Of all the epic bending battles in Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender, one of the most memorable and emotionally driven duels was that between Zuko and his maddened sister, princess Azula-- the agni kai that the show had spent two seasons building towards.
That battle has been recreated in live-action by the crowdfunded production team, RE:Anime, who specializes in adapting scenes from anime series. There are notable differences, such as the absence of a grand palace and a very different ending from that of the original battle, but the spirit of the series is present throughout the nine minute clip and pays tribute, not just to Avatar: The Last Airbender, but its sequel series, Legend of Korra.
The short film was directed by Josh Mabie and written and produced by Nik Shaw and Josh Mabie. According to RE:Anime, the film crew was comprised of volunteers who shot and edited the sequence for free.
For the time being, this is the only live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender fans will be able to enjoy. That being said, series creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino are currently producing a live-action adaptation of their own for Netflix. It was previously reported that production would begin some time this year. No further details have since been revealed. Production may be hindered by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) epidemic currently sweeping the globe, however.
Update (4/9) - We thought that was the final Last Airbender fan film we’d see from RE:ANIME, but then they came out with something else, a comic short all about Sokka getting high out of his mind on cactus juice, adapted from the season 2 episode “The Desert”:
That’s Jonathan Tanigaki as Sokka, doing a great job of translating the cartoon version of the character to live-action. He even sounds a lot like Jack DeSena. And the wavy noodle arms at the end are almost uncanny.
The Last Airbender always did a great job of balancing the high-stakes drama and character building with comedy, and clearly, RE:ANIME has a good grasp on both sides of the coin. Here’s hoping Netflix approaches its show the same way, and soon we can forget M. Night Shyamalan disastrous 2010 movie version ever existed.
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Originally published: Monday, March 30, 2020.
Original source: CBR.com; Additional source: Winter Is Coming.
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