A live-action fan film inspired by “Avatar: The Last Airbender” has raised expectations for Netflix’s own adaptation of the beloved series.
In the minute-long clip from video creator and stunt coordinator Ken Do, Diana Tsoy plays blind earthbending master Toph as she takes on four assailants, all of whom are earthbenders themselves. Using her enhanced senses, the stunt person playing Toph easily overpowers her enemies, even using their own attacks against them.
The clip quickly went viral after it was shared on Twitter, garnering over 5.7 million views and 51,900 likes since it was posted on March 7.
The tweet from gaming news outlet Dexerto indicated that the video was created by the stunt team behind Netflix’s highly anticipated adaptation; however, Do does not specify this in his original Instagram post.
Although the fan film’s producers are involved with Netflix’s highly anticipated live-action series, Do says the video was not created in association with the show.
It was actually just a fan film I had wanted to shoot for a while, but it also happened to be that 3 of the people involved in it, including myself and my producing partner (off camera), was also on the stunt team for Netflix’s live-action series. The 3 being myself as the show’s fight coordinator while my producing partner, Megan Hui, was on the stunt team along with my friend Leslie Kwan. So in turn it had nothing to do with Netflix or our stunt team on the show as a whole, or else sharing it online would not be possible.
Notably, another fight instructor for the upcoming Netflix series is none other than Alan Tang, one of the stunt performers responsible for training Simu Liu in preparation for filming Marvel‘s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
Many users praised the video for its impressive choreography, with some comparing it favorably to M. Night Shyamalan‘s infamous 2010 film adaptation of the animated series.
“Certainly better than whatever the hell this is supposed to be,” one user said before linking to a clip from Shyamalan’s film.
Certainly better than whatever the hell this is supposed to be pic.twitter.com/JNnVQZVSL9
— – (@thatboi_tmoney) March 7, 2023
“Doubt Anime/animation will ever translate to live action well enough to be fully satisfied. That being said, the choreography with bending and fighting is already way better than the old movie,” said another user.
Doubt Anime/animation will ever translate to live action well enough to be fully satisfied.
That being said, the choreography with bending and fighting is already way better than the old movie.
— Ely (@ProofOfEly) March 7, 2023
Although some users found the visual effects used for the earthbending lacking, others were quick to point out that the clip is likely a previsualization of a scene, not a final cut to be used in the show.
A previsualization is a preview of what a scene or sequence will look like prior to filming, which is commonly used for storyboarding, stunts, animation and other aspects of visual design.
“No way this is getting released,” one user wrote. “The CGI is REALLY bad. Pretty sure sharknado has better CGI.”
In response to the influx of negative comments targeting the clip’s effects, another user wrote, “So many people in these comments acting like this is what a finished production would look like. Do y’all just think people snap their fingers and CGI and animation are immediately in a finished, ready-to-ship state?”
