The world is divided between four great nations, each of which takes its name from an element, Fire, Water, Air, Earth.
And every people has masters, people with superpowers that allow them to manipulate their respective element, for example by flying through the atmosphere or projecting flames.
But in each generation an Avatar is born, the only one who can dominate the four elements.
The latest, Aang, a 12-year-old boy, lives in the Air Nation.
He disappears the night when the Fire People attack his village, a prelude to an almost total conquest of the planet...
Let's immediately eliminate any ambiguity, this Avatar has nothing to do with James Cameron's films.
Rather, it is the new version of an animated series of the same name, broadcast in the United States between 2005 and 2008, then repeated on TF1, and of which three seasons are now available on Netflix.
M. Night Shyamalan then delivered a cinematic version in 2010, often considered his worst film, whose artistic and critical failure nipped the two planned sequels in the bud.
Back to square one with this new series transposition, which has attracted curiosity since it has topped the Netflix top 10 since its release last Thursday.
We can credit its fidelity to the original story, very successful special effects, as well as superb sets.
There is no doubt that fans of the cartoon from the beginning of the century will find what they are looking for.
As well as all those who have retained the soul of an adolescent or young adult, in particular thanks to a few nods to the “X-Men”, or even to the 1980s trilogy “The Neverending Story”.
Aang rides on a flying bison, which inevitably brings to mind Falkor, the dragon that little Bastien rides in the three German-American feature films...
And that is the limit of the exercise.
Here we remain in a product perfectly calibrated for family viewing, full of good feelings and never deviating from the right path.
The bad guys triumph at first, but there is no doubt that the day will come when they pay, once the Avatar has completed his quest...
Editor's note:
3.5/5
“Avatar: The Last Airbender”
American fantasy series by Albert Kim, with Gordon Cormier, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Dallas Liu… 8 episodes of 47 minutes at 1h03.