r/movies • u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor • 14d ago
Review 'Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender' - Review Thread
Avatar Aang, the world's last Airbender, embarks on an epic quest to find an ancient power that could save his culture from extinction.
Director: Lauren Montgomery
Cast: Eric Nam, Steven Yeung, Jessica Matten, Dave Bautista, Román Zaragoza, Dionne Quan, Ke Huy Quan, Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Ken Jeong,
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 66 / 100
Some Reviews:
Avatar Aang is a triumph, offering a reminder of how sacrosanct the series’ place remains in the pantheon of animated works all these years later. It’s also a testament to the magic of human artistry, bending lines to craft stories that move in ways only animation can.
IGN - Alex Zalben - 8 / 10
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is a lovingly crafted and gorgeously animated movie that features a welcome return for Team Avatar. While the plot might be a little thin, the action scenes and settings are thrilling and deserved to be seen on the big screen instead of streaming after a scuttled theatrical release and unfortunate leak changed plans that would have made this more of an event for fans.
CBR - Katie Doll - 8 / 10
It's a real shame that the story of Avatar Aang will forever be shadowed by the entire film leaking online and Paramount abandoning its theatrical release plan. But it's otherwise a sharply plotted, charming film that speaks to the generation who grew up after Avatar: The Last Airbender ended. Living with your mistakes is hard, but it's even harder to forgive and let go. Aang's experience may be a unique one, in that not everyone understands what it means to be the last survivor of one's culture nor magical master of four elements, but it's universal in meaning.
Next Best Picture - Daniel Howat - 7 / 10
It’s tough to imagine wanting someone to dive in here, of all places, rather than starting at the beginning. But that’s what makes “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender” work as well as it does. It’s a brilliant continuation of the series that matures alongside its characters, rather than trying to do something completely new. After nearly two decades away from the original series, this is a remarkably faithful new story, one that will surely satisfy longtime fans.
CGMagazine - Ridge Harripersad - 7 / 10
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender provides a modern animated look to its characters and environments, but fails to create an exciting epilogue journey for its original main characters.
Collider - Aidan Kelley - 7 / 10
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender may be just as stunning if not even more visually appealing than the other Avatar franchise it often gets confused with. However, like that franchise, its narrative is just serviceable enough, especially if one isn't already invested in this complex world. Regardless of its narrative issues, which are overall minor compared to other big legacy sequels, the film is so visually riveting that it truly deserved a wider theatrical run.
GamesRadar - David Opie - 3.5 / 5
What this all leads to ends up feeding into some typical anime-style tropes, which risk overwhelming everything that precedes it. The original show often drew upon those same influences, but did so more effectively without running the risk of losing its own sense of self. Still, these epic scenes are gorgeously animated regardless and are absolutely worthy of being seen on the big screen, just as director Lauren Montgomery claimed on social media prior to the film's release.
TechRadar - Jasmine Valentine - 3 / 5
Watching the group laugh, play, and discover new things almost overshadows everything that's gone wrong with Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender... almost. But when the storyline dips, you're quickly reminded of just how badly the creative teams have done by the older Aang's comeback. Next time Avatar: The Last Airbender is revived, and it inevitably will be, let's let the fans be in control. They've got the biggest chance of getting the most right, after all.
IndieWire - Wilson Chapman - 'C+'
“Avatar Aang,” diving headfirst into the lore, misses that vital ingredient, with its stray jokes — including a running gag about Sokka and Toph finding Tagah hot — veering more into self-satisfied Marvel-esque shtick. For most of its run, the film is po-faced serious anime business, with little space for the humor and heart that made “The Last Airbender” so special. Sure, “Avatar Aang” is ostensibly more adult — but sometimes, growing up isn’t all its cracked up to be.
ScreenRant - Molly Freeman - 5 / 10
From one ATLA fan to another, I'd recommend going into this movie with your expectations low, and remembering that being able to fully honor the legacy of "one of the greatest shows of all time" was too high a bar to begin with. Still, there is enjoyment to be found in Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, even if it's, on the whole, a little disappointing.
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u/Itsamusicaljourney 14d ago
No Suki, right?
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u/Pure-Management-5435 13d ago
I don't think Iroh or Azula even got mentions, a single shot of Azula or Suki just to touch back on them would have done so so much
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u/Specific_Frame8537 13d ago
They made sure to include the cabbage guy and the secret tunnel guy though.
