Ever since Avatar ended in 2008, we've seen multiple attempts to recatch the show's lightning-in-a-bottle success. A live-action movie. A sequel animated show. A Netflix live-action reimagining of the original. The less said about the Shyamalan movie, the better, and while the Netflix show is certainly more successful, I also found it lacking. The Legend of Korra was good, occasionally even great, but very few people would claim it's better than the original.
Importantly, none of these projects answered the question fans of Avatar have been asking since the show ended: What happened next to all of these great character that we fell in love with? How did their story continue? Finally, we have an answer in the form of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, an animated movie created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, the original creators of Avatar.
Spoilers to follow, so if you want to watch the movie with open eyes and without prior influence, stop reading now.
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| Courtesy Paramount |
I think this is actually a pretty unpopular opinion, given the 99% audience score the movie has on Rotten Tomatoes (IMDb has it at a more modest 7.7/10), but I found Avatar Aang to be an aggressively mediocre film. It's 90 minutes of exposition and action sequences, possessed of absolutely none of the charm, humor, or heart of the original. Does it look good? Sure, but even that comes with a caveat; all the weight and groundedness of bending that the original displayed (and even Korra hewed to) is cast aside in favor of rapid-fire beams and explosions. The final battle looked more like an episode of Dragonball Z than Avatar; arms are waved and cool-looking beams come out. Don't get me wrong, bending is and always was clearly magical, but in Avatar, it felt like part of the world. In Avatar Aang, that verisimilitude is lost.
I'm starting to rant here, so let's take a step back and tackle the issues one by one.
First and foremost was the characterization, or lack thereof. While Avatar has a compelling plot and does some interesting things — especially considering it was a kid's show — ultimately it is a pretty straightforward hero's journey. Aang starts off as a modest, reluctant kid, terrified of a power he didn't want, and saves the world from the evil Fire Lord. Not complicated at all. No, it's the characters that make the show. Video essays are still being published about Zuko's redemption arc, and people will likely be invoking Iroh's advice for years to come. Even someone as bold, brash, and simple on paper as Toph becomes a complicated, layered character.
The movie has none of this. It is understandable that a 90-minute movie fails to capture the character nuances from a 60-episode TV show, but so many of the Gaang are just nothing. Katara is fine, I guess, but Zuko gets like seven lines, Sokka is pure comic relief, and Toph spends half the movie thirsting after Tagah, the airbender Aang eventually finds frozen in ice. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of all the voice actors being replaced, but it's pretty clear that they're lacking experience and confidence in their roles. Which is too bad, because they do a good job of sounding right.
Also, Iroh isn't even in the movie. It's fine that they didn't force the issue, but come on, everyone loves Iroh.
But what about Aang? The main character of the show and the person the movie is named for? Did they at least do him justice? Well ... it depends. If you go straight from the show to the movie, then Aang's motivation does make sense. But if you've read the various comics set in the aftermath of the show, then you'll know that Aang had an arc specifically dealing with the loss of his people and culture. An arc where he came to accept it and found a way to move on. This movie throws that out the window. It's hardly the first time a comic's been thrown out the window in favor of a new TV show/movie, but I just expect a little more discipline from the Avatar franchise.
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| Courtesy Paramount |
My biggest issue, though, is with Tagah, primary antagonist of the film. If this movie existed in a non-Korra world, the idea of an evil airbender might be really cool. But Zaheer exists, and he is so much better than Tagah in quite literally every way. Better acted, better motivation, and frankly way more threatening despite the overwhelming spirit power Tagah is able to harness with Sonam's staff. Tagah is just a bargain-brand Ozai, with a bit of Unalaq from season 2 of Korra thrown in.
Speaking of Unalaq, I thought it was a baffling decision for the final battle between Aang and Tagah to draw clear influence from the widely hated spirit battle between Korra and Unalaq. The show's most unique aspect — the bending — is largely replaced by fancy beams, posturing, and shouting.
In terms of bad guys, there's also The Denied (stupid name), a group of non-benders who feel they've been cheated out of bending power, and they're searching for Sonam's staff, a weapon created by an Avatar Sonam that can supposedly channel spirit energy and grant non-benders the power of airbending. They exist purely to move the plot forward (spoiler, the staff is real and in Tagah's possession), and have literally no personality or redeeming qualities. They get airbending for about 5 minutes, are way better with it than they have any right to be, then go back to normal when Aang destroys the staff.
One more thing before I move on: While I'm sure this movie is canon to the Avatar-verse, the set piece at the climax is so ridiculously over the top that the fact no one in Legend of Korra references it is absolutely insane and strains believability to the breaking point. It's such an easy fix too — maybe don't set the massive spirit world incursion in Republic City. Put it literally anywhere else. Or, you know, rein in your climactic scene so it doesn't break the lore.
So, is there anything that I liked? I mean, I appreciated learning a bit more about ancient Avatars, and the concept of Sonam's staff is interesting. Powerful, mystic relics from a bygone era are always cool. And the movie does look very good. It probably should be watched in a movie theater, and it's too bad Paramount fumbled the movie's release as badly as it did. But visuals aren't enough to save this movie. It's poorly written in every way, and while it may look like Avatar, it didn't feel like Avatar. I'll give it a 5 out of 10.
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