With “The Sixth Senseâ€, “Unbreakable†and “The Happening†under his belt, M. Night Shyamalan has yet another hit on the silver screen. “The Last Airbender,” which was directed, produced and written by Shyamalan is one of the summer’s best movies yet.
Shyamalan has based his newest project on Nickelodeon’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” The television show quickly became the favorite show of his family as well as a large majority of the country.
The story of Aang, who is the last airbender and an avatar, spent 100 years missing and a world that was once lived in peace is now at war with the fire nation. Between being captured, followed, and wanted by his enemies, Aang must travel all over the world to learn how to bend the other elements and defeat the fire lord.
The starring role of the Aang was given to up and coming actor, Noah Ringer. Ringer has done an amazing task in portraying the fictional character. It was quite believable to witness Ringer’s role as a young, confused child who suddenly has the fate of the world on his shoulders. Aang’s character is the only one that seems to have remained consistent to the Nickelodeon show.
According to the television series, Katara was the group’s unofficial mother figure and voice of reason. Katara, played by Nicola Peltz, was now the sidekick to her big brother and almost had no voice at all. When she did have a moment of speech, to her credit, she was convincing in her intentions as the character. Katara is also the only water-bender in her home of the southern water tribe.
Sokka, portrayed by Jackson Rathbone (also a part of the popular Twilight series as Jasper Hale), is Katara’s brother and a proud water tribe warrior. Although the show has depicted a goofier and unlevel headed character for Sokka, Shyamalan’s version of a strong, decisive and more serious Sokka is fitting for a young adult.
The series’ villain, Zuko, is the son of the fire lord and was banished after he was disrespectful to one of his father’s generals. In order to retrieve his honor and his father’s love back, he was sent on a three-year wild goose chase to find the avatar, someone who, again, has not been seen for over one hundred years. Dev Patel has done a good job at being a desperate, sad young man destined to live as a nomad while looking for someone who may have been dead for years.
The film offered amazing special effects and a fantastic plot, but there were a few kinks along the way. “The Last Airbender” was a relatively short experience and moved a bit too fast from scene to scene. Being that it was an hour and 43 minutes, the movie could have been longer and been more fluid throughout.
After everything was said and done however, it is still a successful venture. With book one: water down and two more books to go, it will be a welcomed wait to see what will be coming up next.
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