Review: Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is the legacy sequel the beloved franchise deserves

Lots of internet ink has been spilled criticizing Paramount for the utter mishandling of the much-anticipated Avatar sequel movie, Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender. But I'm down to spill some more. It's such a shame that the David Ellison-run disaster of a studio didn't recognize the fantastic movie it had on its hands, and thus didn't give it the release it deserved. Originally slated for a theatrical release, a few months ago it was announced that the movie would instead be dumped on Paramount+, the streamer that most people use either to watch Taylor Sheridan slop or All Stars seasons of Drag Race (also the streamer that is the least user-friendly, chugging along and never letting you click on what you want to click on). That announcement was quickly followed by the movie being pirated and leaked, a sad fate for all of the talented artists who worked to bring it to life.

I'm not one to partake in leaks, so I decided to hold out for the actual release, which ended up paying off. I live near one of the few theaters in the country showing the movie on the big screen (shout-out AMC 6 Burbank), so I got to see this movie in a sold-out theater with an incredibly enthusiastic crowd. I haven't been in a theater with that many spontaneous rounds of applause since Spider-Man: No Way Home. It felt like a defiant celebration for a movie that deserved to be having such screenings all across the country, not just in New York and LA.

But this isn't a review of a studio and its horrible streamer, it's a review of a movie, and Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is a fantastic addition to a beloved series. Like so many people of my generation, I looooved this show as a kid, and it's stuck with me through the years. The original series was a perfect blend of humor, action, and great world-building, populated with memorable/lovable characters and teeming with resonant themes that remain impactful today. 

I wondered how much of that DNA would still feel intact all these years later, with the characters aged up and so much time having passed since the show wrapped. My fears were quickly assuaged, because Avatar Aang really feels like reuniting with old friends, where the years you spent apart collapse and all-but vanish as you fall back into comfortable patterns, easy laughs. That isn't to say the characters feel like the exact same ones we know -- they've obviously aged and grown -- but they all feel authentic to the ones we've loved all these years. It's easy to pick up not where we left off, but where we get dropped in.

Which is finding Aang struggling with guilt over the loss of his fellow Air Nomads, who were wiped out years ago during a Fire Nation attack. By that point, Aang had already fled, leading to him becoming, you know, the eponymous last airbender. As he gets older and helps to establish Republic City, a symbolic hub where all nations can live in harmony, he's really feeling the weight of the loss of his people. Once he dies, so will his culture. How will the next Avatar even learn airbending if there's no one left to teach it?

So Aang is understandably excited at the news that there may be an artifact out there that will allow him to grant airbending to other people. It might be a myth, but it's one worth investigating. So the old gang gets back together: Zuko, now the Fire Lord; Toph, who consistently is kicking her fellow earthbenders' asses to prove that she's the best of them; Sokka, who loves telling tall tales and making whacky inventions in the south; and Katara, who's working alongside Aang to establish Republic City and is also kissing him a lot. They team up with a mysterious new ally, Tagah, to beat a disgruntled group of non-benders called The Denied in a race to claim the artifact in the hopes of maintaining peace and bringing airbending back in full force.

The movie treads some familiar ground from the series, such as bender vs. non-bender tensions, guilt over running away/surviving when so many haven't, and the cost of power. But it's all done well here, and feels like it's being explored in solid new ways with the characters at this point in their lives. I appreciate that the movie is careful with its fan service, peppering it in at moments when it feels natural rather than leaning on it as the main reason to give this a watch. Of course I was happy to see the cabbage seller -- who wouldn't be? 

One of the main reasons this movie deserved a heartier theatrical berth is its dazzling animation. This doesn't just look like the show -- you can tell they had movie money to get this thing made, and it shows. Everything looks so gorgeous (including the men....I'm still drooling), and the action scenes are especially electrifying. Bending has never looked so good.

I also have to give props to the voice cast, who all fit so seamlessly into their characters. Eric Nam leads the way as Aang, capturing that inherent goodness/sweetness that always pointed the way for the Avatar. A few of the new characters add some extra star power (Dave Bautista as Tagah, Taika Waititi and Freida Pinto in smaller supporting turns), but it's the core gang that shines most. Fantastic performances all around.

While it's a bummer such a great, and long-awaited, movie is getting released the way it is, I'm at least glad it's here, and I hope that the reception leads Paramount to put more respect on Avatar's name going forward. I would love to see more adventures with the grown-up "Gaang." My appetite has been both satiated and whetted. I just had a great meal, but I'm hungry for more.