So...in just over a week, Netflix are dropping their new live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series. While its been met with a combination of excitement and nervousness, it has to be better than the last time the acclaimed cartoon was brought into the live-action world. I'm talking, of course about M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender. Where did this adaptation go so wrong? Let's list the ways...
Whitewashed casting[]
Let's address the elephant koi in the room. Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a fantasy world influenced by Asian cultures, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Nepali, Tibetan and Southeast Asian, with smatterings of Inuit, Native American, Pacific Islander and Australian Aboriginal influences.
In the movie, the heroes are played by white actors, with actors of color being relegated to minor roles. What makes this even more insulting is the fact that the Fire Nation-the VILLAINS of the story-are played by actors of Indian and Arabic descent, which leaves some rather awkward implications.
Bad acting[]
Sometimes, a movie's questionable casting CAN be salvaged by some decent performances; Last Airbender is NOT one of them. While some of the cast members-more specifically, Dev Patel as Zuko and Shaun Toub as Iroh-are clearly trying their best with what they're given, the vast majority of the performances feel stiff and awkward, almost like something out of community theater.
Rushed plot[]
M. Night Shyamalan based the Last Airbender off Avatar's first season, Book 1: Water, with plans of adapting the next two seasons, Earth and Fire, plans which-thankfully-never came to fruition.
However, therein lies the problem; in order to fit all twenty episodes of Season 1 into a movie that runs just short of two hours, huge chunks of plot had to be trimmed and major characters were cut out.
Awkward dialogue[]
As a consequence of trying to fit the entire first season into one movie, a good chunk of the dialogue in the film is devoted to exposition, which makes all of the characters sound like a bunch of robots forced to deliver endless streams of information, as well as vague references to events that would have cropped up in the aborted sequels.
When we're not hearing characters explain every last scene of importance, the dialogue sounds awkward, to the point that it's almost funny at times.
Tonally wrong[]
Avatar: The Last Airbender is a cartoon that perfectly walks the line between comedy and drama, with each tone rarely clashing with the other. As you can probably guess, the movie gets this VERY wrong.
The tone of the Last Airbender goes for an overly dark approach to the material, with comic relief characters like Sokka barely cracking a smile, and any attempts at humor fall flat.
Cheesy fight scenes[]
Another beloved element of Avatar: The Last Airbender is its bending fight scenes, which are fast-paced, visually stunning, high stakes and feature a LOT of creative choreography.
To say that the movie dropped the ball in this regard is barely scratching the surface. The fights look absolutely ridiculous, almost looking more like poorly choreographed dancing.
Righting the wrongs of the past[]
So, will Netflix's Avatar help right the wrongs of the movie, or will it sink? Only time will tell...