Why Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Remake’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Is So Bad ( How It Compares To Past Versions)

By Sarah Little Published 15 hours ago

The Rotten Tomatoes score of the 2024 Netflix live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender doesn’t paint the series in the best light.

Summary

• Netflix's live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender has a mixed reception.
• Negative reviews criticize dialogue, acting, and pacing.
• The Netflix series is better than the 2010 film but falls short of the original animated show.

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Netflix's series Avatar: The Last Airbender is receiving mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, and its rather disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score reflects where it stacks up compared to past versions of this universe. Prior to its release, a lot of hype surrounded the 2024 live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon animated television series of the same name because of its predecessor's outstanding reputation. Many were excited to see a faithful live-action interpretation of Avatar: The Last Airbender following the failure that was the 2010 live-action film. However, once the Netflix show premiered, the reaction from audiences was less than exciting.

Netflix released all eight episodes of the adventure fantasy television series on February 22, 2024, and the reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender were a mixed bag. However, despite the divisive response to the show, numerous subscribers seem to be watching it. The series shot to the top of the Netflix charts shortly following its premiere, proving that the hype surrounding Avatar: The Last Airbender was enough to get people watching and talking about it. Nevertheless, reviews are highly significant when assessing a show's quality, especially when judging the live-action series version alongside the animated show and movie.

Cast Gordon Cormier , Dallas Liu , Kiawentiio , Ian Ousley , Daniel Dae Kim , Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Release Date February 22, 2024 Seasons 1 Franchise(s) Avatar: The Last Airbender Where To Watch Netflix

The negative reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender claim that the show has "too-elemental dialogue," "stiff acting," and "slow pacing."

As of the writing of this article, Netflix's live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender has a 60 percent score (with 53 reviews) on the Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. At the same time, its Audience Score sits at 76% based on more than 500 verified ratings. While this means that the television show isn't considered "rotten," it is on the brink of being "rotten" and could very easily venture into that territory as more reviews flood in. Ultimately, the current score perfectly sums up how mixed its reviews are (even though they tend to be more negative than positive).

A show has to have a 59 percent or less score on Rotten Tomatoes to be considered "rotten."

Some of the negative reviews of Avatar: The Last Airbender claim that the show has "too-elemental dialogue," "stiff acting," and "slow pacing." Although each bad review of the 2024 Netflix adventure fantasy series varies in how the critics expressed their opinions, they all ultimately convey the same message & they believe Avatar: The Last Airbender contains awful scripts (which leads to bad performances), horrible pacing of its overall story, an overabundance of exposition, convoluted adventures, and a failure to capture the magic of the animated show. However, the live-action series also received some positive reviews.

What Critics Do Like About Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Remake

As mentioned above, the reviews of Netflix's live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender are mostly mixed, so a handful of comments on Rotten Tomatoes are positive. The critics who enjoyed watching all the episodes, including Avatar: The Last Airbender's ending, explained that the show was "charming," "entertaining," "action-packed," and "admirable." However, it is important to note that many of the positive reviews from the top critics on the website acknowledge that the series is not without its faults.

Even a lot of the positive reviews point out that Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is flawed.

Many of the not "rotten" takes on Rotten Tomatoes convey that Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024) is not the perfect adaptation of the beloved animated series from the 2000s and fails to reach the heights of the original show. The critics claim that the Netflix live-action adaptation is entertaining enough to work on its own but fails to live up to its predecessor's greatness. So, overall, even a lot of the positive reviews point out that Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is flawed.

How Netflix's ATLA Remake Compares To The Original Show & Shyamalan's Movie On Rotten Tomatoes

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Based on Rotten Tomatoes, Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is significantly worse than Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. However, the good news is that it is a massive step up from M. Night Shyamalan's 2010 live-action movie adaptation, which was largely panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office. Ultimately, the critics' consensus on the website captures how the Netflix live-action adaptation compares to the original animated series (and the film, as a result). It reads:

" Avatar: The Last Airbender serves as a solid live-action entry point into the beloved franchise, although it only sporadically recaptures the magic of its source material."

It's evident that many are upset and believe that the 2024 live-action series is not on the same level as the 2005 animated show. While it is an improvement on Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, it's still disappointing that it couldn't live up to the original story. But only time will tell if Netflix is inclined to greenlight Avatar: The Last Airbender season 2 or if the mixed reviews are enough to tank the series.

Cast Mako , Dee Bradley Baker , Jack De Sena , Michaela Jill Murphy , Zach Tyler , Dante Basco , Mae Whitman Release Date February 21, 2005 Seasons 3 Streaming Service(s) Netflix Franchise(s) Avatar