Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender Review

Avatar Studios' first feature, directed by Lauren Montgomery, a storyboard artist on the original series, picks up thirteen years after the war. Aang is an adult, Katara sits on Republic City's council, Zuko is Fire Lord, and Aang, still grieving the Air Nomads, chases the staff of Sonam (Freida Pinto), a forgotten Avatar whose relic could grant airbending to others. His guide is Tagah, an airbender frozen since Sonam's time, voiced by Dave Bautista. The voice cast is new, with Eric Nam as Aang and Steven Yeun as Zuko; only Dee Bradley Baker returns.

Flying Bark's animation, hand-drawn characters moving through computer-built environments in the manner of Disney's Deep Canvas, is the reason to watch, and Jeremy Zuckerman, with a full orchestra, gives the world a scale the series' budget never allowed. The story is thinner. At 99 minutes it lurches from one fight to the next, and its most interesting idea, what Aang owes a vanished people, is settled in a hurry.

Paramount dropped its cinema release, the whole film leaked in April, and it reached Paramount+ on July 25, 2026. Reviews were warm but qualified, 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 68 on Metacritic; IndieWire's Wilson Chapman called it visually stunning but felt that aging up the characters lost the show's charm.