http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/

"The Last Airbender" - based on the Nickelodeon (kids') TV network cartoon "Avatar: The Last Airbender", or "Avatar: The Legend of Aang".

The live-action movie drops the word "Avatar" because James Cameron already had the movie rights for the title in his 'waste of time and effort and money' monstrous effort.

(Hello, Dave - what did you think?)

First off, are there any fans of the cartoon series here? I was dragged into this when the show first premiered by my (then) youngest Godson, and immediately was hooked.

The storyline, of course, is the classic "Hero's Journey" in the best Vladimir Propp's tradition (Propp's Analysis) - the tragic young male orphaned hero sets out on a long quest to save the world, with some help from his friends.

100 years ago, the four nations of the world (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) were living in peace. Balance in the world was maintained by the Avatar, who through various martial arts moves, could control all 4 elements. This is known as 'bending', and each nation had its own Benders - those few born with the gift of being able to bend their respective element.

Then the Fire Nation declared war, set out to conquer the world, and the Avatar simply vanished. This was Avatar Roku of the Fire Nation. With the death of the Avatar, who is reborn into the next nation through the Avatar Cycle, the Fire Lord knew that the new Avatar would be born into the Air Nomads. Thus, he wiped them out.

Unbeknownst to the Fire Lord, however, one had escaped - Aang, who had run away from his home in the Air Temple when the Monks told him that he was the next Avatar and was destined to save the world. While fleeing, the boy and his pet Sky Bison (Appa) were downed by a storm. Aang's powers then came online for the first time, and the Avatar accidentally encased himself and Appa in a sphere of ice in a state of suspended animation.

100 years later, a young brother and sister from the Southern Water tribe - already devastated by the Fire Nation Army, find the Avatar and reveal to him what has happened.

The only problem? Aang has 1 year to master all 4 elements and defeat the Fire Lord, thus saving the world.

Problems I have with the previews for the live-action film are these:

1. M. Knight Shyamalan created it. (Remember "Lady in the Water"? Hey, Dave?!)

2. Noah Ringer, who plays Aang, is going to get too old if they make Book 2 and 3.

3. Aang's head looks stubbly, as if he doesn't shave it right.

4. Aang's tattoos don't look right to me, and they got his clothing wrong.

5. Aapa looks like a Pekingese dog. He's supposed to be a 10-ton flying bison with six legs and a beaver-like tail.

6. Momo, Aang's pet Air Lemur, looks downright scary, not cute and cuddly.

7. And the crown jewel of scandal and haters - the world of the cartoon is set in an Asian/Anime style culture. Most of the actors are white. The bad guys are Indian. It would have made more sense to find Asian kids for these roles. Even the Water Tribe kids, who are also too old, are supposed to be Native Alaskan...

It will be interesting to see if the movie, in regular and 3D, flops or not.

Personally, I don't have much hope for it. G3 is excited about it, though, which means we will be going to see it on July 1.

Watch this space for reviews.

I really think Dave needs to go and see this one!:)

I was just talking about this to my family this past week. I was at the Pittsburgh Public Theater to see Jasmine Reza's ART and the discussion turned to summer movies.

In case any of you don't know, Avatar, The Last Airbender is a cartoon on Nickelodeon TV. The movie is called THE LAST AIRBENDER because nothing else will ever use the name avatar for obvious reasons.

1. Am I anticipating this with "bated breath?"

No. It's a kids cartoon and the movie is a translation of that. Unless they move heaven and earth and create an adult story, it will still be a kids cartoon. Nothing wrong about that but it's not like watching "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe" or "Cabaret" of "The Usual Suspects." It's more like "The Last Samurai" made PG13.

2. Am I anticipating anything special because M. Knight Shyamalan is the director?

No. I didn't see "Lady In The Water." I will someday. I just watched a repeat of "The Sixth Sense" and marveled at how intricate it was put together. "Unbreakable" was harder to admire but a good effort. "Signs" was so very introspective and siffered for it. I laughed at the end of "The Village" and I won't even turn on "The Happening."

That's a mixed bag.

