If any of you have read the previous Airbender threads on GAF, you would know to state that I have a bit of a soft spot for the cartoon would be a massive understatement; I regard it as one of the best shows, animated or not, I have ever seen. So keep this in mind when I address the main issues I have with this movie. For non-fans, suffice it to say that much of what I ramble about might not make a lot of sense, but I also try to view this movie from the perspective of a standalone project.
Let me first start off with a food analogy: Consider the animated series to be a well-aged filet mignon. All it needs is some salt, pepper and a nice hot sear for a perfectly delectable experience. Instead, M. Night, Nick and Paramount (they all properly deserve some portion of blame) puts the steak through a grinder, adds in a bunch of meat filler, throws on a bewildering assortment of clashing spices, smothers it in barbeque sauce, slops it on a fancy dish, all while burning the meat in the process. After having a day to digest this movie, this is how I feel about it.
While there is no doubt that M. Night is a fan of the show, the entire film is a testament of his inability to comprehend the elements that made Dimartino and Konietzkos creation great. Im not going to address the numerous superficial or substantive elements that many found to be terrible (the action scenes, the name changes, the Earthbenders etc., the missing Kyoshi warriors, the ethnicity issue, the list goes on and on). I understand the adaptation process is a fickle one and accept that interpretations can differ from the source material. This is unavoidable because of the differences in the medium, and things often have to be altered for the good of a film (it obviously doesnt work here, but most people have already addressed it). But my main beef lie with the films handling of the fundamental elements that made the show great. Without adhering to certain foundations, an adaptation ceases to have any relevance to the source material. To me, Avatars main pillars are its emphasis on organic character development, the consistency of its internal mythology, its recognition of the importance of subtlety and balance, and the strength of its pacing. Unfortunately, the Last Airbender violates all of those, repeatedly. Ill just focus on a couple main aspects, just because it will take too long to address everything in their entirety.
The Characters: After the movie, my girlfriend, who quite liked the show, turned to me and asked (paraphrased), what happened to all the character development? I dont see why a newcomer to the franchise would care about any of these people.
I didnt have a response.
For fans and non-fans, Book 1 is supposed to lay the foundation of the journey these characters embark on. Its role is to flesh out their motivations, their tendencies, their struggles, their failures, and their triumphs. Instead, the Last Airbender throws these characters from scene to scene without little effort to make them human or relatable. Many of the most emotional character scenes were either shortchanged, or inexplicably eliminated altogether.
The sole bright spot for the film, in my opinion, was Noah Ringer. For the most part, Ringer fared well, given his inexperience to the acting world. Child leads are tough to cast, and I think his performance was comparable to Daniel Radliffe in the Sorcerers Stone. Martial arts background aside, he displayed the potential in several scenes (mostly in the flashback scenes) to be the Aang of the show, a fun loving kid who bears the weight of the world on his shoulder, someone who runs away but always bounces back when given the opportunity. Its a shame he wasnt allowed to show that on a consistent basis, as M. Nights attempt to make the film a more serious affair. But what he doesnt understand, as many already alluded to, is that Aangs upbeat attitude in the face of the genocide of his people is what makes Aang Aang; the combination of his unique personality and support from his friends, removed from a war-torn world, is what makes him solely qualified to see the good in everyone from every nation and to BE the Avatar. Genocide is indeed a dark subject matter, but cartoon Aangs response and the animated series handling of the issue is one of maturity and acceptance, not of denial and childishness.
The rest of the cast fared no better. Soh-ka is no Sokka, having been denied his humour and having few chances to display his resourcefulness and wit; I shudder to think that Yue actually had more character moments than him. Toubs EE-roh mumbled and rushed through his lines, having little to no stage presence at any time. His ultimate scene at the Siege of the North and the subsequent reactions to his actions were unintentionally hilarious. Patels Zuko was surprisingly subpar, but he had little to work with and Book 1 is mostly about Zuko being a petulant brat anyways, so I think his true test will be in the subsequent movie, which seems increasingly unlikely. I also thought the decision to make Curtis Ozai actually care about Zuko to be an extremely poor choice, as it alters the notion of conditional love that Ozai uses to manipulate Zuko. Zukos realization of this is integral to his character development.
By far the most neglected character is Katara. A character on the same level of importance as Aang or Zuko, she is left with little to do but to narrate, as her core arcs in Book 1 of personal self-empowerment by realizing her own shortcomings and defying the rigid institutions of her own culture were eliminated, and replaced with ... nothing. Gone also is any organic development of the central relationship of the show between Katara and Aang. That is essential to both of their characters, as Katara becomes the anchor and motivation for Aang to save the world. But theres just nothing there. No instant friendship, no calming speeches (the one that was there was completely muffled for some inexplicable reason), no encouragement, no heart to hearts. Considering how the series is structured and how heavily that relationship factors into the conclusion of the second book, I dont really see how that aspect, despite being hinted at with the no family line, can work in any satisfactory or believable manner.
A special mention needs to go out to Mandvis Zhao, as it is by far the worst performance in a movie of disappointments. His delivery and expressions often did not match the scene; Iroh urging Zuko not to fight him when Zhao looked positively terrified was one of many head scratchers that comes to mind. Zhao in the show was no stranger to failure, but at least he was clever, devious, and brought the might of the Fire Nation to bear. Mandvis portrayal of the main villain of Book One fails on every single level.
As many already pointed out, the pacing of the movie is unacceptable even on an elementary level. Scenes just jump from one to another, with little effort to keep anything coherent. The worst offender is the entire Siege of the North, a supposedly epic battle that is executed with zero buildup and tension. There is no sense of how the tide of battle swayed back and forth depending on the time of day, something that was brilliantly depicted in the show. Instead, we were treated to a mishmash of meaningless skirmishes with poorly lit people fighting each other with swords. It seems to me that anyone with ANY experience filming action sequences would have jumped for joy at the source material; I cannot fathom how this was even produced.
Even if one buys that the blatantly obvious chopjob to reduce the movies screening time was out of M. Nights control (I actually think a directors cut of some sort would resolve A LOT of the issues people have), the ineptitude of the written dialogue falls squarely upon his shoulders. Some lines and their delivery were just ghastly. Whats infuriating is that superior lines already exist. Did M. Night seriously think that they were good lines? The only plausible explanation I can think of is that perhaps he was attempting to dumb things down to younger audience, which is something that the show NEVER EVER did. Maybe he genuinely believes that he put out a good script. This sort of self-delusion is hard to watch, but its all over the screen.
Theres a lot more to write, but Ill stop for now. This is not the most disappointing adaptation of a beloved fantasy work of mine: that dubious honor belongs to the TV and Studio Ghiblis attempts to capture the world of Earthsea, but it is close, and just as painful. For fans of the show, I would urge you to see the film, so that you can compare it to the caliber of the animated series and better appreciate its ability to balance terrific action and character scenes with humor and poignancy. The Peabody award the show earned on its treatment of unusually complex characters and its healthy respect for the consequences of warfare speaks for itself. For non-fans, I tried to view it from your eyes as well, and to you I say: stay far away from this film until you have watched the cartoon (after which you can refer to the former group), as the Last Airbender will most likely be an incomprehensible and bewildering mess.
