, and they abandoned the Netflix series. Can we all finally admit that Aaron Ehasz is the true creator of ATLA now?
Thank you. Korra was ok if it was stand alone. But they turned the bending element into basic super powers which devalues it as a whole. Same thing with the avatar state treating it like a power up and not something more powerful or respected.
I've been saying this for years
Except Aaron gave full endorsement and was even given access behind production to the show. He spoke very positive about it.
“Hopefully, also the tone. One of the things that was always hard about Avatar that I don’t think translated well to the movie was that it does have this balance in tone that it’s dramatic and epic and emotional, but it’s also funny and quirky and delightful. I think they’ll find that.”
You guys are just either uninformed, or lying. You did the same with Arcane
More likely they left the production because of directions that Netflix was forcing on them that they didn't agree on. Seeing the finished product, which is ok but not great, you can see where the studio interfered and the show suffered as a result
Can we also acknowledge that Aang not learning fire bending and burning Katara due to his impatience should not have been cut? That's such an important episode! It makes aang not want to fire bend again, it shows that aang is still an immature and impatient child at this point in the story AND it shows how Katara discovers healing.
Zuko's agni kai with Ozai tells you all you need to know about this show. In the original show, Zuku challenged a general to a duel because he thought the general's actions were cruel and unnecessary. When his father steps into the ring instead and insists that Zuku fight him because Ozai felt Zuku's public challenge personally disrespected him Zuku knelt on the ground and refused to fight because he could not even imagine raising his hand against his own father. Instead he tried to publicly apologize to his father, ask for his forgiveness, and withdraw from the duel. This enraged Ozai so much that he publicly branded Zuko's face to mark him as a coward then banished him from the empire, with the impossible task of capturing someone who hadn't been seen in a century as the only way to earn his way back. In the live action show they actually have Zuko fighting back against Ozai. Sure, he might not be attacking but he is actively firebending and dueling him. Which is all Ozai asked him to do. The show writers completely missed the point of the scene and the characters in the name of making in more "interesting".
He even got the upper hand at some point…. I couldn’t believe my eyes when that happened. Zuko almost won the duel with Ozai????? This is our main villain? Aang will have to spend years (in this version) training for the final battle with him, but inexperienced, 13 year old Zuko almost defeated him? Ozai should feel powerful, terrifying, and impossible to beat. How could they have fucked up this badly? It’s incredible to me, truly.
So most of the problems can be attributed to “story and character”, but there’s a way to expedite even that brief sentiment: The WRITING is bad.
This show was the best example of a script that was modified not from a review of the source, but from a review of a synopsis of the source. There is a legion of evidence for this, from the airbender cleanse being depicted first, to Azula’s expedient emotional breakdown, to the offensive misinterpretation of the spirit world, to the confusion regarding the essence of Iroh and king Bumi, to the general intervention of contrivance in various aspects of the narrative.
Though the on-screen talent (including hair/makeup, set, costume, and choreography) have an evident respect for the source material, the writing team, and possibly the director, does not, and I think that shines through past all the bright lights and colours.
There are writing problems I have noticed, and I could even improve scenes easily.
I am not even a "writer" (I write computer code and scientific articles mostly).
The writing was amateurish at some places, like a first time fanfiction.
Yeah, I thought he was gonna say the two problems were writing and directing :) But story and characters works too.
Maybe the live action could’ve worked if the show had more episodes. I don’t get why these live action shows are so short? Just one or two more episodes can go to great lengths to progress character development and storylines
Because 8 episode marks were made in service to save money because of the writer's strikes.
Runtime wasn't even that much shorter than the animated show, they could have easily hit all the good character development and important story beats.
@@atheistmando4976 no. It's cuz Netflix is lazy
@@MarvNARK no actually. The media industry did this specifically to save on money from last year's writer strikes. One, it means paying your writers an film crew less for less episodes, but also inadvertently paying writers about the same just for less work
@@atheistmando4976 no wonder the writers arent getting paid. They dont know how to write
Removing the sexism was such a flop, ESPECIALLY because it wasnt like. A glaring issue. It was a small one that Sokka overcame and by the end of season one, barely existed.
