#I stand by my 7/10 rating for NATLA | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miraculoustails · 2 months

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I finally finished NATLA. I was very excited at first, having heard positive reactions. By two episodes in, I couldn’t stand it, and was writing an episode by episode analysis of the show. So here it is, my honest and detailed review of the show:

Episode 1: Feels like an adaption! I enjoyed it and it was fun! I like the way they showed the horrors of the genocide against the airbenders. I didn’t like how they had Aang fly the moment we were introduced to him. It completely eradicates the need for the glider. He also doesn’t look like some outcast idol to the airbender kids, like he does in the cartoon. I love the relationship between him and Gyatso. It weirded me out though how Aang says “no one’s ever fought for me before” when the entire first half of the episode, Gyatso is fighting for Aang. I like the way they handled the awakening scene, and how Katara reacted. But also, why didn’t she react to everything violently shaking? It was weird. I didn’t love the southern air temple visit. They removed all the feeling from it, and explained everything ahead of time. It ruined the shock for Aang, and him pulling himself out of the avatar state was very upsetting. Overall, great episode. I rate it a soft 7/10.

Episode 2: The best episode by far. I love the way they handled the Kyoshi warriors and their attitudes. The changes to Suki’s character were so fun, but at times felt a little weird. Like the scene where she’s eyeing Sokka, or the moment in the woods. Kyoshi herself was harsh and intimidating, she was perfect. I WAS weirded out that they made Aang shapeshift into her? I hope they don’t do that with the other avatars. That was really weird and bad. I wasn’t a fan of how little damage to village took, but Suki handing Sokka the fan and kissing him was cute. I’m definitely curious how that’ll change the dynamic between him and Yue though, since she was supposed to be his first kiss/love. It didn’t show Aang’s immaturity however, by involving the Unagi. I understand cutting the scene, and i didn’t think of it honestly, but it is another missing character development moment. I rate it 8/10.

Episode 3: YIKES. They combined one of the first few episodes, an episode from the middle of the book, and an episode from the end of the book. I get the time constraint, and it wasn’t too bad in the end, but it was majorly upsetting. They worked it together well, but they missed important relationships that developed because of it. And the whole moment of Aang getting his hopes up, and traveling to the air temple, getting completely scrapped, is disappointing for sure. The Zuko moments felt weird, and it was another thing added to an already crowded episode. I’m really upset by the fact they removed Aang’s character arc. He’s supposed to show the trio how he and Bumi had created a fun game using the mail delivery chutes, and keep acting childish, instead of accepting his responsibility as the avatar. Instead Sokka “has an idea”. This completely nerfs all the introductions to Bumi, and makes him just seem like a really shitty king. 2/10

Episode 4: I like the Iroh and Aang interaction, not a fan of Katara and Sokka having to break in. Especially because they take the tunnel of love episode from book two, a very important episode, and they add it to the middle of season one? The two lovers story animation was so cool though, and the actors got the troupe perfect. Katara and Sokka’s fight in the tunnels feels so forced and scripted. It doesn’t feel natural at all, and just like they were trying to be edgy. However, the tunnel deepened their characters and relationship immensely. The badgermoles aren’t supposed to be monsters, they’re the first airbenders and shouldn’t be portrayed that way. Teo standing up was in character and great. Bumi immediately calling Aang out, and revealing himself was… yea. Not great. The moment Katara finds the water skin was so simple and a fun, quick easter egg. Jett’s actor went off! Katara being able to suddenly freeze water was completely out of nowhere and not a good choice. I like the moment of Zuko having to choose between his dream and family. Bumi testing Aang, while Aang knows his identity, it just hurts. His old and dearest friend is saying all these out of pocket things, and he doesn’t understand why. Bumi’s “games” comments were unprovoked, since aang has shown nothing but dedication and slight nervousness to being the avatar, rather than immaturity. None of the tests, other than the fight, hold any weight, since Katara and Sokka aren’t there. Bumi crafting the whistle was cute! The scenes between the guard and Iroh were so good. It shows how much wrong Iroh did, and contrasts his current nature. We never really got to see people this angry at Iroh in the cartoon. There was moments sure, but this is the real rage of war and it’s so good. It shows the two sides of the after effects of war, anger and forgiveness. It’s a great buildup to show why Iroh changed, and how Zuko’s been manipulated since childhood, yet still has a good heart. It really makes it set in that Zuko went from good to bad, and Iroh went from bad to good, yet both had goodness in them the whole time. 5/10, a very mid episode, saved by the flashbacks.

