The Last Airbender

By Sue Denim
Sun, 8 Aug 2010, 17:38

Do you watch Glee? Remember at the start of every episode, you have something like this:

"And this is what you missed on The Last Airbender...

• Characters narrating what just happened or what they're doing, it's insulting to the audience. The film really feels like a recap of the whole Book One of the animated searies, relying on narration to fill in the gaps and provide continuity.
• Stiff, dictated, and just really bad acting, it's really frustrating. With some background in theater, I'm tempted to rant on to a lecture here but it's pointless. I know Noah Ringer (Aang) has no acting background and was cast only for his appearance and his martial arts skills, but how come the other actors fell short of par expectations?
  
• Blurred and sort-of-3D-without-glasses (but we watched it in 2D) panning shots and weird choice of focus points, it tried─and almost succeded─in giving me a headache. Even basic been-done-before shots are executed sloppily; my untrained eye detected it effortlessly.
• Really bad script, I found myself editing the characters' dialogue. Okay, this one I kind of do for a living and it just came automatic: Do you put things "at" or "on" the table? You "exterminate" pests and you "execute" people.
• Good but really-could-be-more-awesome bending effects. I think this one they almost got spot on (if you don't compare it to the animated version). I was left wanting.
• A really great story butchered. If you get past all of the above, it's a really good narrative, something with a mix of ancient magic and spirits (insert bias to anything supernatural here). It should make you want to see the series. Please, please feel free to do so.

...so that's what you missed on The Last Airbender."

I heard all the casting hulabaloo this movie generated and I thought: Hollywood has done it before, maybe it would be unnoticeable. But it feels kind of weird when almost everyone except the main cast are of Asian descent.

I was only able to watch more than a few episodes of the animated series. The movie opted to stray away from the things that made the series a striking hit (remember the comedy, the action, the heart that can win wars?). Marathon-ing the series again is a must-do to erase the horrible adaptation that the movie is.

I just really hope someone shakes-to-the-core (or bangs their heads to a concrete wall, whatever you choose) the writer, director, producer, and/or the studio to demand much more in the next two books of the series, if and when they still decide to make them.


The Last Airbender gets four out of ten, for good material turned bad. It's a crying, crying shame.


*photo from allmoviephoto.com

(More reviews on The Last Airbender when you click on the full post.)

Avatar: The Last Airbender. Book Two: Earth

People tell me that at my age, I shouldn't be watching cartoons anymore. That's a real nasty stereotype, associating animation with age. If cartoons are supposed to be for kids only, then it should also be done by kids. Yet everyone knows that animators are adults who get paychecks and social security numbers, but no one's complaining, right?

Moving on. This is now the second book (or the second season) in the Emmy award-winning (yes, it won an Emmy) animated series, and the last airbender Aang continues on his quest to master the four elements. And as the title suggests, this time he masters the element Earth.

There are of course new characters, including Toph, the blind girl who happens to be an earthbending master. And there's also the beautiful Princess Azula (Prince Zuko's sister) and her two sidekicks Mai and Ty Lee. Princess Azula shows off her awesome power, a variation of firebending─she is able to shoot lightning, like the Sith Lords in Star Wars, but Uncle Iroh (who is now my favorite character) shows that he too can bend lightning.

The fight scenes are still a joy to behold, and they're even better than the fights in Book One. Of course, this is due to the limitless possibilities of the animated medium. Now we have anime fight scenes with slow-motion shots straight out of The Matrix. If you're not yet an Avatar fan, it might just be the fight scenes that will win you over.

Anyway, going back to my first argument, if you think that adults shouldn't watch cartoons, then check out this thread, and you'll see how many adults are hooked on this show. So who said cartoons are for kids? Grow up.


Rating: Five stars.

Avatar: The Last Airbender. Book One: Water

Children's shows change with each generation.

In my generation, it was The Transformers. The generation before me had Voltes V. The kids of the new millenium are quite lucky. They have Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Rarely does a post-2000 cartoon series dwell on some serious stuff like this. We actually have a postmodern mix of Eastern and Western influences. First of all is the style. This cartoon series is produced by Nickelodeon, but the animation style is unmistakably derived from Japanese anime.The reason for that is because this series involves a lot of fighting. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Almost every episode (and Book One has twenty episodes) has at least one action sequence. And of course, no one can do animated fight scenes better than the Japanese. Although the fights are not as rough and tumble as that in, say, Dragon Ball Z, Avatar's fight scenes are more toned down (from the influence of Zen Buddhism and Tai Chi), but they still retain the beauty of the moves. Just imagine them in a sort of dance, with fire and water being thrown around, and with a lot of people getting hurt.

The concept of having the four elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air) dates back farther than Captain Planet and the Planeteers, and even farther back than the 70s band called Earth, Wind and Fire. This is a popular motif in storytelling, where the mere mention of the four elements conjures up a world of magic and wonder. And the magical world of Avatar is also a mix of different world cultures. The Water Tribes look like Eskimos and Native Americans, the Earth Kingdoms look like Chinese peasants, the Air Nomads look like Buddhist monks, and the Fire Nation looks like the mighty Japanese Imperial Army. And almost everyone in this mythical world speaks in an American accent (but that shouldn't really bother anyone).

In this TV series, an entire season is called a "book," and each episode is called a "chapter." This of course adds again to the mysticism and the feel of the huge epic narrative that the producers intend this show to be. Now I myself never thought I'd be watching this. I used to sneer at this series, thinking to myself "Oh, it's just another one of those trying-to-be-Japanese-but-unmistakably-American shows." But once I got to watch the first episode, I was hooked. So let me warn you, if you are a really busy person, do not even attempt to watch this, because it might hook you as well.


Rating: Five stars.