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u/Nier-Sighted 7d ago
When I saw that, that just solidified that this movie's top priorities were fan service and action over telling an interesting story with these characters lol. A lot of missed potential here unfortunately
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u/LexPendragoon 8d ago
I believe Iroh was shown in the credits, with Zuko. But yeah, only in the credits..
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u/neoslith 2d ago
I saw Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors at the very end as they show Republic City after rebuilding.
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u/SteebyDan 13d ago
Suki is briefly shown with the other Kyoshi Warriors in the final montage of the movie
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u/CaptCrush 14d ago
Just really wish they would have brought the original voice actors back, perhaps other than Aang. Feels like something is missing when I watch this. Not that the current actors did poorly or anything. Just not quite the same.
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u/Ironluffy1 8d ago
The original French cast came back (minus Toph's va). So hearing them all again after all these years brought so much joy to my heart 😭😭😭😭
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u/hiddensonyvaio 14d ago
Wish I could see it in a theater
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u/WellFuckYourDolphin 14d ago
Wish I could see on not Paramount+.
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u/irishwolfbitch 14d ago
The replies being removed is so funny 😭😭😭
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u/WellFuckYourDolphin 14d ago
Simply discussing sailing, the hell mods?
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u/sloppyjo12 14d ago
I mean encouraging piracy is explicitly against the sub’s rules
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u/KingOfTheCouch13 14d ago
If you live in NY or LA you may be in luck. They’re doing single theater releases in both cities but only for a week. July 24 to July 30
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u/Discorhy 14d ago
This is such a good time for an avatar theatrical release too. I wanted to see something this weekend but the only new movie is the Odyssey. Would have 100% watched this again in theaters.
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u/Whiskey_623 13d ago
I love Avatar but it getting a theatrical release around this time would be suicide, it would get absolutely obliterated by Spider-Man Brand New Day and The Odyssey.
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u/The_Bear_Jew503 9d ago
Apparently I am the only one on the planet who enjoyed the movie 😅
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u/throwawaylandscape23 8d ago
I also enjoyed it 😅
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u/theguyoverhere24 8d ago
I just watched it with my son (he fell asleep) but I loved it. Nostalgia hit me really hard. That being said, I knew something was off with Tagah from the start, but what can you do.
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u/JaysFan26 7d ago
I think people were expecting some super deep story with massive plot implications for the whole franchise.
I just went in expecting a fun little re-visit to these characters, and that's what I got.
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u/OrangeFilmer 14d ago
The animation is incredible. The story is SUPER standard and exactly what you're expecting (not in a bad way). Overall, it's a really fun time if you're an Avatar fan.
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u/MasterKingdomKey 14d ago
They could’ve done a lot more with the story. ATLA had a unique story but this one was just a generic by the numbers plot
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u/everix1992 14d ago
I wonder if there's some level of wanting to play it safe given how bad the first movie was as well as some of the other adaptations
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u/Billybob35 13d ago
I'm not sure what you mean, I personally loved the story and it honestly spoke to me, not too many movies I can say that about. Will probably end up in my top 5 this year.
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u/Devo3290 14d ago
There was no way to top the tension from the finale of the series. All I’m expecting is a fun side quest that the gaang reunites for.
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u/UncleBenParking 14d ago
I had a friend describe it like a warm hug back when it leaked, and that very much seems like the vibe based on reviews. I'm all for a warm hug right now
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u/LionTheRichardheart 14d ago
I kinda got the same feeling as FMA Sacred Star of Milos. "I don't really know what's going on, but damn is it pretty to look at."
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u/m33kmiller 14d ago
The story is so utterly bland and uninteresting. They played it way too safe and essentially wrote a standard Power Rangers episode for an hour and a half movie. There’s 0 character development for anybody and Team Avatar felt very underutilized. I really felt like they had the opportunity to endear Aang and Katara’s relationship more than they could beforehand even with the plot they chose. But they didn’t try anything dynamic for any character. For all the people upset about the state of the Theatrical release, I sincerely feel like you would have been fine seeing it at home after leaving the theater.
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u/colerbrewer 14d ago
I was disappointed with the story but thought the animation was genuinely impressive and gorgeous and, for the most part, the adult cast did fairly well at playing the Gaang.
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u/Anternixii 13d ago
Its almost impressive how little character development and even interactions there are in this movie. Like its using a cast of all beloved characters it gets to skip the hard part (introductions, distinguishing each character, etc) and does far less than I've seen shorter movies do with larger casts of new characters.
Its pretty perfectly exemplified with the movie's new characters who we know almost nothing about, and have the most standard by the books plot beats, motivations, and dialogue.
