Although our judgement was initially clouded by the anticipation of an Avatar sequel, we are now able to see that The Legend of Korra is not all we thought it would be.
The storyline shows much promise, but there are many factors that make it fall short of its expectations.
For one, the world that DiMartino and Konietzko produced no longer exists. Yes, the characters can still shift rocks with a flick of their hand and shoot fireballs out of their fists, but the main difference is that the creativity is now gone.
The Last Airbender was unique in that Avatar world was just that: a whole other world. The creators seamlessly adapted their imaginations to reality, shaping the continents into provinces for each of the elements. And every locale had its own originality. Take the Western Air Temple for example: a temple built from the earth’s surface down, or the Northern Water Tribe’s temple, constructed from solid ice. Now compare that to a standard, prototypical metropolis. The problem is that Aang and his friends embarked on thrilling adventures to unimaginable lands, whereas Korra embarks on trivial escapades in the same-old lackluster city that we’ve all seen before.
Moreover, the underdeveloped characters pale in comparison to the multifarious personas in Airbender. Konietzko and DiMartino managed to carry on the role of strong female characters through Korra and Asami, but they failed to carry on the intricacies associated with these heroines. Overall, they fall flat with shoddy jabs of humor. Consequently, the characters seem distant and impersonal.
The themes introduced in Airbender such as conservation, animal activism, family, and self-confidence are lost as the creators try to adapt these topics to a metropolitan setting. The most obvious example is that of conservation: while the Ancient Earth Kingdom used a elaborate mail-transport system based on chutes, Republic City uses wasteful, carbon-emitting automobiles.
As with all sequels, The Legend of Korra as a whole falls flat as a bland production threatening to taint the Avatar legacy.
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