Netflix, Avatar: The Last Airbender (live action)

[Techwright]

I truly thought we had a thread for this already in the forum, but the search turned up nothing.

 

Teaser:

 

Trailer 1:

 

Freeing Iroh:

 

Final Trailer: 

 

 

Bonus:  Toph's voice actor from the original watches the trailer:

 

 

Well, they're pronouncing Aang correctly.  It's a good start.

(Also,  the actor playing Sokka...wow.  Eerie how like the animation he looks.)

[InvaderStych]

18 minutes ago, Techwright said:

(Also,  the actor playing Sokka...wow.  Eerie how like the animation he looks.)

 

Yeah, that is downright uncanny. 🤣

 

This is one of those things where I have mixed feelings. IIRC when Netflix tried this the first time around the creators of the original series bailed on it due to what The Big Red N had planned. Did that change over time? I haven't kept up.

 

Production value looks solid, bending looks proper, but the most important parts of the original, imo, are the overall tone and the arcs the characters travel throughout the series. If they get those right it could be pretty good. Get those wrong and it's just an effects-fest that would fall short of the original. There is a lot more to Avatar than just the action sequences.

 

Here's hoping they get it right!

 

🍻

[Techwright]

13 hours ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Yeah, that is downright uncanny. 🤣

 

This is one of those things where I have mixed feelings. IIRC when Netflix tried this the first time around the creators of the original series bailed on it due to what The Big Red N had planned. Did that change over time? I haven't kept up.

 

Production value looks solid, bending looks proper, but the most important parts of the original, imo, are the overall tone and the arcs the characters travel throughout the series. If they get those right it could be pretty good. Get those wrong and it's just an effects-fest that would fall short of the original. There is a lot more to Avatar than just the action sequences.

 

Here's hoping they get it right!

 

🍻

From what I have heard the only controversy so far revolves around Sokka's prejudice towards women. The live action has decided to tone that down.  I see why some fans are upset, because overcoming that prejudice through conflict and personal growth is part of animated Sokka's character arc.  

[InvaderStych]

That is unfortunate, that sort of character growth was one of the excellent aspects of the original series. Each character is introduced with some obvious flaws and gradually learns to overcome/outgrow them.

 

A little bit of light reading suggests the new series dials back on these character driven aspects for more than just Sokka. No mention of Zuko that I have seen, but there are mentions of "condensing" Aang's growth from silly child to heroic figure as well as dialing back on some aspects of Katara's character as well. Some of this is probably dictated by the limited length of the live action version compared to three long seasons of the original. Just not enough screen time to go through all the "adventure of the week" moments which may not have driven the series arc, but they did drive character growth.

 

One comment has already mentioned that the live action lacks some of the philosophical depth of the original, which I suppose is to be expected, but I had hoped it would at least attempt to match the original there.

 

Will probably still give it a go though, just to see for myself.

 

Interesting that the reaction video above is from Toph's VO actress. No sign of her in the trailers though. (Unless I missed it?)

[Techwright]

45 minutes ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Interesting that the reaction video above is from Toph's VO actress. No sign of her in the trailers though. (Unless I missed it?)

 

You did not miss Toff.  She was introduced in Season 2, and live action is doing seasons as well. (Assuming renewal). Toff's VO actress has expressed her hope to see a green light for season 2 in hopes of seeing live action Toff.

[InvaderStych]

Ooooookay ...

 

So I went ahead and watched the first episode, and ... well ... um ...

 

I don't hate it?

 

I'd call it flawed, but watchable, so far, with a moment here and there that evokes some of what was enjoyable about the original.

 

 

 

Ep1 moves too quickly - not enough time spent with the characters to become vested in them, and relies too much on dialog to compress the narrative.  In general breaking one of the great adages of film making: "Don't talk about it. Show it." They might be leaning on familiarity here; knowing that a significant portion of the audience already knows/adores the characters.

 

One or two promising moments between Sokka and Katara that echo the original series nicely. In general these two actors are doing a decent job with the rather ... lackluster ... dialog they've been given.

 

Aang's tattoos are too dark. 🤣 Minor detail, but in some scenes they render as almost black.

 

Also, the choice to not use Fire Nation air ships, and have the Fire Benders sort of "super-jumping" into the Southern Air Temple sort of put me off a bit.

 

Zuko's actor is doing well so far - again making the best of what's been given, but selling it nicely so far. This might save the series for me if the trend continues.

 

Iroh is unconvincing, a bit stilted, and the voice is all kinds of wrong. Sort of a shame that. Hopefully the guy settles into the role better as the series progresses.

 

Visuals/Bending are done quite well, although the whole thing looks a little too "digital" for my taste. Looks like it was shot on RED cameras; I tend to prefer the more "organic" look of the ARRI Alexa line of cameras, personally. Curious to see if I am right about that.

 

Appa is suitably adorable.
 

 

 

I'll probably watch the rest of it, in spite of myself, lol, as I figure it will continue to fall short of expectations. That said, ep1 had just enough promising moments that there could be more good than not across the run of the series.

 

It does make me want to re-watch the original series again at some point. 🤣

 

Edited February 23 by InvaderStych
word choice

[Duckbutler]

My wife and I were talking about this last night when I turned Netflix on and it popped up. Remember that live action movie we got before that Lake Laogai wants you to forget about? Part of the reason it sucked so hard was it tried to condense all of season 1 into a two(?) hour movie. It pulled out all the filler. But the thing is, the filler is the real soul of the show. There's a lot of character building done there. A major part of Aang's character is that he's a kid. He's avoiding his duties that were thrust upon him unfairly by a world in crisis. Even as he learns to deal with that, he never stops having fun along the way. One of Aang's greatest strengths as a character is that he can find and create joy. That dance episode in season 3 where he teaches the Fire Nation kids to dance really drives that point home.

 

The first time through, the plot is super compelling. Rewatching the original series for the nth time, it's not the plot that I love. The dramatic tension is gone, I know what's going to happen in the plot. It's those weird filler character episodes that let the cast shine. So I hope this new remake learned something from the movie.

[InvaderStych]

On 2/22/2024 at 8:42 PM, InvaderStych said:

I'll probably watch the rest of it, in spite of myself, lol, as I figure it will continue to fall short of expectations.

 

Well, both parts of that sentence turned out to be true ...

 

 

 

It's basically a fast walking tour through the main plot points. A few moments of echoing the energy between the kids that is found in the original, but moves too fast to truly become vested in either them or the story, and as such the dialog tends to occasionally come off as trite. I don't know who would be watching this without having seen the original series, but it would be interesting to hear if it was effective for someone who hadn't.

 

I did come around a little on the actor playing Iroh, even if the voice is still all kinds of wrong. Zuko's performance remains the most convincing, although credit to the kid playing Aang for occasionally channeling the character's nature quite well. They'll probably get another season, and if they do hopefully the young lady playing Azula gets a better opportunity from the writers to bring that character into her own. Even the usually phenomenal Ms. Midthunder seemed ... uncomfortable ... as Yue.

 

Craft-wise, costuming was great, set pieces were great, still a little too "digital" overall but full credit to the design team for the world-building even if the compositing team didn't quite hit the mark.

 

 

... I never saw the movie version (never will), but I can tell from this version that they were at least trying to capture some of what made the original series so great. As such they get a "nod of existence acknowledgement" from me.

 

 

Edited March 3 by InvaderStych