The premise for Avatar is a great one, the universe is brilliant, the animation is very good, but that's all. It seems like the creators don't quite know how to handle all the power they've given to the characters. Fighting techniques and technology in action sequences are pretty boring. You can summon fire but you're still using knifes and medieval war machines? Serious lack of imagination there. This sort of top-of-the-head mundane approach to what could otherwise be an epic and innovative narrative, pretty much pervades the whole series on all levels and leaves it unfulfilled. The storytelling is rushed and primitive with no space for nuance and no respect for rhythm. This robs both the characters' depth and the worlds' seductiveness. Dialogues have no pauses, landscapes have no protagonism. This in my view is the biggest flaw of avatar and the one reason why it has no soul. The esoteric side of element bending and Shintoism was another great fountain of inspiration not allowed to gush forth. In the end Avatar is all action, and not very inventive at it either. But don't let me discourage you from watching it. It's still an entertaining an fun show as long as you can bear all its critical flaws and aren't frustrated for its infantile shallowness.