MARIAH's THOUGHTS on AVATAR: The Last Airbender (2024)

Genre:

Fantasy

Series:

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Season:

1

Rating:

TV-PG

Episodes:

8

Run Time:

47-64 minutes

Release Year:

2024

Series Directed by:

Michael Goi ... (2 episodes, 2024)

Roseanne Liang ... (2 episodes, 2024)

Jabbar Raisani ... (2 episodes, 2024)

Jet Wilkinson ... (2 episodes, 2024)

Based on the animated series by:

Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko for Nickelodeon

Social Media:

    

Plot Summary:

A young boy known as the Avatar must master the four elemental powers to save a world at war — and fight a ruthless enemy bent on stopping him

source

Cast:

Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Daniel Dae Kim

See Full Cast & Crew on IMDB

~~~~~

*My Thoughts*

So. Many. Remakes. And not just of Avatar: The Last Airbender but that’s beside the point. The 2024 Avatar: the Last Airbender is a much-anticipated remake and why shouldn’t it be when people are comparing it to the 2005 animated series and 2010 movie. But even with keeping each iteration separate in my mind, the 2024 version was lackluster. It covers the entirety of “Book One: Water” in eight episodes which follows Aang, Katara, Sokka, Appa, and Momo starting at the Southern water tribe and ending in the Northern water tribe. From the pacing of squeezing twenty thirty-minute episodes into eight hour long-episodes, it was difficult to become attached or more like re-attached to the characters, story, and actors. It relies on the viewers having already watched the animated version that took episodes to build character relationships. The Kiyoshi warriors, King Bumi, Princess Yui, or even Momo are just passing faces on the street. When Momo was fatally wounded in the battle at the Northern water tribe, we do not appreciate pet animal deaths, but the flying lemur had a total screentime of three minutes. It is just too easy to dismiss any of the deaths in the final battle when it is all so rushed. Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) could be a few episodes longer.

Minus the crash-course pacing, the award for best actors shall go to Zuko and Sokka, played by Dalla James Liu and Ian Ousley respectively. Zuko is a perfectly bratty teenage boy with the kindness and honor of his animated counterpart. The addition of Zuko’s crew’s backstory their characters depth, a reason to respect Zuko, rather than nameless characters simply existing because Zuko needs a crew to manage his ship. Sokka is still an endearing idiot who loves food, pretty girls, and inventing new machines and fighting methods, but he is missing his signature misogyny, a characteristic that slowly faded away in the animated series to show his personal growth. Sokka’s original personality is what also influenced Katara and her water bending.

Overall, the entertainment value of Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) is minimal. It’s alright if you need something to eat your dinner with. Its faithfulness to the animated series is noticeably lacking but nothing that will ruin your viewing experience as an old fan. And at this point, genuinely, I’m tired of Avatar: The Last Airbender remakes.

My rating: