So I get what he means, but Jake's thoughts boiling down to "It was fine. The worst part was anytime anyone was talking and whenever the main characters were on screen. 6/10" makes me chuckle.
it's so much worse than what i feared... long, awkward expository monologues about what aang is like and what' his conflict is. hearing that aang is a kid who likes to play is significantly less interesting or engaging than seeing him be a kid.
@@the_potato_herald Modern movies and series are so scared of learning throughout the story and keeping things secret from the audience. Shogun also suffers from this.
Jake!! The animated series is an all time show. Based on the other stuff you like I think you’d really like it, definitely recommend going back and watching it now
BE YE WARNED, season 1 definitely struggled early on. It's not bad, but it's not at the level the show would come to be known for. Though the season 1 finale episodes were pretty dang good and mark a definitive shift in the direction the rest of the show would go.
While this is all totally accurate, all of season 1 is far better than this. This remake made me appreciate what a master class the animated series is in character based writing
I'm watching the first episode right now and it's really annoying. Like at the start aang is Peter Pan apparently but then later on he needs his stuff to fly and then when zuko takes out his staff he can't fly without it even though he literally was flopping about in the sky with it like 10 minutes previously
@@harrisonking1195I agree to a degree. But in the original cartoon, characters are leaving their villages to team up with Aang. They dont bother with food preparations, change of clothes, or question how long it would take to get to places. People dont question these things because Avatar is a cartoon. But the cast makes unplanned travels to different locations then expects to meet a plot important character the moment they arrive on a continent. Cartoons are made in such a way that viewers dont question anything except designated plot points. Suspension of disbelief is easy when things look fake. But still, its cartoon writing that is noticeably problematic if put in a realistic setting. Also why not everyone likes cartoons. The Netflix Avatar series tries to bring Avatar to a new live action audience. So its trying to find a middle ground in 8 episodes. The more it mimics a storyline meant for a cartoon with suspense of disbelief, the more fake it looks. Like Power Rangers. But the more down to earth changes they make, the more it strays from source material. So they have to find a middle ground and somehow make a show enjoyable to live action fans that may not like cartoons, but still resemble the cartoon.
Using real life experience, alot of live action fans dont necessarily like cartoons. This Avatar live action may appeal to that group. But it has the problems of cartoony decisions of characters from the source material. Either way, one side of people wont be happy.
Watching this made me appreciate the darker elements of the story while watching the animation is very whimsical and light. I think you should watch it one day and remember how tragic the premise is after your rewatch
The reason Aang doesn’t feel any urgency to water bend is because he has NO IDEA Sozin’s Comet is returning without Roku, they completely messed up Roku’s impact on the stakes of the 1st season, instead using him as a joke character.
I thought that having roku being a comedic character was a great touch. The reason being is that it is the first time that we see that the fire nation wasn't always the way it is now. That they aren't all nazis. As the season progresses we see that not all fire nation is one dimensional, but having roku be lighthearted really worked IMO. It doesn't have to be like the original. I am totally fine with changes if they are for the better in the context of this show, and run-time.
Right though I wouldn't say they "messed up" but rather they are moving these plot points onto different places. In the original there's a core reason they are rushing from place to place. This season feels a lot more about world building so it feels like the "important" stuff hasn't happened yet, it's not like they forgot or anything. We get see the previous Avatars with little fanfare probably because they want to build on them later. Aang does not truly even go into the avatar state but this may be because in hindsight Aang trains to do it later and that's why they are lumping these plot points together. Though given that I do not like these changes but I think people need to be careful about "well in the original they did this" because you may miss what they're trying to do with this show. Because Jake has the intentional reaction when he's like "oh well... I didn't think they would do that..." because his only expectation is the story is still ongoing so a lot of these things he assumes they'll workout later but fans will just conclude "wow they fudged it oh well..." too quickly. It's only when the show completely ends could he say "oh yea that didn't work" or it may at least work within this version of the story.
@@MartinKrol there’s no reason for that. We still get to learn this when he talks to zuko in the blue spirit episode he had friends in fire nation . Roku being a comedic joke when the world he left behind is at war is just poor writing
The differences in the first episode tell it all. In the cartoon Katara actively opens the iceberg to rescue Aang and Aang wakes up with Katara being the first thing he sees. In the live action, Aang just comes out when they get close. No personal relationship building or foreshadowing for the future relationship. And this is supposed to be more mature and advanced? Lol
@@ExtremeMadnessX it also isn't Katara who grabs his hand to calm him down when he goes into the avatar state at the air temple. They completely removed that. Why???
@@doctormoobbc I get why they would change stuff. But yeah, these are 2 very important pieces to how Aang feels, and where he can find support, makes him more a kid and believable. Weird to specifically remove that.
but katara does open the iceberg in the live action? wasn’t she like, trying to waterbend it? i was only half watching because it was kind of boring lol but i remember it looked like she was trying to open it at least
I wouldn’t even say the live action is more mature. The cartoon manages to handle mature themes with way more grace than “Durrr now we show people burning and the actors can say ass now”
20:20 by the way the book is called Water. The elements he begins to learn is what the books names are called. He’s SUPPOSED to learn water to grow stronger as the avatar to become closer to defeating the fire nation. The ability to learn all the bending disciplines is why Avatars are so powerful and it’s their main feature. And he didn’t even attempt to do what the gift of being an avatar is?? That’s just a crazy thing to me. Also I’m not saying anything harsh to you, I’m just ranting about the fact that he doesnt learn anything.
I think the main thing missing from the live action was the bond formed between Soka, Katara, and Aang. I think the show would have benefited immensely from a dedicated episode where they're becoming friends. Part of the reason that was missing was because Katara never got to teach Aang bending. In this show, they feel more like coworkers than friends (although I think they nailed the Soka, Katara dynamic)
Whenever katara and sokka are fighting I feel like the show is at its strongest. They bicker like real siblings. Katara and Aang together feel so weird in comparison.
It’s criminal how simplistic this adaptation makes the start of the series. The original is so well-paced, so well-developed, so much more subtle, weirdly enough, that this supposedly more ‘mature’ adaptation feels like it thinks its viewers are idiots and trusts their media literacy less than the show made to be viewed by actual children. It’s so heavy-handed and belabored here, it’s insufferable.
Well, they have the data to prove it. There's a lot of people who haven't watched the original because "it's a cartoon for kids". I don't think I could ever convince my mum to watch the original, but I think she would watch and enjoy this version.
I watched the show in one day. I removed it from the original animation, treated it as a separate thing and it was honestly quite a lot of fun. It is CLEARLY R I F E with issues of various kinds, but at least it's fun. But in the middle section of the season, when it hit a bit of a lull and started making some vrry questionable story sequencing decisions, i couldnt help but think back to the original animation series once again. I found myself tearing up and crying at a number of moments towards the end of the season. I then realized why that was happening: i was not feeling the emptional impact of what i was watching, i was actually remembering all the strong memories i have of the events of the animated show, and the emotional impact those moments i had. Overall, I'll give this show a 5/10. It was def a fun enough time. And i hope they can improve stuff going forward, if they get greenlit for another season.
Totally get what you're saying about the show only emotionally impacting me when it reminded me of the original - the best (worst?) example was when Iroh reacting to Lu Ten's death. A notable exception is the moment when it's revealed the Fire Nation squadron traveling with Zuko would have been sacrificed by Ozai. I wish the show had given itself more freedom to think creatively with theme and characterization in that way.
The exposition and dialogue in some parts of the show are unbelievably shallow and jarring, completely opposite to the careful use of subtext and the emotional sincerity of the original series.
I think fans of the animated series are upset about aang not learning waterbending, partially because it's an unnecessary change and watching aang learn waterbending is really cool and fun, but also because we know it's going to cause problems later. The show does a lot of things like introducing characters early or changing character dynamics that maybe in the moment "seem fine" to someone not familiar with the show but have huge ramifications for later down the line. Season one is supposed to be about aang learning waterbending because season 2 and 3 about earth and fire respectively. Either they jam learning waterbending into season 2 or they just have him learn it off screen, the former would make the pacing of season 2 difficult, the latter would be boring and disappointing. It's a similar problem with King Bumi; he becomes pretty important later in the series and I have no idea how they would make him work with how they changed his character. Also I think it's completely valid to criticize them for changing a character so drastically that it no longer feels like the same character. An adaptation should capture the spirit of the original (unless your explicit intent is to put a new spin on something we've seen many times before) the live action Bumi is nothing like animated Bumi, it honestly feels like character assassination.
Watching this show in a bubble, and removing my knowledge of the original show a 6/10 is honestly a pretty reasonable score. Bad compared to the original show this is pretty dog shit. The best thing that can come from this show is if someone who’s never seen the animated series watches this and thinks it’s okay and has neat ideas, and then they get gently encouraged to go see the original.
