The Last Airbender (2010); fantasy adventure film review

Poster artwork for the fantasy adventure film The Last Airbender.

Airy Avatar by Linh

Director M. Night Shyamalan has not released a stand-out film since The Sixth Sense in 1999, but his film The Last Airbender might not attract enough audience attention to proceed with the second part of the projected trilogy. The Last Airbender is a film adaptation of the successful animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender which screened from 2005 to 2008. The decision to drop 'Avatar' from the title was to avoid confusion with James Cameron’s Oscar-winning box office behemoth.

AANG'S ANGST: Aang (Noah Ringer) is the last surviving Airbender and the annointed Avatar in the film The Last Airbender. Image: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon.

The animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender was phenomenally successful due to its clever script, fast-paced action sequences and quirky characterisations, which have not transpired well into the film version. However, the film’s special effects are elaborate and engage the viewer enough to sustain interest. The scenes depicting the art of bending the elements are fascinating to watch, and assists in developing the storyline. The film requires some more humour, needs to move along faster and the characters need to be fleshed out further.

FIRE FEVER: Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) unleashes his fire-bending skills in the film The Last Airbender. Image: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon.

The story centres on a young boy named Aang who is the last surviving Airbender from his Air tribe, and he also happens to be the Avatar, a special individual who can harness and bend all four elements and bring harmony between the four nations – Air, Water, Earth and Fire - and create balance in the world. The Avatar is born every hundred years to replace a previous Avatar, and in the film, a young boy is released from his sleep a hundred years later after a war where the Fire Nation has completely wiped out the Air Tribe and benders have all been killed or imprisoned. Benders are people who can manipulate and control their native element using martial arts and elemental magic. According to the story, all those born into the Air tribe will receive bending skills, but with the other three tribes (Fire, Water and Earth) it is a hit and miss situation.

MYSTICAL MANOEUVRES: Katara (Nicola Peltz) shares her water-bending moves with Aang (Noah Ringer) in the film The Last Airbender. Image: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon.

The film opens with young water bender Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) who come across a huge sphere of solid ice, which Katara breaks open. A young boy named Aang (Noah Ringer) tumbles out and a gigantic creature, half bison and half manatee named Appa, immediately appears beside the boy. Katar and Sokka soon realise the young boy is an Avatar after seeing the special markings on his body. Their village is soon under attack from soldiers of the Fire Nation led by Prince Zuko (Dev Patel), who unleashes his fire-bending powers on the villagers. Katara convinces Sokka to help Aang master all four elements and prepare for his battle against the Fire Nation.

LASTING LOVERS: Princess Yue (Seychelle Gabriel) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) rendezvous in secret in the film The Last Airbender. Image: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon.

The acting and characters in The Last Airbender lack the emotional depth and humour which heightened the appeal of the television series, but the young cast puts in a great effort to be believable. Dev Patel, who starred in the multiple Academy Award winning film Slumdog Millionaire, portrays the hot-tempered, young Prince Zuko and fails to capture the complexity of his character; Noah Ringer, as the young Airbender Aang, has the martial arts ability for the bending skills but needs to give his character more vibrancy and energy as seen in the animated series; the main female role of Katara is supposed to be assertive but sensitive in the TV series, yet Nicola Peltz plays the character as too serious and subdued.

FRIENDLY FLYER: Appa the half-bison-half buffalo companion of Aang in the film The Last Airbender. Image: Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon.

Overall, the film is entertaining and watchable, although fans of the animated television series may be disappointed with this adaptation. The film is not at all faithful to the television series and has become darker and more sinister than the colourful and crowd-pleasing animated series. Director M. Night Shyamalan needs to listen to fans of the television series and maintain the series’ essence and the characters’ diverse idiosyncrasies. Perhaps that would entice the fans or convince more people to see the sequel - if there is one.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

     

Writer: M. Night Shyamalan (screenplay) 

                     

Cast: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel, Cliff Curtis, Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub, Seychelle Gabriel, Summer Bishil, Katharine Houghton, Damon Gupton, Francis Guinan, Randall Duk Kim, Keong Sim, John Noble, Isaac Jin Solstein, John D'Alonzo

Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Frank Marshall, David Midgen, M. Night Shyamalan, Scott Aversano, Sam Mercer, Jose L. Rodriguez

Original Music Composer: James Newton Howard

Cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie

        

Film Editor: Conrad Buff

Production: Philip Messina (Production Designer), Richard L. Johnson, Gerald Sullivan, Robert Fechtman, Patrick M. Sullivan Jr. (Art Directors), Larry Dias (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Judianna Makovsky

         

Running Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes