Netflix has offered its live-action version of an iconic animated series, and we can breathe: yes, it works overall.
Appropriating a unanimously appreciated work to offer a new version is always very risky, and many projects have failed while attempting the adventure. However, Netflix decided to take up the challenge, despite the lackluster failures of Death Note and other Cowboy Bebop.
It must be said that the streaming giant is starting to get used to the practice, and the efforts are starting to pay off: after One Piece, a monument of Japanese animation, the platform therefore proposed a redesign of a work, this time American, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The objective? Bring the adventures of Aang, a young Avatar responsible for bringing balance to the world, in a live action version.
Avatar: The Last Airbender – a successful adaptation without reaching new heights
Because animation allows things that real view cannot make coherent, because the target audience is supposed to be more “adult” , because the original story was too important to dare to resemble it while taking the risk of not holding comparison, the Netflix series sought to free itself from certain parts of its predecessor.
The format of eight episodes of around fifty minutes undoubtedly served the scenario, reworked to take its time without being heavy. But we also had to cut to the chase and get rid of certain narratives or interactions, always with this desire to find our own identity.
Early fans will be happy to find the relationships between the different groups of characters, who will have more or less preserved what made them interesting – with the exception of Sokka, whose character has perhaps been softened a little too much. so that its evolution can really be felt throughout the story.
On the other hand, the idea of adding scenes intended to be shocking in order to show a “maturity” distinguishing the series from its big sister is of little interest. And this misses the point of the cartoon, which, although intended for children, had nothing childish in the subjects covered.
For the rest, Avatar: The Last Airbender makes a copy worthy of a good student, without getting too wet either. The action scenes work well without flying away, the dialogues are well-rehearsed without being impactful, the image is very clean without being flamboyant.
In any case, the time spent watching the episodes will undoubtedly remain a pleasant experience, and will probably make grown-up children want to go back and treat themselves to a nostalgic dose of the original.
Avatar: The Last Airbender landed in the Netflix catalog on February 22, where it joins the cartoon.
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