It's no exaggeration when Avatar The Last Airbender is considered one of the best animated show. I think it's a huge disservice if you don't give it a shot, Mister Gentleman Carrying Things.
I thought there were some cool visuals and I did like the relationship between Zuko and Iroh. I thought the casting for most of the characters really did work for me. I agree with Nadia on Aang learning water bending though. Because the premise revolves so heavily around him being the avatar, who is the only person that can bend all four elements, it felt weird they didn't try to show him really learning or using any of the other elements more. I also felt like the show was a lot more of tell and don't show, which caused so much dialogue exposition and explaining and spelling everything out. I find that funny since they wanted it to be more mature, but it felt like they did not trust the audience enough to understand it all. I also wished there was more development and relationship building between the trio. Loved the discussion guys!
OMG! I totally got that at the start. I wonder if they expected people to cry putting the Air temple scenes in the beginning. But I suppose that's only the original series fans who will have that reaction to somewhat mundane scenes.
I'll give it a 6/10. I agree with pretty much everything you said and I feel some of the changes didn't make any sense. I don't see a lot of people talk about this, but Aang leaving the Air Temple to cool off instead of leaving to run away from his duties is a huge problem for me, because in the original show he feels the weight of the responsability that much more for choosing to leave the air nomads behind and ending up frozen. I also didn't like how rushed a lot of it felt and sometimes it's not even in the time of the episode spent somewhere, but certain timestamps they tell you, like the leader of Kyoshi Island being like "you can only stay for 48h". I mean, I get why she did it, but in the original the episode is 20min long and it feels like they really spent a lot more time because of the execution
- The casting of Paul Sun Hyung Lee from Kim's Convenience is the main reason why I gave it a chance. Iroh is my favorite in the original show. - They absolutely nailed the Kyoshi Warriors. Suki looked so awesome in live action. - Daniel Bae Kim as Lord Ozai is also terrific casting. - I think it's a mortal sin to watch this new live action adaptation first. This was just a messy speedrun. - I'd forgive a lot more if the pacing/writing wasn't so incoherent.
I don't think they ever stated anything about the next comet returning, so the urgency to master water bending was not included. The urgency came from needing to save the water tribe from ... i guess impending doom.
Some people say that a lot of its criticisms are nitpicks from diehards and yes that is true but not totally. Because some of the nitpicks(not all) actually do change how these characters and the story work. Some of them are small that when adding several changes become more significant and some may even seem like small changes that shouldn’t be a big deal but when you take a second to think about it you’re like “…😮oh man that really reframes this story quite a bit”😄. I’ve only watched episode 1 and I’m gonna finish the rest this weekend but already I’ve noticed some stuff. It is good to me so far and light years ahead of the movie we don’t talk about lol. But I’ll give one example. I watched the original series’ first two episodes a couple days before this show premiered. Just wanted to get into the mood kinda wanted to compare the two but also not so much because I wanted to enjoy this for what it was and not constantly nitpick like a stubborn fan who can’t enjoy anything new or something that tries to put their own flavor on the story. But Aang getting frozen DID stand out to me. And it is significant because yes it’s a major storytelling device to set up the whole premise of the show but also it essentially frames Aang’s major character arc throughout the entire series. Because in the animated version Aang finds out he’s the avatar and runs away. 😂Just straight up packs his stuff and decides to leave it all behind so he doesn’t have to face that incredible responsibility. He gets caught in a storm and freezes himself. The Netflix show follows this almost beat for beat except they seem to frame it as if Aang was just going on a brief ride with Appa to clear his head. Like he intended to fly for a few hours and immediately come back home. Where he would’ve been caught right in the middle of the fire nation attack. But like I said gets caught in storm and freezes himself to survive. Pretty similar but this frames it as if Aang abandoning the world for a century is just him being a victim of circumstance rather than him being guilty for making a childish and selfish decision by deliberately choosing to actually run away from his responsibility. See what I mean😅 it seems very small but then you’re like oh man that might actually frame this story differently especially to people who didn’t watch the original. Because in the original Aang is way more goofy. He’s a kid but also he’s trying to remain a kid so he doesn’t have to be the avatar. It was more show than tell and even in the first episode of the original you can see Aang changing the subject acting goofy and trying to play around until he’s faced with being the avatar again and has to protect people. His entire major arc in the series was that he ran away from his problems 100 years ago and it hurt people. Not just all of the airbenders on the planet who got wiped out but all the other nations who suffered through a century long war. And people keep reminding him every now and then that they’ve lost hope in the avatar because he abandoned them. Because all they know is he’s been gone for a century. And it is his fault. He’s not a victim of circumstance. He chose to run away. He was a prodigy airbender so if he had stayed the southern air temple and even gone into the avatar state he may have done just enough to allow some air nomads to escape and together they could have traveled a much less dangerous world to help him take his time and learn the other three elements. But he didn’t. He abandoned his people and the world and it didn’t even work because a century later and he’s still being chased for being the avatar. He tried running from his problems and it didn’t work so now he has to face them head on in a waaay more difficult scenario. And he’s still a goofy kid who WANTS to still run away from his responsibilities but he has to grow and mature throughout the series to overcome the now near impossible task in front of him with a ticking clock. Before he had a whole lifetime to learn. Now he’s got one year. And the only person he can blame is himself. In the Netflix version you could say him getting frozen was just a freak accident and he shouldn’t feel so guilty because he never INTENDED to abandon anyone on any level. But in the animated version he did. He just didn’t realize how terrible the consequences would be. So yeah long spiel over 😂 but that stood out to me. Seems small and I’m sure the creators of this adaptation thought so too but when you think about it can actually affect how a first time watcher views the character.
@@ExtremeMadnessX that’s not what I meant sorry. My point was saying he intentionally abandoned everyone because he intentionally ran away not that he froze himself on purpose. He wasn’t planning on coming back anytime soon in the original while in the Netflix version it’s framed as if he’s just intends on taking a brief flight for a couple hours to clear his head before heading straight back.
The original series is incredible. Nearly perfect piece of media. I am not watching the remake. It might be okay, it might even be good, but I've already seen this story done, and done perfectly.
Jake: I like dinosaurs, I watched The Lost World, it was fine, I don't see the big deal with this Jurassic Park thing. Can't wait for Jurassic Park 3! 😂🤣
my thoughts watching it were basically: oh this makes me want to rewatch the original that i love so much because of the weird changes they made 😭 i can 100% see why the original creators left the project
i watched the original series for the first time at 26 - 27 and loved it, it's in the list of my favorite series/ movies ever. edit: i gave up on this live action about 2 minutes in lol i couldn't handle the second hand embarrassment, i was cringing so hard
Seriously the constant monologues, the wooden acting, the incessant exposition instead of opening up the world and lore gradually like the animated show did so well. The way the silly moments are so jarring against the creators' desire to make this version as joyless as possible whereas the silly humor was such an integral part of the original. Managed to sit out episode one but cringed all the way through, just gonna continue my rewatch of the original.
Great discussion! I shared many of Jake's gripes about stilted performances and unearned/sloppy character development. Beside inherent problems of live-action adaptations of animation, the Netflix ATLA feels too shackled by expectations to make it feel like the original. I say that as someone who loves the original series. But I didn't need it to "feel" like the original because that desire is an infinitely receding horizon. I just wanted it to be good on its own terms. I guess it doesn't feel good on its own terms for me because it wants to replicate all the highs of the original by simply repeating all of its character and plot steps, but simply does so worse: sloppier, rushed, or remixed in unsatisfying ways. It makes a few variations in characterization and plot (e.g. Aang doesn't learn waterbending, Bumi is more bitter, Azula seems more insecure, Ozai a bit more proud of Zuko, Sokka less sexist) but never radical enough to feel like more than a knock-off.
@@kendallandrews8691awesome is subjective and a lot of us are gonna skip it lol I watch it just cuz the bending looks pretty cool but it’s not my Avatar
Did I miss something, or did Aang just..not help Hei Bai? Katara gave him the acorn and talked about how the forest can come back, then Hei Bai attacked them in the spirit world and wasn't seen again. Then Koh became the focus. So Hei Bai is still suffering. Why did the show do that.
Problem I have with the series is that I wished they had 6 seasons of 6 episodes... Or at least 3 seasons of 12 episodes, if they are THAT focused on the "three seasons" part. Book 1 is probably the only book that can be pushed into a fold of 8 episodes... but Books 2 and 3 will be nearly impossible to do so and hit the important beats from the original series, because the later seasons are less episodic. But for what they had, it was nearly a perfect adaptation. There are some changes I would have made within these episodes, but this was essentially the best result we could get.
This was the minimum of okay. Didn’t make me ugly sob, didn’t make me cheer, but some of it was pretty. I think they need a lot more episodes lol it was so jarring at the end when they were like “now we can go back to Omashu” gurl …. U were just there but I forgot you even left in the first place.
I definitely agree. I feel like a ton of problems would be resolved if they had just added more episodes. It would give them more time to focus on character arcs, such as aang and the gaangs dynamic. I agree with the way you’re talking about season two and three, I see no way they could compress everything into eight episode without it being “oh no! appas gone!” To “Yay appas back!” In the span of an episode and still make it feel impactful.
I think the writers realised the main audience would be fans of the original show. It explains a) early reveals because the audience already knows, b) showing things that were implied in the original but we didn't see, c) familiar characters in unfamiliar situations. If it was the same as the original then it would have been boring. I thought it was fine and was interested to see what they did next
I was so excited for this up until I learned that they made Sokka less misogynistic. What's the point anymore. Sokka grows from the biggest loser that feels the need to put others down to feel better about himself, to an absolute badass with a heart of gold by the end. He's still Sokka with his jokes and ideas and unique mannerism, just a way way better version of himself So what's he gonna learn now, how's he gonna improve. He will be a better fighter and leader I guess. I mean that's nice but... CAW MON so yeah I didnt watch the series, and from the clips I saw online and just right now hearing about how aang doesnt learn water bending I don't think I ever will. 1/10
The fact that she gave it 7.5 is not sitting well with me. I understand people who haven't seen the orignal give this a 7 or so cuz of the novelty. But it was brutal for me and for folks who have seen the orignal. So I'm not sure how she found the show 7.5 after seeing the writers demolish the characters. I couldn't go past ep1 so i don't know if the show magically becomes better later(I highly doubt that) Sure it wasn't hot garbage, but rather it was disappointing since i was really hoping they would do it justice this time.
We agree for Bumi, he was a darker unfaithful to the og version of him. Acting was meh, the characters had no character and felt stiff and uncomfortable to watch, they were jumping time points and changed a lot of the story, like Katara didn't go to the tunnels with Aang that was important in the original, so fucking up the timeline and character interactions, Aang didn't even waterbend, also wtf is up with Sokka being so bland and uninteresting, Katara stopped caring and being a hothead, and damn, why is Aang so unfun and annoying? It's a 3 for me, it's not worth anything more. Only fire nation was interesting, Zuko and Iroh were perfect. Water looked pretty good, earth was really good, fire was perfect and air was bad, it felt slow and soft, weak.
the craziest thing about all of these reviews is how you guys don’t instantly talk about something until the reviews. my partner and i have to talk about it instantly.
With a few exceptions, I mainly see 4 types of reviews. People who watched it as kids and grew up with it: Hated it. People who wanted a shot by shot remake of the original: Hated it. People who were adults when the original came out: Good but not great. Not perfect. . . but not horrible either. People who are cool with it being an adaptation rather than a remake: Good but not great. I personally fall into camps 3 and 4. I was well into adulthood when it came out and I thought it was fine. I'm not in the camp of "it's not playful therefore it's horrible". It's not the end of the world for me that it doesn't have the "playfullness" of the original. It's not a remake. It's a "remix" and for me, it's fine. Either way, if it comes back for more seasons they need to do waaaaay more SHOW and waaaaaay less TELL. This was "exposition dump" the series at times.
I grew up with Avatar and I didn't hate it. Not as good as the original, probably won't rewatch it, but I liked some changes they made. Like seeing Lu Tens funeral and Zukos crew being the soldiers he saved.
I think 7/10 is a reasonable rating. I liked it, but I was left disappointed that they didn't make minor and seemingly obvious writing choices here and there that could've bumped to a 9/10 for me. As an example, they didn't show Aang playing with the other air bender children in order to show us what he's losing/lost. I don't know how that didn't happen. I genuinely can't understand why they cut that. Stuff like that makes the writing a 5/10 for me.
Katara was definitely the most disappointing thing to me, they just dimmed down her character which made all her moments less powerful, i hope season two is longer and fixes the downside of this season.
Them stealing the "Can I just keep pretending I'm your _? You are my _!" line from Man of Steel in the first episode was so embarrassing that it took me out of the rest of it entirely
I recently watched the Real Atal and damn why wasn't I born sooner it's so good, though I wish it got a re-released remastered in 16:9 as the quality of picture drops in some frames but the story the characters just make you forget all that
It's so funny You gave it a 7.5 but I'm here at the 16 minute mark and for like the last 2 minutes you've been doing nothing but complaining about it and talking about how mad or sad you are. I think your score is actually lower than what you gave a credit for lol but it's nice listening to y'alls different perspectives I'm enjoying this content
As a fan of the original series and seeing all of the supplemental material coming out made me feel two thing. One I am glad this show has stood the test of time and has some really good writing to the point it influences some contermporary writers. Two, this feels like star wars where a big company taking an IP and milking it out believing that ultimately nostalgia and meme culture are unforntunately reliable cash grabs.
Aang was the character that made me realize how cheesy the dialog was. For the original, they had to go with a lighter tone at tomes to be appealing to kids, but here it just didn't work in a version that was supposed to be more "real". Aang in this version sounded like a kid in the middle school play saying lines, and the emotion of the scenes he was in wasn't being shown very well because of that.
this is the perfect review because I was sooooo curious to see how someone NOT familiar with the property would process it. At the same time, I am a massive fan of the original and can agree with the points made from that POV. My personal biggest disappointment was Katara’s lack of motherly drive and passion (in the writing/script - I think the actress is good). I want a season 2- just like, tightened up: more subtle/nuanced dialogue and more of the Gaang’s OG characterization with their close bonding. Or - just make Zuko’s storyline the main one haha because that one landed pretty well. I think we could course correct that stuff in season two while keeping the good stuff: effects, casting, etc.
As a young person who was very into the original show when I was little, my biggest problem with the new show was that it didn't know whether to be close to the original or be it's own thing, seeing elements from both approaches clash in an unnatural way gives the feeling of it being half-assed or afraid to commit to telling a good story. My favorite parts of the new show were those that were less "faithfull" to the original, because I felt like I could see a glimpse of a vision that could've been great if fully realized. The parts that were more in line with the og show weren't as good in excecution. To me, the show had two options, either make it a faithful adaptation and do your best to make it as good as the original, or tell your own story and commit to it. The show either was too afraid of not being as good as the og so it made changes, or it was too afraid of the backlash that would come from changing it too much so they added more elements from the og, or worse, both. I honestly wasn't excited for this show, because I thought the cartoon was already enough, and if all these years later it was still where Avatar media had peaked, trying to make anything as good felt like a gamble. But either way, I would've wanted from this new show what I'd want from any show or movie or whatever, to try telling their story as effectively as possible. I think in that department, this show lacked a clear vision.
Jake, please watch the original!! Season 1 is a little childish, but season 2 and 3 are incredible. very emotionally deep and most of all funny! (I didn’t like the show either)
You changed my mind about Bumi, me and my wife thought it was for the worse but it’s kind of neutral, definitely the spirit world episode is the worst part of the show with much lost potential, but it’s still a 9/10 show that would have been a 10 if it got at least another episode or had less exposition
Me and my brother hung out today and we originally were going to watch avatar, but we decided implicitly not to. (In his own words, he did not want to be disappointed again). Instead, we watched the classic 1984 dune. Now THAT was cinema. 😂
Another thing about live action adaptation I don’t see much talked about is how this is giving an opportunity for many indigenous actors to have well crafted roles who are beloved similarly for the other bipoc cast
I think Nadia is looking at it from a live action adaptation perspective and that is giving Netflix too much credit in my opinion. This being better than the average live action adaptation definitely does not make it anywhere above a 5 out of 10 for me, as they still removed very crucial things to avatar's identity. I am more of a glass half empty person tho, so maybe that's why i see it that way.
It truly felt like nobody even paid attention to him. Like in season 5 they coming to the village where the fire Nation had just burned down the trees and the spirit had taken some people. They approached that man and not once did that man acknowledge anything that Aang was saying to him. Aang would say something and he would just continue talking to sokka like get this little 12-year-old out of my face.
My problem is there are so many other stories from the avatar universe that could have been put on the big screen. Kyoshi, adult aang, yangchen, etc, all would be great. We didn't need this story retold.
I think a live action version could be on equal footing as the original. But this aint it. It isnt total garbage though. I thought it was relying a lot on our love of the original rather than being able to stand on its own, while trying to do its own thing. Like, we barely see Appa as a character, and i feel like Zuko and Iroh are kind of rushed even though they were the best part. Tone could be a little more serious than the original in a better adaptation, but i think overall, being more true of an adaptation is the right move.
MCT, how do you evaluate child actors? Because if you think these ones sucked, I'd be interested to see who you think is actually good. IMO, they were phenomenal child actors, and I can't think of any child actor beyond HJO from 6th Sense who has done a better job than them. They were definitely better than the actors from Enders Game, and they were fine for being kids.
I tried watching a bit of it, but right off the bat they just completely missed the point on so many characters and scenes. I respect both of your views but was not expecting a fan to like it more than a new viewer haha.
08:00 - 09:25 --> Sorry I'm just gonna ramble here because I love this little exchange! BOTH perspectives somehow actually encapsulate my views and get to the foundation of a lot of my problems with adaptations, particularly animated to live-action ones. Yes, as a visual-audio medium, live-action doesn't generally bring strengths that animation doesn't already have. Animation is arguably superior on the visual front. But that's a bit of a generalization too, I think. For example, I think slasher-horror is actually not all that suited to animation in contrast to say psychological and cosmic horror. The abstraction that is inherent to animation, no matter how "grounded" or "real" the visuals are stylized to be, dulls what makes slashers effective. On the other hand, that same quality enhances the feelings of being "untethered" that psychological and cosmic horror evoke. On the other side of this equation, I want new artistic vision and changes in my adaptations. I WANT new angles and paths to exploring my beloved stories. But the answer to WHY the adaptation exists has to center the opportunities AND challenges that a new medium brings to this particular story in this particular genre with this particular structure. Say you got a movie about a farm boy launched into a Hero's Journey but somewhere along the way he strays and ends the story as an Anti-Villain. A novelization would have a unique appeal in bringing us a new kind of intimacy with our protagonist because it's a strength of the written medium. Yay for the VIP seat to witnessing my little guy get effed up! And if the original was a book, a live-action adaptation can buffer us from being swept up in the emotionally charged judgements of our protagonist by getting us out of his head. Yay for foregrounding more perspectives and moral dimensions! Nothing I'm saying here is groundbreaking or an original thought. A successful adaptation needs to be driven by a genuine artistic vision that has a new perspective to explore that centers a clear-eyed analysis of the relationship between the source material, the original medium, and the medium of adaptation. We rarely, if ever, get that.
Bumi. Deserved. Better. Also, if this gets renewed and they mess up Toph, I will be PISSED! Iykyk I love the original ATLA, and i couldn't get past the stilted acting and dialog. I didn't quite mind the dialogue in the Percy Jackson show, which a lot of people criticized for being stilted and exposition heavy. But for some reason, the dialogue in this show annoyed me in ways that Percy Jackson didn't. Can't put my finger in why. And because the dialogue took me out of the show so much, that I couldn't actually engage with the changes they made to the original show.
I was honestly pretty impressed with the adaptation. Any adaptation is going to be worse by the nature of adaptation to different medium and limited episode count, so for me the goal of an adaptation like this is to see if it can do something additive while making necessary cuts and maintaining the themes and over all story of the original. I think it accomplishes that goal very well- any time there is original scenes, they are done well, and when they combine stories and make cuts they do so with tasteful thematic contrasts that I really appreciate as a long time fan.
As a big fan I feel so down about the live action. Some writing doesn’t make sense. The spirit is gone. The way they showed the past avatars was not good. Avatars in the show are composed masters who are mentors of aang (yes even Kyoshi). Seeing them raise their voices at him and even guilt him was very out of character and very off putting. I’d genuinely give it a 3/10 and I’m very sad to give it that. Most of my high rating comes from iroh and Zuko. I think this comes from them always being together, so you always see the dynamics. Aang and his crew were always apart. By the end I didn’t get why they even were friends, or how they even got to that point.
We’re not upset because it’s “different”, we’re upset because the changes were made not in order to make the story/characters better nor to make things fit better for the adaptation, the changes were made just so that the creators/writers could say they made it different. Please watch the original. You will understand the levels of clownery going on on this adaptation.
I thought it was great. On its own it was pretty good. But knowing how much they actually paid homage to increased it to really good. And comparing it to the m night film it made it great for me. Lol
Nadia, how did you give a 7.5???From another long time fan... I HATED IT. In the very first episode they already botched a lot of the character arcs. I am super angry and disappointed. Glad you liked but i honestly don't know how.
The only bending I was disappointed in was earth bending seeming less heavy/grounded than it should. Maybe they'll focus on it more during the earth season
I would trade half an hour cut from all the episodes if they just made the Aang actor actually tear up or cry during the gyatso scene. Any decent director would know that was the emotional peak of the season.
The issue I think the writers had with Aang learning water bending is that he was immediately better than Katara in the animation on his first or second try, while Katara had been practicing for like a month or something. That made Katara jealous and made her feel inferior. How fast the LA moved in the story, They probably couldn't figure out how to fit that in, so they cut the idea completely.
Only 2 episodes through. Long term fan of the original series and I’m pretty conflicted so far. On one hand it looks like there are doing some characters like sokka and zoko super well, but then the writing, pacing, and exposition seems like such a step down from the original series. I even quite like some of the changes (so far), however there are an equal amount which seem so baffling to me. At the end of the day, you can definitely tell a large amount of people who worked on the show love the source material, which I think will makes it worth finishing for me. Also watch the original show jake, it’s absolutely brilliant!
This this another case where they changed things from the original, but not enough to not constantly draw comparison to the original. I just kept thinking "this is was better in the OG" or "why was this cut?"
I think the one and only good thing about live action adaptations is that they can get new audiences into the show. The one piece live action might be a good example of that. It was good but the animation is better;its easier to get someone to watch the live action 1 season netflix show than the 1000+ episode 'kids cartoon' show. But once they watch and enjoy the live action then you can tell them some small details the animated version did to make the story better and get them to watch that version.
So I get what he means, but Jake's thoughts boiling down to "It was fine. The worst part was anytime anyone was talking and whenever the main characters were on screen. 6/10" makes me chuckle.
Like the characters are literally the best part of the original series lol
Its weird because thats how i feel too down to the rating despite vastly preferfing the animated show
Openly telling your Millennial audience you have never seen The Last Airbender is tantamount to writing your own death warrant
I’d love blood or a review on each season of the show individually
The show was painful.
It's definitely bold, but I respect it.
Very overrated show
People will hound him until he watches it.
bro, watch the original show. It's not too late. I watched it in my 30s and LOVE IT
It’s absurd for anyone who actively watches fantasy media not to see Avatar. It’s required watching imo
@@nailinthefashion should be required watching for anyone of the human species
@@user295. Let's not get carried away.
I agree, which is why I didn't
@@ehrtdaz7186 Have you considered the Hyper Bowl?
Best summary I've seen of this season was:
"Worse than what we hoped, better than what we feared."
it's so much worse than what i feared...
long, awkward expository monologues about what aang is like and what' his conflict is. hearing that aang is a kid who likes to play is significantly less interesting or engaging than seeing him be a kid.
@@the_potato_heraldC'mon you know it's not worse than what you feared. Not with the movie-who-shall-not-be-named being a thing
@@davi37005 You talking about The Last Airbender?
@@the_potato_herald Modern movies and series are so scared of learning throughout the story and keeping things secret from the audience. Shogun also suffers from this.
@@davi37005 that was 2010, it’s just not possible to do that again literally 14 years later, the bar was very low for that
Jake!! The animated series is an all time show. Based on the other stuff you like I think you’d really like it, definitely recommend going back and watching it now
BE YE WARNED, season 1 definitely struggled early on. It's not bad, but it's not at the level the show would come to be known for. Though the season 1 finale episodes were pretty dang good and mark a definitive shift in the direction the rest of the show would go.
While this is all totally accurate, all of season 1 is far better than this. This remake made me appreciate what a master class the animated series is in character based writing
I'm watching the first episode right now and it's really annoying. Like at the start aang is Peter Pan apparently but then later on he needs his stuff to fly and then when zuko takes out his staff he can't fly without it even though he literally was flopping about in the sky with it like 10 minutes previously
@@harrisonking1195I agree to a degree. But in the original cartoon, characters are leaving their villages to team up with Aang. They dont bother with food preparations, change of clothes, or question how long it would take to get to places.
People dont question these things because Avatar is a cartoon. But the cast makes unplanned travels to different locations then expects to meet a plot important character the moment they arrive on a continent.
Cartoons are made in such a way that viewers dont question anything except designated plot points. Suspension of disbelief is easy when things look fake.
But still, its cartoon writing that is noticeably problematic if put in a realistic setting. Also why not everyone likes cartoons.
The Netflix Avatar series tries to bring Avatar to a new live action audience. So its trying to find a middle ground in 8 episodes. The more it mimics a storyline meant for a cartoon with suspense of disbelief, the more fake it looks. Like Power Rangers.
But the more down to earth changes they make, the more it strays from source material. So they have to find a middle ground and somehow make a show enjoyable to live action fans that may not like cartoons, but still resemble the cartoon.
Using real life experience, alot of live action fans dont necessarily like cartoons. This Avatar live action may appeal to that group. But it has the problems of cartoony decisions of characters from the source material.
Either way, one side of people wont be happy.
The flashback to Kataras mom in episode 2 was so fast and jarring that it genuinely made me laugh out loud
Family Guy cutaway
I thought the actress that played Katara's mom was pretty good, at least in comparison with Gran Gran
@@LuisSierra42 When the bar is too low, the comparison is rendered moot.
Yeah lol
@@cormano64agreed lol
I'm so excited to rewatch the original while completely ignoring this lol
I get that
Too bad it got awesome
Watching this made me appreciate the darker elements of the story while watching the animation is very whimsical and light. I think you should watch it one day and remember how tragic the premise is after your rewatch
Good call!
My exact plan
The reason Aang doesn’t feel any urgency to water bend is because he has NO IDEA Sozin’s Comet is returning without Roku, they completely messed up Roku’s impact on the stakes of the 1st season, instead using him as a joke character.
I thought that having roku being a comedic character was a great touch. The reason being is that it is the first time that we see that the fire nation wasn't always the way it is now. That they aren't all nazis. As the season progresses we see that not all fire nation is one dimensional, but having roku be lighthearted really worked IMO. It doesn't have to be like the original. I am totally fine with changes if they are for the better in the context of this show, and run-time.
Right though I wouldn't say they "messed up" but rather they are moving these plot points onto different places. In the original there's a core reason they are rushing from place to place. This season feels a lot more about world building so it feels like the "important" stuff hasn't happened yet, it's not like they forgot or anything. We get see the previous Avatars with little fanfare probably because they want to build on them later. Aang does not truly even go into the avatar state but this may be because in hindsight Aang trains to do it later and that's why they are lumping these plot points together.
Though given that I do not like these changes but I think people need to be careful about "well in the original they did this" because you may miss what they're trying to do with this show. Because Jake has the intentional reaction when he's like "oh well... I didn't think they would do that..." because his only expectation is the story is still ongoing so a lot of these things he assumes they'll workout later but fans will just conclude "wow they fudged it oh well..." too quickly. It's only when the show completely ends could he say "oh yea that didn't work" or it may at least work within this version of the story.
@@MartinKrol there’s no reason for that. We still get to learn this when he talks to zuko in the blue spirit episode he had friends in fire nation . Roku being a comedic joke when the world he left behind is at war is just poor writing
@@MartinKrolhim being the avatar was enough. He didn’t need to be “funny”.
@@omoddulus4933 World building without learning the elements (a vital part of the world). Interesting
When I watched the Man Carrying Things skit, I could have never guessed he was the clueless one.
that is typically the position i hold
@@ManCarryingThing Of the many things who carry it appears ignorance is one of them. Yet somehow you continue to never miss
The differences in the first episode tell it all. In the cartoon Katara actively opens the iceberg to rescue Aang and Aang wakes up with Katara being the first thing he sees. In the live action, Aang just comes out when they get close. No personal relationship building or foreshadowing for the future relationship. And this is supposed to be more mature and advanced? Lol
They change that? WTF?
@@ExtremeMadnessX it also isn't Katara who grabs his hand to calm him down when he goes into the avatar state at the air temple. They completely removed that. Why???
@@ExtremeMadnessX
Cave of 2 lovers
Without aang. Process that.
@@doctormoobbc I get why they would change stuff.
But yeah, these are 2 very important pieces to how Aang feels, and where he can find support, makes him more a kid and believable. Weird to specifically remove that.
but katara does open the iceberg in the live action? wasn’t she like, trying to waterbend it? i was only half watching because it was kind of boring lol but i remember it looked like she was trying to open it at least
I wouldn’t even say the live action is more mature. The cartoon manages to handle mature themes with way more grace than “Durrr now we show people burning and the actors can say ass now”
“Look! We’re burning people alive! Isn’t this cool and dark?! We’re so edgy!” 🫠
20:20 by the way the book is called Water. The elements he begins to learn is what the books names are called. He’s SUPPOSED to learn water to grow stronger as the avatar to become closer to defeating the fire nation. The ability to learn all the bending disciplines is why Avatars are so powerful and it’s their main feature. And he didn’t even attempt to do what the gift of being an avatar is?? That’s just a crazy thing to me. Also I’m not saying anything harsh to you, I’m just ranting about the fact that he doesnt learn anything.
Oh yeah. I hated that. And Katara mastering water bending in just a few days, without a master, with just one scroll was annoying
I think the main thing missing from the live action was the bond formed between Soka, Katara, and Aang. I think the show would have benefited immensely from a dedicated episode where they're becoming friends. Part of the reason that was missing was because Katara never got to teach Aang bending. In this show, they feel more like coworkers than friends (although I think they nailed the Soka, Katara dynamic)
Whenever katara and sokka are fighting I feel like the show is at its strongest. They bicker like real siblings. Katara and Aang together feel so weird in comparison.
It’s criminal how simplistic this adaptation makes the start of the series. The original is so well-paced, so well-developed, so much more subtle, weirdly enough, that this supposedly more ‘mature’ adaptation feels like it thinks its viewers are idiots and trusts their media literacy less than the show made to be viewed by actual children. It’s so heavy-handed and belabored here, it’s insufferable.
“Insufferable” is the word I’ve been looking for to describe this adaptation.
Really over studios implying that live action remakes somehow legitimize animation shows ngl
If anything I feel like they’re just trying to replace them
Especially when they consistently end up being so much worse
Well, they have the data to prove it. There's a lot of people who haven't watched the original because "it's a cartoon for kids". I don't think I could ever convince my mum to watch the original, but I think she would watch and enjoy this version.
@@Mars0Waryeah, this its a problem that the older people have. Not netflix itself
I watched the show in one day. I removed it from the original animation, treated it as a separate thing and it was honestly quite a lot of fun. It is CLEARLY R I F E with issues of various kinds, but at least it's fun.
But in the middle section of the season, when it hit a bit of a lull and started making some vrry questionable story sequencing decisions, i couldnt help but think back to the original animation series once again.
I found myself tearing up and crying at a number of moments towards the end of the season. I then realized why that was happening: i was not feeling the emptional impact of what i was watching, i was actually remembering all the strong memories i have of the events of the animated show, and the emotional impact those moments i had.
Overall, I'll give this show a 5/10. It was def a fun enough time. And i hope they can improve stuff going forward, if they get greenlit for another season.
Totally get what you're saying about the show only emotionally impacting me when it reminded me of the original - the best (worst?) example was when Iroh reacting to Lu Ten's death. A notable exception is the moment when it's revealed the Fire Nation squadron traveling with Zuko would have been sacrificed by Ozai. I wish the show had given itself more freedom to think creatively with theme and characterization in that way.
Watching this and not reacting would’ve been so hard, as a super hardcore avatar fan I was screaming at the tv in frustration every episode
The exposition and dialogue in some parts of the show are unbelievably shallow and jarring, completely opposite to the careful use of subtext and the emotional sincerity of the original series.
I think fans of the animated series are upset about aang not learning waterbending, partially because it's an unnecessary change and watching aang learn waterbending is really cool and fun, but also because we know it's going to cause problems later. The show does a lot of things like introducing characters early or changing character dynamics that maybe in the moment "seem fine" to someone not familiar with the show but have huge ramifications for later down the line. Season one is supposed to be about aang learning waterbending because season 2 and 3 about earth and fire respectively. Either they jam learning waterbending into season 2 or they just have him learn it off screen, the former would make the pacing of season 2 difficult, the latter would be boring and disappointing.
It's a similar problem with King Bumi; he becomes pretty important later in the series and I have no idea how they would make him work with how they changed his character. Also I think it's completely valid to criticize them for changing a character so drastically that it no longer feels like the same character. An adaptation should capture the spirit of the original (unless your explicit intent is to put a new spin on something we've seen many times before) the live action Bumi is nothing like animated Bumi, it honestly feels like character assassination.
I see that you guys also have a "No pick up, only hold 😠" dog. My dog loves being held but HATES being picked up.
The dogs are back!
Also there's a review or something.
Watching this show in a bubble, and removing my knowledge of the original show a 6/10 is honestly a pretty reasonable score.
Bad compared to the original show this is pretty dog shit.
The best thing that can come from this show is if someone who’s never seen the animated series watches this and thinks it’s okay and has neat ideas, and then they get gently encouraged to go see the original.
Lol that’s how I experienced the movie. Watched the movie first, then the original masterpiece a few years later.
9 out of 10 is CRAZY. Even 7 out of 10 is pretty wild imo
I think 6.5 is fair. 7 tops... TOPS 🙄
It's no exaggeration when Avatar The Last Airbender is considered one of the best animated show.
