According to the panel they weren’t ALLOWED to make Sokka “too hot” and these were some of his concept artworks oh my GOD we were robbed he’s so gorgeous here
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Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender / Legend of Aang review
What I Thought was Good
Probably goes without saying, but the music and animation, particularly for scenery and the action scenes. Flying Bark animated one of my other favourite tv shows, Lego Monkie Kid (starring Sokka's VA Jack de Sena) so I knew they'd knock it out of the park on that level. Gorgeous, truly, even with the little details like updating Appa's saddle.
Aang's trauma and the Air Nomads have always been the most compelling part of ATLA to me. A movie therefore focused on both of those things, fleshing out how his trauma has evolved following the end of the war as well as more of their history and perspective, was always going to be appealing to me. I also think by and large this is the strongest aspect of the movie, if not just the movie point blank, for reasons I'll get more into down below.
The other aspect of ATLA that I find deeply compelling is the Avatar cycle, specifically the past lives, and historical worldbuilding. Renown for its cultural worldbuilding (which continues here), ATLA doesn't spend much time discussing the history of its world outside of like, 10ish years prior to the start of the Hundred Year War and then the war itself. Having a new, old historical conflict be relevant both character and plot wise was fun and unique. The fact we get another interesting past life, and better South Asian representation than ATLA (which admittedly was a low fucking bar to surpass) with Sonam was also a good reevaluation of a story 20+ years later.
I also appreciated that we got actual like, parallel framing with symbolism and meaningful cinematography re: lighting, both for the foils dynamics (Aang&Sonam, Aang&Tagah), especially because that's another aspect of TLOK that's rarely ever utilized but was one of the best things about ATLA.
Except for mine. / We can bring back the Air Nation.
One thing that stood out to me with Tagah (besides maybe Polynesian influences in discussions and techniques with the air current navigation, like wayfinding?) was how when he wakes up, he's not really surprised to find out the Air Nomads have been wiped out. Devastated and distressed, sure, but given his backstory and how extreme his circumstances were, it feel more like what has happened thousands of years later ended up being his "ongoing worst case scenario that had already begun" than something that was completely unknown and unfathomable the way it was to Aang.
The second thing was Tagah being used to explore Aang's grief as another airbender driven to desperation in wanting to have their people back ("we have been given a great gift, a chance to redeem ourselves"), but also as the lone literal Air Nomad who can reaffirm all of Aang's darkest and guiltiest thoughts. Aang's mind treats Gyatso as a mouthpiece in his nightmares in both stories ("why did you run away?" / "we need you, Aang" / "where are you?"), but Tagah once he takes an antagonistic turn can do so directly and hit him right where it hurts. We also see Tagah grapple with Aang's decision, like his friendship with Zuko or the fact he ran away in the first place. He doesn't hate Aang, he doesn't blame him at first when their goals are aligned, but Tagah's anger does come out, viewing himself not as a traitor but Aang as one (and a coward to boot), which is an interesting character journey of moving from Point A (positive) to B (negative) to C (positive in a different manner) and a contrast to Sonam's closing assessment of Aang (which we'll get to).
I like that Tagah is sympathetic yet utterly wrong, and I also thought it was a really good choice for him to only call Aang "brother" after Aang's made it clear the Gaang is his family and after Tagah has, accordingly, murdered them. (Like Hama, who is Tagah's fiercest parallel, is a really good example of how abusive people or extremists will emotionally appeal to and then isolate their victims.)
I also like the Denied as antagonists. The Yuyan archer makes it clear that some of their hatred of bending comes from the failures of the Avatar. Not only is the person in charge of keeping balance and protecting everyone always the most bending bender and subsequently the most powerful person on the planet, but that protection faltered and disappeared for 100 years: "How many countless people were killed in the hundred years waiting for his return? Where was he when your family was wiped out?"
The fact they're predominantly Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom people also tracks. Parts of the Earth Kingdom were burnt down (Sozin's Comet) and many more were colonized. Sometimes their benders were taken away, like the Southern Water Tribe, to leave them vulnerable to benders (the Fire Nation soldier threatening Haru's mother) of both the Fire Nation and themselves (the Earthbenders terrorizing Lee's town in Zuko Alone). There's more instances, of course — the SWT being very vulnerable after their benders were taken; the Dai Li being an all bending fighting force; the NWT losing the Siege of the North because they lost their bending whereas the Fire Nation maintained it; the Fire Nation village kept in line by the firebending factory and the one that would've been burnt to a crisp by the meteor shower fire — of bending giving people a definite advantage over those who don't have it. What this leaves us, post war, is a nonbending heavy population in the EK and FN who may or may not have homes, families, or opportunities to go back to whereas benders, by virtue of being able to light fires and build houses out of rock or snow, would have more social mobility and a greater likelihood of surviving in combat on the frontlines to begin with.
This theme of "I was powerless/helpless and now I want the staff in order to Not Be That" also ties nicely into Aang and Tagah's shared goals and grief. The movie then tying that into Sonam's story, and how Aang was strong enough to "let go of the power" she could not, while allowing it to simultaneously explore Aang's overwhelming survivor's guilt was really good.
AANG: They're gone. It's all my fault. It's always been my fault. Ever since I ran away...
SONAM: No Avatar has ever fallen into such shame as to join me here in my sorrow. Why do you grieve so, friend?
