Netflix viewers divided over new Avatar: The Last Airbender series as some fans 'struggle' to finish it
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV, News, Social Media, Rotten Tomatoes
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV, News, Social Media, Rotten Tomatoes
After a six-year wait, Avatar: The Last Airbender has now dropped on Netflix.
The highly anticipated live-action adaptation of the popular 00s Nickelodeon animation was announced in 2018.
The original writers of the show, Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko, were initially tied on the Netflix series.
However, they announced in 2020 that they were stepping down from the new project due to creative differences with the streamer.
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With this in mind, die-hard Avatar fans understandably had their doubts about the new version of the show.
Speaking to UNILAD about people's concerns ahead of the series' release, actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee - who stars as General Iroh - said: "I think [Avatar: The Last Airbender fans] can rest assured because there was a little bit of trepidation or a little bit of worry that we were going to stray really far from the source material and change the characters to make them all gritty and unrecognizable. I think we can lay those fears."
Now, a few days on from Avatar: The Last Airbender's big premiere, people have been sharing their thoughts online.
As it stands, the show boasts an admirable 75 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Elsewhere on Facebook, one person said of the new live-action series: "I know people have issues with some of the things changed but I don't mind that, 'cause the original show is there for that.
"I don't mind some stuff that was missed but I actually like some of the new stuff that we've never seen before."
Another added: "I just got done with the whole series. Loved it beginning to finish. Would I have liked Sokka to be sexist and learn to be a better person? Sure, but it still felt like the avatar story without that somehow and they still did Sokka justice."
A third continued to rave: "I think it’s brilliant. Remember, it’s BASED on the animated show, it’s not a complete clone so stop expecting it to be and you will love it. The opening fight scene alone is spot on."
But not all reviews have been positive.
"My problem with the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender is the lack of body acting from the cast," someone penned to X.
"I don’t know it jus let FEELS like they’re reading from a script while standing still. the cast seem more like the characters in interviews i’ve seen more than in the actual show."
"They should have just turn this Avatar The Last Airbender to a movie coz this sh*t does not worth the hype at all its complicated," said a different Netflix viewer.
Meanwhile, someone else went as far as saying they were struggling to finish the series.
"I’m struggling to complete this Netflix Avatar The Last Airbender rendition," they wrote.
"Read that again. I’m struggling to complete 8 episodes of a show based on an animated series that was the best thing I ever watched on a TV screen. Netflix you will pay for this."
Have you watched it yet?