live-action Avatar is OBSESSED with backstory
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มิ.ย. 2024
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The new Netflix live action Avatar The Last Airbender has been released and this is my review and analysis of the show. Generally, it's not awful, there are things that work and changes that make sense, however there are also two crucial issues at the centre of the writing that I think cause most of the problems. This videoessay tries to explore what it is that held the Avatar remake back?
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:25 Structure
09:19 World Anvil
11:02 dialogue
MUSIC (in order)
Leaflet - Safe Return Lofi Remix
Leaflet - The Avatar State lofi remix
Mandala Dreams - Shade Of The Sunflower
Mandala Dreams - Kimono of Tears
Miracle Bee - Amazing Guzheng Music
FreeBGM - Moon Palace
Alan Ellis - Sea Terms
Avatar TLA playlist: • Avatar: The Last Airbe...
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#avatar #avatarthelastairbender #review - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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EDIT: Sorry there was so many midrolls on this video. I completely forgot to set them so youtube did it automatically and also put them in some weird places. I'm going to fix it as soon as I can get to my laptop. I would imagine the fact no one has commented complaining about this is because you're all smart enough to have adblockers
“Why didn’t you tell us you were the Avatar?”
“Because I never wanted to be.”
In 6 words you get Aang’s conflict. Rather than the paragraphs we get here.
I mean, he wasn't the Avatar yet. It's like if I want to be a fireman but I'm only 12. He was already advanced as an Airbender, but never started to learn the rest. That may take decades
@@-taz- What do you mean? He was the Avatar the moment he was born, that's how reincarnation works.
@@diamcole I don't think a one month old Avatar is going to be able to do anything substantial. It takes a couple years just for the spindle neurons to connect the different parts of the brain together. As we have seen, learning to bend each element is still a difficult undertaking, and mastering them is even harder. Then there is mastering the Avatar state. From what I remember, most Avatars don't succeed until their 20's. While one might tehnically be the Avatar as a small child, it's in name only, not in function.
@@diamcole Also, it's not exactly reincarnation. The Avatar spirit is a separate entity that connects to a new bender that is born. The bender is just a random person. That's why each is unique. But the Avatar spirit can't do much in a body, or mind, that isn't fully formed yet.
@@-taz-it’s like someone saying “I don’t want to be the heir to the throne”
Yes their role will be poorly filled when they’re a month old baby, but they are still heir to the throne.
Still can’t get over their choice to have exposition grandma straight up tell Aang in the South Pole about the genocide of his people, have him believe and react to it, just to bring him to the southern air temple to have him react AGAIN. As an audience there were 3 separate reveals of the air nomad genocide for this live action whereas in the original we got some hints and then BOOM, skeletons. Hit so much harder
I was torn on whether to use episode 1 or episode 3 as my example for this video. Fully agree though, episode 1 I think was actually the worst of the whole season
@mylittlethoughttree and it was written by Bryan and Mike too. Something tells me they were gonna make it worse, and not better with their presence. I really hope the second season ups the writing
@@erin_garinger they have writing credit, but no one knows how much they contributed before they left. They also have story credit for ep 6, which is the least bad episode imo. so its hard to say
@Mikesean45 From what I have seen, there doesn't seem to be much agreement as to which episodes worked best or not, but the ones I have heart critiqued most was 1 and 6 but ofc thats anecdotal
But yeah good point we don't know how much they contributed, and it could be the changing writers on those episodes which made them as poor as they were. Idk I am open to whatever, and just looking forward to seeing how they can improve in season 2
Gran Gran knew what's up cuz she reads the newspaper.
NOT ONCE DID I HEAR ZUKKO SAY FOR MY HONOR AND I'M HEAVILY DISAPPOINTED 😂
OMG I know the whole time I was waiting for him to say my honour and not once , that was his motivation. Instead it was apparently to be on the throne.
THANK YOU!
@hesea123100 Okay, let's be honest here. 'Honour' was a motif in Avatar. When Aang runs away at the start of season 3 he says he wants his honour back. Sokka repeats that when he's about to leave for the boiling rock. Even Ozai says 'you will fight for your honour' before scarring Zuko. Yes, it was Zuko's thing, but above all it was a motif that the adaptation left behind.
I believe Zuko's thing is now compassion. It's a trait he was born with, was scolded for, and had to bury deep down inside until Aang reminded him of it. So yeah, this isn't some forgotten line on the remake's part, it's just a change in direction
It's what made me laugh so hard because they really danced around that word for their dear life 😂😂😂
@@ignorant1126 Zuko said it the most and it's why Ozai punished him in the first place because he supposedly dishonored him and finding the avatar was a a way to regain that honor. It's not just a thing that crops up every now and then, it's literally his entire motivation for the entire first season up to the end of the second season.
I understand the live action has to switch some things up but misunderstanding the themes and characters arcs and trying to fix the OG series 'flaws' is not the way to go.
While watching I kept thinking "nobody has conversations with each other, they just take turns explaining their characters out loud"
So fascinating that the show that prided itself on being for "older, more mature, and GoT" audiences somehow feels the need to spoonfeed their plot more than the Nick cartoon made for literal 7 year olds!
Don’t ever talk down to your audience, that’s the first rule of good writing. Show don’t tell. Exposition is good with moderation. This show ignored those things.
Exactly! We kept being bashed over the head about everything
@@itzelmontalvo6645I would argue even exposition without moderation can be compelling and interesting. Death Note is a solid 87% exposition and explaining but, because of the way it's structured and written, you aren't really focused on it.
Notice how Aang didnt even once trained waterbending.
