Fantasy Netflix's Live-Action Avatar: The Last Airbender General Discussion Thread

[JakeStyles]

I'm on episode 4 and I'm bored... I have flashback from the Witcher, all the potential wasted for superficial visuals and nothing more, the direction is awful, you either have busy shots with no focus or close-up. People should watch the movie and appriciate at least the cinematography, how scenes are moving, how clear is every picture. Cinematography in this show is so generic and ugly.

I will finish it, but I have no pleasure watching it, on the other hand I'm not a fan of One Piece, but I watched first episode last year and then the next one, and the next one and I couldn't stop even if there were some things I didn't like, because I liked the characters.

There's literally no single character I like in this show. It's all fake, not sincere, Aang is smiling, but I feel like I'm watching actor smiling because Aang was fun in the original show, not because this version is a fun character.

There's no feeling of adventure, mystery, passion, fun...

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

I watched the TV show back then in 2005/2008, twice.

Sets and costumes are fine.
Actors are fine too but I would have cast someone older for Azula.
Zuko actor is good, Ang, Katara and Soka are fine.
June bounty hunter and Suki from Kyoshi warrior are spot on.
AFAC, it's a good live action adapation.

More Momo !

 

[Weather Witch]

Actors are fine too but I would have cast someone older for Azula.

The actress is currently 7 years older than Azula is during the show.

 

[Sithborg]

Elizabeth Yu was 19 when they filmed.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

The actress is currently 7 years older than Azula is during the show.

In the anime she was in her teens, she was young but her face looked older, no "youth fat" in the anime, stern I would say. No big deal anyway.

 

[Silver Surfer]

It was much better than I expected. Not as good as the Animated Series, but that was never a realistic expectation. There were thing they nailed, things that didn't work, and things that are too soon to tell:

Didn't Work

Sokka - Categorical downgrade from the Animated Series in every way. He did grow on me over time but not up to par.

Azula - Miscast and mischaracterized. Came across as whiny, insecure, and dumb, not scary, smart and caniving as she should be.

Avatar Roku - Came across as a joke and the least interesting and useful Avatar.


To be Determined

Kitara - I liked a lot of what I saw, but the lack of her signature short temper and mom energy was telling.

Aang - The kid actor did a good job, he nailed the burden of the world part, but not the jovial kid part.

Iroh - Really liked the actor and many of the Uncle Iroh-isms, but couldn't quite get the Iroh magic and humour right.


Did Work

Zuko - Wow did they nail this character, anger, inner-conflict, lost honour, compassion. Just nailed it.

Suki - She was awesome. Loved her chemistry with Sokka. Need more Suki!

Ozai - Gave him depth and made him more than just an ominous presence. Actor did a great job as well.

Avatar Kuruk - I liked the changes they made to his character and backstory, it was an improvement over the "go with the flow kind of Avatar" version.

Admira Zhao - Perhaps the biggest improvement over the original. He was flat-out awesome and stole almost every scene he was in.


GOAT TIER

Avatar Kysohi - My goodness, this was the embodiment of Avatar "Dead that Mother F*****" Kyoshi we always wanted.


Overall I am looking forward to a hopeful Season 2. They need to nail Toph's casting and character though, it will make or break the season for me.

 

[Weather Witch]

Elizabeth Yu was 19 when they filmed.

Yeah, that's why I said currently. I was moreso thinking of a potential second season. Still 5 years older than the character during S1 filming though. :smilingeyes:

In the anime she was in her teens, she was young but her face looked older, no "youth fat" in the anime, stern I would say. No big deal anyway.

Yeah, meant to be 14 in the animation, but definitely doesn't look it.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Ive seen plenty online trying to act as if this show is horrible in CGI but.....its a damn good for a tv series. Even movies dont have perfect cgi (hello Flash).

 

[KillerMcQueen]

Ive seen plenty online trying to act as if this show is horrible in CGI but.....its a damn good for a tv series. Even movies dont have perfect cgi (hello Flash).

It wasn't all that long ago that this would have been inconceivable for a live action show to pull off, I know people have fair critiques of the effects and their use of the Volume, but It's still overall very impressive to my eyes.

 

[Primal Slayer]

I've decided to go back and watch the movie again after I last saw it in theaters since the show is supposed to be no better than the movie lol.....and the only thing the movie excelleted it was more realisitc backgrounds and lighting. Acting in both leaves a lot to be desired but its a joke to put the movie/show on the same level.

 

[Sithborg]

I mean, the show beats this in the first 5 minutes of the first episode.



I have deep, deep problems with the volume. I think the water tribe and Aang's costumes have issues when compared to the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom costuming.

I'm only halfway through, but they have absolutely nailed the bending, action choreography and sfx.