Episode 5: Katara’s using earthbending techniques! We completely skip chapter 6 :( The automatic knowledge of the spirit world and how to protect Aang is unsettling. Katara and Sokka slipping through is also weird. Background characters mention the pirates, which is chapter 9, and the volcano, from chapter 14, but neither of those have episodes. It’s a nice reference, but upsetting they cut them out, and then mention them when they don’t even happen. June, from chapter 15, suddenly appears. The owl spirit from the library is randomly there??? And Sokka and Katara hearing hooting is so bad. Why are they bringing book two episodes into season one! Sokka’s flashback was messed up and unnecessary. His father was not like that. The creepy clowns are unnecessary as well. The face stealer is randomly there too?? From the final episode of book one. What the hell? He goes to the fire nation and Roku’s shrine. Completely skips saving the forest, to follow a plot from the last chapter, then i guess resume the plot from the middle two chapters? Aang’s just abandoning Sokka and Katara in a random forest?? Going super far on his glider, completely alone, and somehow managing to make it in time to save everyone. Yup, makes sense… 0/10

Episode 6: Young Zuko is so heartbreaking, Iroh being a father figure is such a good addition! June randomly finds a scrap of threads that she magically knows leads to the avatar. No warning of Sozin’s comet, and June appears, instead of Zuko, causing chapter 13/15 events to occur. They did the blue spirit really well though. Zuko and Aang’s heart to heart was so good, and the way the word compassion triggered Zuko’s anger hurt. Going straight into the agni kai? That was true pain. I think this is the one thing they did better than the cartoon. The ship scene was so heartwarming. Aang somehow makes it back, days? later, to save Katara and Sokka, whose bodies have been left in the woods this whole time. The face eater just lets everyone free for the statue? Everyone’s magically returned and no one was eaten. 6/10, solely for the Zuko scenes.

Episode 7: The change with Zuko running away was very different, and out of character, but I actually kind of like it for the live action. It fit in well, and created a lot of tension and emotion. The bond between Jee and Zuko is actually really nice. The gaang’s arrival to the northern water tribe felt like very forced acting. None of it felt real, and the whole scene was highly uncomfortable to watch. I think the only performance i liked was of Chief Arnook. Aang not knowing any waterbending by the time they reach the north is such a terrible choice. We go nearly the entire series without seeing aang doing anything other than airbend??? That is not very avatar-esq. The scene between Iroh and Zhao was very manipulative and pretty good acting. It was a nice break. Azula absolutely slaughters in all her scenes. The minute facial expressions really showcase her rage. Pakku sympthizing with Katara is so wrong. He’s supposed to be the epitome of sexism but immediately starts being friendly to Katara and talking about bending?? Even tells her to go to an instructor? “Water is the element of change” sir, you’re the last person who should be saying that shit. Sokka’s one sided longing for Yue is so awkward. This is the worst acting we get from him, and it’s disappointing. He’s one of the best in the gaang. He gets better when talking to her luckily. Yue being able to bend is a TERRIBLE choice. It goes against her entire character. She randomly starts expositioning to Sokka, who she just met… And her personality is very off. She’s too down to earth. She’s supposed to be more gentle and reserved. It humanizes her, but it’s not her. Pakku scolding Aang for showing up, not knowing any other bending, is so relatable. We get a whole three seconds of Katara bending water through a wooden doll, and she suddenly knows how to heal someone? Then the sexism comes in, and she immediately leaves, instead of at least learning healing for more than a few seconds. Yue not being engaged to Hahn is a choice that i hate and like. It means she’s not cheating when she’s flirting with Sokka, thank gods, but again, it’s against her whole character. Avatar Kuruk being the only decent avatar to give Aang advice is interesting. Them disabling him to fix a plot hole they created by having Kyoshi do all of Aang’s fighting, is so stupid. Just have Aang learn bending, instead of him doing some stupid tour to meet all the avatars. Yue randomly revealing she was the fox was so weird and out of place. The whole moment just takes up unnecessary time. The romance between Yue and Sokka was so uncomfortable and severely forced. There was no real moments between them, just lots of explaining the plot and backstories. Aang being sexist and pushing his anxiety about Katara into season one, is so so wrong. Azula rebelling against her father is wildly out of character. Also, I can’t find when she first lightningbends, but i’m pretty sure it is NOT this early. And she would never dare to attack her father. Why is Katara explaining herself to Sokka, her fighting Pakku’s supposed to be a rash decision based on her frustration with the constant sexism she faces. Instead, it’s a thought out plan she feels the need to defend. Why on earth is she doing hand to hand in the battle? Finally, waterbending looks actually dangerous here. Every single time she’s caught she’s randomly out of breath. Girl, how are you out of breath from being held in place by some icicles? It’s such a disappointing and short fight, and Katara looks so weak during it. Aang’s so insistent on “protecting” Katara and Sokka, but can only do some weak airbending, and has no offensive moves. “The legend of aang” being an attempt at some cutesy easter egg for legends of korra is so cringy, coming from someone who hates cringe culture. I rate this episode a 1/10, for terrible acting and for no understanding of the characters at all.

