Aang (Gordon Cormier), a 12-year-old airbender, is recognized as the next Avatar, who can master all four elements and keep the world safe in the fantastical world divided into nations of Air, Earth, Water and Fire. But when Aang embarks on his journey to receive necessary training, the Fire Nation wages a brutal war against the Air Nomads and wipes out all airbenders. Will Aang then come back to save his own people?
Avatar: The Last Airbender, which has been adapted into a live-action film due for release in 2024, was one of the most watched television series between 2005 and 2008 with three seasons. Coming almost two decades after its initial showing in public domain it comes back riding high on certain levels of expectancy particularly following M. Night Shyamalan’s botched attempt at turning it into a movie in 2010.
The makers of this adaptation have taken on some challenge with fans of the show having their several reasons why they love it so much from its enthralling story line or even being set within such a world and its main characters such as Aang who leads others like Katara or Sokka among others. In this adaptation Kiawentiio and Ian Ousley play brother-sister who finally become Aang’s best friends from wolf cove water tribe village by helping him during his journey.
That time when Firelord Sozin (Hiro Kanagawa) waged war with Water Nomads; he mainly targeted airbenders who were not yet full avatars. Even though he wants to go back and save other Air Nomads for Aang an enormous sea storm traps him there. Another thing happens in a different Nation where Sokka and Katara stumble upon him while he was trapped inside large ice slab by accident. The grandma to these siblings reveals that before her entire clan was wiped out by the Fire Nation, she saw the last airbender one hundred years ago. Aang understands that he spent a century in suspension and that his task to save the world is just starting. It sets off an adventurous but dangerous journey of exploration into the different nations containing four elements. In pursuit of him is Prince Zoku (Dallas James Liu) who has been thrown out by his father, Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim), who is also the present Firelord, until he finds the Avatar. Aided by his uncle Iroh (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and back at home in Fire Nation, power-hungry Azula (Elizabeth Yu) his sister plots to succeed their dad as next head. After annihilating the Avatar, Firelord Ozai’s goal is conquering the whole globe.
As the episodes travel into different Nations, the storyline ensures that every character has a graph. The live-action adaptation of “Avatar – The Last Airbender” is visually stunning and perfectly embodies this as it takes us through various nations in several episodes with fantasticly choreographed action pieces that inject enough excitement and wonder. It is Aang’s story arc that gets more fleshed out by definition of the characters than any other, especially Katara’s journey from amateur water-bender to almost being a master in her field and Aang’s slow transformation into his destined self as the all powerful Avatar. In addition to this, he also gives some insight into his character while acting as one of Aang’s most bitter enemies. The fact that Sokka is a clownish character who seems ridiculous at times makes him seem likeable here. Dallas James Liu does justice to Zoku’s internal conflict while Gordon Cormier captures the right mix of naïveté and charm for Aang. Even though Azula doesn’t get much screen time, Elizabeth Yu strikes audiences with her performance on several occasions when she plays her role.
However, it can best be seen through its generous display of scenic landscapes, romance thrown in and an abundance of action. Additionally, it incorporates friendship, self-belief, letting go and trauma into its narrative which give it depth; thereby adhering to its original work in that regard only if not anything else. Nonetheless, fans of the old show will miss some subtleties about the characters or plotline here and there! Nevertheless for those unfamiliar with this franchise I would strongly recommend watching this amazing adventure called “Avatar – The Last Airbender.”
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