There was the sexist abilism in Toph's introduction, but that was gone after that episode, too. But it WAS important! This show didn't understand the story it was adapting.
I feel like the real problem is they didn't green light the entire 3 seasons at once... Because as others tried explaining to me, well now his Kyoshi arc is about his leadership and competence as a warrior.... But as I reminded them, that was what Sokka's "Day of Black sun" and "the Master" arcs were about, not this arc.
This is SO fecking SPOT ON! Thank you!
This just proves that Netflix can't hire good or even decent writers and directors. They got a brilliant neatly wrapped package served on a platinum platter and they took a steamy glittery shite on it.
Can we just stop with this trend of taking beloved animated properties and trying to turn them into live action? There's nothing live action brings to the table that animation doesn't, other than just being harder while simultaneously looking cheaper.
People say the 80's and 90's were defined by sequels, but at least sequels are something new. The 10's and 20's have so far been defined purely by inferior remakes, showing how creatively bankrupt the entertainment industry has become.
Correct me if I'm wrong but Aang doesn't water bend even once. We don't get to meet Jeong Jeong and lastly why are we getting the owl spirit this early cuz we know it's part of the reason that Appa is kidnapped. I will give it credit for the stuff they added with the 41st division.
I don't think Aang waterbended at all. I even commented on twitter that I was wondering if he was going to do any actual waterbending in the Book titled 'Water'.
@@thoriasunlimited4053 He didn't waterbend at all, but Kyoshi did a little bit through him, and the ocean spirit did a lot :)
"Netflix really screwed this up"
Motto of this year's razzies
Netflix should have stayed a streaming platform. They're extremely hit and miss when it comes to their original content and lately it's been only miss. I have no regrets for canceling Netflix.
Damn, that is the MOST likes I ever got, thank you, guys☺️
@Mama
Me neither; I need a mental-health break for a year
Rebel Moon is the only saving grace of Netflix now that stranger things is ending..
Rebel Moon 2 will blow dune 2 out of the water...
#restorethesnyderverse
"The 1 movie in the whole world" - Zack Snyder (the best movie director in the whole world)..
@@syamilshazlan862 lol
Couldn’t agree more with all of these points 💯
To be fair even the OG creators couldn't do good writing in Kora. And the head writer went to do the dragon prince which was good season 1 through 3 but fell of a cliff after that.
It might have just been lightning in a bottle.
Apparently good writing is hard to come by
I’m beginning to think it was a one off. They haven’t had anything worthwhile come since then.
@@chazzitz-wh4ly Just like Star Wars episodes 4-6, and Indy 1 & 3.
Watching this show felt a lot like when you're a kid and you have to let someone else play with your toys, but you can't stand it because you keep saying, "That’s not how that goes!"
2:13. Very true. If they were to actually make an attempt of making an avatar movie series, it would take them THREE movies just to adapt book one if they did it the right way. It is a big story and it shouldn’t be shrunken down into chunks. A huge issue with Netflix’s version is the fact that the main stories were sped up like they were speedrunning through the story without giving proper pacing. The characters also don’t have allot of chemistry together. Aang, Katara, and Sokka are supposed to be buddies, and all they talk about is the fire nation and never actually have a chance to be friends like in the cartoon. That’s the main problem. In giving less episodes, they’ve allowed less time for the story to be told, and they’ve allowed basically close to zero character to be developed. They dug themselves into a corner, and if they want to recover, they have to put more episodes into the next season to actually allow time for the story to unfold naturally and let the characters progress, OR make the episodes two hours long so that each episode is movie length and there’s no issue with pacing. Then I agree with the other point on how there’s a few miscasts. Right off the bat when they introduced the evil trio from the fire nation I already knew they kicked the bucket. It’s a shame. They got Zuko right, but they fumbled on his girlfriend, and his sister. Aang was an okay casting. I just wish they had picked better, actors? Other than that there’s more than a few things wrong like how Ozai has already been shown on screen in present time when that was supposed to be a surprise that was shown to the viewers in book 3. Sure in the cartoon he had flashbacks, but they didn’t let you see him till the end.
