"Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender 26' (strong start, heavily mixed bag)

Without getting too deep into it-- It's written too much like a Legend of Korra prequel than an Avatar The Last Airbender sequel of the more quality series.

Not dogshit, yet the overall plot is the weakest link.

It's a good time, just not written all that good.

• The more I thought about it, the more it actually trivializes Aang & his team, because the writers wanted to (yet again) make up new shit (Wan, Raava, Vaatu, spirit world being more of a vacation spot populated by pokemon than a primordial extension of the Earth's power that only the best could venture) or pull spin-off concepts from elsewhere instead of expanding what the original series already set up (ex. Koh The Face Stealer).

A lot of contrivances here (hamfisted new concepts aka Korra Syndrome) that just made my brow scrunch, but I did start off hopeful because of how hard it leans into certain beats regarding Aang that I read (especially since my 2024 rewatch of ATLA) wasn't exploited enough in the series despite how well it was executed as it were; the movie begins exactly what I was missing from that specific character beat, very strong start.

Otherwise, the original had more than enough meat to cook with, they didn't need to hardcore OVA this situation in the story department.

Despite the fact that Christopher Yost helped write this (Next Avengers movie writer) this was a mixed bag.

• Downside is a lot of the bending here (like in LOK) is treated like Superpowers than an art.
• But since the best thing about this movie is the animation-- you're going to get some cool powerscaling feats & really slick fight scenes. (like LOK)

That-- and the fact that the characters are back, technically.

To me personally, they don't come off like the same people that matured vs being caricatures of those characters superficially; which I could tell especially by how Katara & Sokka were written, namely Katara's agency in certain scenes to the broad scheme.

(ex. Sokka is Bolin, not Book 3 onward Sokka)

• Aaron Ehasz nor his team were brought on for this (Strike 1 - 2), not just Aaron Ehasz (he's no the best writer to ever live but specifically him and the team that made ATLA work in the first place. It wasn't just him, he was the team leader, but it was a team effort.)
• So I went out of my way to lower my expectations, lower than usual; but this was essentially just a modern shonen anime movie.

Meaning: It sets the bar visually, but not exactly the trendsetter in the writing department-- which is what determines whether something is flashy but a forgettable story aka a Dragon Ball Super Movie or instead …. "Avatar The Last Airbender" lol.

Full breakdown another time, watch it for yourselves when able.

Pro tip: 🚨DO NOT compare it to the original series during the first watch, it's not even close, zero point; best way to watch this is to imagine it as a standalone thing. Don't compare lightning in a bottle to a flashlight.🚨
It's got good pacing/ plot driven (tho there's obvious consequences to that that I speak on often) but at the same time, you won't be held hostage; enjoy it.
Try to save comparisons until afterwards; cause it's still better than Shyamalalamama's movie & the live-action Netflix show."