Hollywood needs to learn this simple concept: Show, don’t tell.

Ok so I’m the show a massive part of Ang’s ark was that he ran away and that ended up causing him to disappear but in the show he just decided to go for a short fly, if the show is supposed to be darker why do they change the part of his character

It felt like a lot of line delivery and not acting. But the world felt good, however, that is not enough.

I did feel that the character development was super rushed in this and it didn't have to be. Even if they just added another two episodes just to stretch out all the development that they miss would have been great. And still kept the additional stuff that they wanted to add in but they shouldn't have took away from the story.

The martial art aspect is kinda lacking...the movements are not reminiscent of the show. The Firebenders shooting fire with open palm instead of closed fist....it's throwing me off.

Also 4:28 was exactly what stopped me from watching the show. The time he took to explain everything, why not just show a short flashback?

I watched the series and I will say that overall it turned out a little better than I thought. There was some outright cringe (take the same scene from the last episode, who watched that episode will understand what i mean) in some places it’s drawn out, in others it’s downright driving and cool. I liked the scale of what was happening; it felt like this was some kind of important event, and not a trifling local confrontation. There are complaints about the characters. They were clearly made different for the sake of the script and timing. Well, the attempt to connect several arcs into one did not turn out to be very successful, although I was shocked how they were able to fit it all in and change it into one storyline, but again, the attempt was not entirely successful, there are problems that you should not turn a blind eye to. I would give the series 7/10. If you're being really critical to non-canon material, 5 or 6. You should watch cartoon first and after that live-action.

Some of the changes have me rolling my eyes while others are actually quite respectable and I’m enjoying. It’s a really strange balance

We are in such a creative black hole right now lol it's so upsetting. We're in an epoch where the big question is "will it be a dumpster fire OR will it be a lifeless re-creation of what was done better 20 years ago, stay tuned and don't forget to pay your subscription fee!" I give you so much credit for what you do on this channel because I just couldn't do ittttttt.

I don’t think we can say anything about Iroh yet. He wasn’t a fan favourite because of how he was at his first episode and the narrative he had when Aang was captured actually showed his nuanced political opinions quite well imo. Sokka was spot on to me though. Points of structure change and the reveal difference is indeed a good point. But him seeing dead Gyatso and how katara and sokka were in it could have been easily given a bit more suspense. For example a bit more earlier flashbacks or Katara noticing gyatso first.

Aang’s actor can’t really emote well so he comes across incredibly awkward and forced but I give him a pass because he’s so young. Same with Katara. The exposition was also way too heavy. Everything and everyone else is great

@Andrew Watson How did you feel about the relationsship between Sokka and Katara in the first episode? I felt like it was weird how Sokka bossed her around, without her taking the conversation to the meta level ("stop bossing me around"? Or sth like that?) or giving counter. Am I off with this?

Iroh is not iroh bumi is not bumi katara is an emo CGI while better than the movie is still terrible

Katara’s actress is dead inside she has no emotional range at all

*spoiler warning* This Is just an observation but the series took away time that could have been used to focus more on the relationships of the avatar gang and redirected it to introducing azula, mei and Tylee. Yes it was great to see them so soon but it took away some much needed time I feel that the core avatar gang really needed. Sokka and Katara do actually get a lot of foundation built on their relationship together, however by the end of the series it feels like both of them have only actually known Aang for just a week at the most, when in the animated series it's meant to have been at least a few months. I understand they had to cut down on the content when adapting the series and they did mention some of the adventures of the gAang in a passing moment in one of the episodes to allude of their travels. However, it felt kind of cheap especially when Aang is then claiming to be protective of his friends by the end of the series although we haven't actually see them experience much together as a group group. The series kept trying to separate the three of them into their own little side quests and then bring them together for a quick minute and then separate them again to solve their own stories. It is clever when trying to cover multiple stories at once and Introduce characters however, it's pulling away from their experiences together and their interactions with eachother like disagreements on eachothers stances in the situation. Of note the only 2 disagreements I can think of that the gAang had with eachother was 1 between sokka and Katara and their argument over Jet and Sai and who is actually the bad guy although Aang doesnt really hold a position in the argument and it is kind of redolved without him. The second is at the end of the series when Aang agrees with Pakku about Katara not fighting because of his protectiveness of his friends but as I already said it feels cheap as we haven't seen them really go through much together to grow closer. That is to say I really did enjoy the show and thought that for anyone who is a big time fan of the original there are definitely moments in there that will pull at your heart strings. Overall it was enjoyable I just felt like they were trying too move too fast and forgot to fully lay down the foundation of the core trios dynamic which caused parts of the series later on seem more clumsy and clunky.

just finished ep 4.. while some of the changes have thrown me off.. and some of the acting is off.. overall im enjoying it quite a bit. ep 4 really got me in my feelings. the acting is spot on sometimes tho especially Sokka, Zuko and Iroh.. I like Zhou too.. Jet and the freedom fighters.. i dont hate anything tho.

