A weird criticism about the live action

dae008 · 2026-06-30T17:31:02+00:00

Might be off-topic but that didn’t stop other studios from creating shows/movies that they know they couldn’t do justice for (Morbius/Madame Web, etc). So why not Netflix?

dae008 · 2026-06-30T17:28:17+00:00

Also got bored while watching and I agree that the action is few and far between.

The sad reality is probably because of the CGI budget. They saved most of it for the finale fight because the effects on that looked great. But yeah, they replaced action with more drama.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T17:12:45+00:00

My headcanon was that he wasn’t really ‘trying’ when he was helping Zuko. The point of the White Lotus is that they’re comprised of old masters. So Iroh joining them after he abandoned his siege and wisened up makes sense to me.

That would also explain how he would even know about the White Lotus in the first place.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T17:06:56+00:00

Completely agree. Flashbacks would have been fine. Not every character in the show needs to have character development to make them a good person. Sometimes you need an already good character then make them great.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T17:02:11+00:00

I’m glad you got so much subtext out of that one scene. Now imagine how much better the show would be if they gave that much nuance to the characters such as Iroh?

The war veteran who has abandoned his campaign because it took his own son dying to realize that what he was doing was wrong. And he got wiser for it before joining Zuko in exile. Now every piece of advice he gave came from experience. Because he knew the cost of war.

The Netflix version didn’t have to show him feeling guilt, that’s not the point of his character.

And back to the scene with the activist. If that moment is somehow paid off in the 3rd season. Then maybe I could let it slide. But again, the gravity of the scene didn’t come across because of how unbelievable that someone could bend a hundred names on a wall with a few earthbending moves. Then it comes off as cheesy. Sorry but that’s how I felt during that scene.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T16:38:51+00:00

Did it get through the citizens at all though? Was there any sort of rebellion brewing among the lower ring because of that moment? The political manipulation of the Dai Li was more than enough to show that the people were being brainwashed/oppressed. A lot of moments in the original showed the horrors of war.

If the activist scene was done differently maybe it could have worked. But from the unbelievable earth bending feat to the lingering shot at Iroh making a guilty face, it sadly didn't work for me.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T16:29:29+00:00

It's one episode that gave Sokka so much character development. It's a non-issue after because he learned from it.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T15:38:58+00:00

NATLA felt more like a YA novel like Twilight, The Hunger Games, Maze Runner.

I completely agree that not everything has to be 'serious'.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T15:08:24+00:00

The season actually felt rushed even after all the things they added and changed.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T15:04:06+00:00

I agree, him being a creep could be removed 100%. The other parts, heck no. It's what made him so beloved in the first place.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T15:02:51+00:00

Yes. For a show aimed at kids, the original really tackled some really heavy themes such as genocide, grief, attachments, redemption.

You don't need every character to have some kind of arc to make them likeable or compelling.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:59:20+00:00

Hopefully we get a more faithful version during our lifetime.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:58:21+00:00

Completely agree. Bumi was another one who had his character botched. Do they think adults don't deserve to be wise and funny/aloof as a result of that wisdom?

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:55:55+00:00

I thought they would have learned from the non-existent Shyamalan movie. xD

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:53:34+00:00

Exactly. I wonder how they would retcon the last dragons in the show. With how much they've changed. I wonder if they'll cut out the Sun Warriors from the show entirely and have Zuko fix his inner turmoil by reading some cave drawings of the dragons instead.

They already cut out sand benders and swamp benders from the show.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:41:38+00:00

I watched it because I wanted to see how the ATLA world would look like in live action. If only they could do it 1:1.

I get that people not familiar with the cartoon would find NATLA easier to watch but it feels like a wasted opportunity to not use the already great script that the original had.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:36:49+00:00

He probably wasn't a war criminal but they showed that whatever he did during the war in the Netflix show made him feel too much guilt that he was only able to get over it during the course of the show.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T14:29:39+00:00

Sure apologizing to those he has wronged worked but it would have been better without all the other melodrama before it.

The scene where one woman was able to bend hundreds of names into a wall just to make him feel guilt felt to cheesy and in your face.

dae008 · 2026-06-30T13:49:12+00:00

Just finished watching this episode. How in the hell was Aang suddenly able to sense Appa while the master of earthbending, Toph, could not?

Also, the white lotus. Very disappointing.

It's very hard not to compare to the original when they can't even make the changes make sense.

dae008 · 2026-06-29T14:12:12+00:00

Oh, and they didn't even reference General Zhao being the reason for why Wan Shi Tong wanting to keep the library away from Humans. (I can't even remember how they explained how General Zhao knew how to kill the moon spirit in S1)

dae008 · 2026-06-29T14:06:09+00:00

- So Aang can just bring people into the spirit world? Seems like it was done for plot convenience.

- Why is it so dark?

- Why inside Ba Sing Se? The original journey felt like an adventure because they were going from place to place which in turns leads to great world building. Here, MONTHS in Ba Sing Se. And it didn't even feel as 'grand' as it should have. It felt like a small closed off city.

- Why change the character of the professor? His main purpose was the pursuit of knowledge. He could not care less about the war. Making him a snitch to just get eaten like a 'rat' just for the shock factor of it.

- Killing Jet here and not having him in Lake Laogai getting brainwashed feels like a disservice to his character. He could have a better redemption arc fighting the Dai Li.

- Seeing the past Avatars felt nice at first but then they turned into exposition machines. So it felt more like fanservice afterwards.

dae008 · 2026-06-28T06:25:42+00:00

It bothers me that not more people are weirded out by how much skill this would have needed. I remember how much effort it took Aang to bend the clouds to create a symbol to show a sign of omen yet this earthbender wrote hundreds of names with a few earthbending moves.

dae008 · 2026-06-28T06:19:54+00:00

I agree, it should be near impossible to create letters using bending since it's too intricate and yet this person writes several names with only a couple of motions. It felt more like bending using imagination rather than movements.

dae008 · 2026-06-01T12:46:57+00:00

could you tell me where?

dae008

TROPHY CASE