AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. Fantasy like from a picture with a spoonful of inedible tar [REVIEW]

Tales of balance and attempts to disrupt it in the fantasy world are endless. This genre essentially emerged to weave this almost folkloric story, so that we recognize its value useful not only for entertainment. Such an educational rite attempted to be given to the animated fate of Avatar by M. Night Shyamalan, in the actor’s version of the film, but failed because his Shyamalanism disappeared somewhere, replaced by blockbusterism. And presenting the Avatar’s story requires peace, the proverbial checking off of successive elements in the fantastic world of magic and sword, which speaks to the younger viewer. And it is equally important and should not be treated with neglect, for example, when it comes to the aesthetic form of productions aimed at it. So this time we had to wait 14 years for a series, which I watched with amazement, still having Shyamalan’s attempt fresh in my memory. Does this respect for children suffice, or does it also limit?

I’m not completely writing off Shyamalan’s version. On a scale of 1 to 10, I even gave it a rating right in the middle, but I always felt something was missing in this story. I know it sounds enigmatic, this statement of “something,” but I had to watch Albert Kim’s latest series to precisely verbalize this lack. Previously, I was disappointed by the brevity of the narration, naively thinking that it would be compensated by more famous actors (such as Dev Patel). Now I understand the value of a calmer and more detailed rhythm of the plot in this story, despite lesser-known actors, but well-prepared in terms of craftsmanship, and a certain great narrative technique with the avatars’ incarnations. This undoubtedly makes the production be perceived as more mature, especially in terms of imaginative fight sequences. I cannot reveal it, but it impressed me, and I eagerly await your reflections on this matter.

Generally, the series is watched like a high-budget production, something I didn’t feel during Shyamalan’s movie. Only sometimes during the flights on the six-legged bear-dog crossroads, the green screen was noticeable. Some dialogues sounded naive, and from episode to episode, when the characters traveled from village to village, a certain task-oriented nature of the plot could be felt – predictability and a complete lack of twists. For seasoned RPG players, this might be an advantage, but not necessarily – in such games, a balance between linearity and an open world is expected so as not to discourage the audience. The series also has numerous flaws, for example, fire spies moving in enemy territory in red cloaks – a masterclass in camouflage. There are also plenty of verbal tirades about freedom, cooperation, responsibility, and multiculturalism, although the latter is very discreetly presented. Those sensitive to this point, therefore, have nothing to worry about, and besides, it will mainly be children and teenagers, who are still free from such drawbacks.

On the other hand, the visualizations of the individual elements are impressive but not flashy, which is not easy, because in the history of cinema, we find thousands of examples of special effects depicting the most primal energies adopted in the fantasy world – fire, water, air, and earth. The titular Avatar is supposed to wield them simultaneously, but something that binds them is a completely different kind of energy, the most difficult to present – psychic force, or something akin to paranormal abilities, often depicted in literature, games, and films of this genre as the magic of the mind. So, overall, it’s colorful, beautiful, engaging, but still not cult. The hero misses out on this iconic hero image due to the actor’s personality, age, and the way the mental conversion is presented. However, let’s remember that this series is aimed at viewers who are just beginning their cinematic adventure with fantasy, so there’s no point in expecting psychological constructs of characters akin to those from “The Immortals”, “9”, or “Three Thousand Years of Longing”. “Avatar” the series is an adventure that successfully defends itself with aesthetics, albeit slightly limping in terms of content.

It may be a paradox, or maybe not, because it happens in movies, attention is drawn not to the journey of Avatar (Gordon Cormier) but to Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu). At first, these are just trifles, but the transformation is budding, which is pleasant to observe. The series provided the opportunity to slow down this process. It’s a pity that it’s accompanied by a flat main antagonist. Fortunately, the plot doesn’t focus on him but on Avatar’s journey. There’s a bit of everything here, taken from Tolkien, a bit from C.S. Lewis, and perhaps a drop of Sanderson as well. There are elaborate fight choreographies, espionage maneuvers, fairly coherently built worlds of the elements – I don’t mean the aforementioned CGI visualization of magical power but the elements of individual civilizations. The finale might surprise you because it’s only in the last episode that a breakthrough occurs, and Avatar changes beyond recognition. Suddenly, the characters take on new roles, and the simple division between good and evil is completely non-obvious and limiting.

Avatar: The Last Airbender will not survive longer than a year in the viewers’ consciousness, and I’m sure it will lose to Shyamalan’s film because it’s harder for series to break through, especially now that they have to compete with many productions of similar form, distributed in streaming, which wasn’t the case at the time of the full-length Avatar premiere. And there’s Avatar by James Cameron above all, and this similarity in names has a colossal significance for the reception of the films and the creation of their images in the imagination. It’s an interesting dependency and perhaps the most serious “own goal” that both the promotion of Shyamalan’s Avatar and Kim’s Avatar could make. If we had a rating system on the site, I would give it slightly exaggeratedly, but a 7, which allows me to recommend this series to everyone without guilt, regardless of age, with emphasis on the younger audience. There are no curses, no blood, just carefree adventure.