Harris LapiroffThe dialogue in the new Avatar TV live action adaptation is so distractingly bad. #tv
Just heavy-handed, on-the-nose, full of clumsy exposition. I feel like it was written by a committee full of people going, “Do you think people are going to get this? Should we be clearer?” That might be forgivable if it was also fun (as the cartoon was) but it isn’t even that… basically none of the jokes land. Agh.
The best I can say so far is that it’s very pretty and the Kiyoshi costumes are good. Also I do totally believe Zuko is a 16 year old boy.
“Did the writers watch the cartoon or did they just read the wiki???”
Why is Iroh so serious and not perma-stoned???
Tamlyn Tomita is acting the hell out of this part though.
WHY IS KIYOSHI HERE
The pacing is so off. They just can’t stand to draw out any unknowns. They tee something up and then reveal it immediately so it doesn’t pack any punch. It’s actually bewildering.
They even switched around the order of the storytelling in the first episode just to make sure the audience knew who the Avatar was and his entire backstory right from the outset. 😵💫
And Bumi reveals his identity before his trials? Why? This is also immediately preceded by a flashback scene that introduces child Bumi as Aang’s childhood friend. A series of revelations that should be fun and surprising is just a joyless check ticking sequence of references to a better show.
My housemate is uncomfortable that the “lovers” in this adaptation are siblings. “It feels weird. I don’t like it.”
Alright, we’re stopping with episode four for the night. There’s only so much we can abuse our sensibilities.
Why am I over halfway through this show and Aang hasn’t made the mildest attempt to or even considered bending anything but air?
Zuko’s actor is the only one who seems like he studied his lines at some point before filming.
I don’t need adaptations to slavishly adhere to their source material, but it just feels like someone wildly misunderstood what made Iroh a lovable character.
Aang just killing dudes
“Goat hair or rabbit?” Okay but do goats and rabbits exist in this universe?
I actually did like the shots of the north, but it also made me wonder what it would be like if Peter Jackson directed it.
Credit where it’s due, Avatar Kuruk is good tbh. He has character traits and everything.
Actually, in general, this episode seems to have somewhat better writing
THE SNOW IS ON FIRE
I am into this angry oceanboi
Honestly a sick way to waterbend for the first time ever
Sad the guy Sokka was clearly flirting with died. Bisexual Sokka would have redeemed a lot of the writers’ other choices.
Okay several questions:
1. Isn’t sending an entire navy to invade the north a really expensive distraction? Boats are not cheap!
2. Who did it even distract?? It’s not like anyone else sent an army there! Literally they were just distracting a twelve year old boy who can only airbend?
3. Why could Kiyoshi somehow foresee the future to see there was going to be an attack on the north but not see it was a cover for the actual attack on Omashu? Is she a magical prescient ancestor or not?
4. If distracting Aang was indeed the point (again, why?) did Fire Lord Ozai know that Kiyoshi would tell Aang about the attack or how else did he expect him to find out about it? ARE HE AND DEAD KIYOSHI WORKING TOGETHER?
So many questions!
Bewildered to discover some people thought the show was good. I guess to each their own, but the writing is just SO SLOPPY and lazy. Not even by comparison to the original—purely on its own merits.