Movie Review: "The Last Airbender"

Peace!

After much anticipation on the part of myself and thousands of other fans, "The Last Airbender" film premiered a couple of weeks ago. My queen and I decided to check it out in 3D at a local theater. It turns out we chose a perfect time to go because the theater wasn't even half full. As a result, even though we had assigned seats, we were free to sit virtually wherever we wanted. Since both of us are well versed relative to the plot and it's multiple nuances, (I own the full box dvd set :o) we expected there to be certain detectable differences between the film and the animated series. It was clear to both of us that the task of translating the story to the big screen, with enough of the key themes in tact to effectively convey it without undermining it's integrity, would be a challenge. Even, still we had high hopes. The first thing that jumped out at me was the imagery. I think the director did a wonderful job of selecting locations. The sets were well built and very authentic looking. I would give more of a critical review to the casting aspect of the film as there were definitely some dim spots.

The kid who played Aang was a perfect fit. As far as the actor who portrayed Sokka, I was rather indifferent toward him. Katara should have been played by a more polished martial artist in my judgment and I would definitely have cast someone different to play Master Pakku. Not only did he not look the part, but in terms of capturing the lasting image of his fluid and effortless bending and unforgettable appearance like that of an old-school asian kung fu master, the actor in question missed the mark. Overall, I would offer up a grade of C in this area. I also found there to be some elements of the plot which, had they not been excluded, would've given the film more depth. I would have preferred to see the fight between Katara & Master Pakku as well as it's corresponding lead up included because it would have spoken to the uniqueness of the Water Tribe culture while also yielding an awesome live action sequence. Another shock was the fact that Roku wasn't introduced into the story during this film. Although I'd be surprised if we don't meet him in Book 2, he should have been brought in sooner.

Since this was the first installment in what will shape a trilogy I don't want to be overly judgmental. I also don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy the film because I did. Even still, I'm expecting some definite improvements on the next go around.

Peace.
Preme.