Avatar: The Last Airbender is a show that I truly didn’t want to see a remake of because, in my eyes, it’s essentially the perfect cartoon. It establishes itself as a creatively interesting universe that is not too far from our own, but it also shares so many beloved characters and sub-stories with equally poignant reflections of life.

Of course, with anything so original and popular, there’s always going to be those wanting to cash in on it. Enter Netflix and its live-action rendition, which thankfully isn’t as bad as the unspeakable M. Night Shyamalan live-action film we got the first time around. That probably isn’t saying that much, either.

However, while it isn’t as terrible, it’s also not really that good overall. It’s below average and, in some cases, just as bad as the live-action film because it still lacks many of the elements that made the original so wonderful.

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What is Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Avatar: The Last Airbender, also known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang in some regions, is an American animated fantasy action television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio.

Avatar is set in an Asian and Arctic-inspired world in which some people can telekinetically manipulate one of the four elements—water, earth, fire or air—through practices known as "bending", inspired by Chinese martial arts. The only individual who can bend all four elements, the "Avatar", is responsible for maintaining harmony among the world's four nations, and serves as the link between the physical world and the spirit world. The series is centered around the journey of twelve-year-old Aang, the current Avatar and last survivor of his nation, the Air Nomads, along with his friends Katara, Sokka, and Toph, as they strive to end the Fire Nation's war against the other nations and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before he conquers the world. It also follows the story of Zuko—the exiled prince of the Fire Nation, seeking to restore his lost honor by capturing Aang, accompanied by his uncle Iroh—and later, his sister Azula. Avatar is presented in a style that combines anime with American cartoons and relies on the imagery of primarily Chinese culture, with various other influences from different East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, North Asian, and Native American cultures.

Avatar: The Last Airbender was a ratings success and received acclaim from critics for its characters, cultural references, art direction, voice acting, soundtrack, humor, and themes. These include concepts rarely touched on in youth entertainment, including war, genocide, imperialism, totalitarianism, indoctrination and free choice. It won five Annie Awards, a Genesis Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Kids' Choice Award, and a Peabody Award. The show is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest animated television series of all time.

Avatar aired on Nickelodeon for three seasons, from February 2005 to July 2008. The extended Avatar franchise includes an ongoing comics series, a prequel novel series, an animated sequel series, and a live-action film, as well as a live-action remake series produced for Netflix. The complete series was released on Blu-ray in June 2018 in honor of the tenth anniversary of its finale and was made available to stream on Netflix in the United States and Canada in May 2020, on Paramount+ in June 2020, and on Amazon Prime Video in January 2021.

The Avatar is an international arbiter whose duty is to maintain harmony among the four nations, and act as a mediator between humans and spirits. When the Avatar dies, their spirit is reincarnated in a new body, who will be born to parents in the next nation in a set order known as the Avatar cycle: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. By tradition, the new Avatar will travel the world to learn all four bending arts, after which they will begin in earnest their role as global peacekeeper. The Avatar can enter a condition known as the "Avatar State", in which they temporarily gain the skills and knowledge of all their past incarnations.

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