Netflix Avatar: The Last Airbender teleports back to Live Action Television, capturing our childhood (bald) hero in our living room with magnificent storytelling and ambitious VFX

Water. Earth. Fire. Air.

Only an Avatar will master the four elements and bring balance to the world.

Since the last episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender aired on Nickelodeon in 2008, Aang and his crew are back. Bigger and better than ever. The beloved franchise was picked up for a live-action remake of the original series, produced by Netflix, and began its development in 2019. Avatar world is set in an artificial reality split into four national nations; water, earth, fire, and air. The Avatar (played by new breakout teen Gordon Cormier) mission is to walk on a self-discovery journey by learning how to “bend” the four elements to become the ultimate, merciful warrior and defeat the war.

Despite releasing on the 22nd of February 2024, the series has gotten mixed critics’ reviews. One may argue it is due to the creative clash of the two creators of the show, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The pair have worked tirelessly during the production with Netflix after departing the project, shocked fans by surprise.

Nevertheless, the live-action adaptation stays true to the classic, expressing the desire to bring the heart and soul of the heroic avatar to our living room. To add, the groundbreaking adaptation series soared in viewership ratings and surpassed fellow One Piece, a premiere release of a 15% increase in 5 days. (Yip yip!)

Narrative storyline follows Aang, on the path with Water-Tribe siblings Katara (played by KIawentiio Tarbell) and Sokka (played by Ian Ousley) as they cross path various battles, often times with the fire nation led by Prince Zuko (played by Dallas  Liu) along the road. Reportedly, Netflix had a whooping $120 million budget— in comparison with similar CGI shows like One Piece. This series progress onto becoming an adaptation that is deemed enjoyable, wit, and intriguing-to-watch.

Television has transformed onto a high standard quality of hard work and dedication to deliver sharp and thorough cinematic action sequences to the foot of our living room. Thanks to every streaming platform in this day and age. I believe that Avatar: The Last Airbender achieved a standing ovation for upholding the true nature of the protagonist. Which is, bringing every detail of the character’s trait and customer to life.

Despite the controversy sparking through misplaced casting choices, though it is just biased. Fans of the original series may be agitated with the show’s ability to withstand relevant narrative arcs as it was not shown on to the adaptation. For the non-fans, critics are still on the hate train of Madame Webb and decided to turn on to the Last Airbender. Though the chemistry between the main protagonist cast seems displeasing at times— the spotlight centres of Sokka and Suki (played by Maria Zhang), portraying a love-at-first-sight moments that had the internet stuck on a whirlwind.

We can anticipate Netflix’s announcement for Avatar: The Last Airbender’s season 2. Overall, the television live-action series is thrilling to watch due to its electrifying visual effects, great costume designs, and adaptation that remained faithful to its source. A round of applause to the casting team for bringing the audience (especially the fans) a taste of showing a glimpse of our childhood on to adulthood.

Are we feeling old yet?