Ron Does Stuff

I am an ancient eldritch being, so of course I was around when the animated Avatar The Last Airbender show first aired. That was a time when cable television was actually the better option compared to the internet because i believe we were just barely out of dial-up connections and torrenting hadn’t quite taken root yet.

Anyways, I didn’t actually watch it when it was airing in Nickelodeon at the time because I thought why would I watch an anime wannabe when I live in Asia and can watch actual anime instead?

It was only years later when someone handed me all the seasons of Avatar in a hard drive — torrenting was finally a thing then — that I finally sat down and watched it. I went into it very skeptical but you know what? It won me over! And I’ve spread the Avatar gospel ever since, handing downloaded copies of it to my friends.

Some people may deny it, but I was sort of looking forward to the live-action Avatar film when the first trailer came out. Just like everyone else, I was very disappointed with the final product.

So, it’s with a lot of apprehension that I approach this new adaptation, especially since Konietzko and Di Martino both walked away from the production. Is this going to be another disappointment?

Okay, that opening sequence? It’s not something that I expected but I will admit to liking. It immediately drove home the threat that the Fire Nation poses to the rest of the world and also gave viewers a chance to see how the bending in this adaptation is miles ahead from the film that came out back in 2010.

Visually, it’s also a very rich tapestry. The shot of all the air bisons coming in? The distinctive colors of the Southern Air Temple? It really looks like they wanted to give these different locations character, distinguish themselves from the animated original, but also give enough nods to it to hopefully satisfy fans of the show who are not purists and who were going to hate this adaptation anyway.

I also really liked how they’ve expanded on the Gyatso-Aang relationship in this episode, as it adds more weight to what Aang discovers when he comes back after being in the ice. Do I like his monologue in front of Appa? I mean it could have been done better but it’s a decision I can understand.

The performances are definitely better than the film as well. Gordon Cormier is very much like all the other child actors I’ve watched (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!) and Kiawentiio is miles ahead of Mrs. Brooklyn Beckham. And I know that there is a lot of controversy around Ian Ousley but I think he does a fine job with Sokka, at least in this first episode. Definitely better than the work that Jackson Rathbone handed in.

With all those positives, I do have to admit that there’s just something missing with this first episode. I think a big part of that is that they’re working through the highlights of the episodes of the animated show that this first episode covers so there isn’t as many character moments as I would like. Is that a big negative? I’d say it’s a middle of the road negative? I am still enjoying this show so far and besides, the animated show is always there for me to turn to. Can’t wait to watch the rest of this season!