It particularly shows the show-runners null knowledge or at least contempt for the original material. It was a big plot point on The Legend of Korra. Flying that way was a mythical and highly advanced airbending technique, confined only to the most enlightened sages. It was the whole point of Zaheer as an antagonist. But Aang just goes up and down in the air. And I just realized that Aang didn't waterbend a single time in the whole season, not even in that training scene when Katara practices with the scroll. Which is funny, because reading this thread's positive praise, rather than improving my opinion of the adaptation, it is actually making me like it slightly less.

I watched 1 and 2 back to back and couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Aang learns how to cry in between episodes, or they applied fake tears for Gyatso's funeral or something. Bless their child actor's hearts, they tried very hard. But I don't think even Oscar winners could've done much with some of the atrocious dialogue that plagues some episodes. But yeah, mid would be a rather apt descriptor.

It lasts 40 seconds and he is in Superman pose flying for the most of it. I didn't call it that out of spite, I actually enjoyed the whole series. But it is mid. Sure, maybe not trash like the Shyamalaladingdong movie, but I don't want to have to sit through it ever again.

Oh, good call, I will do the math. The 8 live-action episodes last between 48 and 63 minutes each, in total they are 434 minutes of runtime. Roughly about the same as the whole animated season 1, which was 20 episodes that last 24 minutes each, so total 480 minutes. They only had 46 minutes less than the animated show to tell the exact same story.