- Written by Annabelle Rackham
- culture reporter
Netflix's latest live-action film Avatar: The Last Airbender has divided critical opinion.
This eight-part series is a remake of the popular fantasy animated series of the same name by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
Both signed with Netflix to make a live-action version, but never saw the project through.
Critic Aramide Tinubu said the series is “a far cry from the mess” of another remake, the 2010 M. You'll end up wishing Tino and Konietzko's masterpiece had been left alone.”
It added: “While the show's visuals and Asian and Indigenous stars add authenticity to the series, the performances of the majority of the cast, no matter how earnest, cannot carry the weight of the story.
“Many of the series' depictions lack the breadth of emotion needed to convey a show centered around the horrors of genocide, war, and totalitarianism.”
The show's legal team is keen to ensure that it has nothing to do with Avatar itself, which remains a huge hit with fantasy lovers despite being the highest-grossing film of all time. I would point it out.
Without giving too much away, the premise of the series is that there are four divided kingdoms defined by fire, earth, water, and air, and the “benders” who live there manipulate these elements into some sort of magic. It means that it is used for the power of.
The main characters include 12-year-old Anne, played by Gordon Cormier, who teams up with 14-year-old Katara (Kiawentio) and her older brother Sokka (Ian Owsley) to save the kingdom.
“The scenery is sparkling, the giant six-legged flying bison are carried from place to place in the clouds with flying colors, and the young cast is fully committed to the task,” he wrote.
“The Last Airbender series is back with confidence. This won't be the last we see.”
“It's pretty monotonous and the sketches are thin.”
He said that the show is “a pretty flat and thinly drawn version of a well-worn fantasy tale of oppression and rebellion” and that, despite each episode being an hour long, “the show is somehow too long. At the same time, it feels too short,” he added.
“This is solid entertainment,” she said. “It's fast-moving, action-packed, with decent fight scenes and some compelling performances, all done on Netflix's generous budget.
“Don't expect subtlety. This is for children, so the characters and plot are broadly drawn.”
Singh said he watched the film with children, the age group the series is broadly aimed at, and they also provided their own reviews. “It's good, but not as good as SpongeBob,” the children said.
“From the beginning, the live-action series has had many flaws,” he wrote. “The acting is wooden, the script is even more wooden, the costumes are garish, the musical score is annoyingly blaring, and everything looks like it was filmed through a light glaze of mud.
“But worst of all, the new series' self-indulgent, hour-long premiere is just plain boring. It's hard not to get sidetracked halfway through, and to muster up the enthusiasm to continue in seven more installments. is even more difficult,” he added.
“What should have felt like an exciting swashbuckling adventure instead feels like we've been handed homework, which is a cruel fate for a film based on a Nickelodeon children's cartoon.”
“It's not as good as the animated series,” he continued. “Of course not. It's a colored pencil drawing of the Mona Lisa. It may be great in itself, but it's just a completely different medium that will never measure up to the original masterpiece.”
However, he concluded: Despite tons of skepticism, including myself, who ranks the original one of my favorite shows of all time, Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender is much better than I expected. I have to say that I am. I really enjoyed it until the end. ”