Episode 8: Aang still knows no waterbending, Katara has learning nothing from the north. Why are the firebenders surprised to be under attack? They should all be prepared and on guard, being so close to the northern tribe. Sokka is a good leader, yes. But why is he commanding the gaang out of nowhere? He’s not supposed confident in his leadership skills until they attack the fire nation, because his dad finally pushes him. A whole ship gets destroyed and everyone’s just chilling on the other boats? Zuko’s supposed to be playing dead, but is just hanging around with no mask. Iroh’s getting the respect he deserves from Zuko, but thing is, Zuko’s supposed to be a disrespectful little shit. And this is not Zuko. The firebenders are using the war balloons, which completely changes the dynamic of the battle, and there’s no way the waterbenders should win this. The woman who was extremely offended when Katara asked to fight, is out of nowhere standing up to Pakku, asking to fight. None of these women know fighting techniques. Momo nearly dies?? The way Sokka hugs him is so awkward. Zuko shows up in the temple, instead of the oasis, and has to fight Katara. This gives her a moment to finally look badass fighting, but is so random and doesn’t work with the story. Zuko getting mad about her finding a master, when Pakku didn’t give her a single second of training, eesh. They’re making comments about stuff that happens in the cartoon, without doing the stuff from the cartoon, and it’s so bad. Why does everyone know it’s Zhao, and know his name. It’s so offputting. The red makes it so hard to see, and it genuinely was hurting my eyes. They decided to put a red filter on everything, instead of doing red lighting, and it just looks bad. They show the horror of the moon’s death so well. The one thing they’ve managed to be consistently good at is show how terrifying the fire nation is. This parallels really well with the beginning scenes of the air nations being destroyed. Aang doing nothing when the moon spirit dies… He turns into the water spirit! But still cannot actually water bend. Aang dies doing this, and somehow Iroh knows. Zuko’s meltdown at the truth was embarrassing and yet again forced. Iroh telling Zuko not to kill Zhao, then killing him… the people in charge of this show truly cannot decide what they want to do. At least it’s in character, since he was protecting Zuko. Yue can still bend somehow. Finally Katara does a speech to bring Aang out of the avatar state. Pakku tells Katara she reminded him water changes, and so should he, like that wasn’t one of his first lines to Katara. He gives Katara the oasis water, but never explains its healing properties. 3/10, the only points being for the amazing portrayal of the terror of the fire nation.

Overall rating: 4/10. The main cast all has acting quirks that started really bothering me before i could even finish the show. Almost every character had at least one moment where the acting pained me. The only good looking bending was ice bending and earth bending. Or when fire was destroying something. It feels like the creators didn’t actually watch the OG ATLA, but instead got handed a piece of paper that had bullet points of what happens in the cartoon, and decided to make their own show from that. This is not an ATLA remake or even a love letter. This is someone trying to copy the success of avatar, by poorly copying the plot and characters. The play scene from the cartoon is really showcasing the irony of the remakes situation. Azula, Iroh, and Sokka were the most in character, and even then, they all had at least one moment where they weren’t right. I loved Zuko’s portrayal, but it just got too much by the second half. He turned completely good, and all his moments where he wasn’t good, felt very out of place. They extended scenes that were unnecessary and awkward, and cut important scenes that were vital to the characters’ or story’s growth. NATLA had its moments, but overall it was just bad. I honestly hope it doesn’t get renewed, because i can’t stand hearing about or watching it get any worse. Aang didn’t learn a single drop of waterbending, and this was supposed to be the water book. He was supposed to MASTER waterbending, but never even started. I could barely finish the show and had to take a two day break, in which i used all my willpower to watch the last two episodes. If you read through all of this, you can watch my joy quickly get smushed, and it turn to exhaustion and disgust. I understand why the original creators left, and it’s so frustrating to have yet another opportunity at seeing a childhood show get re-loved, only for it to crash and burn.

#natla #avatar the last airbender #atla live action #avatar #atla

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