Avatar: The Last Airbender past the original series has had a terrible Expanded Universe. The Legend of Korra, M. Night’s 2010 film, and now the Netflix reboot series. I guess it was lightning in a bottle for the A:TLA franchise I suppose.
I said it a thousand times before and I’ll say it again. This franchise is CURSED and Mike&Bryan are one hit wonders.
@@IAmPhoenixXxXx agreed. Nothing is canon past the original tv series. Korra is not canon! The Last Airbender 2010 is not canon! Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024 is not canon!
Would explain why the creators of the cartoon left. They spent two years developing this and all of a sudden leave due to "creative differences"? Well we now see what those creative difference are. "Netflix said that it was committed to honoring our vision for this retelling and to supporting us on creating the series. And we expressed how excited we were for the opportunity to be at the helm. Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped.” "But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.” - DiMartino Basically the same reason Cavill left The Witcher. Butting heads with untalented hacks. There I said it and I will always say it until they prove otherwise.
It's Katara that completely ruins it!! She is supposed to have very important relationship chemistry with so many characters - Aang, Toph, Zuko.. And I don't see her pulling off any of that..
14:05 It's funny when you say that Katara was watered down because she's a waterbender
What killed this show for mw was the overbearing exposition. It's a visual medium, Netflix, stop having everyone explain everything!
Yeah, the exposition was really overdone. I assumed it was done to save money, but there was just way too much of it.
I think the avatar based anime fans might like this but for me the distracting part was the dialogue which sometimes felt pretty simplistic. I kinda wanted a bit more reality grounded dialogue instead of this partly exposition based dialogue where there seems to be very little nuance in the dialogue.
It feels to me that the ratio of good to bad writers was 30/70. Whoever tackled the fire nation was good and funny enough that's what we get the most new matrerial from. The rest clung to the source material but in order to justify it they mixed it up without any knowledge of how it worked. That's how we get confusing story lines next to "classic scenes" that lost their meaning in the context. Nothing that was further developed past the "interesting idea" stage.
- "Hey what if..?"
- "...Yeah yeah we'll take it. Moving on!"
Netflix be like: "Character development? WHAT'S THAT!?!
The biggest issue with new series is the amount of tell instead of showing dialog. It's the most basic thing you learn when being a creative writer! I think that a lot of the actors struggled so much because the dialog they have to act is so unnatural!! There are some good actors who did way better work in other roles.
M. Night Shyamalan has already done enough damage to the Last Air Bender in 2010. And Netflix doesn't have very good reputation either. So, I'm not going to waste my life on it anymore.
Don’t waste your time. I was gonna watch the entire series before looking up reviews, ect. I stopped at episode 3 and couldn’t go on. I’ve been watching reviews since and I know the entire series just from watching reviews and small clips. I will not be returning to that trash series. The acting is AWFUL. You’ll feel NOTHING (emotionally) while watching these actors on screen. It’s so cringe and awkward.
You're killin' with the consistency and quality of your reviews, keep it up!!
Why make a live action adaptation in the first place? The original animated show is still accessible and is still good to watch even decades later in the future.
People are out there saying it’s for those who have not watch the original… my response? well then that’s just their fault, why should OG fans pay the price
Remaking a popular franchise through public domain can save more money than rebuying a license catalog of which prices can change based on demand and redistribution if you're like Netflix it's basically a gamble with a name brand in the hopes that it pays off to get more subscriptions
Someone commented, 'we wanted Azula, not Amoola' 😂😂
Yeah, fatphobia is funny, laugh on
@@jackieroberts2625 it helps people to make healthier choices
This 'live action remake' business MUST STOP. Seriously. Just because it worked a few times , DOES NOT mean that it'll work for all of them.
