The Last Airbender Review

M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender", based on the hit Nickolodeon TV Series Avatar: The Last Airbender, but missing the Avatar part because of James Cameron's film Avatar, has so far recieved many negative revierws, but I'm going to do something different. So all you people know, I am far from a guy who agrees with majority opinion. Anyone remeber "Dragonball: Evolution"? I loved that movie, and thought it was really excellent, even if most didn't like it. I like this movie even more than that, and I'll explain why in this review

As far as a plot summary, I don't have to say all that much. This movie, as part of a planned trilogy, chronicles the first season of the show "Book One: Water", so if you've watched through the first season, you know the basics of the story. It tells the tale of the four bending(element manipulating) nations, Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, and how they used to live in peace and harmony until the Fire Nation turned on all the other nations, wiping out all the Airbending Nomads. The people believed that the Avatar, who could bend all four elements, would save them, but he was nowhere to be found.

100 years later, two children from the southern Water Tribe, Katara(Nicola Peltz) and her older brother Sokka(Jackson Rathbone) discover a young boy frozen in ice, and set him free. This boy, Aang(Noah Ringer) later turned out to be an Airbender, as well as the Avatar. The two expected him to stop the fire nation and save the world, but there's a problem: he only knows Airbending. So together with Katara, Sokka, and his two pets, a flying bison named Appa, and a lemur bat named Momo, the group sets off to help Aang learn how to bend the other elements, starting with water, all the while being chased down by the exiled fire nation prince Zuko(Dev Patel) as well as the rest of the fire nation.

As said earlier, this movie chronicles the first season where Aang learns Waterbending, and if you want to learn more about the plot, just watch the first season of the show.

The first thing that struck me about this movie was its sheer accuracy. I have watched the whole first season beginning to end, and throughout the entire movie, I saw the way the plot progressed and the sheer accuracy it had to the show's story. There wasn't everything, but they kept in all the major parts, and there were even references to things from the show that didn't appear. In terms of story, this is one of the most accurate film adaptations of anything I've ever seen.

The look of the movie, while slightly atlered from the original counterpart, did have a lot of the same feel and was still impressive enough to be accepted and embraced. The costumes and landscapes for the most part, were highly representative of where they came from, and very few characters were hard to recognize. The sets and props were just the way they're supposed to look, and the few CGI creatures looked like they jumped from right from the small screen to the big screen. You can really tell what the movie came from just by looking

The characters were just about all the way they were supposed to be. Noah Ringer as Aang looked like he was too serious in the trailers, but actually seeing him in the full course of the movie, he was near spot-on. He really acted like he was a simple and cheery little kid, but when the going got rough, he knew what to do. The character, like his source, had doubts and regrets about his past, but eventually came to accept his fate and how he didn't have to do it alone.

Nicole Peltz's Katara really captured the spirit of how she was full of hope, and really believed in Aang. She saw the potential in him and really tried to help him fulfill his destiny, as well as supporting him in his efforts to master Waterbending, even though she hadn't mastered it herself.

Sokka was one of the characters I had a slight problem with. While Jackson Rathbone did an okay job, the writing held him back. In the series, Sokka is a goofball; The main source of comic relief, and a guy who liked to boast alot, while being somewhat cowardly. Here, what's emphasized is his lesser aspects. How he tries to be a good big brother and take care of his sister, as well as trying to be the responsible one, acting strictly and being something of a worrywart. That's not a bad thing, but the humor of Sokka was greatly missed with this character, and it could have made him a lot better.

Dev Patel was an excellent choice for Prince Zuko. He was completely determined to get back his honor and prove himself to his father at any cost. He had a great amount of pent-up rage, and when it was unleashed, it was really plain to see, yet despite his fury and villainy, he had a sense of honor and knew when to back down.

The other characters were also done quite well. Zuko's Unlce Iroh still maintained his sense of calm and a desire to forget the past and setttle down to have peace, as well as being very protective of his nephew. Commander Zhao of the fire nation, who will later become Admiral Zhao, was devious and arrogant, oblivious to the horrible things that he was trying to do. The Waterbending Master, Pakku, while not quite as developed as in the show, did display the same genuine wisdom. Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe was accuratle portrayed in her relationship with Sokka, and was willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Not too much was shown of Fire Lord Ozai, but he was shown to be unsympathetic and carefully planning to further his world conquest.

The action was great. The bending looked quite real, and I could hardly tell it was CGI. The choreography really helped portray the different styles of the four elements, and the benders pulled off their techniques with grace and poignance. While it was strange that most firebenders had to bend using an existing flame source, it wasn't a detractor.

The music was fitting, and set the right mood for most scenes, though one or two tunes seemed a bit out of place. Despite that, the many orchestral pieces felt very appropriate for a film of this magnitude.

I will also address some things. Some of the pronunciations are changed to sound more Asian, and considering the lore takes much from Asian cultures, I didn't see it as a problem. The casting has been complained about, but their are reasons for that. While Aang is caucasian, the Air Nomads altogether are a mix of different ethnicities, so a caucasian boy isn't out of the question. Katara and Sokka are potrayed as having features from their Grandomther who is from Northern Water Tribe, who are depicted as Caucasian as a whole, while the Southern Water Tribe are Inuit. The Earth Kingdom people are depicted as East-Asian, which fits the majority of Chinese culture, and the Fire Nation people are Indian, through some references to Indian cultrue like Agni, the Hindu god of fire. Personally, I can whole-heartedly accept this, though others may not.

Some parts of the story were left out, and the movie felt a little on the short side, but it got all the really important things, and did a good job setting up for the two planned sequels to complete the overall story, and hopefully the next two movies can have a longer run time than the first

Overall, this is an excellent movie, and definitely good for kids. If you really loved the TV Series and are willing to forgive some of the changes that are minor in the big scheme of things, then I think you'll enjoy. If you can't look past the potential flaws, you probably shouldn't see this film. As for me, I was very satisfied and look forward to more!

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars