Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action show on Netflix (now sans its creators).

[Werthead]

I think there is a hint that live action Aang does have a bit of a crush on Katara in the finale. Not much but it's there. It's presumably less of a problem in the second season (when the actor playing Aang will be 15 or 16) and less in the third (when he'll be closer to 18 at this rate).

Azula also 

Spoiler

shows off electricity-bending in the finale, which is what finally earns her father's respect as it's pretty tough to master.

All that fuss and they finally

Spoiler

show the fucking comet in the final seconds of the season. Why all the obfuscation over it?

 

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Azula actress is so badly miscast it feels like a random teen girl cosplaying as Azula .

Edited February 27 by Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

12 hours ago, Werthead said:

All that fuss and they finally

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show the fucking comet in the final seconds of the season. Why all the obfuscation over it?

Spoiler

I question that too. There is really no reason why Roku can't announce that the comet is coming in [insert convenient number] years, likewise for the eclipse.

4 hours ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Azula actress is so badly miscast it feels like a random teen girl cosplaying as Azula .

Maybe she'll age into it. That being said, the character had no business being in season 1.

 

 

 

Edited February 27 by ASOIAFrelatedusername

[rickepanton]

First off, major shoutout to Blue Eyed Samurai, One Piece, Castlecania Nocturn, and Pluto – all gems, right? Now, onto the Netflix Avatar drama. Totally get the concerns about the creators stepping back. Netflix surprised us with some awesome stuff lately – Blue Eye Samurai and One Piece, anyone? Andor might not be everyone's cup of tea, but different strokes, you know? Child actors can be hit or miss, true. The animated charm sometimes gets lost in translation. Disney nailed Percy Jackson's casting, agreed. Still, aging them up a bit might have been a smart move. Came across something interesting recently – getting paid to watch netflix! Any of you guys heard about that?

Edited February 28 by rickepanton

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

I will say this for all that I dislike the adaptation: I don't think that it is impossible for season 2 to substantially improve upon season 1 to the point where I would call it a decent adaptation if they are willing to improve the writing/acting and trust the source material (and the audience).

Two more episodes probably wouldn't hurt either.

Edited February 27 by ASOIAFrelatedusername

[karaddin]

I've finished episode 5 now and I can definitely see some seeds that could grow nicely, but some of the others are hard to understand.

Ep 4

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The changes to Bumi just didn't seem necessary, but what bothered me the most was trying to borrow the emotional weight of "leaves from the vine" without having earned any of it within this show. And it didn't just do it the once, it used it for all the Zuko/Iroh moments

Ep 5

Spoiler

I'm not seeing a good explanation for why they changed things up with Heibai to make Koh the one abducting the villagers. Perhaps it's more understandable, but the actor they got to voice Koh doesn't hold a candle to the voice actor from the animated series - he has one of the richest and threatening voices I've ever heard.

I didn't even clock that it was George Takei, but it's not like he's a weak actor - he's just not the Koh I already know, but I do think there's some of the same performance problems that are coming from the direction.

On the whole Zuko's plot line feels more promising, although I worry they're not selling the start of the arc enough.

Edited March 1 by karaddin
Extra comments on koh

[fionwe1987]

Rushed, and mostly meh.

That's my verdict after finishing the season. It isn't a disaster, and I agree with whoever said it has the potential to recover, but if they cannot understand why this story needs breathing room, side quests, and character centred episodes, it never will. 

The CGI was nice. Some decent set pieces, some decent action. Utterly unsure why they felt they had to mash up Hei Bai, Koh and the Fog of Lost souls. That's too much packed together. 

Bumi and Omashu felt weird, also. They were much more successful with Kiyoshi island. 

Having Azula be the one driving Zhao wasn't the worst idea, but it meant Zhao became a completely useless villain, and the animated version is just far superior. 

[karaddin]

I finished up the rest of the season as well so either it became more enjoyable or the performance style bothered me less as I got used to them.

45 minutes ago, fionwe1987 said:

but if they cannot understand why this story needs breathing room, side quests, and character centred episodes, it never will. 

It just feels like an industry wide decision at the corporate level that's having a major negative impact on a lot of series that really need to be 2-4 episodes longer. 