Yes, we need to popularize 2D animation again and make more good shows and movies (that includes anime) again.
Air and you're back with the long hair.
Animation wasnt the problem, the problem was story telling... meaning the script sucked. No wonder the creators left. I knew it would be bad if they DID THE SAME THING THEY DID BEFORE... literally, they saw what was happening with the movie and they said no, f this shut im out
I would say that the quality of LOK is a lot closer to the quality of atla than this live action version is to lok lol
“Brothers and Sisters we’re being attacked!” Yells as they are right next to him no wonder bro got killed.
I like your intro. Anyway, the best part of the show is the crew Zuko and Iroh had episode 6, if you saw the episode, you know why.
7:15 I think the creators of the Netflix version of the show confused the personalities of Roku and Iroh, these characters have each other's personalities.
10:05 great pun, it’s interesting that a lot of people use this pun, regardless if it’s intentional or not.
20:15 yes, it’s true, Aang isn’t Zaheer and Guru Lahima, it’s weird.
That was kind of cool, but there's no way the Firelord would have ever done that.
@@-taz- why not?
@@SharpAsRavenClaws Because then Zuko speaking up would have changed things. He lost the fight, and yet he also got to change the plans? Plus, the Firelord would not give him men who, if they learned what happened, would support and appreciate Zuko. And also... he would still have to send another division to die, and it would be the second best choice? No way.
@@-taz- I still don't understand what the problem is here
"Long ago, the Avatar cartoons lived in harmony."
No we didn't. Korra fans seem to have a "Terminate on sight" order out on anyone who says the first show was better.
Oma and Shu were a pair of WOMENS in love, thanks Netflix , again
This remake is so out of touch. They did not add in the original love relationship between Aang and Katara. It’s the stupid writer and new creator’s fault. I demand we should give the two of them a taste of their own medicine.
One of the biggest problems I had with this series was how they left out the plot about Roku having to tell Aang about the return of Sozin’s Comet and how every day Aang doesn’t defeat the Fire Lord is a day closer to the end of the world. Excuse me? Why would you leave out such an important detail? The Doomsday Clock is ticking and the characters never learn about it? Also when it comes to Kyoshi, Roku and Kuruk, I felt like Aang couldn’t care less about his past lives at the end of it all.
It sucks that the doomsday clock scenario was taken out, but I get it. The story can't take place over one year because the kid actors are going to be aging faster than the story. Doing all 3 Books might take the production team 5 years or more, so the Aang actor would be old enough to drive by the end of it. To say the whole story takes place over a single year just isn't practical.
I don’t think it sucked, I don’t think it was amazing either. As a person who grew up watching the series I didn’t mind it much though the writing was fucking terrible in many places, I really liked how they humanized zuko earlier in the story with the story about the division he saved from being sent to die…then there’s the butchering of bummi…there’s lots of potential in my opinion, most of the kids also weren’t so experienced when they filmed this so i feel season 2 would be much better
Before I watch this review, note I’ve never seen the cartoon but my wife loves it. I’m going to bet they tried to cram too much information in 8 episodes and the writers suck because half of them are activists or partially re-tar-did.
I tried watching the first episode, and good god, the beginning was slow. I didn't watch the rest of the series. If your show can't capture my attention, why watch it?
And you're right about the characters. They felt VERY toned down.
They still didn't Made live action show work..oh well
Edit: oh it wasnt a total wreck..maybe season 2 makes things work
With what we have been given so far, I doubt it. A lot of the Toph stuff is going to be gone, the Zuko and Iroh stuff will be gone, and they already ruined Azula.
