Alicia H

Props to Netflix for using Asian actors throughout. Thats a MAJOR win! 👏🏽 Well done! I’ve also got to give them credit for the stunning visuals. The settings & wardrobes are gorgeous & spot on. All of which makes it all the more disappointing that it’s diminished by shoddy writing, poor directing & abysmal acting …. with the exception of Dallas Lui. I wasn’t prepared to like him as Zuko, but he’s doing a pretty decent job. They had fantastic source material so there’s simply no excuse for this drab dialogue. The animated series was a case study in excellent writing. It had literally everything: drama, humor, charm & great character development. They had one job, adapt it to a more condensed format. Instead, they’ve flattened the characters & virtually eliminated the humor. There are plenty of great writers who’d have done this show for cheap, if not free. The actors seem more like middle school drama kids than professionals. By high school most have learned to enunciate clearly so their words don’t all tumble out in a rush. I blame a lot of that on the poor directing. One would hope a director making this kind of bank would help guide the actors better than this. In short, unless you’re a big cinematography fan, skip this & rewatch the original.

This is a very good show. It’s intriguing and the cinematography is stunning. I love these shows from the UK where they make the landscape into a leading character all in its own. I’m bothered by the lead, Faith. She’s written and acted well, and I appreciate that she’s flawed. It adds depth. My issue is with the personality of the character itself. Her forced cheerfulness is grating and feels inappropriate for many situations and if she shushes down her frightened children from voicing their feelings one more time I’m throwing the remote at the TV.