I think it's a huge disservice if you don't give it a shot, Mister Gentleman Carrying Things.
I thought there were some cool visuals and I did like the relationship between Zuko and Iroh. I thought the casting for most of the characters really did work for me. I agree with Nadia on Aang learning water bending though. Because the premise revolves so heavily around him being the avatar, who is the only person that can bend all four elements, it felt weird they didn't try to show him really learning or using any of the other elements more.
I also felt like the show was a lot more of tell and don't show, which caused so much dialogue exposition and explaining and spelling everything out. I find that funny since they wanted it to be more mature, but it felt like they did not trust the audience enough to understand it all. I also wished there was more development and relationship building between the trio.
Loved the discussion guys!
OMG! I totally got that at the start. I wonder if they expected people to cry putting the Air temple scenes in the beginning. But I suppose that's only the original series fans who will have that reaction to somewhat mundane scenes.
I'll give it a 6/10. I agree with pretty much everything you said and I feel some of the changes didn't make any sense. I don't see a lot of people talk about this, but Aang leaving the Air Temple to cool off instead of leaving to run away from his duties is a huge problem for me, because in the original show he feels the weight of the responsability that much more for choosing to leave the air nomads behind and ending up frozen. I also didn't like how rushed a lot of it felt and sometimes it's not even in the time of the episode spent somewhere, but certain timestamps they tell you, like the leader of Kyoshi Island being like "you can only stay for 48h". I mean, I get why she did it, but in the original the episode is 20min long and it feels like they really spent a lot more time because of the execution
- The casting of Paul Sun Hyung Lee from Kim's Convenience is the main reason why I gave it a chance. Iroh is my favorite in the original show.
- They absolutely nailed the Kyoshi Warriors. Suki looked so awesome in live action.
- Daniel Bae Kim as Lord Ozai is also terrific casting.
- I think it's a mortal sin to watch this new live action adaptation first. This was just a messy speedrun.
- I'd forgive a lot more if the pacing/writing wasn't so incoherent.
Fan reactions fall into 2 categories;
1. "They ruined the original!"
2. "It's soooooooo much better than the movie"
I don't think they ever stated anything about the next comet returning, so the urgency to master water bending was not included. The urgency came from needing to save the water tribe from ... i guess impending doom.
Some people say that a lot of its criticisms are nitpicks from diehards and yes that is true but not totally. Because some of the nitpicks(not all) actually do change how these characters and the story work. Some of them are small that when adding several changes become more significant and some may even seem like small changes that shouldn’t be a big deal but when you take a second to think about it you’re like “…😮oh man that really reframes this story quite a bit”😄. I’ve only watched episode 1 and I’m gonna finish the rest this weekend but already I’ve noticed some stuff.
It is good to me so far and light years ahead of the movie we don’t talk about lol. But I’ll give one example. I watched the original series’ first two episodes a couple days before this show premiered. Just wanted to get into the mood kinda wanted to compare the two but also not so much because I wanted to enjoy this for what it was and not constantly nitpick like a stubborn fan who can’t enjoy anything new or something that tries to put their own flavor on the story. But Aang getting frozen DID stand out to me. And it is significant because yes it’s a major storytelling device to set up the whole premise of the show but also it essentially frames Aang’s major character arc throughout the entire series.
Because in the animated version Aang finds out he’s the avatar and runs away. 😂Just straight up packs his stuff and decides to leave it all behind so he doesn’t have to face that incredible responsibility. He gets caught in a storm and freezes himself. The Netflix show follows this almost beat for beat except they seem to frame it as if Aang was just going on a brief ride with Appa to clear his head. Like he intended to fly for a few hours and immediately come back home. Where he would’ve been caught right in the middle of the fire nation attack. But like I said gets caught in storm and freezes himself to survive. Pretty similar but this frames it as if Aang abandoning the world for a century is just him being a victim of circumstance rather than him being guilty for making a childish and selfish decision by deliberately choosing to actually run away from his responsibility.
See what I mean😅 it seems very small but then you’re like oh man that might actually frame this story differently especially to people who didn’t watch the original. Because in the original Aang is way more goofy. He’s a kid but also he’s trying to remain a kid so he doesn’t have to be the avatar. It was more show than tell and even in the first episode of the original you can see Aang changing the subject acting goofy and trying to play around until he’s faced with being the avatar again and has to protect people.
His entire major arc in the series was that he ran away from his problems 100 years ago and it hurt people. Not just all of the airbenders on the planet who got wiped out but all the other nations who suffered through a century long war. And people keep reminding him every now and then that they’ve lost hope in the avatar because he abandoned them. Because all they know is he’s been gone for a century. And it is his fault. He’s not a victim of circumstance. He chose to run away.
He was a prodigy airbender so if he had stayed the southern air temple and even gone into the avatar state he may have done just enough to allow some air nomads to escape and together they could have traveled a much less dangerous world to help him take his time and learn the other three elements. But he didn’t. He abandoned his people and the world and it didn’t even work because a century later and he’s still being chased for being the avatar. He tried running from his problems and it didn’t work so now he has to face them head on in a waaay more difficult scenario. And he’s still a goofy kid who WANTS to still run away from his responsibilities but he has to grow and mature throughout the series to overcome the now near impossible task in front of him with a ticking clock. Before he had a whole lifetime to learn. Now he’s got one year. And the only person he can blame is himself.
In the Netflix version you could say him getting frozen was just a freak accident and he shouldn’t feel so guilty because he never INTENDED to abandon anyone on any level. But in the animated version he did. He just didn’t realize how terrible the consequences would be.
So yeah long spiel over 😂 but that stood out to me. Seems small and I’m sure the creators of this adaptation thought so too but when you think about it can actually affect how a first time watcher views the character.
Hmm... he was just 12 years old kid. Also, yes, he ran away. But he didn't intentionally freeze himself for 100 years.
@@ExtremeMadnessX that’s not what I meant sorry. My point was saying he intentionally abandoned everyone because he intentionally ran away not that he froze himself on purpose. He wasn’t planning on coming back anytime soon in the original while in the Netflix version it’s framed as if he’s just intends on taking a brief flight for a couple hours to clear his head before heading straight back.
@@Jhowy-wu3mr It's looks like Netflix makes changes as a response to some negative "criticism" that Aang gets on Tumblr from toxic "fans."
@@ExtremeMadnessX Which would be a terrible writing decision.
The original series is incredible. Nearly perfect piece of media. I am not watching the remake. It might be okay, it might even be good, but I've already seen this story done, and done perfectly.
Jake: I like dinosaurs, I watched The Lost World, it was fine, I don't see the big deal with this Jurassic Park thing. Can't wait for Jurassic Park 3! 😂🤣
my thoughts watching it were basically: oh this makes me want to rewatch the original that i love so much because of the weird changes they made 😭 i can 100% see why the original creators left the project
I just witnessed the birth of a new video on my ipad
i watched the original series for the first time at 26 - 27 and loved it, it's in the list of my favorite series/ movies ever.
edit: i gave up on this live action about 2 minutes in lol i couldn't handle the second hand embarrassment, i was cringing so hard
Saaaaaame
Seriously the constant monologues, the wooden acting, the incessant exposition instead of opening up the world and lore gradually like the animated show did so well. The way the silly moments are so jarring against the creators' desire to make this version as joyless as possible whereas the silly humor was such an integral part of the original. Managed to sit out episode one but cringed all the way through, just gonna continue my rewatch of the original.
Great discussion! I shared many of Jake's gripes about stilted performances and unearned/sloppy character development.
Beside inherent problems of live-action adaptations of animation, the Netflix ATLA feels too shackled by expectations to make it feel like the original. I say that as someone who loves the original series. But I didn't need it to "feel" like the original because that desire is an infinitely receding horizon. I just wanted it to be good on its own terms. I guess it doesn't feel good on its own terms for me because it wants to replicate all the highs of the original by simply repeating all of its character and plot steps, but simply does so worse: sloppier, rushed, or remixed in unsatisfying ways. It makes a few variations in characterization and plot (e.g. Aang doesn't learn waterbending, Bumi is more bitter, Azula seems more insecure, Ozai a bit more proud of Zuko, Sokka less sexist) but never radical enough to feel like more than a knock-off.
Couldn’t make it more than halfway through the show.😢
Yeah, I think there is definitely potential for more seasons to come but I think they need to stay more true to the original series
Too bad, season 2 is going to be awesome
@@womancarryingman They are not going to stay true, they are making these changes on purpose
@@kendallandrews8691awesome is subjective and a lot of us are gonna skip it lol I watch it just cuz the bending looks pretty cool but it’s not my Avatar
@@nailinthefashion yeah my avatar is James Cameron's avatar
Its all over the place and they literally introduced almost all the main characters in this season 😂😂
I legit was expecting Toph to show up at Omashu too. 😂
Did I miss something, or did Aang just..not help Hei Bai? Katara gave him the acorn and talked about how the forest can come back, then Hei Bai attacked them in the spirit world and wasn't seen again.
