Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender continues the story of one of the best animated TV shows of the 21st century. Photo: Paramount.
For many kids who grew up in the mid-to-late 2000s, Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of the defining shows of their childhoods.
It’s a contained three-season story about a young boy leading a rebellion against an oppressive nation in a world where people can control elements, called benders.
It won over nearly every person who tuned in, but, aside from a spin-off series in the 2010s that premiered on the Nickelodeon website, the franchise has been lost to time.
Until recently, that is, as Paramount, the parent company of Nickelodeon, released a long-awaited film that serves as a sequel to the original series.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (not to be confused with the name of the original series Avatar: The Last Airbender) is set about a decade after the original series and continues the story of the core five characters: Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and Zuko.
After defeating the Fire Nation in the original show, the world is at peace, but while three of the four elemental nations (Fire, Water and Earth) all live in harmony, the massacre of the Air Nomads from the original series still weighs heavily, with Aang being the only person remaining who can control it.
When Aang hears about an ancient ancestor who could grant people the power to control air, he and his friends set out on a journey to learn more about this power and potentially bring his people back from the brink of extinction.
On their journey, they discover a frozen man, Tagah, covered in ancient tattoos similar to Aang’s. Once free, Aang learns about Tagah’s past and his similar quest to bring back airbenders to the world.
The new film had a lot to live up to as the original show is one of the most beloved cartoons of the 21st century, and fortunately, it does for the most part.
Seeing the core group of characters back, albeit aged up, feels like seeing a friend whom you haven’t seen in a long time, and ultimately, that’s one of the movie’s greatest strengths.
The original five characters are so beloved, as each was written so well and given unique arcs that continuing their stories here was always going to be well received.
The animation is also very special. It is quite rare to see hand-drawn animation like this in Western media anymore, which is a shame because modern computer-generated animation loses that personal touch that comes from physically crafted art.
The fights, landscapes and imagery are all top-notch and only build upon the visuals of the original series, which were already fantastic.
The voice acting is also stellar.
While none of the original voice actors returns, the new ones pick up the baton where they left off and continue the legacy. Add in some popular actors like Dave Bautista, Ke Huy Quan and Taika Waititi, and you have an A-list voice cast.
Pity the writing lets it down.
It was always going to be difficult to replicate the arcs and narrative quality of a 60-plus-episode series, where there is time to flesh out characters and story beats.
The issue here is that, with it only being 90 minutes, everything feels more like a side quest than a story that needed to be told. There are decisions within the film that were clearly made to streamline the narrative and manufacture a bit of drama.
While they don’t derail the entire experience, they are a noticeable step down from the tight writing of the original series.
With all that said, it is such a pleasure to be back in this world with the characters I grew up with. It was a unique blast from the past that served as more than just a nostalgia act.
It may not be as good as the show that came before it, but that is more a testament to how awesome that was than to this film being disappointing.
If you loved Avatar: The Last Airbender, you will love Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is now streaming on Paramount+ and showing in select cinemas.
