It's nearly impossible to view Netflix's new live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation outside of the shadow of its predecessors--both the wildly successful animated series that birthed a beloved franchise, and the terrible big-screen adaptation from M. Night Shyamalan. Could another live-action adaptation avoid the movie's pitfalls, even reliant as it is on child actors? Inversely, how could any adaptation make good on the stratospheric expectations of the original cartoon series that has attracted such a devoted fandom? With those questions at the forefront of my mind, I was surprised to find that Netflix's Avatar is a delight. It owes much of its success to finding a careful balance between the sprawling scope of the cartoon and the too-truncated movie. It won't replace the original animated series in the hearts of fans, but it's sincere, respectful of the source material, and includes just enough additions and nuance to make the material its own.

For those unfamiliar, Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a fantasy world, primarily inspired by an amalgamation of various Asian cultures, consisting of four nation-states: the Fire Nation, Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, and Air Nomads. Each has its own traditions and culture, defined in large part by the magical ability of some of their citizens to "bend" the named elements to their will. Waterbenders can make water float in midair or transform it into ice blocks, firebenders can manifest or breathe fire, etc. The four nations are held in check by the Avatar, the only human being who can bend all four elements, who is reincarnated into each of the nations sequentially. When the Fire Nation declares an imperialist war on all the others, the Avatar vanishes for 100 years, allowing a multigenerational conflict to burn its way across the world.

That may sound like a lot of lore to absorb upfront, and if Netflix's adaptation has one major weakness, it's that so much of the first episode is spent catching you up to speed. The lore dump of the first episode makes for occasionally clunky expository dialogue, and that's a lot to ask of the primarily child-forward cast. It also seems overeager to establish some of its weightier themes early, which can make the affair feel gloomier than it should. It's unfortunate that this first episode doesn't put its best foot forward, because after those awkward early moments, the show quickly finds its stride.