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Once a dark horse in the realm of streaming platforms, Apple TV has come out ahead. The home of subversive television series other streamers could only dream of, the platform is also making headway in the feature film department. Its secret sauce lies in its refusal to emulate anything else.
While many try to find the next Game of Thrones, Apple TV is doing something better. The result is the new fantasy movie that boasts to be the best parts of Harry Potter and Ocean’s Eleven. While that may seem like an odd combination, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn makes it work.
Mistborn Is the Fantasy Heist That Everyone Needed
A live-action adaptation of Mistborn has been in the works for some time. The first book in the series, entitled The Final Empire, debuted in 2006, and Brandon Sanderson beat the best years of George R.R. Martin by completing the trilogy two years later. It has taken decades for an adaptation to come to fruition, but that may be for the best.
Sanderson is penning the screenplay himself, ensuring the fantasy combination of Harry Potter and Ocean’s Eleven makes it to Apple TV. This delicate balancing act could only come from the author himself, because his world of magic is so specific. He created a magical system on par with Harry Potter, but at its core, Mistborn had all the delight and tropes of a great heist film such as Ocean’s Eleven.
Mistborn takes place in the fantasy world of Scadrial, a desolate country full of a ruling class who utilize indentured servitude. The royals of this world have access to certain abilities that they can control by ingesting particular metals. These people are called mistings, but there are those called mistborns who have access to all the powers of Allomancy.
This highly developed world is as engaging and entertaining as the lore of Harry Potter, sometimes even more so. Mistborn isn’t based on the aesthetics or vibes that the author wanted to convey, but is based on real-world physics. This adds to the realism of Scadrial, while the more enjoyable aspects of the story are derived from the heist plot of the first book.
Just as Danny Ocean amassed a crew of criminals with a certain set of skills, so too does Kelsier, a rebel leader intent on taking down the fascist regime of the Final Empire. Wanting revenge for his wife’s death, this mistborn devises a complex plan that needs many mistings with different abilities. He recruits Breeze, a soother; Clubs, a smoker; and Hammond, a pewterarm. By consuming different metals, these characters can access different abilities.
They are only mistings, however, whereas Kelsier and Vin are mistborns. Vin is the last that Kelsier recruits, a street urchin who realizes that she has access to all the abilities. Kelsier trains her in the fight he is anxious to take to the Lord Ruler in an effort to remove the fascist dictatorship from Scadrial.
Vin is the Matt Damon of Mistborn
Most of Kelsier’s crew are old-hat at crimes, but there always needs to be a newcomer who has to be shown the ropes. In Ocean’s Eleven, Danny and Rusty enlist the son of a well-known thief. Matt Damon plays Linus, who is confident in his abilities, but is still green around the gills. Vin’s story mirrors Linus' as she makes impulsive choices, but is necessary to the plan.
Vin adapts quickly to the life of a mistborn, developing her abilities to become a power unto herself. This gives her the somewhat deluded idea that she could go up against the terrifying Obligators. She, of course, gets wounded and almost dies in the process, allowing her to develop as a character and mature, though at great cost.
At the same time, Kelsier enlists Vin to go undercover with the ruling class so she can pass on information. Vin’s identity as Lady Valette is some of the most entertaining portions of the book. The court intrigue and the close calls are reminiscent of the best parts of Ocean’s Eleven.
There are many times when Vin is almost discovered, but the story still has an emotional heart that pairs well with the humor and high stakes. Sanderson found the sweet spot of merging Harry Potter and Ocean’s Eleven in a story that is familiar but also new and engaging.
Vin Subverts the Harry Potter Chosen One Narrative
Mistborn may combine Harry Potter and Ocean’s Eleven, but this combination yields something even better. It improves on these familiar tropes in a way that provides something new. In the case of Harry Potter, the veneer has definitely come off that IP. The mythology of the wizarding world tends to fall apart once it is prodded.
Brandon Sanderson’s world of magic also doesn’t fall into predictable traps. Harry Potter is the standard telling of the Chosen One, with little room for deviation. Mistborn makes a point of bringing up the Chosen One trope, only to be subverted completely. This is what makes the story stand out against others of its kind.
In any other story, it may seem that Vin was set up as some kind of prophesied hero, but that is far from the truth. There is a Hero of Ages, but that isn’t Vin. In fact, Mistborn has a viewpoint similar to Dune, that those who gain power are doomed to misuse it.
Harry doesn’t really change throughout the books, save for getting older and more accomplished at magic. Vin, instead, becomes a better person for the people that she meets, and she doesn’t need some overhanging prophecy to become that person. She isn’t the Chosen One, but that doesn’t matter. In fact, it makes her story even better.
Vin rises against all odds and without fate intervening. She was born on the street, almost killed by her own mother, and abused by her brother. Regardless, she gains her own sense of power and rises through the ranks to be a force to be reckoned with. Apple TV’s newest fantasy series combines Harry Potter and Ocean’s Eleven, but it also makes magic out of its mash-up of genres.