@@chazzitz-wh4ly Well i guess season 2 can atleast Be fun? Characters are changed And fans can do much about it
I agree with you 100% on the sexism issue. The classic series showed what sexism is, why it’s a problem, and how it can be overcome. This series pretends sexism doesn’t exist.
I honestly don't understand how the writing can be THIS bad. I could've written the entire show in under 2 hours and it would've turned out much better. It just can't be possible to be this bad accidentally. It has to be deliberate, i.e. sabotage.
BRO I THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY!!!! For years I’ve said this franchise is CURSED. The games, movie, live-action, they all seem deliberately done BAD!!!! Idk what’s going on behind the scenes but did Mike & Bryan piss someone off within the industry?!? Idk. I’m at a loss for words with this franchise….. I’m glad I came across your comment lol. Someone doesn’t want this franchise to succeed.
I hope the Duffer Brothers don’t screw up Death Note. They can’t do worse than the previous adaptation which was that Netflix movie, right?!
We thought the same thing with the ATLA movie. Yet, here we are
@@Werewolf.with.Internet.Access yeah. But still, here’s hoping their planned live action tv series proves us wrong! 🤞
The show isn't as ugly as we feared, quite as poorly acted as we feared, or even as poorly written as we feared
It's greatest sin aside from falling short in other areas, is that it utterly failed to capture the soul of the original. Something Netflix One Piece was able to do to shock of everyone.
Thanks!
And thank you.
The opening killed me 😂. Well done!
This is one of the proof that no matter how good your actors are, how good your cinematics and sets are, all will come down to the quality of writings and obviously the writings on this one was not good. Scriptwriters seems like intentionally makes the conversation boring as much as possible.
Im trying to figure out how 1970 godzilla got involved in this. 💀 i legit paused it and walked away
I wanted the avatar state, not godzilla
I think they relied too much on Flashbacks, and "Team Avatar" felt more like coworkers than friends. Felt needed more scenes of them together. I didnt mind uncle Iroh but agree on Azula.
How in the book of water does Aang not learn waterbending? The big strange line was Zuko saying to Katara you found a master and Katara saying she was a master. Like... what?
I dont think its terrible like the movie but a lot of room for improvement.
I found that halfway through episode two that I didn’t care for any of the characters. The characterization is done so poorly for just about all of them.
That Zuko/Katara scene was so dumb. She was trying to act all badass and I wasn't buying for a second. I was saying to myself, "Bitch, shut up. You're about to get wrecked," because Katara was so passive now and Dallas Liu (Zuko) was so much more convincing with the action stuff.
@@thoriasunlimited4053 In the animated series Zuko does say to Katara so you found a master. But that's because she did, and she didn't need a witty response to show she was strong because her actions were showing it. Also made sense for to lose since only had Pakku training for a day or two at most while Zuko trained his whole life.
The creators of this show need to understand show not tell and sometimes less is more ie, don't have to beat in everything as long as writing is good but was really lacking at times.
The show was definitely an improvement over the movie. And i agree with most of what you've said, biggest issue is the exposition dumps all over the place, and watering down of all the characters, other than that, the first 2 episodes and 6-8 are actually not too bad, 3-5 are a mess
I did not like they changed Oma and Shu into a lesbian couple.
I didn't like the snide comment during Koh the Facestealer scene.
I don't like the rewrite on Zuko's burn origins, or Sokka's sexism...both were very important for his and other character growth.
I don't like how fast Katara is progressing BEFORE finding her first master. She basically becomes the team tank after meeting Jet.
Kyoshi island was cool seeing Her possess Aang and beat everyone down. But, I preferred seeing Suki kiss Sokka's cheek over seeing them kiss.
Beyond those complaints, it's been okay. I look forward to seeing Bloodbending, Toph, and the dragondance (if they're even added...)
The original is still better in every way, imo.
Finally watching reviews now that I’ve finished and rewatched a few episodes and I remember thinking to myself “imagine getting up and putting that on to wear all day” when Ozai was on screen. The costumes really do look weird.