I've been saying this and those that were praising the show got really quite 😅😅😂😂
@@altaafsheik5725 I mean it had some good moments and the set and costume design is really good but they dont really matter If most of the other things dont make any sense at all. The storytelling is just not cohesive. For example they often change which people interact in a certain scene (e.g. Sokka and Katara go in the tunnels) and later they try to replicate a thing from the cartoon and it just doesnt work bc they forgot that they changed the build up for that.
@@eloyluna6217 Aang didn't actually run away like in the animated series so him being called a coward is kinda dumb . The amount of exposition and back stories is overwhelming. They also seem to say what they are feeling instead of showing it
@@altaafsheik5725 Exactly. And how they tell what they are feeling is also really cheesy. Also dont like how every of the former avatars tries to force their ideology on Aang and being absolute assholes just so that at the end only Aang is right about the thing being "friends" while the show doesnt even show them becoming friends.
Right, and how Katara became a good bender really fast after "getting in touch with her feelings". I big part of her character arc was her jealousy of Aang's ability to pick up water bending after she showed him a couple of basic moves. This series also doesn't show her temper and passion for justice.
Everyone talks like a self-help book
FFVI reference?
@@pn2294 I've never played Final Fantasy, I just meant it literally
"But I suppose it can be scary to ask others for help..." Ugh
I’ll never forgive how the opening monologue goes “an Airbender who may not be ready for the responsibility of becoming the Avatar”, explaining who Aang is and his entire first arc. That’s like introducing Zuko as “a Firebender that thinks he needs to earn his honour back because his father scarred him”.
Also it's just a clunkier version of "he's got a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone." Which pretty much sums up this remake: a longer, uglier, self indulgent version of the original.
your sentence doesnt even make sense LMFAO@@VoonNBuddies
@@VoonNBuddiesthat’s why I stopped watching. May as well go rewatch the cartoon again
It’s like they plagiarized a kid’s bored ass essay they wrote for an assignment.
An earthbender who needs to learn that metal is just another kind of earth 🤡
I am three episodes in and I must admit, I cringe every time anyone opens their mouths. There is absolutely zero charm to it. They both try to make it darker by burning people alive but then also have them laugh like little children when Momo jumps on Sokka's head. The tone is just mismatched and awful, and I don't know who this is made for.
Oh God…good I’m not the only one
It's made for the mass general consumer market. The average person doesn't care about that stuff. It's just entertainment and move on.
Wait until you get to the part: "It's not over! Bla bla bla....". The original show had much better timing and plain common sense
@@olabodeusman3024 lol no, you're definitely not the only one
There's a very strange feeling whenever anyone talks.
Disharmony.
It feels like everyone except Jet and maybe wheelchair guy was cringing at their own lines during filming.
No emotion. Robots.
Do we want to talk about how Katara's voice sounds when she screams "Aang!!' Lmao dont get me started
@@tafb94force29 And so did the cartoon which was inherently made for kids who weren't meant to grasp the context of war and the realities of it, but everyone ate it up.
One of my main gripes was how they took Aang and Roku's shine away multiple times. The best example is easily EP2 where they gave it to Kyoshi. ATLA isn't Aang's story. It's Roku's. It's Aang fixing Roku's mistakes. That's basically what the opening of Book 3 tells us when Roku outright apologizes to Aang for having put this burden on him. One of the first big steps Aang takes towards maturity and becoming the Avatar the world that Roku left needs is Kyoshi Island. At first he's just bathing in the validation. He came there for a selfish reason (riding giant koi fish), convinces the Island he's the Avatar, and then lets it go to his head and starts goofing around when they start worshipping him. It's only when the Fire Nation attacks that he matures and draws the Fire Nation away. And even that isn't enough for him. He looks back sorrowful when he sees the village in flames knowing he indirectly caused it, and that's what causes him to risk his own life to coerce the Unagi to douse the fire. The Unagi was almost like a metaphor for that episode. At first it represents Aang's immaturity. He endangers himself by clowning around with it purely to try and impress a few village girls and Katara. But in the finale of the episode, he endangers himself in order to use the Unagi for the greater good. It was a shift in mindset. The Unagi is simply a beast, like a force of nature that will do what it will do. But Aang's approach to it was different in the beginning than it was in the end. At first he risks his life for nothing. But by the end, he risks it to save an entire town. It's metaphor, even if unintentional, for basically the entire show.
All of that nuance in a 20 minute episode of a ''kids'' show. Meanwhile this hour long ''mature'' TV series wherein people get lit on fire in surprisingly graphic detail, tosses it out the window and has Kyoshi go ''Lol you really messed up coming here, now lemme show you how a true girlboss fixes things!'' before she just fixes all of Aang's problems, thus keeping him from having to mature and robbing him of the biggest first step of his journey.
Thanks, Netflix. I hate it.
He didn’t risk his life for nothing, but for fun, isn’t that what any kid wants? That’s why Aang is one of the best written characters in media, he feels like an actual kid learning actual lessons. In this live action, he feels like a homeschooled legacy Hollywood actor trying to fulfill the role. There isn’t that innocuous facade at the forefront, he’s actually very responsible basically the moment he gets out of the bubble. WTF? Licherally 12 or so, so he should be WAY louder and boisterous
I guess it's really telling how goated the original was when both of its remakes missed the point in different concepts
At least the 2024 series didn't mispronounce the main character's name...
Thank you I've made this argument as well. Roku does actually guide Aang quite a but, but he was the previous avatar who was fire nation and friends wirh Sozin. If anything when Aang is asking previous avatars how to fight Ozai even Roku says he needs to kill him. He made the mistake of not doing it out of friendship and being that soft allowed the war to happen. It's as much about him wanting to atone for that as it is about Aang.
Thanks, that's my main gripe, too. Rokus temple was the highest point in the series to me. You know they had to show women kicking ass. That's why. It was not a story telling choice, but a funding requirement.
