You guys probably don’t know this, but I love Avatar: The Last Airbender. I also love the sequel Legend of Korra show. I’m lukewarm about the Netflix remake. I hate the M. Night. Shyamalamadingdong live action film. I watched Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender as soon as I could, and my review took the time it deserved. I hope you buy that Paramount+ subscription just for Avatar’s sake, because that is toooootally what I did!
Airing Out the Controversies
There’s a lot of drama behind the scenes involved with this franchise following the original The Last Airbender (TLA) series, and it’s absolutely fucking depressing considering the quality and the cultural impact of TLA. Between Nickelodeon and Paramount, this universe has taken such a goddamn beating. The fact that both Legend of Korra (LoK) and this film, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (AATLA), are such beautiful works of art is a goddamn miracle. This film is a miracle.
First, LoK took a whalloping when the producers only greenlit one season at a time. Of the four seasons, three were approved one at a time, at the last minute. I’m unsure if the 3rd and 4th seasons were approved at the same time, but I do recall reports that even the last season wasn’t greenlit until nearly the climax of the 3rd season. That the creators managed to make each season fresh and in-theme and enjoyable despite these fuckass childish behaviors is a goddamn testament. Other showrunners should be ashamed.
Both live-action adaptations are extremely divisive. The M. Nugget. Schlongadong film was an absolute travesty. The Netflix shows are… They exist. I admit that they manage to compress the animated original series in a more logical way than the movie, and that I can accept this adaptation as an entry to this franchise, but between the acting and my personal, emotional attachment to the original series, I kind of understand all the assholes trashing the Netflix adaptation.
There’s additional fuel to throw on that Netflix fire if you consider that the original creators of ATLA left that show due to “creative differences”. Do you know how fucking damning that is? That the dudes who fucking MADE the property ABANDON you adaptation due to CREATIVE goddamn DIFFERENCES?! It’s not some subtle dig at the creators being difficult or annoying. It’s a voluntary departure of the guys who made the show because the fucking hated what they were doing at Netflix.
Again, I think that the new showrunners and writers did a decent job at Season 2 of the adaptation, and it’s not horrible apart from the acting, but I still cannot shake the idea of “Why the fuck was this show necessary?!”
Anyways, so that’s the background. Then we got this film, also marred by twitter leaks and Paramount indecisiveness regarding a theatrical release. Travesty. Utter travesty.
Nostalgia and Progress
Nostalgia is a discussion that runs parallel to the discussion about adaptations. I know I’ve alluded to adaptations a thousand fucking times, but nostalgia isn’t something I’ve touched on often. And for me, personally, ATLA and its new properties do a goddamn number on my emotions.
Additionally, aside from regarding the ATLA series like a childhood blankie, I’m also an insufferable film snob. So I will admit, I did not just watch this movie as a little boy, which I truly am, I watched this movie through a critical lens. I cannot tell you how it felt to see Aang and Katara and Toph and Sokka and Zuko all over again, this time as adults. Despite the accomplished and capable writer that I am, I cannot properly explain how happy it made me to hear Appa’s roar, or how sad it made me to see an aged Momo.
This film led me to a lot of thoughts about nostalgia in films, and when nostalgia works and when it doesn’t. I don’t know if I have the ability to properly separate my emotions from my critical thoughts yet, so I don’t know if I can explain my thoughts properly yet. It’s kind of why I struggled with this review, and why I’m not really getting into discussing the movie as deeply as one would think I would. I’m hoping to put these thoughts in a different post regarding nostalgia, but no promises that that comes to fruition.
I will say that I think AATLA balances both nostalgia and innovation very, very well. Despite its many callbacks to meme characters, stereotypes of their main characters’ personalities, and the places and events references in the sequel animated LoK show, the movie itself was very fresh. It expands the lore, delves into the history, pushes the map, and felt like a natural bridge between ATLA and LOK.
ATLA was a new adventure, with new places, new characters, and new conflicts. There will be people who argue that this movie compressed all the main moral conflicts of the LoK series into one, and I think that’s both valid, and a stretch. This film predicates on Aang’s desire to reconnect with airbenders, the people who were genocided, and it’s unique enough that, unless I think too deeply about it, it doesn’t truly reflect LoK’s conflicts.
Peak Animation
My main point of admiration of this film comes in the form of its animation. I don’t watch many animated films, nor do I watch any fucking anime, but I think I’m enough of a TV guy that I can recognize fantastic animation when I see it.
A lot of people with a lot more technical knowledge have talked about how gorgeous this film is and why, so I’m not gonna even pretend to do something similar.
This movie is so beautiful. The colors, the landscapes, the scale. It was just imagination unleashed and fully realized. Every frame could be turned into a fantastic computer background or a framed painting. If for no other reason, you’d be completely valid in seeing this film for just how beautiful it is.
And that’s all I’ll say about that.
Because brevity is wit.
Conclusion
All in all, I thought AATLA was a fantastic film. It had the feeling of season 4 of the original ATLA show, but also a single episode, but also a repackaging of the villains’ philosophies from LoK, and honestly I’m not too bothered by any of that.
I thought Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender was
GOOD
I definitely, totally, legally, properly, and obediently streamed Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender on Paramount+
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