Then Koh became the focus.
So Hei Bai is still suffering. Why did the show do that.
The next episode is so busy trying to weld together elements of 5 episodes to finish resolving that plotline
@@imitationpitaya But Hei Bai :(
He said Soh-kah. 😤
That was literally a joke from s1 of avatar (yues finance) hahahaha
Problem I have with the series is that I wished they had 6 seasons of 6 episodes...
Or at least 3 seasons of 12 episodes, if they are THAT focused on the "three seasons" part.
Book 1 is probably the only book that can be pushed into a fold of 8 episodes... but Books 2 and 3 will be nearly impossible to do so and hit the important beats from the original series, because the later seasons are less episodic.
But for what they had, it was nearly a perfect adaptation. There are some changes I would have made within these episodes, but this was essentially the best result we could get.
This was the minimum of okay. Didn’t make me ugly sob, didn’t make me cheer, but some of it was pretty. I think they need a lot more episodes lol it was so jarring at the end when they were like “now we can go back to Omashu” gurl …. U were just there but I forgot you even left in the first place.
I would not say it’s a perfect adaption, it’s an ok adaption
I definitely agree. I feel like a ton of problems would be resolved if they had just added more episodes. It would give them more time to focus on character arcs, such as aang and the gaangs dynamic. I agree with the way you’re talking about season two and three, I see no way they could compress everything into eight episode without it being “oh no! appas gone!” To “Yay appas back!” In the span of an episode and still make it feel impactful.
I think the writers realised the main audience would be fans of the original show. It explains a) early reveals because the audience already knows, b) showing things that were implied in the original but we didn't see, c) familiar characters in unfamiliar situations. If it was the same as the original then it would have been boring. I thought it was fine and was interested to see what they did next
Thought you’d mention iroh and zuko more, cuz they’re by far my fav part of both the og show and the live action version
I was so excited for this up until I learned that they made Sokka less misogynistic. What's the point anymore.
Sokka grows from the biggest loser that feels the need to put others down to feel better about himself, to an absolute badass with a heart of gold by the end. He's still Sokka with his jokes and ideas and unique mannerism, just a way way better version of himself
So what's he gonna learn now, how's he gonna improve. He will be a better fighter and leader I guess. I mean that's nice but... CAW MON
so yeah I didnt watch the series, and from the clips I saw online and just right now hearing about how aang doesnt learn water bending I don't think I ever will.
1/10
Well, time for these two to do a video on the original with his perspective just being this show
The fact that she gave it 7.5 is not sitting well with me. I understand people who haven't seen the orignal give this a 7 or so cuz of the novelty.
But it was brutal for me and for folks who have seen the orignal. So I'm not sure how she found the show 7.5 after seeing the writers demolish the characters.
I couldn't go past ep1 so i don't know if the show magically becomes better later(I highly doubt that)
Sure it wasn't hot garbage, but rather it was disappointing since i was really hoping they would do it justice this time.
We agree for Bumi, he was a darker unfaithful to the og version of him. Acting was meh, the characters had no character and felt stiff and uncomfortable to watch, they were jumping time points and changed a lot of the story, like Katara didn't go to the tunnels with Aang that was important in the original, so fucking up the timeline and character interactions, Aang didn't even waterbend, also wtf is up with Sokka being so bland and uninteresting, Katara stopped caring and being a hothead, and damn, why is Aang so unfun and annoying?
It's a 3 for me, it's not worth anything more. Only fire nation was interesting, Zuko and Iroh were perfect.
Water looked pretty good, earth was really good, fire was perfect and air was bad, it felt slow and soft, weak.
it seems your channel is doing great recently, great work! Keep it up, I enjoy those honest reviews and open discussion you can have
the craziest thing about all of these reviews is how you guys don’t instantly talk about something until the reviews. my partner and i have to talk about it instantly.
With a few exceptions, I mainly see 4 types of reviews.
People who watched it as kids and grew up with it: Hated it.
People who wanted a shot by shot remake of the original: Hated it.
People who were adults when the original came out: Good but not great. Not perfect. . . but not horrible either.
People who are cool with it being an adaptation rather than a remake: Good but not great.
I personally fall into camps 3 and 4. I was well into adulthood when it came out and I thought it was fine. I'm not in the camp of "it's not playful therefore it's horrible". It's not the end of the world for me that it doesn't have the "playfullness" of the original. It's not a remake. It's a "remix" and for me, it's fine.
Either way, if it comes back for more seasons they need to do waaaaay more SHOW and waaaaaay less TELL. This was "exposition dump" the series at times.
I grew up with Avatar and I didn't hate it. Not as good as the original, probably won't rewatch it, but I liked some changes they made. Like seeing Lu Tens funeral and Zukos crew being the soldiers he saved.
I think 7/10 is a reasonable rating. I liked it, but I was left disappointed that they didn't make minor and seemingly obvious writing choices here and there that could've bumped to a 9/10 for me. As an example, they didn't show Aang playing with the other air bender children in order to show us what he's losing/lost. I don't know how that didn't happen. I genuinely can't understand why they cut that. Stuff like that makes the writing a 5/10 for me.
Katara was definitely the most disappointing thing to me, they just dimmed down her character which made all her moments less powerful, i hope season two is longer and fixes the downside of this season.
It's crazy you've never seen it, seems like it'd be right up your alley
Them stealing the "Can I just keep pretending I'm your _? You are my _!" line from Man of Steel in the first episode was so embarrassing that it took me out of the rest of it entirely
The latter episodes are much better
I think giving humans pattern recognition was a mistake
@@nailinthefashion yeah definitely a bug
@@LuisSierra42 cool! Gonna watch more tonight
I recently watched the Real Atal and damn why wasn't I born sooner it's so good, though I wish it got a re-released remastered in 16:9 as the quality of picture drops in some frames but the story the characters just make you forget all that
It's so funny You gave it a 7.5 but I'm here at the 16 minute mark and for like the last 2 minutes you've been doing nothing but complaining about it and talking about how mad or sad you are. I think your score is actually lower than what you gave a credit for lol but it's nice listening to y'alls different perspectives I'm enjoying this content
As a fan of the original series and seeing all of the supplemental material coming out made me feel two thing. One I am glad this show has stood the test of time and has some really good writing to the point it influences some contermporary writers. Two, this feels like star wars where a big company taking an IP and milking it out believing that ultimately nostalgia and meme culture are unforntunately reliable cash grabs.
I tried watching it and haven't gotten past episode 1
It came out like 2 days ago, so that's fair.
Aang was the character that made me realize how cheesy the dialog was. For the original, they had to go with a lighter tone at tomes to be appealing to kids, but here it just didn't work in a version that was supposed to be more "real". Aang in this version sounded like a kid in the middle school play saying lines, and the emotion of the scenes he was in wasn't being shown very well because of that.
I think Nadia fills in the blanks of media with her own positive worldview. That's a great thing. :D
I've been looking for a blind review from someone who never saw the original animated show... thank you for your perspective!!!
this is the perfect review because I was sooooo curious to see how someone NOT familiar with the property would process it. At the same time, I am a massive fan of the original and can agree with the points made from that POV. My personal biggest disappointment was Katara’s lack of motherly drive and passion (in the writing/script - I think the actress is good). I want a season 2- just like, tightened up: more subtle/nuanced dialogue and more of the Gaang’s OG characterization with their close bonding. Or - just make Zuko’s storyline the main one haha because that one landed pretty well.
I think we could course correct that stuff in season two while keeping the good stuff: effects, casting, etc.
Yooo, now that you're dabbling in Netflix series.... Arcane time? Pleeeeease!
That first episode made me want to explode on the spot. It got better after but not good. Id give it a 4.5. But i have pretty high standards
As a young person who was very into the original show when I was little, my biggest problem with the new show was that it didn't know whether to be close to the original or be it's own thing, seeing elements from both approaches clash in an unnatural way gives the feeling of it being half-assed or afraid to commit to telling a good story. My favorite parts of the new show were those that were less "faithfull" to the original, because I felt like I could see a glimpse of a vision that could've been great if fully realized. The parts that were more in line with the og show weren't as good in excecution.
To me, the show had two options, either make it a faithful adaptation and do your best to make it as good as the original, or tell your own story and commit to it. The show either was too afraid of not being as good as the og so it made changes, or it was too afraid of the backlash that would come from changing it too much so they added more elements from the og, or worse, both.