Well as a counterpoint, Kyoshi did invent the Dai Li which became corrupted overtime. It does have ripple effects in the imbalance of the world, but this show didn't mention it. (From what i've seen so far.)
You nailed exactly what I thought. We don't want characters TALKING all the time about love, friendship, compassion, empathy, responsabilities, we want characters to show they care for all those things. No kid has ever say "I'm a goofball", they just are. It's like, at times, they needed to tell us Avatar like an oral tale rather than an audiovisual mega production. The script just didn't work. It's very sad, because the series has some good things and I think the cast worked really hard (with what they got). I love Avatar 😢❤
Imagine the writers thinking their so clever because the animation never thought to have aang say "I'm a goofball" and what a missed opportunity for characterization that was.
The whole dialogue of the show feels like running into NPC’s in Skyrim lol
I used to be a waterbender like you, then I took a giant ball of ice to knee, woke up in a live action remake, and was never trained anything
Skyrim has better writing than this. How dare you.
@@TonyMezaXD It actually does, and imo that's impressive to realize.
There's a few things that really annoyed me about this show.
1. Aang doesn't practice waterbending with Katara or do any waterbending outside of the avatar state.
2. He's only interested in going to the northern water tribe because Kyoshi gave him a vision and not really to as much as he can about waterbending.
3. There are moments when the pacing is too fast. Remember the build and intensity of the gaang going to Cresent island in the original. Them getting past the blockade and trying to open the door to Roku's shrine
EXACTLY! This show is the definition of “Talked to death” and “tell don’t show” The aftermath of the blue spirit ep in the cave worked so well in the cartoon. Just the fact that he had been friends with a fire bender, then the question if they could have been friends. Zuko reacts. The audience gets it and is left to reflect on it. In the Netflix show they had like 4 whole-ass conversations about it. Then the concluding monologue. Adding nothing in the meantime.
I've been really impressed with how they propose to layer multiple episodes together. It really could work... If they didn't then do character writing by stringing unearned soapbox speeches together, of "Shakespeare in the park" quality
Strangely most of these speeches can be cut down and still preserve most of the information, and drama (less is more sometimes).
Just with some editing the series can be still improved.
YES, my biggest issue with the show is that characters speak in monologues to each other. There’s no real flow of conversation and it makes all the connections and pseduo-deep statements fall flat.
Having Aang monologue to Appa completely took me out of the scene. Definitely made me temper my expectations for this show.
Also, I thought Momo was going to die. Straight up, he was so unneeded that I thought the show was going to kill him off for shock value. I felt nothing when he ended up living.
Omg that first monologue was so cringe. The worst part of that episode! I watched it with my brother and we look at each other like "whaaaat? 😅", why did they made Aang do that? They could just made him cry and hug Appa and watch the sky thinking and then running away and that would be okay. Don't know why they decided to put that cringy weird monologue of how he liked banana pies and goof around. So lame and.. strange
Omg YES that scene more than anything was like a slap in the face of "telling, not showing". They could have just done a scene of Aang and Gyatso making banana pies and goofing around to show Aang's carefree side, his friendship with Gyatso, how Gyatso is putting off telling Aang something important while trying to protect and perserve his childhood a bit longer... they could have shown all the things that would change once Aang learns he's the Avatar, but they went with clunky dialogue instead. I was watching a reaction video to the first episode where they thought he was about to sing his feeling, which at least would have been a different take on the series and justified characters telling the audience about their emotions and thoughts. (Cmon, Zuko singing a ballad about restoring his honor? I think it could work! 😂)
It's like they saw him talking to appa in the animation, where he was building a rapport, and thought, this is the perfect way to shove in more exposition.
To me, this show has two main problems: It wanted to keep important moments from the show that fans were expecting but it failed to keep the context that made those moments impactful in the first place and it simply refuses to allow its audience (or its characters) to spend even a single moment with questions in their minds.
An example of the first problem: Suki easily beating Sokka in a sparring match was meaningful in the original because it was a humbling moment for Sokka. He went into that encounter believing that, by nature of being a man, he could easily defeat Suki. Her beating him shook his worldview and opened him to change. It's an important moment, and fans love it. In the new version, he's not sexist, so Suki kind of just kicks his ass for no reason. Like, he's just a worse warrior than he lets on but he doesn't even seem to think that he could beat her in a fight before she pressures him into sparring with her. He doesn't need to grow as a person to improve as a warrior, he just needs to take lessons. It's weak.
For the second problem: In the original, "what happened to the other Airbenders," is a question we as an audience are left to grapple with from the first time we hear the title of the show to the end of the third episode. Aang also has to grapple with it and when we both find out the answer, it's devastating. In the new version, we find out what happens to the AIrbenders before it even happens! And Aang finds out about it moments after he wakes up. He's told unceremoniously by someone he doesn't know and we don't even see his reaction.
There are countless other examples of these problems and, together, they amount to a show that provides the same emotional experience as reading the Wikipedia summary of a different, better, show.
this makes me want to rewatch the animated series
I watched a few moments after seeing a couple of the live action episodes and I seriously miss how vivid these characters were. I loved the dynamics so much and I’m sad that I can’t see that in the new series. I wanted to love it
4 episodes in and that's where I found myself.
I literally started rewatching it yesterday 😂
Gyatso: You're the Avatar
Aang Snow: I don't want it
It's so funny since the shamalamalam movie had this problem too. You'd think they'd try their hardest to not make a big mistake like this since they obviously tried.
The curse of the shamallama
I belive they did try their hardest.
But that s what they were able to...
Just check who was in charge of netflix s adaptation: head writer is a sports journalist... No wonder they failed so hard.
Less nepotism, more competences could easily fix this.