[fionwe1987]

32 minutes ago, karaddin said:

I finished up the rest of the season as well so either it became more enjoyable or the performance style bothered me less as I got used to them.

It just feels like an industry wide decision at the corporate level that's having a major negative impact on a lot of series that really need to be 2-4 episodes longer. 

Yeah. It's bonkers, really. I get it from a cost perspective, but you can't just use that to justify any and every mangling of a story. 

If doing longer and better stories means somewhat less visually stunning shows, I'll take that tradeoff any day. 

[karaddin]

And the money angle only makes sense from a short term perspective imo. Sure it costs you less now and perhaps people will watch the first season, but it's less likely to be the smash hit they want so it winds up making less money.

And most shows get increasing cost efficiency per episode when they get to reuse the sets, although admittedly a show like this doesn't get to reuse as many sets since it keeps relocating. But that feeds back into the argument for giving the characters more time to breath - you can have multiple episodes on the same sets before moving on.

[Lord Varys]

Only through four episodes so far and not much of a fan. Many actors don't seem to feel the role - Aang is good, but I don't feel Katara and Sokka and Azula at all. Mai and Ty Lee also are anything but impressive.

Also think the costumes don't translate well into a real world setting, at least those of the Water Tribe. Especially Sokka pretty much sucks with the removal of the sexism and his actual issues. The entire story with Suki made little sense that way.

Not to mention that it was pretty silly to remove Aang trying to run away from his Avatar destiny. With him being frozen effectively completely accidentally the entire guilt part of his character development has little to no foundation.

Didn't like how they portrayed Zosin and Ozai so far. They retained the fire wall, but effectively ignored it at the same time. The original show made a huge point in not showing Ozai's face too early as well as using the Fire Lord behind the fire curtain to emphasize how powerful and detached he is from mundane things. Now both effectively do their own dirty work. That is a letdown.

The changes to Zhao are a mildly interesting, but Zuko comes across as 'too good too early' (the original version is more frustrated and more caught up in his own struggles) whilst Iroh is a bit too dark. Yes, the guy once was a mighty impressive general and the original show failed to explore his relationship with Ozai. But even before the death of his son he was quite different from his father and Ozai and 'Fire Nation supremacy' as his affiliation with the White Lotus and his lie about slaying the a dragon showed.

Also have trouble with talks about various types of bending being at the core of 'the culture' of various peoples, especially with the Southern Water Tribe. Yes, it is part of their culture, but not necessarily the defining trait as, for instance, the fact that the Earth Kingdom royal dynasty apparently never produced any benders. There is more to those cultures than just the bending thing.

Did like the addition of Suki's mother and the focus on Kyoshi, but not the changes to Bumi. Also, of course, moving around Jet and the trip through the cave - which was a very nice romantic episode in the original - just undermines things rather than making them better or more interesting.

Also, why not have the gang decide on their own to go to the Northern Water Tribe for training rather than doing it by way of a cryptic Avatar warning?

Not sure about Azula being driven by ambition, either. She craves the love her father and while Zuko might be the elder sibling, he is pretty much always a disappointment to his father, being less of a bender than Azula is. And as Ozai himself usurped the place of his elder brother, Azula pushing aside Zuko is something she could easily do. She never actually feared him or his claim.

[IFR]

Renewed!

Let the steady march of Netflix mediocrity continue forth. It honestly is a winning formula. Pillage and repackage familiar property. You don't need any kind of talent or effort put into the writing. Just throw money at flashy special effects, and while people will complain that the show is pretty bad, people will also say that at least it looks expensive, and use this to justify watching the entire season, telling themselves that it could be worse.

Edited March 6 by IFR

[sifth]

I wonder how old the kids will look when next season comes out. The Stranger Things kids are almost unrecognizable for me anymore, from what they use to look like in season 1. I expect the cast of Wednesday will look very different as well, whenever season 2 of that happens.

Edited March 6 by sifth

[Lord Varys]

1 hour ago, IFR said:

Renewed!

Let the steady march of Netflix mediocrity continue forth. It honestly is a winning formula. Pillage and repackage familiar property. You don't need any kind of talent or effort put into the writing. Just throw money at flashy special effects, and while people will complain that the show is pretty bad, people will also say that at least it looks expensive, and use this to justify watching the entire season, telling themselves that it could be worse.