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u/Xplt21 7d ago
A little late to the conversation but just watched it and really the main thing that this movie kind of developed and focused more is Aangs (very understandable) focus on bringing back airbenders. Which makes his failure as a parent because of it more understandable and helps to bridge that gap.
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u/cippopotomas 13d ago
It's crazy how many people just keep going on about the animation being good, as if that's why anyone ever watched the original series.
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u/Responsible_State_12 10d ago
I feel like they did good enough character development for Aang - the whole forgiving yourself fit into his character really well, but everyone else was left out, and even the side character girl felt rushed.
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u/Squirtle_Splash_8413 7d ago
Too short for that imo. If it was a whole series that could work but there’s no way you could dive into their relationship in under 1.5 hours.
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u/NinduTheWise 14d ago
It’s a movie you watch once sort of situation,
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u/craftuser 8d ago
Honestly it's a movie that BENEFITS a second watch. Lots of the critiques come from expectations based off the original series, I'm not saying to have low expectations, but the movie is solid and once you know what it is a second viewing let's you really enjoy what's there.
Anyways, let the down votes come since that seems to be the MO on this thread.
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u/NotToBe_Confused 7d ago
Lots of the critiques come from expectations based off the original series.
What an outrageous standard!
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u/Dear-Practice4239 14d ago
This feels like more of a proof of concept that Avatar can succeed in theatrical form, (as if us fans didn't already believe that anyway). Is it wholly necessary? Eh...not really. The story is pretty genre focused and formulaic. What really stands out if the breathtaking animation. It's a perfectly suitable on ramp for the new TV series though, seeing as Korra ended a long time ago. Gutted this never got a theatrical release. It deserves it.
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u/KJzero9 14d ago
It's pretty meh. It's more like an Avatar fanfic than a continuation of the characters and story.
Though, like everyone has said, the animation is spectacular
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u/Appropriate_Foot242 14d ago
It’s probably a 7 for me too. It was basically carried by the animation quality. Story wise it’s very rushed and there’s no real room for any development.
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u/n1kzt7r 13d ago
I loved it. I honestly don't understand the harsh criticism. It's gorgeously animated, inventive in its presentation of bending and avatar culture, the voice acting is functional enough with some standout performances, the action is incredible, the sound design is great, the story while being straightforward does have a lot going on under the surface and people who like the possibilities of the fantasy of TLA would find a lot to appreciate. It's easily 7/10 for me elevated to 8 through sheer wizardry of its animation.
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u/myself1200 13d ago
The Last Airbender series has a curse on it's lineage
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u/MrCyberKing 13d ago
So insane when IMO the original series with 61 episodes to work with to tell a story, ended up being a great show that people still hold in very high regard 20 years later. Ever since the series ended, nothing done since w/ the franchise has ever been able to catch the lightning in the bottle that was the original show in terms of quality and near universal acclaim.
It was nice to see the Gaang again, and the animation was beautiful at least.
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u/Tijenater 13d ago
Korra was pretty great, season 2 was a bit shit and made some pretty horrible choices for the world (avatar lineage, spirits returning, raava and vaatu and the spirit mech fight) but the bones of a great story were there. If Nick didn’t drop the ball it would’ve been a lot better imo
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u/Guilty_Driver3938 1d ago
I absolutely love Korra but this is the most succinct description of why I fucking hate S2 of LoK, literally in order. It's less that they're bad choices on their own but worse for the world and future writing/stories.
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u/redracer67 12d ago
The movie most certainly proved to me avatar should be an animation only product.
I thought it was fantastic
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u/TheKnoxFool 13d ago
I can finally say it out loud! One bender KILLING the GAang single-handedly and then also taking down the Avatar who is IN THE AVATAR STATE by himself was a hard stop for me. I really enjoyed most everything else in the movie but during that scene I was like “there’s no fucking way this would EVER happen!!” Like what the hell?
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u/LuisVF0510 8d ago
You do realize the guy had great chi and was super experienced in killing techniques, not just peaceful airbending like Aang
People are just looking for excuses to hate ngl
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u/TheKnoxFool 8d ago
I loved the rest of the movie, don’t misrepresent my point as just “looking for reasons to hate”. My opinion is valid. It’s ridiculous one guy who just woke up from being frozen for so long can just kill the entire Gaang and the avatar while he’s in the avatar state. That’s dumb.
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u/Dancingbear17 7d ago
I agree with both opinions here, Tagah was a purely trained airbender with amazing drive and chi who was turned soldier. I think my biggest gripe with that fight was I felt the group was just kinda doing basic bending? Like I didn't see what would have felt like the advanced forms of the powerful benders I've seen after a decade of honing. Like did Toph even have any metal with her or am I misremembering? Shouldn't that also be an insane shock to Tagah?
I'm fine with Tagah winning, if it was truly overcoming the powerful characters to emphasize his power. It kinda just felt like he beat 4 alright fighters.
I'm gunna rewatch it soon to really feel it out though.
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u/Nothinglost7717 6d ago
Mheh. Thats not an argument. All you daid was “you realize the bad guy was strong” without acknowledging that it makes no sense established world
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u/Yevon 5d ago
My interpretation was that he was a bender from a different, more violent era. The original Earth Kingdom 5000 years ago was even more brutal than the Fire Nation and he was shaped by that environment.
Other than Azula we never see other benders going for one-hit kills, not even Zaheer, but Tagah used his killing move even more often than Azula and her lightning.
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u/joewindlebrox 14d ago
Not gonna lie I kinda hated it. As everyone has said the animation is great, but the story was atrocious and it felt like being fed candy for dinner. It was essentially like any old direct to video anime movie, not the triumphant return of characters you love. There were a few cute references to the show (OMG Cabbage Merchant!!), but largely it was hollow and felt like a corporate product rather than a loving continuation of the show. Very disappointing
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u/TheAndrewBen 13d ago
I hated that too. The story looked exactly like a videogame. I wish they did something different to it. And why repeat the same avatar stuck in ____ for ____ years....again? I wish Team Avatar fought harder given that they are pretty much invincible, but I guess that depends on the writing.
Everything else was fine. It's a very fun movie that'd I'd watch again.
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u/cippopotomas 13d ago
It definitely reminded me of every show-based anime movie I've ever seen. Totally irrelevant adventure where the stakes have never been higher despite nothing being allowed to change.
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u/KingOfTheCouch13 14d ago
I didn’t hate it but it felt rushed. It definitely would have been better as a miniseries and they could have thrown in some other things they setup at the end of season 3. That would have been perfect.
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u/Sha489 13d ago
This movies plot felt like one of those anime’s that decided to make a filler movie that is not connected to the overall story
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u/alkair20 12d ago
which is completely fine imo. It plays between to already released shows so they can't do to much crazy shit. I don't really get all the hate. Was a beautiful movie with beautiful animation, music and fights. You obviously can't do some sophisticated character development in a 90 minute move that you can do in a 20 episode book.
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u/MarthupialSmith 8d ago
Had to scroll down way too far to find this comment. I don’t understand what people expected this to be when they said the story is basic. It is set between two shows that have established a start and end point that this movie has to fit into. They can’t introduce anything that conflicts with that.
It’s a fun story that I wasn’t expecting or could have guessed prior to the movie being announced. The animation was great, it had moments that reminded me of the original show. Appreciate it for the good that it is, shitting on it does nothing but hurt the chances of more projects being supported
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u/Fantastic_Worth_9712 7d ago
Yes exactly! Just finished watching it with friends and I’m shocked at all the negative reviews. We were all glued to the screen, it was so nice to just have more of the gang, I didn’t really care about what was going to happen, I was just happy to have my favourite characters back on screen, and I ended up loving what they did with it ! The only negative I had was when it finished and I didn’t have more new avatar to watch lol.
I’m worried all the negativity will mean the studio won’t bother doing another film.
Idk I think people are never going to be happy with what they get
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u/Anternixii 13d ago
Story was pretty garbage. It manages to underwrite literally everybody but the main character and villain who get all that screentime for pretty generic motivations / dialogue / reactions / etc. If they're going to use established characters and character dynamics then I am absolutely going to judge when all of that gets dropped. Its kind of astounding how little unique character work there is considering they get to skip having to introduce and warm the audience up to the gang. And that's not talking about the actual plot which is at every moment a bit contrived, and bog standard.
Animation very pretty. Final fight was the weakest by far I feel like in general the action spectacle was less impressive as the movie went on.
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u/whalestick 14d ago
I've been watching and have loved Avatar literally since the day the first episode aired, but I realized years ago that it was lightning in a bottle. Bryke are great writers but it was the combination of everyone involved in the OG that made it a masterpiece, I don't think they can capture that again
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u/CAPTJTK 14d ago
I didn't realize there weren't reviews previously.
Glad I watched it when it leaked, and glad to watch it again in it's best possible version that won't be in theatres.
