This show is so frustrating. After years and years of waiting for a proper live action adaptation of this beloved series, we have been served a clearly mismanaged, Hollywood-producer-influenced, beautiful but broken version of ATLA.
My first biggest issue was the pacing, which was a direct symptom of my other biggest issue which was what they decided to show us as the main plot. Too much of the details from Book 1: Water were either mashed together too much in one episode or were omitted entirely. The fact that we didn't even see Aang learn water bending with/from Katara is numbskull writing. On top of that the characters felt watered down due to the lack of said details, because there simply wasn't enough room for character development unless it was slapping us in the face. Aang flying in episode one... I'm not even gonna touch that one.
Continuing my criticisms, there was too much fan service in this first season by giving us characters like Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Wan Shi Tong when they're not even in Book 1. That really annoyed me, especially when Kyoshi appeared IN THE REAL WORLD in front of everyone. Which brings me to my issue with the writers changing the mechanics of the universe the characters live in. The Kyoshi example illuminates the Avatar side of it, where Katara and Sokka being in the spirit world shows the issues from the spirit side of things.
On a more positive note, there were a lot of things I liked. The casting was done, in my opinion, pretty much perfectly for each character. This goes especially for the main ones. From looks, to demeanor, to voices, to delivery of the role, they all performed their characters very well. Also, the bending and fight scenes were all so fun to watch, that was something they definitely got right. Next, the locations were gorgeous, even if it was mostly cgi. It felt as real as they could get it without building whole cities. Lastly, I like that they kept the main plot in tact despite all of their writing potholes.
Overall I enjoyed the show, no matter how annoyed it made me at the writers. My rating is a light 6.5/10.
My first biggest issue was the pacing, which was a direct symptom of my other biggest issue which was what they decided to show us as the main plot. Too much of the details from Book 1: Water were either mashed together too much in one episode or were omitted entirely. The fact that we didn't even see Aang learn water bending with/from Katara is numbskull writing. On top of that the characters felt watered down due to the lack of said details, because there simply wasn't enough room for character development unless it was slapping us in the face. Aang flying in episode one... I'm not even gonna touch that one.
Continuing my criticisms, there was too much fan service in this first season by giving us characters like Kyoshi, Kuruk, and Wan Shi Tong when they're not even in Book 1. That really annoyed me, especially when Kyoshi appeared IN THE REAL WORLD in front of everyone. Which brings me to my issue with the writers changing the mechanics of the universe the characters live in. The Kyoshi example illuminates the Avatar side of it, where Katara and Sokka being in the spirit world shows the issues from the spirit side of things.
On a more positive note, there were a lot of things I liked. The casting was done, in my opinion, pretty much perfectly for each character. This goes especially for the main ones. From looks, to demeanor, to voices, to delivery of the role, they all performed their characters very well. Also, the bending and fight scenes were all so fun to watch, that was something they definitely got right. Next, the locations were gorgeous, even if it was mostly cgi. It felt as real as they could get it without building whole cities. Lastly, I like that they kept the main plot in tact despite all of their writing potholes.
Overall I enjoyed the show, no matter how annoyed it made me at the writers. My rating is a light 6.5/10.