The funny thing is the 20mins from the animated show feels so much longer then the 50+mins per episode in this live action version.
Completely unrelated but I love how the Earth kingdom citizens went from being all Chinese in the cartoon to a mix of Chinese and Indian in the live action. It cements how big the Earth kingdom really is. Not only do they have two kings and a huge plot of land but now, their citizens are from the two most populated countries on Earth. Like, that's a cool detail
Yeah I liked that touch, too! You get to Bumi and there's sitar music playing, and that just nicely added to the atmosphere
I noticed that too! It was a good touch
@@mylittlethoughttree I wonder how Shyamalan felt seeing his culture reflected on screen after he made a completely culturally ignorant film lmao
almost every episode I say where's appa and momo. Until it became an ongoing joke
I'm wondering how they gonna deal with Aang and Katara falling in love.
The original show hinted it quite early but then built up to it slowly.
There is absolute 0 moments of them having any time together in the live action show and I don't mean romantically, but I mean at all.
They didn't really have a chance to become good friends on screen and I don't have high hopes they will do a good job with the romance later down the road.
With the way it's going it will be Momo doing an exposition monologue in which he says "oh yeah and btw. they like each other now".
Kyoshi island splashing scene.😅
IMO they might avoid it completely. It feels forced even in the original series.
Yeah I don't think they're gonna do it at all. I think there's a lot of stuff they're gonna gut. Like they've already gutted a lot.
@@DavidCendana no it doesnt, at all.
It's very natural and spontaneous.
Like you would expect young teens away from home to do it
It would only work if Momo has a really deep voice.
The show does have a lot of flashbacks but I’d MUCH rather watch flashbacks than listen to them explaining things.
I just wish they had Family Guy style flashbacks.
Usually they do both!
There was always a question to me concerning "how is this gonna improve the original?"
If you can even think of an example where live action has improved an animated piece of media they are few and minute examples..
I don't understand why this was made.
Money
@@thegodplace7887 perfectly put! Cr1tikal basically made the same point, but ye.
It is a daunting task to set yourself to remake such a show as LA in the almost exact same format (half the episodes double the runtime otherwise very similar).
Like take the One-Piece LA (a show I was also very doubtful about but luckily wrong): with all the challenges there is a VERY clear reason for this to exist. The One Piece anime is an animation of the manga and is thus mired in all the things that make manga-tranfer-animes hard to get into. SO many episodes, so much filler, so much recaping and anime voices. There was a clear differentiation that the One Piece LA had the job to make the world and plot of One Piece accessible to those that would never fight through 1000+ episodes of anime. It's essentially for a whole new audience/way of watching.
But Avatar here... what's your big task Avatar LA? What are you communicating or who are you reaching that the original series missed? This is the question I tend to ask with remakes (but Hollywood clearly does not ask 😄): What substantial thing is this remake bringing that the original version is lacking?
Tricky thing for Avatar!
It doesn't need to improve, it can just be a different kind of experience of the same story. The format can lure new audiences in, and old fans are just happy to have a fresh opportunity to dive into one of their favorite worlds again. There's definitely things that need to be done differently in a 1-hour-episode live action series compared to cartoons and anime, like more focus on actor performances, different kinds of humor, adaptations to root a story more into realism etc.. One Piece did a phenomenal job regarding recent live action remakes.
@@hrt4919it’s crazy to me though cuz the churn over this is gonna be monumental. We binged it, it wasn’t worth it, and now ppl who subbed for it are canceling. I didn’t even bother since pirating was so accessible lol
What started as a useful actor's trick has become the bane of storytelling.
Do you have sources on where it started?
@@Andrew-pv8oz Stanislavsky, I'd imagine. Backstories were originally a way for the actor to understand the character and inhabit it as a person instead of just lines. Eventually actors started talking about it, and then people picked up the idea and started thinking characters HAD to have a backstory and the audience HAD to know about it. Thus pretty much killing the whole point of a backstory, which is to remain hidden and only _influence_ a performance. It's all of a piece with the general infantilization of stories now, where the audience has to have every little thing explained and they never want the story to end, ever.
Honestly think the whole over-explaining thing nowadays reflects societal confusion as a whole. Sacrificing the art to become one big people-pleaser-esque show to accommodate for a largely spiritually lost audience in a largely superficial society, obsessed with over explaining n tryna make it digestible and enlightened but end up achieving the the exact opposite. Arcs sacrificed left right n centre to fit a modern criteria (rather than a human emotional and spiritual one like the original show) such as like instant gratification shallowing resolves, the ol' Mary-sue effect creeping in on Katara (tryna emphasise the 'girl power' and diminishing the nurturing n giving, yet humble, stereotype) etc. Just way more 'sellout' nowadays over artistic integrity imo n all just comes across a little insincere
@@a.bit.Sketch well said
@@Serai3oh my goodness I understand!!! Without knowing Ozai and Ursa relationship (how they got together in the comics) I could tell by their present interactions(well, lack there of) that their children are the way they are due to the parental dynamics between each other and structure of the home.
Just the way he talks about her and use his own sun as a bargaining chip for her to help him get the throne by offing his father.
I will say tho, Daniel crushed Ozai ngl I was scared of him in the Agni Kai😂😂 but gosh why they made Azula so outwardly so insecure ?? Showing her emotions on her sleeves rather than it being subtle??
It's like Netflix decided to make a live-action out of the play from the Ember Island episode.
That's an insult! The Island players were actually dramatic and expressive. I would rather watch the entire books with them playing, rather than the garbage we got.
Would explain my Katara, Sokka, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee look like they were cast based on the Ember Island Players
15:31
This is actually explored in episode one of the animation as well, but they did it via the brevity of him waking up and immediately wanting to go penguin sledding, he doesn’t even care about his home or whatever else is happening. He is a kid. Instead of telling us, they showed us.