 

[Sithborg]

2 more episodes down. So, uhh, Netflix. It wouldn't be too much to ask for Arden Cho's Jun to be made a series regular next season? Pretty please?

 

[Weather Witch]

Ive seen plenty online trying to act as if this show is horrible in CGI but.....its a damn good for a tv series. Even movies dont have perfect cgi (hello Flash).

Agreed. This show has an absolutely insane amount of VFX shots every single episode. Between the bending, creatures, digital body doubles, location extensions etc.

They did all of that on a way lower budget than the movie and across a much longer runtime. They absolutely did a great job here.

2 more episodes down. So, uhh, Netflix. It wouldn't be too much to ask for Arden Cho's Jun to be made a series regular next season? Pretty please?

Yeah, she was awesome!

I've decided to go back and watch the movie again after I last saw it in theaters since the show is supposed to be no better than the movie lol.....and the only thing the movie excelleted it was more realisitc backgrounds and lighting. Acting in both leaves a lot to be desired but its a joke to put the movie/show on the same level.

Anyone who says that definitely hasn't watched the movie in a long time. :smilingeyes:

 

[JakeStyles]

I'm after 6 episodes... It's really bad, bland and boring, no fun, no excitement, no adventure.

They keep explaining everything instead of showing it, 2 episodes straight ends with Iroh narrating about how Zuko feel, with the 6 one about how we all wear masks to hide our fear, because you know... Zuko wear a mask in that episode to hide his identity... Deep stuff.

They keep rushing everything, Zuko already feel like if he was ready to turn back, Azula keeps showing up and have mental breakdowns... IN THE FIRST SEASON. At one point when Zuko tries to attack Aang, he knock him out and immediately says really fast something like "I'msorryiddidn'tmeantoiseeyoualreadyhurt", like... He literally had to say that Zuko is hurt sad therefore he's not bad, not only him, because we had an original content of sad story about how Zuko saved soldiers.

About CGI, sequences with CGI are good, but not with CGI background, composition is awful, light doesn't match, as if fake looking perfect clean suits, wigs and beards weren't enough to ruin immersion.

 

[Weather Witch]

To be fair most people probably didn't notice that this scene had a background. :smilingeyes:

 

[Primal Slayer]

Its amazing to think these are the same two characters

 

[JakeStyles]

People act like if changes are bad, and yet one of the best adaptation which is LotR is visually and normatively completely different than the original and no one cares because it was good, if it wasn't, everyone would've said it's because of changes.

 

[Arachnerd]

Daniel Dae Kim was perfect casting for Ozai, sounded almost exactly like Mark Hamill too. If this show gets a second season, I look forward to seeing more of him.

 

[JakeStyles]

He looks good but... I don't really feel any intimidation from him, like he is intimidating because of look, but not because of acting, I don't feel much emotions from him, this is my problem with this show, everything is so superficial.

 

[Arachnerd]

When was Ozai ever known for being emotional bar very few scenes in the original show?

 

[JakeStyles]

I was saying about emotions like disappointment, anger, you can show it without being too expressive, and now I will go "there", and say that Dev Patel really nailed that part as Zuko in the best movie ever made, he barely talk, but you see on his face everything you need to know, Iroh doesn't have to narrate about how he feels, we see it, that's why Patel is now a great actor.

My point is, that in case natla Ozai, he doesn't feel like this fearful emperor, he looks great, but something is missing in my opinion, but that's my problem with most of the actors in this show, there's something wrong with direction.

 

[Arachnerd]

Agree to disagree. I think Daniel Dae Kim expresses the stern and disappointed nature of Ozai in a satisfying manner.

 

[Still Wynning]

*looks at all of Jake Styles’ posts about how the movie did everything better than the Netflix series*

*unironically calls it “the best movie ever made”*



Now I know this has to be somebody trolling.

I remember over a decade ago passing my younger brother upstairs right as the credits were rolling as he was finishing the film adaptation. He said it was the worst film he’d ever seen. And keep in mind, he’s very easy to please when it comes to his entertainment, so that is saying a lot.

I will say, so far, I have my criticisms of the Netflix series and, while it is definitely not at the level of the original cartoon, it is still leagues above that M. Night Shyamalan abomination. You hold that up as a standard of quality, you’ve already lost me.

 

[Arachnerd]

Are you the Avatahr, Oong?

 

[Weather Witch]

It's leagues above that M. Night Shyamalan abomination. You hold that up as a standard of quality, you’ve already lost me.

The M. Night Shyamalan movie is still the only movie I've EVER seen that failed to do even a basic shot-reverse-shot scene because of weird framing. That's how badly directed it is. People can still enjoy it, I guess, but it 100% deserves the horrible reputation.