I’m just starting the show, and there are plenty of times where the show has me, then loses me. For instance, What doesn’t make sense is why Zuko still has his Eyebrow where his scar is. Your hair definitely won’t grow back after getting burnt. When they get burnt off, they’re gone. Cartoon Zuko’s brow didn’t grow back. How does the cartoon come off more realistic than the actual “realistic” live action take on the avatar.
I think the biggest disappointment about the netflix series is that they failed to capture the spirit of Uncle Iroh unlike how the Shyamalon movie did. The only good thing I can say about that film for the most part.
This actually had MORE time than the original, so they didn't need to cut ANYTHING, realistically. Truncate a bit, sure, because the animation is faster and more snappy. But not cut. This show had over half an hour LONGER than the original, at 400 (20 episodes at 20 mins each, minus opening/credits), versus 432 (8 episodes at 60 minutes, minus 48 minutes of credits).
This show had MORE time than the original. That's no excuse
At least it was better than the movie, and it started well.
Zuko is too nice in this.
Zukos eye looks like a bruise rather than a burn too, his eyebrow is still there!! Little things like this throughout the show pile up
Yep I agree. GoT did a far superior job on the hounds scar and that was like a decade and a half ago. Zukos scar should have a far more altered texture rather than color, it’s like they didn’t even look up burn scars on google
Analysis is on point 👏👏👏👏
You perfectly encapsulate my anger with this show, the reaction channels are just glazing, theavatarist is the worst, bro was glazing so hard that he was basically saying please invite me to more stuff
A.I. TOR RETURNS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AVATAR DANGER DANGER OF SUCKITUDE.
Constant remakes shows that creativity is on lifesupport.
Some works of animation simply don't lend themselves to reaching equal levels of quality in live-action. People could benefit from accepting that and stop seeking to translate something that, in certain aspects, just doesn't translate as well.
If it didn't have profit potential, I don't think studios would be repeatedly trying to adapt this IP to begin with. I believe that, deep down, even a number of the creatives on staff know this version ultimately can't measure up to the cartoon.
The first question to ask when adapting anything is "Why? What could an adaptation add to this source material and/or its legacy?" If your version falls short and adds nothing to justify the effort, then why make it at all except for money?
Eccentric Mr. Miyagi perfectly explains what I also expected from Iroh, the vibe was certainly off about him imo
I think you're views and opinion on this are THE most concrete and objective, at least it sounds that way haha.
i agree on all counts.
The costumes/wardrobe is a really big miss for me. They look like party city cosplayers.
I wish things would be more tattered and worn.
Even stuff that's supposed to look old and worn has perfect seems and looks brand new. "immersion" broken immediately lol.
Just to add to characters they ruined, Kyoshi yelling at Aang gave "Harry did you put your name in the goblet of fire!" vibes, she's supposed to be cold and tactical. Then Avatar Roku being essentially Iroh, just goofy, when he's supposed to be the one to add context to the war. Also, they did my man Bumi so wrong, he was angry? That's not neutral jing at all. I knew when the show runners left I wouldn't be happy. Super mad about how they ruined Azula and Katara. They claim to have removed sexism, but pretty sexist to do the strong female characters a disservice.
Once i heard the creators left i knew it was a wrap lol.
The live action is more of a "tell" than "show".
14:05 i think that sentence is the most succinct description of the new adaptation
I suffered through the first episode and then gave up. The show runners obviously didn't understand the source material and the acting was terrible.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The acting is HORRENDOUS!!!!!!!!! Idgaf how beautiful it looks visually but if I can’t connect to the actors it’s a no for me. Especially when the acting is bad, it really disengages me 🥴
The original creators of the series leaving the Netflix ATLA adaptation didn't necessarily mean that the show would turn out bad but it definitely wasn't a good sign.
damn it.... no penis hair? i'm out lol
and that intro lmao good work dude
Comment for the algorithm. Keep up the great work!
