The movie is not great. With that out of the way, don’t let this film adaptation be your only impression of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Watch the show. I beg you. If you have a Netflix account, it’s yours. All three seasons can be streamed on the website. Go. Watch it … after you finish reading this, of course.
After much meditation, I’ve decided how to discuss M. Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender.” There are so many negative reviews of this film online, it’s hard to remember why people were so disappointed with the film in the first place, but then it dawned on me: “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is an amazing television series. So, instead of writing about how terrible the film is, I’d rather focus on the positive.
The cartoon is hilarious. Humor is completely missing from the film, aside from several slapstick moments where Sokka gets wet. The movie is very deadpan and action oriented. In the cartoon, Aang (pronounced like “bang” without the “B”) is an energetic ball of comedy, always ready to laugh, create mischief, invent extreme sports and generally have fun, even in the midst of a terrible war. This is a reason he’s such an endearing character. While the film’s Aang (inexplicably changed, now pronounced like “song” without the “S”) wonderfully pulls off the martial arts skills necessary to “wow” audiences, he seems tired and scared the entire time. This is not concurrent with the original Aang’s bright and inexhaustible demeanor. Sokka is also a large source of comic relief in the cartoon, always hungry and making hilariously tacky puns. The movie just doesn’t pull it off.
Not everything in the show is so dramatic. Watching the movie was like being the recipient of a very stern lecture. There are some episodes in the first season with almost no fighting or drama, where the characters are able to properly develop. The movie had to compress an entire season of the cartoon – 10 collective hours of episodes – into two hours of film. It might be safe to say that, through this math, “The Last Airbender” is only 20 percent as good the cartoon on which it was based. If you’ve read Roger Ebert’s review, though, my statistic might be an insult to the cartoon.
The cartoon has excellent voice acting. Mark Hamill, most famously cast as Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars,” plays Firelord Ozai. Mae Whitman, Ann Veal from “Arrested Development,” plays Katara. Mako, Akiro the Wizard and narrator of “Conan the Barbarian,” plays Uncle Iroh. Dante Bosco, Rufio from “Hook,” plays Prince Zuko. These are heavy hitters, wisely chosen by the cartoon’s creators.
There’s just not much to be said about the new actors’ performances in the film. It left much to be desired. Dev Patel (Prince Zuko), Shaun Toub (Uncle Iroh) and Aasif Mandvi (Admiral Zhao) stood out as the best actors. I especially enjoyed Mandvi’s performance, considering the only other work of his I’ve seen is as a correspondent for “The Daily Show.” Noah Ringer (Aang) wasn’t especially entertaining when he wasn’t kicking a gale of wind at his enemies.
Something that must be kept in mind concerning M. Shyamalan’s film is that he did not create this world. Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko and Aaron Ehasz cowrote a majority of the cartoon. That said, wouldn’t it make sense to familiarize yourself with the source material before deciding to watch an adaptation? While that doesn’t always apply to modern film audiences (who else read “The Godfather” or “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” before watching the film?), it harbors a more serious appreciation of the work.
Rumor has it there’s going to be a film adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s beat classic “On the Road” in 2011. I would hate to bring up the adventures of Sal Paradise in conversation, only to be met with an “Oh yeah, I saw that movie,” kind of response. I quake in fear.
Shyamalan’s been heard saying he wants to turn “The Last Airbender” series into the next “Star Wars.” If that is so, he should follow George Lucas’ lead let someone else direct the next two films.