Aang having an arc around "if you focus so much on what you've lost and don't have, you'll lose what you do still have" is not like, a fresh plot concept, but it is meaningful because of how the show layers it with grief, found family ("as long as they were around, ou always would've put them ahead of our people"), and self-forgiveness. Six plus years ago, I made a post about Aang's line from TSR wherein he says "it's easy to do nothing, it's hard to forgive," not because he necessarily struggled with forgiving others, but because he struggles to forgive himself for basically anything. That being the central core of this movie, and Aang being able to forgive himself (something I do not think he did within ATLA itself), find the balance between Avatar (Katara saying he could've died and that's a risk for him as the Avatar vs his concern being that his culture would die with him as an airbender) and being the last airbender, and learning to look ahead rather than behind and pass it onto others is meaningful.
I have to forgive myself, too.
Maybe they cannot or will not fully understand his experiences (or be benders), but they do not need to be in order to belong to the Air Nation, should they choose, and I think that's a beautiful message. Life is temporary; it's here, "and then we return to the eternal wind."
I also liked Katara's role. I like the way she was her usual touchy, compassionate, loyal self, especially 10+ years into her relationship with Aang, as a big Kataang shipper myself. I like that she countered and comforted him (especially since she's been through her own version of all of this with Hama), and I appreciated her role in politics being highlighted as well as in their group's mission. Katara is the one who says "let's get going" after Tagah makes the journey plain as well as Zuko asking what's the plan with Katara answering "You get the staff, we'll deal with the denied," rather than Aang being exclusively the one to call those shots. Katara trying to get through to Kallik in direct parallel with Aang trying to get through to Tagah was a nice touch as well. The actual Gaang group bond was also nice. I appreciate that the movie just wanted us to see them all together having each other's backs rather than forcing interpersonal conflict, especially given the movie's central conceit being something that only Aang, Katara, and sort of Zuko have emotional stakes in.
A smaller but consistent detail I enjoyed was the movie highlighting Sokka and Aang's bond as well. Sokka calling him "my best friend" after years of their bond being downplayed in fandom was especially vindicating, as well as Sokka being much more physically affectionate to him and the most in the Gaang after Katara in general. Sokka and Aang love each other, and I love them (especially since they're my favourite bond in the whole show).
On a final note, I suppose, with Aang, I like that the movie showed his full range of grief and anger. "We could've been brothers, we could've done this together! It didn't have to end like this" versus his steadfast "I'm not going to end it like this" reflects what many fans have said for years re: his anger in the Avatar State in Sozin's Comet and Aang's immense choice for mercy and restraint in spite of his rage and because of his people's values. That said, in Sozin's Comet, because know of Aang's ethical dilemma and what he wants to do is to find a way to spare Ozai while defeating him, there's never a moment where I really believed Aang well, wanted to kill him, truly. With Tagah? The man goes after Aang's deepest heart, and the rage that comes out of it, yeah, I think Aang did want to kill him... and that makes Aang sparing him beautiful to me in a similar but different manner than his choice not to kill Ozai.
Your people, your home. We are always with you.
(This sequence was probably my absolute fave in the movie, by the way.)
Tagah being willing to do anything to ensure some form of their people survived, even "at the cost of everything they stood for" meant that nothing but the bending mattered to him. Aang closing the film by choosing to share cultural knowledge even without bending is a nice bookend, especially in response to Aang's tendency to self-isolate (seen here and in OG) and his previous emphasis on being the last and only airbender, and realizing that he doesn't have to be the last Air Nomad, whether the bending is passed down or not. Both Tagah (as an airbender) and Sonam (as an avatar) represent the dangers of what Aang could've been, and instead he becomes neither of them: he's still Aang.
SONAM: Avatar Aang, you are the true embodiment of the Air Nomads. Thank you, for giving up the power I could not. You give me hope for the future of our culture.
AKA Aang forgiving himself, him connecting to Sonam out of their shared shame but then being able to lift them both up from it and that leading to him finding the new sky bison? Yeah I cried.
The Mid/Neutral?
I didn't like people's noses. Some of the actual character animation, especially expressions, felt a bit wonky. Would've liked a little less comedic relief from Sokka but I didn't hate it. I also wouldn't have minded a bit more talking / emotional processing from other characters (ie. Katara resurrecting the Gaang) but ATLA has always been an action oriented tv show (one of its aging detriments to me, honestly, as I've gotten older, especially in regards to episode structure and tension). If I wanted to watch a source material that was 50% or even 80% talking/emotional processing instead of fighting, I'd watch Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous or The Dragon Prince, respectively (both on Netflix).
Originally I didn't love the voice acting, but I came around to Zuko, Toph, and Sokka's movie VAs the second time around for Sokka and Zuko in particular, I think it really works. Katara's VA's delivery is, unfortunately, I think still probably a weaker point, as is Aang's (especially when the rest of the shows, including TLOK, have really good voice acting) but I also honestly do not care that much, tbh.
The Bad
I didn't like the Spirit World scene. It didn't make me laugh and the hard pivot towards (unsuccessful) humour I think was placed at a very poor time pacing wise in terms of interrupting momentum and flow.
Conclusion
8/10, was very pleasantly surprised first time around that I didn't hate it (as that's what I was expecting), was pleased to see it held up for me on a rewatch months later. Not necessarily expecting to enjoy anything else Avatar Studios puts out, but I am glad to enjoy something from this universe again outside of the OG for the first time in like, 15+ years.
Also love you Kataang and Gaang and Aang and the consistent emphasis on hands/reaching, mwah mwah
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