Simply put, Netflix’s take on Avatar: The Last Airbender is bad. At best, the show serves as a constant reminder of how amazing the original Nickelodeon cartoon was. At worst, it makes M. Night Shyamalan‘s 2010 The Last Airbender film feel like a mercy because at least that poor effort was only 2 hours long. Granted, there are some saving graces. Most of the cast is good, with relative newcomer Dallas Liu (PEN15) as Fire Prince Zuko, veteran character actor Ken Leung (Industry) as Commander Zhao, and the great Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) as Fire Lord Ozai being the prime standouts (yes, the show is very pro-Fire Nation, at least in making that the best part of this first season). Additionally, the bending visual effects look fantastic. But none of these pros are enough to bring balance to this world.
From the opening minutes, it becomes clear that this live-action remake aims to be both a dark and violent fantasy epic for the post-Game of Thrones crowd, while also trying to capture the silly and cartoony fun of the source material. However, this balancing act of sorts never fully clicks in the 8-episode season.
Lol surprising no one the show is ass
Rotten tomato score
One of the messages driven home by the first series, is that Aang's pacifist ideology is what's needed most in a time of war. He entertains, educates, and elucidates non-compliance, and resistance. And that resistance can be as loose as a gentle breeze or a powerful gale. The airbenders primarily are dodging and using their opponents movement against them, and Aang tries very hard to be a gentle soul, and he only accesses the Avatar State in moments of a) great peril, b) the need for overwhelming force. Aang learns to be more mature as the weight of the responsibility sets in, without fully losing himself in the journey. He is not a grimdark hero, and it is what's such a beautiful thing about the show. Even the cop-out at the end, with Spiritual Bending, instead of killing Ozai. He tried really hard to find an alternative to a moment of violence that would have continued repercussions (as every other moment of violent does, in this show).
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Making the show grimdark is such a failure in understanding the source material and appreciating what make the show, the show.