They renewed for a second and third season ...... WTF !!!
*apparently* the series was so *popular* that they thought it was a good idea to *renew for season 2 even for a season 3*
This was so comprehensive. Thank you
I don't like the scene where Katara, Aang, and Sokka arrive at Kyoshi Island and when they are attacked by the Kyoshi warriors Katara says "don't hurt him" "he's the avatar". One of the Kyoshi warriors says "impossible". "There has to be a sign that he is the avatar" and then the Kyoshi statue just glows and one of the Kyoshi warriors say "that must be a sign" and then boom the next scene plays. Just bad writing and too much cutting for the budget and time. This scene is not like the cartoon because the Kyoshi warriors know about the history of the avatar and that the next avatar is slated to be an airbender. And that the there is no more airbenders alive. And Aang shows them just a little bit of air bending. 🤦🏾♂️Cmon Netflix do better 😂
Actually if you watch it again Katara did break the ice when she tried to bend the water to bring the boat back
I’ll never forgot the Last Airbender review in the fool killer days lol
The fundimental problem with doing a live action show like this is the fact that ATLA , despite some meh episodes here and there, is generally a near perfect series with a solid beginning, middle and end. So retelling it just feels unneccesary to begin with.
At least zuko and iroh came out of this unscathed
I think the show would have been great with a few (dozen) more revisions to the script and more time to SHOW (not tell) the story. I want to think that the acting is bland because the writing is bland, because the actors do have moments where they show some emotional range.
The great parts (there are a few of them) of this version I would dare say are BETTER than the OG, but yeah there are too many bad parts to outweigh them. I've seen most reviews describe this S1 as a mixed bag, so that is pretty much spot on.
C'mon writers. Do us proud and give us a worthy S2 and onward.
I was not going to watch this show after the horrific movie BUT I will give it a shot because of this review
Watched the first episode- thought the airbenders were silly old beans: we have information about the fire nation attacking- let’s gather all our kind and have a feast - during a comet and not make any plans to save our kind… and let’s pretend we would send Aang away by himself to master all elements and fight the fire Lord by himself…
The information they had was that the Earth Kingdom was going to be attacked not the Air Temple.
@@selfinvoking3418 no, they have information that the fire nation is planning something which is why they told Aang that day that he's the Avatar. They also know about sozin's comet and the power it gives fire benders. Sure they don't know about the genocide but knowing enough of what they do, won't it have been wise to not throw a huge festival or at least not let their guard down so much?
This is why making changes to original stories can create potholes. You have to think every angle through. Also, why do they need to be in one place? The fire nation is more than equipped to take them all at once, especially with the comet on the way. Just saying
Soooo agreeing with your points! Do you think they could cast 20 year olds for Aang and the main gang with better results? The age of the characters is not that important anyways, for example Aang could be 20 yo and still have a meltdown over having to be the avatar!
Part of the charm is that these impossible burdens are on the shoulders of mere children who need to grow up and rise to the occasion. In don't think it would feel right with older actors.
Aang being a mere kid is a huge part of his characterisation, as well as with Sokka and Katara having to grow up too fast. Age them up and that aspect is muted, even if it could be retained to some degree.
Ur my favorite UA-cam review channel
The costumes were fantastic. No complaints on that front.
The costumes looked just like that: costumes. Not clothing worn by characters. That small difference makes a huge impact.
For further evidence, look at LOTR costuming, and compare it to Rings of Sour.
Uhhhh the costumes were horrendous. Can we ALL collectively stop sugarcoating. It’s getting irritating. This live action was HORRENDOUS!!!!!!!!!
You rambled a very important point.
All these small changes that they make to "correct" the things they deem problematic, have much further reaching consequences for the whole than they seem to realize (and that's when the changes are small).
I'll keep my own rant about the arrogance of thinking you should correct the original work out of this : )
I feel like there was no stage coach telling them how to emot