Several attempts have been made for a live-action remake of “Avatar: The Last Airbender”, but no one has been able to get it right — until now.
While JNJ Studios made valiant efforts with its 2022 fan-film “Avatar: The Last of the Airbenders” and M. Night Shyamalan with the 2010 film “The Last Airbender”, Netflix’s new series finally mastered and restored justice for the beloved Nickelodeon series.
In other words, it’s a great time to have a Netflix subscription right now.
The original 2005 animated television series is based on a fictional world with four nations whose people have powers involving one of the four elements: water, earth, fire or air.
They all lived in harmony among each other until the Fire Nation planned to rule over other nations.
Every episode in the show began with a voice-over that explained the show’s central conflict: “Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them (Fire Nation), but when the world needed him most, he vanished.”
The opening scene of Netflix’s eight episode series is dark and intense, which audiences can attest as shocking compared to the mostly light-hearted narrative the original series delivered.
It takes place before the Fire Nation begins its plan to rule in tyranny. An earthbender is gruesomely incinerated by Fire Lord Sozin, played by Hiro Kanagawa, after the earthbender stole the Fire Nation’s plans.
The show depicts Sokka, played by Ian Ousley, and Katara, played by Kiawentiio Tarbell, — siblings from the Southern Water Tribe — finding Aang, a twelve-year-old airbender and the Avatar played by Gordon Cormier, in an iceberg.
The siblings accompany him as he rediscovers the new world around him while learning the Avatar’s responsibilities.
While the trio bounces around different parts of the world, Zuko, played by Dallas James Liu, Fire Lord Ozai’s son, is hot on their trail and wants to capture Aang to get back in his father’s good graces.
It’s hard to believe the original Avatar series’s concept was marketed for younger audiences given that the main characters tackle mature subject matter including grief and genocide.
Netflix’s live-action remake expands on Aang’s backstory when he lived with the Air Nomads as a gifted airbender whose abilities were noticeably surpassing his peers.
Aang, played by a bright-eyed and youthful Cormier, decides to leave home with his sky bison Appa after quickly learning he’s the Avatar and must begin training to master the four elements.
When I watched the animated series growing up, it was easy to forget Aang, Sokka, Katara and Zuko were just kids considering each characters’ life experiences during the war.
However, it’s the superb casting of actors with baby faces that kept their ages at the forefront of my mind as I inhaled the first four episodes on Netflix.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee shines through as Uncle Iroh in the newer “Avatar: The Last Airbender” as he embarks on Zuko’s journey in capturing Aang, an impossible mission Zuko’s father Fire Lord Ozai, played by Daniel Dae Kim, sends him on after he’s banished from the Fire Nation for refusing to fight Ozai when challenged.
Lee is outstanding to watch as Iroh because of his calm and wise nature while he silently mentors a rageful Zuko throughout his mission and desperation to reclaim his title as the prince.
The daddy issues are ever present for Sokka in this series because the writers chose to show more of his background and how his father held him responsible for the Southern Water Tribe when he was just thirteen years old.
Ousley is not only quick with original Sokka’s sarcastic wit, but he also depicts a side of Sokka audiences have never considered: smart and crafty, eager to learn and undeniably brave.
It’s refreshing to see “Avatar: The Last Airbender” finally given the platform it deserves.
The creative effort from the costumes to the effects and the predominantly Asian cast to convey each nation’s cultural backgrounds is everything that fans of the original show have wanted for a live-action remake.
It’s clear that Netflix handled every detail with thoughtful consideration and the remaining four episodes are bound to whisk me away.