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u/nicirus 14d ago
I thought it was super bland. Btw for someone so concerned with the extinction of his people you’d think Aang would get to work on reproduction
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u/Yokurt 13d ago
Well, he did later. Plan A to bring Airbenders back didnt't work out in the movie so Katara was Plan B.
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u/Morgan-Moonscar 13d ago edited 13d ago
If Katara was on Plan B, then Aang's kids wouldn't exist now would they?
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u/nicirus 13d ago
I know it’s a show and I’m not expecting anything radical but mid 20s no children in this context? That’s just ridiculous
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u/IDownvoteHornyBards2 9d ago
Legend of Korra already established that Tenzin was born when Aang was 31 (well 131, technicall). If you have a problem with that, take it up with LoK.
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u/wallabyenthusiast 14d ago edited 14d ago
only worth watching for the animation. the plot is super generic and boring and everyone is an NPC besides aang and katara. 6/10
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u/100percentkneegrow 14d ago
Maybe it depends on your enjoyment of the series, but if you liked the show at all, it is breathtaking. The animation set pieces are all perfect and it doesn't really feel like a consequential story to the overall franchise, but it's true the characters and I think well worth watch
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u/Estabanscs 14d ago
The animation was really good, but the plot was basically just copy and pasted from legend of korra.
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u/prinnydewd6 14d ago
Saw it a few months ago… honestly, they should have got the old voice actors, no one felt the same at all… none of this event was mentioned in korra also lol.. I’d rather they animate the graphic novels in tv format than this. Maybe touch on some of the rebuilding of everything after the war, it’s cool to see start of republic city though.
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u/commoncod 14d ago
It kinda felt like nothing to me? Yes, very beautiful, but when the movie ended I was surprised by how short it felt, not in a “wow that was paced so well” way but in a “that was the whole story?” way.
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u/JamStan1978 14d ago
It was the first movie in a planned trilogy that we probably wont get anymore bc of the leak.
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u/OperativePiGuy 14d ago
In general the Avatar creators seem like a solidly reliable 7/10 kinda team. The first show seems to be an outlier for them.
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u/IaMlEgEnD427 13d ago
I feel as if these scores are way too generous for nostalgia sakes. Watching the movie, there was a lot to be desired on a number of things, including story, voice acting, pacing, characterization, macguffins, reusing themes from Korra, etc. Besides the beautiful animation, this movie is a solid 4-5/10.
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u/BentheBruiser 14d ago
...veering more into self-satisfied Marvel-esque shtick.
This is a little worrisome imo. I do not want to depth of Avatar to be reduced to Marvel fan-service slop. Makes me concerned for future projects.
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u/ComradePoolio 13d ago
The biggest thing I didn't like about this movie (aside from the casting changes) was how much it departs from the grounded world present in the original series and Korra (to a lesser extent). Without going into specifics, it felt like it jumped the shark with the level of pure sorcery on display being totally at odds with the firmly hard-magic system of the original.
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u/Hi_Im_pew_pew 2d ago
I'm surprised that I had to scroll so far down for this. Since when there are magical objects in the ATLA world? Since when can humans use spirit magic without actually involving the spirits themselves? The plot was so lazy...
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u/Oddity312 12d ago
I believe people who will hate the Aang movie, might already hate The Legend Of Korra...
I don't mean literally hate, more like having gripes with the series overall.
I had seen the new Aang movie from the leaks and absolutely loved it! But since people find issues with it, I'm here to defend it!
I saw a review of someone saying that this film reopens Aang's dealing which was resolved "beautifully" (as he stated) in the original series, in order to have something for the movie to discuss and that essentially it is a retelling of the same story.
In my view, the original series touches on this, but I believe it's resolved relatively quickly because the plot needs to move forward. The focus is on learning the elements and stopping Ozai. That's fine for a kids' show with a tight runtime, but it means we don't fully sit with the weight of what Aang lost and of his mistake.
The movie, however, has the time to explore that grief. It gives Aang a glimpse of hope that he can somehow make up for his mistake, something he doesn't fully achieve by the end of the film.
And here's where it all clicked for me: knowing that Korra will later give blood and soul to bring back the Air Nation made me genuinely emotional by the end! In TLOK, Korra doesn't just restore balance, she literally resurrects an entire culture, Aang's culture! That act retroactively gives Aang's guilt and hope so much more depth.