The funniest and most jarring line to me is when Aang says to Iroh about Zuko, "Im starting to see what kinda person he is" like WHAT
While watching the first episode, my friends and I looked at eachother with dawning horror as we realized Katara's actress in the movie felt more like Katara than in the netflix show.
The shamalan movie? I blocked that memorie haha
TBH they could've done a lot more if they replaced the time they showed Azula and the Firelord in the Firenation with more plot to our season 1 story. Azula didn't add anything important in this version. It would be could if, lets say, season 2 they give Azula her own episode to show how she became the best or how she played a role into season 1. Also, I get they only had 8 episodes to work with so they needed key points but they really should've made more scenes with the Characters connecting with each other. They all just automatically become good friends.
And whoever is writing the script NEEDS to swap with someone that can work with the acting coach.
They also need to let the actors read their lines at least one time before rolling the cameras. I swear some of the line reads felt like literal line reads.
Whoever wrote these scripts needs to go back to school and take some writing classes, my professors would've roasted my ass relentlessly if i turned in scripts this exposition heavy with no character interactions
@@drpepperman2765 probably a result of nepotism.
I think all the good writers never came back after they strike that had happened
They filmed it before the strike
The amount of CG they used make this looks more like a video game than a live action adaptation
Oh my gosh I can’t unsee it now
They should have used real sky bisons. They can be temperamental, but i think it would have been worth it.
It feels like team Avatar was separated more than they were together on screen. So the part where Katara talked about being family with Aang doesn’t hit home as well.
When Katara said, “Yes, I found a master, you’re looking at her.” I felt that, very empowering. It only took a scroll and couples advices to be a master ❤️
ChatGPT teached her how to master waterbending. Just like the writers mastered the dialogue writing
Lol that just seemed so lazy
Yeah. I love when I skim through a physics book and then become a master of quantum mechanics.
@@fookinaye8277 Be real... How long do you really think Pakku trained Katara? For all of a week? Everyone is acting like Kataras road to becoming a waterbending master wasn't quick... Most of her training was just being on the road with the team... She straight up is a master by book 2, and learns bloodbending after a day of learning it when it took Hamma years to learn... lol Nitpicking at its finest
@@GeorgeTheSuper because it took her sooooo long in the cartoon? Lmao please
someone heard the phrase "show, don't tell" and literally shits on it here
I don't understand why this episode structure is even necessary here. It's a streaming show. They can make the episodes all different lengths, they can have as many as they need. Flexibility in format is one of the big advantages netflix has over broadcast tv, why don't they use it?
True.
This is true. That's how it is with k-dramas. For example, the episodes for Extraordinary Attorney Woo vary from 68-83 minutes.
@@zuriyel5368 Netflix definite has done this - The OA comes to mind. Maybe they are hoping to franchise this stuff back to network tv???
The series has me split. On one hand, I loved how immersive they made the world, the bending, the characterization, and the subtle easter eggs they put for old fans to enjoy. What hurt me the most is the fact the Gaang doesn't get to spend a lot of time together. It's understandable they're going to try to add as many plot points as possible, but we lost the main group's chemistry. Also, I had issues with Aang not learning any bending. Skipping The Deserter was definitely a choice. I really hope they learn from these weak points and make a better work on S2.
I'm sad that they didn't keep Bumi's "Wrong choice" *stands straight and flexes*
couldn't they cast old people to play old characters? are old fit actors so hard to come by that they had to be portrayed by people dressed as old people? I'm not even talking about representativity here, I'm mostly thinking about how poorly Bumi and Pakku were cast and characterized.
Typically speaking no, an older male bodybuilder isn’t gonna bring in the nuance like the voice or mannerisms, they’d just have the physique. Which is why they went with a comedian, who is used to doing impressions, and odd physical comedy. It also made the reveal of his body funnier, but imo if they went with a more regal and actually old version I think it would have suited the darker tone more
They also need the actor healthy and active for the next seasons (easily 5+ years)
Was Bumi just a 10 year kid with old person make up? That's what it looked like, and I'm not even exaggerating.
Perhaps ironically, the dialog sounds very M. Night.
They got Gran Gran gran-explaining to everyone. 🤣
Yeah what was immediately noticeable in every episode was how exposition heavy they were
the thing is, when you watch the show in a dub (in my case ukrainian) the way they slightly change the dialogue and the execution feels very organic and real. the second I switch to english - it’s like listening to some unenthusiastic robots. the only good performance we got was sokka’s actor
Rule 1 of Screenwriting: “SHOW, DON’T TELL”
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender: Shows everything, tells everything
they arent just obsessed with backstory, they are obsessed with exposition dumps. They have to explain everything they are thinking rather than letting the audience figure it out for themselves.
The “Keep pretending I’m your friend” line is lifted almost word for word from Man of Steel’s “Can’t I just keep pretending I’m your son?” scene.
That at least explains it, because I was so baffled 😂
And that movie was almost good too but held back by bad writing and ill conceived ideas.
Wait really???
Honestly, this show feels as close to a Zack Snyder interpretation of Avatar as we could get. I can't overstate how much of an insult I mean that as.
@@VoonNBuddies adhere to the visuals without any of the substance or emotional weight thay made those visuals powerful in the first place, yep this is a Snyder style adaptation and I mean that as a straight insult
Can't believe they messed up momo.
That "doesnt he look like a momo?" Line shows how little they understand the show.
He flies to a peach tree, but that’s the line they use? It’s so wild lmao
"What does katana mean?"
