Netflix’s Avatar Review: The Last Airbender
The 2005 Nickelodeon series, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” unfolded as an expansive journey seamlessly blending detailed world-building, precise nods to Asian and Native cultures, vibrant humor, and intricately plotted drama. Animated in a delightful, anime-inspired style, the series achieved resounding success, drawing millions of viewers and earning widespread critical acclaim. The show presented a world so intricately crafted, self-contained, and teeming with its own histories, myths, and traditions that a sequel was deemed unnecessary.
However, reality often deviates from such expectations.
In 2010, the widely criticized live-action film “The Last Airbender” gained notoriety for its controversial whitewashing, facing a justified and intense backlash from fans. The subsequent series, “Avatar: The Legend of Korra,” while somewhat more aligned with the original, was still considered by some as unnecessary. This sentiment also applies to Netflix’s recent high-budget live-action adaptation, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” underscoring the challenging task of recreating the enchantment of a beloved original.
Similar to the original series, Netflix’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” unfolds in a fictitious Eastern world comprising four nations: Air Nomads, Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation. Within this realm, a chosen few individuals from each nation possess the ability to manipulate their respective elements—these individuals are known as “benders.” For a century, the Fire Nation has waged a victorious war against the other nations.
During this period, the avatar, the exclusive master of all four elements and the only hope for peace, mysteriously vanished. The narrative takes flight when two Water Tribe siblings, Katara (Kiawentiio) and Sokka (Ian Ousley), stumble upon the long-lost avatar, a 12-year-old Air Nomad named Aang (Gordon Cormier). Together, they embark on a quest to fulfill Aang’s training and unite their powers to thwart the imminent threat posed by the Fire Nation and save the world.