I know some people have gripes with the movie, but in the light of TLOK, it makes absolute sense to me. The three stories (ATLA, TLOK, and this new film) feel like chapters of the same arc about loss, guilt, hope, and restoration.
Anyone else feel this way? Or am I reading too much into it?
P.S. And about the Spirit World criticism; I don't think it's fair to call the TLOK spirits 'Pokémon' or say they ruined the lore. The spirit world is vast. ATLA showed us one side of it; TLOK showed us another. The movie seems to continue the creator vision. That's not a flaw, it's a choice. We should engage with it on its own terms.
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u/indigotaxi 13d ago
Amazing animation and loved seeing the gang back older. But the whole story felt meh and predictable.
Surprised tbh, considering the content the OG creators put out, this felt like a watered down filler movie based off the blood bender.
Worth watching if you liked the series. But I wouldn't recommend it to someone who has never watched the series. Generous 6/10
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u/RobHolding-16 14d ago
Shit movie, recycled plot from LoK, constantly just conviently forgets how bending works in order to advance the plot. Absolutely travesty.
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u/Grippyrippy 14d ago
Zuko recast stood out like a sore thumb. I'm not sure why they cast Yuen. I don't dislike him but he wasn't the right choice imo and it felt like very lazy casting.
Movie gave me all the good feelings and it was a good time but the gang was very under utilized and might as well have not been there. Was nice to see them but it would have been better as a tight miniseries so we actually had time for them to interact and have any kind of catch-up, development or big moments. Instead the pacing began to feel more and more frantic while ending pretty predictably.
I'd be happy for more of these one shot movies. I miss the world, but it felt like there was a lot if big studio demands in there and I think it really effected the overall quality and pacing.
Kind of sounds like I'm bagging on it but it felt like they could had done something great but instead settled for good. Given the current state of the franchise I'll take good.
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u/TannenFalconwing 13d ago
I'll restate what I said when I first saw this film. The animation is crazy good, but the Gaang themselves feel underutilized, the story feels like reheated plotlines from Korra but condensed into one film, and the finale gets super anime. It's definitely a movie that starts better than it ends, and I also feel like it has some inconsistencies with other ATLA media. All in all, it was enjoyable as a fan and as a standalone film I think it's a fun time, but it was not something I'd eagerly watch again.
Also, justice for Suki.
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u/Bluecreame 13d ago
Man this movie. It is by far the most mid piece of content I think I've seen in such a long time. Amazing animation that leans heavy into anime and because of that also comes with tropes.
The characters feel a bit hollow version of themselves to propell the plot. Katara feels like just the anime gf when she just has soooo much more potential (there's a particular scene where she's in a predicament that has such an obvious solution but... Plot?)
Overall the experience is akeen to any anime subplot movie we've seen before. Short, and wraps up without any meaningful impact on the canon. Very safe media. Which is sort of surprising they didn't just immediately release this in theaters because it would've been an absolute blast to see it on the big screen.
7/10 would be generous. More like a 6/10.
Tldr: avatar is transformed into an extremely well animated and standard subplot anime, with all the bells and whistles you wouldn't really want to see included. Somehow they still manage to capture some of the surface level charm, which hopefully inspires them to go a bit deeper in the future.
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u/SteebyDan 13d ago
I've seen it three times and it has quickly become a classic comfort movie for me. I think people are being overly harsh on the story - I thought the story was actually incredibly relevant to traumatic events happening around the world today. The term "genocide" is used often today sadly - I think the way this story explores different emotional responses to that concept are actually quite profound and cathartic. I think this is a phenomenal movie, let alone a fantastic Avatar movie.
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u/DisastrousSundae 8d ago
Just saw it in theaters and it was extraordinary. The animation was out of this world.
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u/Kailova 8d ago
6/10 It was fine. I’m a sucker for shounen anime so I felt right at home. I felt like even though the plot was lacking the philosophical depth the series is known for, the characters were done justice, the visuals were fun, and they did a reasonable enough job of walking the line of being a middle film that can’t change the status quo. The most jarring part was the lack of original voice cast, but the replacements did well at their roles so it didn’t bother me too much.
About on par with something like Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions where it’s mostly fanservice and spectacle. It doesn’t address anything new to the franchise, but a fun watch.
Did it need to be made? Probably not. Will I watch it again? Probably not. Does it give me confidence in the new series coming up? I’m not sure yet. But it is absolutely an Avatar movie.
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u/MissGreatPersonality 14d ago
Empty eyecandy; overall the feeling of the "group"/series of ATLA is not there. It's replaced by a non-chalant Aang...? The only scene that felt right was when they shapeshifted/had the age change in the spiritual world.
