Divalicious Review: ‘Avatar Aang: the Last Airbender’ Unbalanced But Epic
By Caroline Cao | July 24, 2026 | Movie Reviews
Yet another Avatar story has struck the world. Nope, it’s not James Cameron‘s Avatar. Nope, it’s not Netflix’s season 2 of its live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender.
It’s Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender as made by the original creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, of the hit cartoon that ran from 2005 to 2008 on Nickelodeon. The series marks the first onscreen attempt (directed by Lauren Montgomery and co-directed by Steve Ahn and William Mata) to continue the original Gaang’s saga.
After reviewing the Netflix live-action series from which the original creators absconded, it bears repeating that it’s easy to understate the success of the original cartoon as a complex Asian-Indigenous-inspired fantasy. In this world, there exist Benders who can control the element of their respective Fire, Earth, Water, or Air Nations. Only the Avatar, a reincarnated being, carries the Chosen One task of bringing balance to the world.
The Avatar of this era is Aang, the last-of-his-kind airbender whose journey consists of him learning the other three elements to defeat the genocidal Fire Lord. In Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, the grown-up Gaang work to bring down those stringent borders with the founding of Republic City, a melting pot of cultures.
Jessica Matten voices an adult Katara in Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender
The movie Avatar Aang, a bridge between The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra series, is a lite chapter compared to what was told in three books of the original. It underwent undeserved mistreatment by Paramount Pictures, which thwarted its theatrical release, a high-profile hacking that poisoned the well of discourse and criticism, and then later a surprise limited theatrical screening in New York City and Los Angeles.
Now that the screener is officially released for my eyes, I can contribute my thoughts. It’s more abridged than one would hope from this story. In an attempt to retrieve a relic from a late airbending avatar, Aang (Eric Nam) breaks upon an iceberg containing an ancient human, an Airbender named Taiga (Dave Bautista).
That’s right, Aang’s not the last Airbender anymore. This Airbender did not grow in Aang’s generation, though, having lived 5000 years ago. With his new ally, Aang reassembles the Gaang for a reunion odyssey to find a staff that might grant Airbending to non-Benders, as reparation for the Fire Nation’s genocide. As a fan can guess, this task is insurmountable because of a spoiler plot point in Korra’s season 3.
Bursting with a strikingly colorful art direction by Aaron Loftis, the fight scenes deliver a dynamic 360-degree punch primed for the big screen. And there are doses of comedic expressions that were a highlight of the older series, sneaking in playful grimaces in between montages. An uneven screenplay by Tim Hedrick (a longtime writer on the franchise) and Christopher Yost intermittently delivers beautiful, augmented rumination of the philosophy of the elements.
Never mind an Avatar cartoon finally attaining ethnically approximate casting; the casting carefully picked the right voices, who sound like the original cast, except shaped by aging. Nam bears the innocence of Aang. Jessica Matten as Katara and Dionne Quan as Toph Beifong are great as their respective characters, although I wish the script gave them more to chew on.
In my controversial opinion, Steven Yuen is fitting as an older Zuko, although fans reasonably bristled at Dante Basco (one of the few Asian voice cast in a sea of white people in the original series) not reprising his long iconic role. The downside is that when the dramatic delivery doesn’t land, this could be pinned on direction or lack of workshopping.
Román Zaragoza is the biggest plus as Sokka, the quippy non-Bender brother of Katara. I noticed the more comedic the script’s requirements, the more potent it lands onscreen. Furthermore, Ronny Chieng and Taika Waititi have priceless bit parts that seemed forged from the fire for their comedic timing, and Ke Huy Quan is an absolute spotlight stealer as a quirky past avatar who deplores toenails.
Something about this Avatar movie feels more suited to a miniseries, a time to stretch and relax like the filler episodes. Something about it is left deeply wanting in the 100 minutes it compartmentalizes the story. Without giving away the movie, although it may hit as predictable, there’s an ideological characterization that otherwise feels underexplored compared to the textured villainous ideologues that The Last Airbender and Korra series were willing to explore.
As the title suggests, it’s very much an Aang movie although it wants to be a Gaang movie. His supporting players do hit as ancillary here and squeezed in, despite their rich history together. And that said, these deficits don’t negate the cinematic pleasures of the latest installment of the Avatarverse.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender will have a limited release in theaters on July 24. The movie will stream on Paramount+ on Saturday, July 25.
Photo Credit: courtesy of Paramount+
