The 2024 live-action series is the Last Airbender we love but with its own story
Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. The long-lost new avatar Aang, an airbender, wakes up after a century. The war is still raging on, and Aang must master the four elements, stop the Fire Nation, and restore balance to the world.
Geek Rate: Sky god Worthy (5 out of 5 stars). Water. Earth. Fire. Air. WTF there’s no intro! But seriously, the live-action series “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is one of the best remakes of all time. From the casting and script writing to its cool VFX, this live-action series from Netflix is a thrill to watch. In every episode, the writers remained faithful to the original source material while creating a new story of Aang for the new generation.
After the disappointment of the 2010 movie adaptation, all hope was lost to have a decent live-action for Airbender fans. The bar is high and the fact that the cast and crew of Netflix’s live-action series managed to create something this awesome is a rare feat in this era of failed adaptations.
Fil-Canadian actor Gordon Cormier plays the lead character Aang, the last of his kind amongst the airbending nomads. After the casting of Iñaki Godoy as Luffy and Walker Scobell as Percy Jackson, it’s three for three for Hollywood. Part of the series’ success is finding an actor who is the perfect embodiment of the fun-loving airbender. Watching him on screen was almost unbelievable. He was like the Aang himself, transforming from an animated character to a real, breathing human being, it is legit amazing.
I can’t take my eyes off Ian Ousley who plays Sokka, because we’ll, he’s hot. Why are the actors who played Sokka always handsome? He’s not the animated character fans knew, but Ian, like Gordon, is everything like his character, and more.
It’s also a difficult task to cast General Iroh but Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is more than up to it. In fact, he’s the best among the cast, no surprise there. Dallas Liu embodied the complex character of Prince Zuko well.
In fact, the entire cast is perfect, it is almost impossible to believe that Netflix cast all of them right. Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula? Get out of here. Danny Pudi (all hail!) as the mechanist made me scream. And George Takei as Koh. Let’s just stop right there. Even the cabbage merchant is perfect!
Let’s dig into the episodes. The writers masterfully integrated the episodes of the animated series and created a thrilling story that is both familiar and new to the fans. The detailed attack on the Southern Air Temple was heart-wrenching as it is awesome (the air masters in action!). That Monk Gyatso-Fire Lord Sozin fight was next level. It was like Order 66 all over again. Jet and the Mechanist fused with “The King of Omashu” episode which was seamless. And what about that breathtaking Kyoshi-in-Avatar-State fight sequence? The bendings here are perfect which is super important. Remember that annoying earthbending in the movie adaptation? The arrow tattoo on Aang was perfectly made. Yes, it is also super important for me.
The character development is well thought off. Azula’s early appearance adds spice to the series as well as the frequent scenes of Fire Lord Ozai. I enjoyed watching Zuko struggle with his humanity (smirks) like that Omashu episode where he had to choose between saving his uncle and capturing Aang and the 41st division story. Sokka and Katara’s back stories during their time in the Spirit World have depth to them. Also, kudos to the writers for the Oma and Shu story.
Of course, there are some things to complain about for fans. It’s just minor for me. The test for Aang to verify if he’s the Avatar. The “Leaves from the Vine” song should be for Iroh and his son. The lack of the f*cking intro during the start of each episode. The VFX is on point but not perfect but I like the live-action Appa and Momo.
The writers in most parts avoided the pitfalls of diverting from the original source material. However, some core elements were changed that could jeopardize the story itself. Like why does Aang have to go to a certain temple to talk to him or her? It is very limiting. And why is it that Aang has not mastered or at least learned waterbending during the first season dedicated to water? Will they at least show his training or gloss over it?
Reignell Francisco
I’m a content creator who likes traveling, history, football, and anything good on TV. Visit my YouTube channel onelostgeek for my travel stories. Business inquiry: geekgodreview@yahoo.com
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