"It means Japanese sword."
basically that line
There was very little or forced involvement with mom too. Even fluffed up easy small bonding moments notably for the me when momo found the acorn in the burnt forrest and Katara just takes it from momos hand, no facial expression or 'good/thanks momo' or nothin (not to mention how small things like this added to kataras poor depiction), he's just a lil roamin alien in the adaptation
I kept forgetting Momo was there. If I hadn't seen the original show, I'd assume he was just there to be turned into a marketable plushie
How did they name him in the original show?
My god the dialogue thing really annoyed me, because if the story had time to breath without non stop monologues, I think we could have a great show in our hands. The pacing becomes weird and the sentimental moments loose their impact. At some points I felt like I watched a weird overproduced soap opera. Disclaimer, I LIKED this season and thats why the dialogue realy grinds my gears, if the showrunners had trust in their audience the show would soo good.
It is wild that a cartoon had more natural, engaging and impactful dialogues than live action. Netflix should hire better writers if it gets a 2nd season.
The conclusion I've come to is. They didn't know who they wanted to make this for. Kids (pre 6), teenagers? Young adults. Parents. The exposition at every opportunity and dialogue is just so ooo basic.
I dont know if i can watch any more. Just a few episodes in and ive been screaming the whole time at the tv haha. Why is everyone asleep? They all sound tired, and mumbly. And NO ONE IS SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER. No real reactions at all, just script. There's literally people at threat of dying horribly, and people are strolling in the background, and fake running.
Gorgeous bending, sets and costumes (though too clean, as if they've never been worn).
I just think the writing and direction is really lacking, and not allowing the actors and characters to shine.
"Monks don't even trust me to feed the baby bison, and I'm expected to save the world?"
Wasn't there a flashback in the original show that literally involved Aang feeding baby bison?
I thought my screen was stuck on some weird zoom glitch the whole time, but it wasn´t. Why was it shot so close. The original avatar showed us the world of avatar, eved during dialogues. It felt like too much unnecesarry closeups, mostly in the north water tribe. Kataras dueal with Paku was shot way too close.
I know right, it was so distracting! Basically every dialogue scene was made up of super close up front facing shots of individual characters. Couple that with the tendancy for the dialogue to fall into monologues stitched together and everyone seems to just be talking into the void.
Wider shots are more expensive. When you frame it tight you don’t have to touch up the background, worry about as much lightning, so as much choreo etc. you can feel how many corners they needed to cut to try and keep this from being 300m
@@nailinthefashion Yeah, I'm sure it's more of a budget thing than a directing choice.
Each episode had 15 millions budget, if they couldn't afford that no one will
From the title alone I can already say "yeeeeesssss!!! I agree" I'm only 3-4 epsidoes in and the way that they deliver the backstory is off and annoying. Nothing is offered organically, or in a way where you had the time and space to feel or notice something about a character, and then as the story progresses more and more bits of information come together to reveal that character's perspective that was ever present and consistent the entire time. The Netflix adaptation really takes the audience for an idiot. I would have much preferred they competely leave out talking about some of the backstory bits and just do a better with the present day plot. They pretty much use the universe + backstory as a crutch for why we (the audience) shoud give a damn about any of it.
The acting and missed arcs are getting bad enough that I'm having a hard time pushing through it. They spent far too much on getting the visuals of the characters, locations, and bending right and they should have spent more on the character understanding and writing, and executed it.
Yess!!Yes!!! I agree. I literally quit watching at episode 4. It's just to painful to watch with the broken line of events, characters talking to much and they all seem uncomfortable with what they are saying? And just nothing flows. It feels like they took the original show and cut it up with scissors and taped it back together in a weird uncomfortable way. I went back and rewatched the original and there is actually a quote by Gurru patik and he said somthing along the lines of " all is connected even if they seem separate" like the four nations they are 4 parts of a whole. Its the same as the original all things in the show is connected and is a peice to a whole. I cant think of any episode truly being filler as all information is connected even if small. The overall theme of the show Is HARMONY. And the live action is very much in Disharmony. The original is a true masterpiece a true example of yin and yang and harmony. The balance of good and evil. And the balance between mature and youthful. I will have the most respect for the animated cartoon and forever rewatch it and have my kids watch it. It's a very complex show and beautiful the more you look into it. ❤
Me talking to my pet Bison, "I know who I am! I like to meditate, I like banana cakes and I love to goof off with my friends."
These poor actors are held down bad direction and dialogue. I HOPE Netflix takes time to refine these issues going forward. I'm not swearing off it, But I have very low expectations at this point.
Although I'm sure it wasn’t intentionally, Gran Gran's exposition, quotes from the show and bluntess telling Aang his entire civilization is dead honestly made me crack up laughing 🤣
The fact that they changed the opening monologue already threw me off. But when Gran Gran THEN said the monologue word-for-word later it felt like peak, "How do you do fellow kids? Aren't these the lines you wanted to hear?😎"
Like, first they want to do their own thing, but then roll it back to toss fanservice at me like they're tossing peanuts to a monkey?
@@PhyreSpore I admit, the novelty of hearing the opening monologue from an actual character was neat to me. However, they could've flipped it on its head, and had one of Ozai/Zuko/Azula describe how the nations used to be in disarray, but thanks to the glory of the fire nation, they are now united. And of course, you'd be contrasting this with some visual indicating that their view is pretty warped.
Pai Sho... We see Iroh buying the White Lotus piece and he leaves it as clue for Zuko when he is captured but I can't remember a scene where the game is played and the piece is placed on the board.
Am I misremembering?
Yeah honestly after episode 1 i couldn't get myself to watch episode 2 yet. Might be my depression but something felt off. Couldn't quite put my hands on it till I came to the video
Don’t worry. I had six minutes left of episode two and I couldn’t even finish it. It was that bad. It’s not just you.