But "The Last Airbender" is all about the journey and not the ending. M. Knight Shyamalan is perfectly suited to tell a story like this. He has the patience to put character development onscreen. He can create enough mystery to keep the viewer engaged.

Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD is an example of a movie that is all character and no plot for example.

3. I share Paolo's misgivings about casting. This is an oriental story, very eastern philosophy. So what do they do? They cast Caucasian actors. How very Charlie Chan.

4. I used to watch the cartoon version on Nickelodeon until they skipped a year and ran repeats endlessly. Nickelodeon repeats because kids like repeats. However, since 2005, there have only been two full series and a partial third series.

One of the very nice things about this as the cartoon is that it takes time to teach lessons about life and goodness as it goes along. As Aang and his buddies learn what it is to wield ultimate, unstoppable power, your kids learn it too. And that's a good thing.

I saw Jasmine Reza's Art on Broadway. Brilliant play.

Never heard of the cartoon, so there's no built-in interest, which is, I suppose, one reason so many movies are based on cartoons. That, and the propensity of cartoons for visual action, simplicity, and violence.

Shyamalan has worn out his welcome. I enjoyed Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, but everything since then has been bad. Lady in the Water was a catastrophe. I question the taste of a director who thought that was acceptable.

The trailers for Airbender have emphasized special effects. Computer generated spectacles have become standard Hollywood fare. But making the audience go Wow! only takes you so far - think of Avatar. A good movie needs engaging characters and an engrossing plot - two things often missing from computerized spectacles. If Shyamalan can add these things to the movie, he will have redeemed himself. Let's hope he goes farther than the mere bang-bang of the trailers.

In two words - it sucked.

I seriously doubt that Book 2 & 3 will make it to the big screen.

The special effects were cool, yes, but there was no character development, it jumped around - making it very easy to get lost if you don't know the story - and too much was changed that didn't need to be.

Once again, M. Knight proves that it's time for him to give it up.

Book 2

Paolo wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2010 8:42 pm will make it to the big screen

if for no other reason the money people behind the first will see how much it made and think that another would be a good idea.

Even as bad as it sucked plot-wise, it was impressive for the special effects. Still, that crappy plot will prevent me from going to a sequel.

--LT

Honestly I would assume that it would be more so for kids than adults. I haven't seen it (but I know of the cartoon). Chances are if its on a TV station mainly for children and preteens then anything based of it would probably be for the same.

There were reviews of "The Last Airbender" prominently displayed on the front page of the entertainment section of both daily newspapers that I read. Both reviews were highly negative, and probably more fun to read than the movie would be to watch.

The first paragraph in the San Francisco Chronicle review reads: "After spending the past decade making bad movies, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan has branched out in "The Last Airbender." He has made a really bad movie." (Emphasis in the original!)

The first paragraph of the review in the local paper reads: "‘The Last Airbender' is a joyless, soulless, muddled mess, but the worst part of all doesn't come until the very end. That's when it makes the clear suggestion that two more such movies are in store for us. Hopefully, that won't happen."

.

I had hopes for the movie but all I read are bad reviews. Considering it's 4th of July weekend, it might do lots of business for kids...

I don't trust a lot of reviewers and the reason for that is not a movie or a TV show. I've had season tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony for 30 years. I go the last performance of a series (meaning if there is a Friday, Saturday Sunday series of one concert, I go Sunday) SO I can read the review of Friday's performance before I hear the concert. Too many times the "critic" described a concert that I didn't see when I went. It's striking how wrong the critic got the performance just to present a criticism.

So I don't trust critics. I do trust the ordinary folk who see the movie and give an opinion about it.

G3 dragged me into Avatar the cartoon on Nick when it first came out, and I loved it. The fan base spans all ages, not just 10 year old boys. It does have a huge following, but after opening night, I'd say that following is going to go back to the cartoon DVD's and pretend that this movie was never made! I feel sorry for Noah Ringer, the kid cast as Aang, the hero. What a role to get stuck in for your first time...

Saw Last Airbender. Awful dialog, awful acting, awful plot, nice special effects, and then it ain't even over when it's over.

It's inspiring to think how much money people will make from this - no talent and no taste is no obstacle to making millions. There's hope for all of us.