I honestly wasn't excited for this show, because I thought the cartoon was already enough, and if all these years later it was still where Avatar media had peaked, trying to make anything as good felt like a gamble. But either way, I would've wanted from this new show what I'd want from any show or movie or whatever, to try telling their story as effectively as possible. I think in that department, this show lacked a clear vision.
Jake, please watch the original!! Season 1 is a little childish, but season 2 and 3 are incredible. very emotionally deep and most of all funny! (I didn’t like the show either)
Really appreciate hearing both of your perspectives on it!
You changed my mind about Bumi, me and my wife thought it was for the worse but it’s kind of neutral, definitely the spirit world episode is the worst part of the show with much lost potential, but it’s still a 9/10 show that would have been a 10 if it got at least another episode or had less exposition
Me and my brother hung out today and we originally were going to watch avatar, but we decided implicitly not to. (In his own words, he did not want to be disappointed again). Instead, we watched the classic 1984 dune. Now THAT was cinema. 😂
Another thing about live action adaptation I don’t see much talked about is how this is giving an opportunity for many indigenous actors to have well crafted roles who are beloved similarly for the other bipoc cast
It tracks that you most enjoyed Zuko’s journey as his was the most faithful portrayal of a character as depicted in the original series.
I think Nadia is looking at it from a live action adaptation perspective and that is giving Netflix too much credit in my opinion. This being better than the average live action adaptation definitely does not make it anywhere above a 5 out of 10 for me, as they still removed very crucial things to avatar's identity. I am more of a glass half empty person tho, so maybe that's why i see it that way.
It truly felt like nobody even paid attention to him. Like in season 5 they coming to the village where the fire Nation had just burned down the trees and the spirit had taken some people. They approached that man and not once did that man acknowledge anything that Aang was saying to him. Aang would say something and he would just continue talking to sokka like get this little 12-year-old out of my face.
cool banff shirt! always love the skits you make; everytime a new one comes out I think "damn; this dude is saying exactly what I would've said"
My problem is there are so many other stories from the avatar universe that could have been put on the big screen. Kyoshi, adult aang, yangchen, etc, all would be great. We didn't need this story retold.
I think a live action version could be on equal footing as the original. But this aint it. It isnt total garbage though.
I thought it was relying a lot on our love of the original rather than being able to stand on its own, while trying to do its own thing. Like, we barely see Appa as a character, and i feel like Zuko and Iroh are kind of rushed even though they were the best part.
Tone could be a little more serious than the original in a better adaptation, but i think overall, being more true of an adaptation is the right move.
Totally agree with all the talking points and felt the same!
Netflix continues its streak of remaking beloved and iconic classic maseterworks into something that's... fine.
MCT, how do you evaluate child actors? Because if you think these ones sucked, I'd be interested to see who you think is actually good. IMO, they were phenomenal child actors, and I can't think of any child actor beyond HJO from 6th Sense who has done a better job than them. They were definitely better than the actors from Enders Game, and they were fine for being kids.
I tried watching a bit of it, but right off the bat they just completely missed the point on so many characters and scenes. I respect both of your views but was not expecting a fan to like it more than a new viewer haha.
I like nadias opinions but i feel shes too generous with points lol
08:00 - 09:25 --> Sorry I'm just gonna ramble here because I love this little exchange! BOTH perspectives somehow actually encapsulate my views and get to the foundation of a lot of my problems with adaptations, particularly animated to live-action ones. Yes, as a visual-audio medium, live-action doesn't generally bring strengths that animation doesn't already have. Animation is arguably superior on the visual front. But that's a bit of a generalization too, I think. For example, I think slasher-horror is actually not all that suited to animation in contrast to say psychological and cosmic horror. The abstraction that is inherent to animation, no matter how "grounded" or "real" the visuals are stylized to be, dulls what makes slashers effective. On the other hand, that same quality enhances the feelings of being "untethered" that psychological and cosmic horror evoke.
On the other side of this equation, I want new artistic vision and changes in my adaptations. I WANT new angles and paths to exploring my beloved stories. But the answer to WHY the adaptation exists has to center the opportunities AND challenges that a new medium brings to this particular story in this particular genre with this particular structure. Say you got a movie about a farm boy launched into a Hero's Journey but somewhere along the way he strays and ends the story as an Anti-Villain. A novelization would have a unique appeal in bringing us a new kind of intimacy with our protagonist because it's a strength of the written medium. Yay for the VIP seat to witnessing my little guy get effed up! And if the original was a book, a live-action adaptation can buffer us from being swept up in the emotionally charged judgements of our protagonist by getting us out of his head. Yay for foregrounding more perspectives and moral dimensions! Nothing I'm saying here is groundbreaking or an original thought.
A successful adaptation needs to be driven by a genuine artistic vision that has a new perspective to explore that centers a clear-eyed analysis of the relationship between the source material, the original medium, and the medium of adaptation. We rarely, if ever, get that.
Bumi. Deserved. Better. Also, if this gets renewed and they mess up Toph, I will be PISSED! Iykyk
I love the original ATLA, and i couldn't get past the stilted acting and dialog. I didn't quite mind the dialogue in the Percy Jackson show, which a lot of people criticized for being stilted and exposition heavy. But for some reason, the dialogue in this show annoyed me in ways that Percy Jackson didn't. Can't put my finger in why.
And because the dialogue took me out of the show so much, that I couldn't actually engage with the changes they made to the original show.
I thought the show was so original, and unique! I've never seen anything like it!
I was honestly pretty impressed with the adaptation. Any adaptation is going to be worse by the nature of adaptation to different medium and limited episode count, so for me the goal of an adaptation like this is to see if it can do something additive while making necessary cuts and maintaining the themes and over all story of the original. I think it accomplishes that goal very well- any time there is original scenes, they are done well, and when they combine stories and make cuts they do so with tasteful thematic contrasts that I really appreciate as a long time fan.
KOYOSHI ???! 😂
As a big fan I feel so down about the live action. Some writing doesn’t make sense. The spirit is gone. The way they showed the past avatars was not good. Avatars in the show are composed masters who are mentors of aang (yes even Kyoshi). Seeing them raise their voices at him and even guilt him was very out of character and very off putting. I’d genuinely give it a 3/10 and I’m very sad to give it that. Most of my high rating comes from iroh and Zuko. I think this comes from them always being together, so you always see the dynamics. Aang and his crew were always apart. By the end I didn’t get why they even were friends, or how they even got to that point.
We’re not upset because it’s “different”, we’re upset because the changes were made not in order to make the story/characters better nor to make things fit better for the adaptation, the changes were made just so that the creators/writers could say they made it different. Please watch the original. You will understand the levels of clownery going on on this adaptation.
All of the dialogue is just them telling us how they feel and not showing us and that is criminal
I thought it was great. On its own it was pretty good. But knowing how much they actually paid homage to increased it to really good. And comparing it to the m night film it made it great for me. Lol
Nadia, how did you give a 7.5???From another long time fan... I HATED IT. In the very first episode they already botched a lot of the character arcs. I am super angry and disappointed. Glad you liked but i honestly don't know how.
THANK YOU
They completely destroyed the omashu storyline it was way too much going on and nothing going on at the same time 😤
The only bending I was disappointed in was earth bending seeming less heavy/grounded than it should. Maybe they'll focus on it more during the earth season
I would trade half an hour cut from all the episodes if they just made the Aang actor actually tear up or cry during the gyatso scene. Any decent director would know that was the emotional peak of the season.
Nadia's just always down to have a good time, whatever she's watching.
The issue I think the writers had with Aang learning water bending is that he was immediately better than Katara in the animation on his first or second try, while Katara had been practicing for like a month or something. That made Katara jealous and made her feel inferior. How fast the LA moved in the story, They probably couldn't figure out how to fit that in, so they cut the idea completely.
Only 2 episodes through. Long term fan of the original series and I’m pretty conflicted so far. On one hand it looks like there are doing some characters like sokka and zoko super well, but then the writing, pacing, and exposition seems like such a step down from the original series.
I even quite like some of the changes (so far), however there are an equal amount which seem so baffling to me.
At the end of the day, you can definitely tell a large amount of people who worked on the show love the source material, which I think will makes it worth finishing for me.
Also watch the original show jake, it’s absolutely brilliant!
This this another case where they changed things from the original, but not enough to not constantly draw comparison to the original. I just kept thinking "this is was better in the OG" or "why was this cut?"
I think the one and only good thing about live action adaptations is that they can get new audiences into the show. The one piece live action might be a good example of that. It was good but the animation is better;its easier to get someone to watch the live action 1 season netflix show than the 1000+ episode 'kids cartoon' show. But once they watch and enjoy the live action then you can tell them some small details the animated version did to make the story better and get them to watch that version.
Please do a review of the original series asap!