My room-mate and I basically forced ourselves into finishing it, even tho I was the one loudly saying all the time:
"One more thing and I am done"
I even accidentally left the voice call cause I pause the show probably came off the way that I was genuinely done with it lmao
Anyone gonna talk about how ang doesn’t learn any waterbending
The problem with Hollywood productions today is their gross underestimation of their audience. What they do now is nothing more than plot-driven gaslighting to blame poor performance on the views having the audacity to expect billions of dollars put into elaborate remakes/reimaginings to stay true to the source material while possibly improving the original story with originality showing audiences that the creators actually watched the original.
There's so many issues in it. I watched 3 episodes and got bored. Sokka is literally the only one they did a great job casting..... And when Katara said she is a warrior.... A WARRIOR???? SHE'S A WATER BENDER, THEY DEAL WITH EMOTIONS AND ARE EMPATHS NOT WARRIORS. Got damn dude they should've never made a live action if they don't understand the world. Bad producers
The biggest problem I see with the live action's structure is that it seems like they tried to feed a lot of things from the animated one's episodes in one whole episode. A lot of the scenes in each episode seems chaotic and does not connect at all that it feels like an episode has like 4 or 5 arcs that does not fit together. Episode 1 for example has its arc on the water tribe and then suddenly 15-20 mins before it ends, we're in the southern air temple. The southern air temple part looks unnecessary in the whole episode because of the retelling of the backstory at the first part. Aang could have just gotten into avatar state while gran gran is telling the genocide story. Like for real, they could've just picked certain episodes and stick to that, have the story revolve around those episode instead of forcing a lot of plotlines in one episode, cause it makes the story too confusing and a lot of scenes becomes unnecessary. If they do pick it this up for a second season, I wish they just stick to a certain story and not mish mash everything to give people some fanservice. Also please, stop with cringy long ass essay of a monologue, I really cringe everytime they do those.
This series is sorta like a beautiful chocolate; it has beautiful and delicious looking frosting and is decorated masterfully. You'd think someone spent hours making this masterpiece. But then you take a bite and realize that it's just mud. Frosting is still there but it's overpowered by the mud. That's what this series is: a few W's but a whole lot of L's
I would love if you made a longer video about the show! I was honestly rather dissapointed by it, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been (although in my case groan inducing at times).
Keep it up!
I overall enjoyed the show, but there were definitely structure issues with how many storylines they combined into 1-2 episodes. Particularly Omashu and Jett and the freedom fighters.
Jett and the freedom fighters should’ve been saved for the Jeong Jeong storyline. It’s a much better parallel to show that not all fire benders are bad, and not all those who fight the fire nation are good.
But the biggest mistake the show made was not have Aang learn any water bending because now they either have to do a time skip to show he’s learned some basics in water bending, or they run the risk of lessening his earth bending with Toph in season 2.
And not having the Jeong Jeong storyline in season 1 now means they also have to squeeze in him learning a third element and then swearing off learning that element until season 3 or 4 when he learns with Zuko.
One thing that stuck out to me is the final scene when they're joking after the climax ("ur always talking about food" ... "OK melonhead") works SO WELL compared to the rest of the dialog. Sokka and Aang riffing on each other, just talking like actual people. And of course that line works so well because it was copy-pasted from the original. Although the food joke doesn't quite hit because we've only seen Sokka thinking about food a couple of times.
I can see why they would make Sokka less sexist in the beginning, but they removed more than that. Sokka as a character is an overconfident goofball who gets riffed on by his friends. But we don't feel bad for him because he brings it on himself, and welcomes the role/attention. He's the older sibling who acts like the youngest sibling. But now they removed his overconfidence (of which the sexism is a symptom), so nobody has reason to riff on him anymore. Except they still need him to fill that role, so we get a few throwaway digs at him that don't quite land.
They could've still made it work if for example, he was stoked about being the villagers top warrior before travelling the world and seeing much better fighters. Then, the Kyoshi scene would humiliate him, and he'd have to adapt to learning that his core personality trait (being the best in the village) wasn't really true. Of course, then he would slowly grow to understand that his core personality trait was ACTUALLY something more akin to protectiveness/family/kindness/supportiveness, and find meaning there.
My prob with Iroh is in the original series he gives advice to Zuko when he deemed fit but he doesn’t actively make decisions for him or help him plot the next move which is what he does in this adaptation
spoilers under the read more
the fact that they gave kyoshi FUTURE VISION and showed aang what was gonna happen to the northern water tribe instead of just letting them go for the very valid reason of learning waterbending. ONLY for them to reach the city and they're already like "oh we know :)" what was the point!!!!! what even was the point of showing aang FUTURE VISION to warn them???!?!?!?!?!
i'm only disappointed with some of the changes just because they don't make sense. either for plot reasons or it weakens the characterization.
100% agree, I also hated how Katara didn't get jealous of Aang being better then her at waterbending. Her not training at all with Paku also made no sense to me.
@@allandm aang barely waterbended, if at all. that irked me
I hope Netflix writers watch these reviews
We have a no fun problem 😢 what happened to their personalities
What are you talking about? He told us he likes banana cakes and goofing of with his friends. What more personality could you want than Aang telling you that?😂
@@mylittlethoughttree 🤣🤣🤣
I’m only on episode 6 but these are my thoughts- I’m really enjoying all the original bits, like the fire nation cut aways, and life at the southern air temple, but ultimately this just makes me want to watch the original again even though I watched it a month ago
When you said the episode "feels like [all the characters] doing some stuff and then they all end" thats exactly how the entire series felt to me. There was no sort of group bonding and community in my opinion, when Katara keeps telling Aang they are his family I just couldnt help but think that it felt shallow and fake. Theyre not a family, theyre literally just carpooling and Katara keeps pushing for sokka to help save him not because she cares for Aang but she doesnt want to lose the "hope" of having the Avatar
I've been thinking for a while now that a good adaptation/remake is one that can explain and defend itself without the source material. This remake feels like you must watch the original animated series to properly understand the characters, and also feels like it's banking on the nostalgia a lot of fans have for the original. Let's be honest, if THIS was Avatar: The Last Airbender it wouldn't reach the heights the original series did, it would go under the radar, this live-action will never become a classic because it relies on people knowing who these characters are already.