The short answer is yes. Yes they did. Sokka is the only good thing. Aang and Zuko's actors are good but im pretty sure Sokka's improvised with acting and lines so he felt more like a real person. The entire first episode was souless and filled with apathy. Movie Katara did a better job that live action show Katara and i never thought i would say that.

The pacing was so fast. There's so much source material, they don't need to rush.

Who else is crying over Saka not being able to act like the barbie movie to women over here? Remember when people cried over the Matrix using too much CGI? So what, the film makers were supposed to build real autonomous squid robots. Reeves was supposed to fly for real?

Please do episodes 2 through 8 whenever you have time, definitely want to watch your review. 😊

Yes, please! Review all of the episodes one-by-one, and then you can do a full series recap!!!

Haven’t seen it yet, but I think I will. A little nervous since I love the anime so much but it sounds like it’s worth checking out.

i totally agree with you... I also thought that episode 1 was fast phase..they skipped many things

Just finished all 8 episodes. 7/10 for me. I enjoyed most of everything. Only complaint is around episode 4 with them trying to fit 5 storylines in an episode was weird. 20 episodes cant translate into 8 episodes. I wouldn’t liked 12 or 10 episodes.

Finally an honest review. I watched like 10 others and they talked about how wonderful and perfect this show was. I personally turned it off half way through the first episode because I hated it. Be honest, if we didn't have the nostalgic nature of the original animation, there is no way in Hell anyone would watch that garbage.

Unfortunately failure 🙁

This is the best review I've come across yet! I find myself in agreement with many of your points and am grateful for your forthrightness. Unfortunately, this episode has left me so heartbroken and tearful that I doubt I'll be able to continue with the series. Having watched the live-action One Piece, my expectations were perhaps unjustifiably high. It seems as though the vital presence of major characters, which to me is a hallmark of the show's iconic status, is lacking. Additionally, I'm concerned that they might not adequately address certain religious themes that were pivotal to the original show.

The live action just moves way too quick...

Iroh had a great scene wit Ang in jail that was vintage Iroh

I'm wondering why they never introduce jeong jeong in the series

Katara was good???!!!! She felt like a highschool kid at her first day of drama class

I enjoyed it very much I understand the complaints about the acting but i still love it

There is A LOT wrong with this show, but in my opinion the worst change was Iroh

4:12 THIS

I’m on episode 2. I really like it so far. All the changes are for the better and fit the serious tone.

Im a huge fan of the show so far. Ive only seen episode 1 though

It maybe visually great but the acting and dialogue delivery is terrible… not a patch on One Piece never mind the original Avatar cartoon.

Thank you for pointing out the flaws. I think too many people see a couple things the like and think it's the best thing in the world. I think these adaptations need to be held to a very high standard. I don't hate it, but also I can't see how any true fans of the Original serise could say they sat through the whole thing with no issues.

For me its a 8/10 show... it's quite nice 😊 not perfect of course, but a good show. You're judging Iroh too soon... Episodes 5 and 6 are where he shines the most.

The show is fun it feels like Avatar even though they made changes. 7.5 out of 10 for me.

This is a miserable adaptation. Everyone defending it just say the same shit “obviously it isn’t going to be 1 to 1”, “its more realistic”, “you’re just nitpicking about the changes” etc etc… but something that undoubtedly makes this adaptation dog 💩 is the fact that aang doesn’t even use waterbending… like ya know the title of the first book WATER

Dude, no need to be so kind about it. The writing is horrible, so many lines that are repeated, and the narrative is rushed. The original is a masterpiece, why was this even made to begin with?

It seems to me that the collective outcry over Netflix's live-action ATLA adaptation might just be a smidge premature. You've barely scratched the surface with just one episode, and already the court of public opinion is in full session, casting down judgments left and right. Let's not forget, we're venturing into uncharted territories here-live-action is a whole different beast compared to animation, with its own set of rules and limitations. Every minute of screen time is precious, and the writers are tasked with distilling an entire universe into digestible, coherent chunks. And from what I've seen, they're not just aiming for a shot-for-shot remake but are weaving a narrative that, dare I say, makes sense in its own right. Sure, the show might not tick every box for purists pining for a carbon copy of the animated series, but isn't that the point? If I were craving a dose of the original Uncle Iroh's wisdom, I'd happily revisit the animated series. What we have here is an opportunity to see the world of Avatar through a new lens, to explore the depths of its characters and stories in ways that animation simply couldn't accommodate. From the get-go, this adaptation has piqued my interest, and I'm here for the ride. So, before we sharpen our pitchforks over what hasn't been perfectly preserved from the source material, maybe we can appreciate the narrative unfolding before us. After all, isn't the spirit of adventure and discovery what Avatar is all about?

I think the bending looks great but the rest of the CG looks so bad, I think they must be using that Volume thing because the sets look particularly bad.

It was absolutely perfect! Great casting and the changes were spot on for a live action adaptation.

You have to remember that the original had 20+ episodes this one has 8 to get everything done yes it could have been done better Aang isn’t goofing about bc he just found out about the genocide of his people

Yeah they did butcher it. Sadly. 😢