The Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise has been going strong, with Netflix currently airing their live-action adaptation and Avatar Studios currently planning to continue the story with Avatar: Seven Havens, but after such a long, disheartening wait, we’ve finally got the release of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, a story that continues the legend of Team Avatar. This is a story that comes from the original creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. There’s a lot that The Legend of Korra taught us about our time away from Team Avatar, but this film seemingly proves that it’s worth filling in the gaps that we’re missing.
When we begin the film, we learn that Aang (Eric Nam) is currently in search of airbending artefacts to preserve them and his culture. We also start off with a dream where the Fire Nation are attacking the Air Nomads, and it highlights that even years after taking down Fire Lord Ozai, he’s still dealing with this trauma. Aang is largely affected by not having his people surrounding him, so when he comes across Tagah (Dave Bautista), an ancient airbender who was found frozen in ice similar to Aang, he believes there’s a chance that he can restore his nation and live in a future where airbenders reside.
In terms of the writing and the storyline for Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, it doesn’t feel like Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Tim Hendrick, Kenneth Lin, or Christopher Yost, who co-wrote the screenplay with Hendrick, are bringing anything new to the table regarding the history behind the spirit world and the past Avatars. It’s clear that it fills in some gaps, which is always great for fans that are invested in the lore of this franchise, but this also comes with reheating story elements that we’ve dealt with in The Legend of Korra.
The hardest part about watching Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender was pretending that Tagah didn’t have a secret secondary role in the film. From the moment he first appears on screen, it becomes obvious what type of character he’s going to be and how he’s going to affect Team Avatar’s journey. He’s written very similarly to yet another character that appeared in The Legend of Korra, and I think this sets back the character by a lot despite Dave Bautista providing an excellent voice performance that highlights the century of pain that Tagah is holding.
It’s always a delight getting to see Aang, Katara (Jessica Matten), Sokka (Román Zaragoza), Toph (Dionne Quan), and Zuko (Steven Yeun) reunite, and although the story isn’t the most original, it still manages to do its job and has a reason for existing. It showcases how Aang and Katara brought Republic City to be the city we know and love from The Legend of Korra. It’s only a shame that when it comes to dealing with villains, they continuously run into a wall, dealing with archetypes that we’ve very much dealt with before.
The story being quite weak isn’t an excuse for why Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender has been treated the way it has been. Originally a movie that was supposed to release in cinemas, it got subjected to a streaming release on Paramount+.
Despite it now having a limited release in cinemas so that it can qualify for award season, this still stops countless people from being able to appreciate the hard work and talent that have been put into this film exactly as it was meant to be intended. If you’re lucky enough to get to experience this in the cinema, then you must run and watch it because it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of art to come out of Avatar Studios.
Flying Bark Productions and Studio Mir collaborate to combine both 2D hand-drawn animated characters with astonishing 3D computer-animated environments. The animation is the clear standout of the movie and is a pure reminder of why animation is one of the greatest tools for storytelling. There are no limits, and Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is all the proof we need.
Whether it’s the action sequences that are filled with great choreography or simply just the humorous scenes of the film, the decisions they make with the animation are outstanding and make up for the weaker storyline and even the change in the voice actors, which is a lot to get used to considering how much time we’ve spent with the original actors, but it’s worth noting that they all do a magnificent job bringing a new element to these characters that are no longer children.
It’s always worth seeing voice actors like Dionne Quan, who is legally blind, getting the opportunity to voice Toph, a character who’s not only blind but also means a lot to that community; it’s a sign of representation in voice acting heading in the right direction and is always a plus when they’re able to nail the character and bring them to life.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is a movie that deserved 100% respect and unfortunately has been relegated to streaming services, but despite reiterating some of the same storylines that previous shows have in the franchise, it still manages to expand the lore and fill in gaps that have been existing for years.
It delivers on another great villain that’s entertaining to watch despite feeling like a copy and paste of another villain. It feels refreshing just being able to return to this world with animation that has come a long way since we last saw Team Avatar. Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender isn’t a revolutionary entry into the franchise, but it’s a fun, nostalgic, and entertaining one that’s worth every second of its runtime.