It also breaks one of the rules that made the original so good, show don't tell. We knew who the original characters were, we knew Aang was a kid with a great responsability trying to run from it, that Iroh was a powerful man with a big heart, and we slowly learned why instead of having the characters make a 10 page power-point presentation explaining it. Granted this show couldn't take things slowly, but it does feel like a hyperlink to the original series, like a teaser made in live-action
I was all but screaming "writing 101: SHOW, DON'T TELL!!!"
Percy Jackson show in a nutshell
I physically convulsed when that lieutenant said "But we're the 41st" As if we didn't just get that from the flashbacks
I agree. They needed to make it a little longer to flesh out the story
I've noticed that after the first two episodes the rest of the show is set up like three two parters. omashu sets up for payoffs in the next episode. Spirited Away sets up payoff for the masks and so on.
Yeah same. I can see the thinking behind that, and it's something I'd like to discuss in a longer video. I don't feel it worked though. I think it left ep 3 and 5 especially feeling just a bit lost, rather than like a tense, captivating build to their pay off
I agree with everything am wondering if i am the only one who thought the camera positioning was wierd most time it showed them as if they were talking to themselves as if the character isnt right in front of them.
I didn't like how they didn't show Jeong Jeong trying to teach Aang and him burning Katara. That was very significant in his journey. Especially going to see the Dragon Masters. Wonder how they will adapt to the storyline.
They won't. Just like how they decided to remove sokka being sexist which erased him and kataras fight that broke the iceberg in the first place. I thought "I wonder how they're going to make that work...oh they're just going to have it break open spontaneously and conveniently for no apparent reason..." They didn't even bother to write something else.
@@momolefey I completely agree with you. It was so much different than I expected. I know that we aren't looking for a shot for shot remake...but like...don't change the story that makes us, veterans of the show, scratch our heads in confusion wondering "what are they doing"
i have a lot of issues with the series, but i still feel they could easily improve these things in a second season. alot would improve by a little more show don't tell. give the emotional moments more room, and less focus on the lore.
i feel they have casted pretty well, it's mainly a dialogue problem.
Is Netflix/modern remake writers incapable of making anything fun or lighthearted? While the show is engaging, after feeling bad watching the Omashu episode (of them ruining Bumi), I rewatched the original and it instantly made me feel better
I hate how they made King bumi look 🤦♂️
5 seconds from being Jim Carey’s Grinch I swear.
I don't mind the look at all-
His behaviour is much worse imo. he seems really angry and not like the crazy silly guy he is in the animated show
awesome analysis! wow you nailed the shortcomings right on the head.
What I find most funny about all the backstory dialogue is that Aang ends it on saying ayo future time but he's not even developed any since the first episode.
i wish anng started some level of water bending....... he literally did nothing.... isnt he suppose to be aware of souzin's comet from his time with Roku ..and start some level of water bending Katara.........
Full analysis! Wooo!
I personally didn't mind the flashbacks. Some of them I even quite liked and thought they added interesting new elements to the story. However, in the case of the constant awkward monologues, the numerous crammed in and glossed over plot-lines, and the out of place Scrubs-esque VO wrap-ups, I agree that those were all definitely issues that held the show back.
I remember that monologue scene where Aang is telling Appa who he is and thinking two things:
1. This show is doing all the work for Tumblr bloggers. No need for a meta post where people can analyze the characters. These characters analyze themselves.
2. It was like the only direction they gave Gordon was "Alright, now just say your lines like you're practicing them in a bathroom mirror and you've never had an acting class in your life. Aaaaaaand.... ACTION!" I don't even blame the actor. With a performer that young, it's really up to the director to get a good performance out of them. That kid did the best he could with the lines he was given and the direction he wasn't given.
LMAO that Zuko line did sound like the start of a soliloquy 😂😂😭
We as a culture decided that we don’t want stories, we want L O R E
I would love to hear more from you on this. You did a great job of pinpointing and expressing many of the stumbling blocks I was running into with structure and dialog.
Liked shared and subscribed.
I actually enjoyed the show. I watched it once as a kid and only season 1 since my country didn't buy rights for the other seasons.
I know the basic plot but I don't know the entire story. I don't wanna watch the original now as an adult cause I don't got a nostalgic connection in the same way that I would have if I saw the entire thing as a child.
I feel like this show is basically tailored towards people like me. Watching this show feels like the show skipping everything I know and remember from the original and only showing me the parts I missed.
My Gf who didn't see the original as a kid didn't like this show and judging by the comments here it disappoints a lot of fans of the original as well, but for me as someone who watched random episodes of season one whenever they aired but in a scrambled order, this show is perfect.
The show is amazing and worth watching regardless of the nostalgia factor
Why does 2010 live action Yue look better than 2024 live action Yue?
There was no YIP YIP! 😢
Katara and sokka just ride appa without the struggle of figuring out Yip Yip!!!!!!
In the series Katara and Sokka often had different thoughts or solutions for a specific problem which at the end they learned a more nuanced perspective which made them respect each other more. That is missing from this series.
Aang repeating how he doesnt want to be special 10x didnt bother me at all. Such a huge responsibility isnt something that is accepted fast. It takes long to wrap your head arround it, and even longer to admit your mistake. Him repeating he doesnt want to is just denial, and actually pretty accurate to how somebody would react.