The Last Airbender Review

I’m so conflicted…

I really wanted to like The Last Airbender when it came to theatres. As I wrote in a post the other day I’m a big fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender (the original name for the show), and I also like Shyamalan movies, so why does this leave me so confused.

First of all if I may address this, The fill doesn’t deserve the 8 percent approval rating it received on rotten tomatoes, it deserved better and I think a lot of film critics where to focused on dissing Shyamalan and his degenerating career as opposed to focusing on the film itself. The parts they do address critically of the movie are in all parts valid, and I agree with most of them.

For any fans of the series you know the story, there are four nations each alike in dignity, all possessing the ability to manipulate an element through their own personal martial art. They used to live in peace, until one of the four, the Fire Nation, decided one day to start a quest to dominate the world. The only hope for the world is the Avatar, a karate version of Dali Lama that can control all four elements, that is reborn into one of the tribes in succession. However one day the avatar disappeared, leaving the world in turmoil and leaving the world to the mercy of the fire nation. Needless to say the Avatar reappears one day, and it’s his mission to save the world.

The story here is by no means the problem; it’s in the way it is told. It seems like this film is dedicated to telling just about everything that happens in a 20 episode season in just 2 hours. This is where the film ultimately falls apart. Because he is trying to recap or cram in many elements from the series down in the film the film constantly feels like it’s booking it to the finish line. Some of these are handled perfectly, in example they recap the story of Prince Zuko in perfect 3 minute or so long tale, and it’s adapted in a way that it gives you the information, builds the character, and is satisfying to watch, unfortunately the same cannot be said for much else of the movie. The Story is constantly explaining things, or telling objectives and it feels like no one is allowed to act, except for the antagonists of the film, who portray their roles very well.

Pictured above, not the main character

The main character Aang aka “The Last Airbender/ Avatar”, feels like a secondary character, he barely says anything or emotes anything that isn’t serious. If you have seen almost any episode of the television show you know Aang, he’s the main character, he has feelings and emotions, he is young, and while he has responsibilities and can get serious he has fun. He acts like a kid. However the film version of Aang is apparently not allowed to act and it reflects in his performance it’s stiff and lacking in confidence. You never feel like he is more than a piece of wood drifting in a sea of combat. Even when Aang is flowing through montages of saving villages you never see him do more than just fight, and it’s dull and boring. You are given the reason he ran away in the first place, and while different from the show it’s acceptable, but you never feel why he ran away, you don’t see his emotions and the actor doesn’t act them. They aren’t even really implied. If you’re not a fan of the show you won’t miss his emotions so much, and will see the character in a completely different light, however I and most people that will see this movie are, and the character traits are missed very much.

This is the same for nearly all of the protagonists, at one point two character are implied to like each other, instead of showing how their relationship buds you are told one budded, and to a small extent shown it in motion, you never get to see the acting you never are allowed to see emotion.

the real main character

In the end, I felt more for Admiral Zhao, Prince Zuko, and Uncle Iroh than any of the protagonists, and in Zuko’s case, far and away I felt emotions. He should have been the main character in this movie, if only because he was the most important character, and arguably the only one allowed acting. Really his character is so well done, I would have preferred if this movie followed him, showing the side of the story of the show from his perspective. You would have had a far superior movie, not suffering under the weight of so much adaption, filled with many more emotions. I mean one of his defining episodes “The Blue Spirit” is included in the film in near entirety, and is captured lovingly.

As an adaptation, it does include nearly every important character, and event of the first season, sometimes even to the shows detriment. The character of Momo a small flying lemur bat is in the movie for literally 2 minutes, he shows up, joins the party and other than that is merely just included for the continuity, and to provide fan service. They bring a lot from the show over, and condense it into a weird amalgam at times, but it never feels like paying nods, or homage to the source material but rather instead, it’s all just there to reference as many episodes as possible (like seriously they reference the season 2 episode featuring the great library 5 times, for no reason) I don’t mind bringing over story or plot elements but pruning of the content was greatly needed for the film to work the appropriate way.

The most fun you will have with the film comes when the movie stops telling you things and just shows you them. This unfortunately only happens at the very beginning, the blue spirit part mentioned above, and the very end. During these parts you see what this movie should have been, you see emotions, you feel involved in the story, and it’s actually really good, it is such a shame that most of the movie isn’t like this at all.

As for the actual filming method of the film is relatively fine, the camera films the movie appropriately, and Shyamalan does a good job at getting what he wants’ portrayed on film, the only thing I didn’t really like about the film was the action scenes, they felt stiff, almost as if they were on a two dimensional plain. The action is also painfully slow at times, the martial arts that actually spur the magical “bending” is slowed down, and it makes the fights look plodding, which they shouldn’t be, they should be fast and exciting, you know like the show this film is based on.

As for the props they are effective, and they all look like they should. The costumes are range from poor to good, but they all feel like they belong in the universe. The Water tribe’s coats look a little fake but, it’s understandable, not many people want to walk around a set in a wool coat, but come on. The sets while mostly effective sometimes fall flat. Most notably in the Northern Water tribe village, the film feels fake. I understand that a city made of ice and snow can be hard to replicate, but it didn’t need to feel so sterile. The 3-D is pointless, you barely feel it and when you do it’s mostly just distracting rather than immersive. There was only one fight scene in which I actually enjoyed the 3-d effect, but other than that if you have the opportunity to view this film in 2-d I recommend it over the more costly 3-d.

This film confuses me. It’s stiff, poorly acted, suffered from the plight of adaptations everywhere, and yet I still liked it. I wish this film was in two parts, I wish the adaptation didn’t feel so rushed, but I like the final result, even if it does drag most of the time. If you are a fan of the series see the movie, you will be disappointed mostly but, you will get what you came for the see avatar on the big screen. Honestly though, if your new to this franchise, watch the television show, while it might skew a bit on the young side it is whole more enjoyable than the film. The movie is ok and sometimes it can rank up higher into the good and even great range, but as a fan you may be more disappointed than usual.

Notes

• Don’t believe the overwhelming negative reviews; it’s not nearly as bad as the critics say.
• Oh the white washing thing, you don't really notice during the film, but honestly i didn't feel it in the first place
• Fans of the series be prepared to suffer very weird pronuciations of names, like Ann-gh, Aaah-vah-tar, sewka, I think the effect was to sound more Asian, but it just comes off wierd to any fans of the show.