Review: "Sozin's Comet"

I recently finished watching all of Nickolodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender. Overall, I loved it; it's definitely on my list of my top animated series of all time. It was a fantastic series - something I never expected from a channel like Nickolodeon. Everything from the animation (especially the animation), to the writing, to the music, to the characters was superbly done. Although the dialogue was, at times, juvenile, that quickly fell away as the story matured. As a Miyazaki fan, I very much appreciated the clear Miyazaki influences (such as the Owl in the episode "The Library" and Koh the face-stealer). Also, as a Batman: The Animated Series fan, I also appreciated the generally excellent voice acting -- particularly Mark Hamill (the Joker in BTAS) as Fire Lord Ozai, and Dante Basco (who I only know as Rufio from "Hook") as Zuko.

A four-part two-hour movie, "Sozin's Comet," functioned as the series finale, tying together all of the loose ends and showcasing all of the characters on their way to fulfilling their destinies. All I can say is, "Sozin's Comet" was absolutely amazing, possibly the best two hours of TV (animated or not) I've ever watched. So, what was so amazing about it?

(1) First off, the animation. Some of the action sequences - particularly the agni kai between Zuko and Azula - were breathtakingly beautiful. The pacing in that fight scene was just stunning, and the music was perfect as well. Really, just everything was perfect. The use of color. The interplay of light and dark. The use of shadows. Certainly, the animation style was fantastic throughout the whole show, but in "Sozin's Comet" three scenes totally blew me away: the scene when Ozai and the airships light the world on fire, the aforementioned Zuko v. Azula fight; and the Ozai v. Avatar fight. Seriously, the Zuko v. Azula fight scene ... best animated sequence EVER. (I think it's superior to even the Ozai v. Avatar fight, although that fight is also superbly done.)

(2) Second, the character development. The series was fantastic about developing its characters (including the villains) overall. But even in the series finale, the writers took time to flesh out Azula's character. I won't spoil it, but Azula's scenes are picture perfect. And you really see characters like Zuko and Sokka come into their own, see how far they've come. You even see Toph shed a tear.

(3) Third, the writing. Other reviewers have written this as well, but every scene in "Sozin's Comet" seems to have a purpose. There's nothing extra, and every scene is doing work in adding value to the show. There are some comical scenes (like the birthday party in the bomb bay) which are probably unnecessary, but because they're well written, they fit in well with the rest of the movie. There were some great one-liners, and some really moving scenes (like the Zuko and Uncle reunion, and the Zuko and Aang talk & hug at the very end). There were also great (though sometimes cryptic) scenes that showed Aang's struggle with his pre-ordained mission.

(4) Fourth, the music. Actually, now that I've watched "Sozin's Comet" something like 4 or 5 times, I've really noticed how much work the music does in the movie. Three sequences where the music is just chillingly EXCELLENT are: the aforementioned agni kai scene (the slow music there is just stunning, a beautiful contrast against the flames that are swirling on the screen), the scene where Aang redirects Ozai's lightning strike, and, of course, the energybending scene.

That's all I've got, really. I can't say enough about how "Sozin's Comet" really just blew me away. The series was great overall, with only a few episodes that were blah-dee-blah, but I don't think I would be as enamored with Avatar: The Last Airbender if "Sozin's Comet" hadn't been so well executed. (To a lesser extent, I think I feel the same way about Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, in relation to Batman Beyond, though I think I like Avatar more.)

In any case, that's my review of "Sozin's Comet." Just, really really fantastic. I don't even know if I have any complaints!