With good reason; its stilted dialogue, often strange choice of cinematography, and awkward deviations from the original show were getting my goat here and there a LOT. There's a LOT to love about the show - LOTS of love and quality in it, but some ODD choices.
I had a guess, from I think episode 2 of the live action show, that the problem they were facing was an editing problem, on top of a story pacing problem: it seems like they're compressing at least 1.5 seasons of a long-ass cartoon into eight 45min live action episodes. That's... Gonna cause some chafe.
And it did. And it's a bit weird. There's some weirdness in there. Some things aren't well explained. Many things are too well explained/flashbacky. Some new things are very heavy handed. And I was left scratching my head. Why is it so decent, yet so... Occasionally janky?
Then I watched two episodes of the cartoon that align with the live action. The last two episodes of S01 - the siege of the Northern Water Tribe.
And, dear reader, let me tell you, everything makes sense now. All the changes they've made. The dialogue. All of it.
They're faithful to the cartoon, but cut everything unnecessary for time.
SO much of the two-episode finale of S01 of the cartoon is fucking wasted screen time. It's not character growth. It's not well-paced. It's jarring, and ignorant of themes and motifs that occur in later seasons (as they hadn't been made when these scripts were approved!)
Every. Single. Edit. That they made to the story of those episodes, I agreed with. Hahn being a dickhead and a cuck (I mean this literally, not derogatorily; it's literally the whole plot between Hahn, Sokka, and Yui, and it's extremely awkward and unnecessary), and Sokka getting into a fight with him? Cut. A whole day passing with the fire nation just SITTING out the front of the city in their boats, and when the sun rises, they just BREACH the wall? NO defense was raised overnight? Nothing? The entire first maybe 1/3 of the second of the two cartoon episodes is the Gaang discovering the catapults on the ship, Aang leaving to sink the ship, seeing dozens more, returning, and feeling super defeated b/c he can't sink more than a dozen of them himself. Prior to this, Aang was just fucking goofing off instead of training. NONE of the weight of his role is present, none of peoples' expectations, fears. It's a cartoon. It's sloppy as HELL.
And I think that's the reason people are so divisive on it. If you're only remembering the cartoon via nostalgia (as in, haven't watched relevant episodes for a year+ now), and find the show not aligning well with your view of the cartoon, it might behoove you to rewatch the cartoon.
I'm suddenly understanding why I only remember so little of the specifics of the cartoon - I think I'm only remembering a few of the (many) good bits. So much of the in-between is and was, even at the time I watched it when it was airing, fucking trite cartoon filler that was entirely unnecessary. Better cartoons in the nowadays have made better stories without that level of filler or pandering to children. Gravity Falls/Owl House as prime examples.
IMO, it's just as fucking sloppy in the first season. I know it gets better. But the show likely will too, if they're using the cartoon as SUCH a blueprint to refine.
The only thing I really thought was super weak in the live action adaptation was the Secret Tunnel. The whole point of the story was lovers, and they sent siblings in, and it still worked just fine. Why not tweak it a little further so it's not so fucking Luke/Leia awkward, sheesh. Oh well.
They made Oma and Shu wlw. Can't complain.