The CGI was pretty cringe though, no? Appa looked very strange at times, ditto the direct interaction with Momo, etc.

[IFR]

1 hour ago, Lord Varys said:

The CGI was pretty cringe though, no? Appa looked very strange at times, ditto the direct interaction with Momo, etc.

I haven't watched the live action version, and I won't. There have been the occasional nice comments about the production values though.

From my perspective, if people in this thread, on imdb and reddit, and critics are all in agreement that this show is pretty bad, and given the examples listed here and elsewhere of why it's bad, I feel confident I would hate this show.

But I do find it entertaining from all the comments expressing dismay that people continue this journey of self-flagellation solely for the reason that it is a repackaging of something they are familiar with and liked (I think the nicest thing said of this show so far is that it could be good if the writing, directing and acting were better - so everything important ). The success of the show is independent of its quality, clearly, based on its reception. It's purely a function of familiarity. Which incentivizes Netflix to be lazy as they churn out more disposable B grade material. That's great marketing. It's no wonder that Netflix is the top streaming service. It has its audience figured out.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Won’t be watching the second season unless there’s a unanimously positive verdict on it’s quality which I doubt will happen. 

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

2 hours ago, IFR said:

Renewed!

Let the steady march of Netflix mediocrity continue forth. It honestly is a winning formula. Pillage and repackage familiar property. You don't need any kind of talent or effort put into the writing. Just throw money at flashy special effects, and while people will complain that the show is pretty bad, people will also say that at least it looks expensive, and use this to justify watching the entire season, telling themselves that it could be worse.

Sadly no mention of them getting more episodes to work with. Even if the writers and actor improve, they'll need that additional time to do justice to the original. They really hurt themselves in season 1 by combining Jet and the Nothern Air Temple and leaving out The Waterbending Scroll.

5 minutes ago, IFR said:

But I do find it entertaining from all the comments expressing dismay that people continue this journey of self-flagellation solely for the reason that it is a repackaging of something they are familiar with and liked (I think the nicest thing said of this show so far is that it could be good if the writing, directing and acting were better - so everything important ). The success of the show is independent of its quality, clearly, based on its reception. It's purely a function of familiarity. Which incentivizes Netflix to be lazy as they churn out more disposable B grade material. That's great marketing. It's no wonder that Netflix is the top streaming service. It has its audience figured out.

"Lazy" is not what I would call this show despite my many many gripes with it. They clearly put a lot of effort into certain aspects of it.

[IFR]

17 minutes ago, ASOIAFrelatedusername said:

Sadly no mention of them getting more episodes to work with. Even if the writers and actor improve, they'll need that additional time to do justice to the original. They really hurt themselves in season 1 by combining Jet and the Nothern Air Temple and leaving out The Waterbending Scroll.

What is the incentive to produce more episodes? It would cost more, and people will watch regardless of the quality of the show. The show doesn't need to improve, since Netflix has its faithful audeince who may not enjoy what they are given, but they will consume it regardless.

19 minutes ago, ASOIAFrelatedusername said:

"Lazy" is not what I would call this show despite my many many gripes with it. They clearly put a lot of effort into certain aspects of it.

To be clear, when I say lazy I mean in terms of that which matters (to me). Things such as quality writing, which clearly was a low priority element in the production of this show.

[ASOIAFrelatedusername]

1 hour ago, IFR said:

What is the incentive to produce more episodes? It would cost more, and people will watch regardless of the quality of the show. The show doesn't need to improve, since Netflix has its faithful audeince who may not enjoy what they are given, but they will consume it regardless.

I said it before, but I don't consider this show to be irredeemable, unlike for example Rings of Power. I want the show to improve to the point where it is at least at Fellowship of the Ring level.

1 hour ago, IFR said:

To be clear, when I say lazy I mean in terms of that which matters (to me). Things such as quality writing, which clearly was a low priority element in the production of this show.

Honestly I wouldn't call the writing "lazy". It's not good, but that's mostly because didn't trust the source material or their audience enough.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

The writing Is lazy though…they had the entire source material ready for them, they just took the best moments and inserted them into the show without establishing any logical sense. Didn’t earn them at all.