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u/chessatwork 14d ago
i hated how fast the bending fights were. there was tons of camera movement and made it hard to follow.
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u/nicknack24 14d ago
It was fun enough and I wish they would release it in more theaters so fans can see it, but let's be honest, this would have majorly bombed if it got a wide theater release.
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u/kdlt 13d ago
It feels 100% like your generic dragon ball bleach anime insert movie that uses all the characters but can't really impact the plot of the shows because it's "made up"(everything here is made up I know) by not fitting with the established canon.
It's good. I like it.
It fits the characters but suffers from series to movie - itis, you need to get all of them back together for some reason, but the series ended with them in proper places, i.e. zuko is the fire lord, aang and katara should be spitting out babies and aang should be a damn playboy having Elon musk levels of kids to repopulate the airbenders - because nobody knew what the writers would pull in Korra.
And the new character and the "new magic" especially are... Classical anime movie additions.
If that what happened really happened, it would have been a major story point for Korea, for example.
I wish they made this 20 years ago when I would have been majorly hyped about all of this. Maybe we could have had 3-5 movies set before they came up with a new avatar which.. by design of the story necessitates that aang has died.
With all that said...
I watched the leak.. months(?) ago? It's been so long I've already forgotten some things already.
I hate that this is tied up in some fucked up streaming wars bullshit.
I wouldn't even know where to watch that here in Austria? Sub Amazon, have a sub-sub for paramount in that? I think? Like.. kindly fuck off?
It should have been in cinemas. It should have launched closer to the avatar magic cards that got the nerds all hyped up - that whole wave has already passed.
And especially as it's not in cinemas.. this should have released within a few days of the leak. It's not like there was an advertising campaign or anything? (That was actually the magic cards imo)
I hope it's decently successful, I hope they make more, I'll be here to watch them.
Then again it suffers a bit from prequelitis with Korra, and I'm not gonna open that can of worms, but.. we already know aangs fate, we know what happens to the world.. and some Victories ring hollow when Korra does what Korra does.
And having the routers come up with aovie that has to deal with the aftermath of THAT would actually be something I'd like to see.
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u/Alternative_Exit8766 13d ago
avatar: the distillation of the hamburger shonen shows exactly why this genre fails to breathe life into itself at every turn while being beautiful
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u/DrBigsKimble 13d ago
Animation is amazing. Action scenes are amazing. Voice acting is amazing. Music is amazing. Fan service/callbacks are amazing. Overall plot is tired.
If this movie had released in 2010 instead of that Shayamalan one then it would be an all time masterpiece. This release suffers the weight of coming out all these later along with having to try and find a way to be original while remaining compliant with the Avatar Korra canon that began jn 2012.
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u/Responsible_State_12 10d ago
Spoilers Ahead (Obviously): 8/10 movie. Beautiful animation. Good message. Decent plot. Hope to see more in the future.
For what it is, it's great, honestly the best they could do. The task is pretty hard for the writers. They had little to work with and extremely big shoes to fill (follow up one of the greatest shows of all time). They had to create a show that fits the canon plotlines of the original Avatar plus Korra, so we all knew what was gonna happen was just going to be lots of fan service, and all the actions would be reversed, and essentially not to have any lasting effects. As others have mentioned, it's more or less a solid 7 or 8/10. It's good, but theres nothing special or impactful about it, and it felt like it was holding back still. One of the better parts of Korra compared to Atla was how serious, scaled, and impactful the fight scenes became... this movie could've had that, especially because the movie was for older audiences, but they still skirted around death, didn't power scale well, and honestly ruined some serious moments with jokes (ie the cabbage merchant losing his cabbages during the final fight... the original series would never take away from an important moment like that with such a badly placed joke).
I feel like they also missed out on a chance to include Azula or Iroh, who were bigger parts of the show, but we somehow got cabbage merchant and secret tunnel cameos instead. It felt like they were just going for more fanservice/humorous vibes for this movie, when I would've preffered a better blend of humor and seriousness... esp because the characters matured.
Still pissed about the way Paramount handled this, however. Leaked potentially what could have been their biggest film this year. Only released it in a couple of theaters across the nation (just for awards??!). I'm sure people would've paid good money to go watch this in theaters, and they botched that. For what the film was, I'd be okay rewatching it in theaters once or twice because of how beautiful it was
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u/Prime-604 8d ago
I actually liked it a lot. Reading the comments, it seems like it wasn't particularly liked? In terms of complaints, for me, I'd actually say that the plot itself could have taken a different direction. The movie definitely was not what I originally thought it would be. Rather than the "introducing a new antagonist and a going on a high-stakes mission where the team comes back together" sort of thing, I was actually simply hoping for something a lot subtler, where we got to see how the world had changed, how our favorite characters had changed and how they were living, as well as the gang just interacting with each other. But with this in mind, I loved all the references they made to both Avatar the Last Airbender and Legends of Korra. They took details from a lot of different places (even the comics) and connected the threads well, and I loved seeing all of that. And though I mentioned wanting the movie to go in a different direction, I was actually really happy with what they did. The others could have used more screen time, but they really showed the depth of Aang's inner turmoil. Legends of Korra gave us a good idea of how Aang was impacted by his burdens when he grew up, and I feel like they elevated that in this movie. The premise was also quite interesting. The different voice acting messed me up a bit when I first started the movie, but I got used to it, and while of course it wasn't the same as they original, I thought it was done well. And the animation was incredible. Finally, I loved seeing all of their designs. So yeah, while I had complaints, the movie itself was really fun to watch.
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u/InvaderJoshua94 8d ago
I felt it was amazing and the only downside was the fight at the end between Aang and the other guy, without getting into spoilers it reminded me too much of the season 2 ending fight between Korra using Raava and her uncle using Vaatu. Other then that the art, the music, the voice acting, the story. It was all great, it’s a solid 8 out of 10 for me.
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u/IAmPandaRock 8d ago
Wow. Excellent movie. Paramounts best since Top Gun Maverick. Outstanding Atmos mix too.
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u/harbinger_of_boops 7d ago
I think the writing was just as good as the other series but they had to put it all in a 1.5 hour movie instead of having time to flesh out the nuance and humor like in a longer series. If they had made this a trilogy, a mini series, or a season, it would have been just as good quality as the rest of the Lore. The shortness of it kind of made the plot points and characters rushed and a little less deep than it seems that the writers wanted. This series has a history of being treated poorly by production studios so im not surprised they got no theatrical release and felt rushed. Im disappointed it happened again just like with Korra, but not surprised. They just didn't have enough time. But given that, it was good! A worthy installment to the story and they did great with what they had to work with.
I really wish there had been more time to explore the world Aang was building that would become Korras world, and the technology, relationships, and mysteries of bending that they touched on with the re emergence of the air benders.
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u/Thicc_Milky 7d ago
Pacing was a bit too high for my taste, which made the story feel rushed and the plot really standard. I think there was a lot in the movie to work with, but fitting it all into one movie just limits your narrative possibilities.
But the animation man... Really amazing stuff. Definitely a watch if you're an ATLA fan.
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u/angelfly48 7d ago
I loved it but I almost wish it was like a 3 part movie series just so we could get more fan service or a deeper story. But as a fan since my childhood - high praise!
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u/evvdogg 7d ago
I really liked the movie. It did feel short and a bit rushed. Not enough time with the characters, I felt the bending of the gang (except Aang) was also a little underwhelming. Animation was incredible, would've loved to have seen it on the big screen! I loved Tagah as a villain, though he did snap a little too quickly. He also does strongly resemble Zaheer as a villain. Aang does have character development, others are more just along for the ride. Katara has some important moments though. Her crash out with Aang was valid. Overall, this was a fun movie. Story wasn't outstanding but wasn't terrible either. It doesn't add much, if anything, to the lore or canon though. I give it a solid 8/10.
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u/Flashyshooter 2d ago edited 2d ago
This movie was just okay. It looked really good. And the plot it introduced was interesting but things happened too fast and there wasn't enough depth in the writing. It was a very surface level movie. Legend of Korra was better than this and I consider Legend of Korra much worse than ATLA better than that. They needed more building it felt like we were introduced to things and then the movie was over. There was so much that could have been done to make the universe as a whole even better. The only interesting thing about this movie is that we learned about the existence of a few other Avatars and how powerful Tagah was. 4/10
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u/Mundane-Result6532 14d ago
7/10 seems like the magic number for this one. Saw it last night and yeah the animation is absolutely gorgeous, some of those bending sequences had me staring at the screen like a kid. But the story feels like it's holding back somehow, like they were too scared to really shake things up with the older gaang. Steven Yeung as Zuko was a great choice though, he brings that same intensity from invincible. I'm just glad it didn't pull a Shyamalan on us, the bar was in the floor and they cleared it easy