The Last Airbender

When it comes to Nickelodeon movies, my expectations are never very high (in fact most of the time I have the "oh great" attitude) because most films distributed by this studio are not very entertaining. To add to that, when I saw M. Night Shyamalan's name I went deeper into my low expectations because his past few films have not been great either. So as you can tell, my expectations for the action/fantasy film, "The Last Airbender" (based on the mega-hit TV show, "Avatar: The Last Airbender") were not high to begin with. Let's see if my mood improved.

Meet Aang(Noah Ringer). This twelve year old boy learns that his destiny is to be the next Avatar (not James Cameron's blue aliens). Avatars have been around for centuries and they keep peace throughout the world. The world is divided into four nations: the Earth, Air, Water, and Fire nations. Some people in each of these nations are known as Benders who can control the elements of their own nation. Example: Benders of the Water nation can control water/ice. The special thing about Aang is that he has the power to control all four elements. Unfortunately Aang is caught in a fierce snowstorm and his Avatar powers seal him in a snow sphere of suspended animation.


One hundred years have passed since his disappearance and during this time the lord of the Fire nation, Lord Ozia (Cliff Curtis) has started a war against the rest of the world killing off and imprisoning all Benders. Soon Aang, now the only hope to saving the world from the Fire nation, is found by two teens, named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone). The two set out with Aang to help him learn how to master the four elements and take on the Fire Nation. On the journey the three will have to fight numerous battles with people of the Fire Nation and the exiled son of the Fire Lord, Prince Zuko (Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel) and in the end, Aang will have to master his powers to fight off an army of the fire nation and their fleet. And the biggest mystery of all will be answered...did M. Night Shyamalan finally redeem himself and make a decent film?!

These days when it comes to action films, it is more rare to see martial arts which is, in my opinion, one of the most entertaining forms of action. Luckily for me, "The Last Airbender's" action focuses around the martial arts. The cool thing about it is that they combine the martial arts with the elements that the Benders control (almost the the Karate Kid with superpowers). This kept the action entertaining and was what it seemed like the makers of the film focused on.

However, there are other things that the film should have focused on but did not. To start it off, "The Last Airbender's" goal was to cram the TV show's first season into one hour and forty five minutes. Now from hearing the reactions from those who watched the show, it seems like the film did a good job of including the key parts of the first season. But since they tried to cram so much into the movie, there were some important things left forgotten. As I've said before, the best formula for a wannabe fantasy/hero trilogy is to devote the first film to the characters and not the action (much like what the "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four" franchises did). "The Last Airbender" did the exact opposite.

The films plot line suffers from being unclear and open. By open I mean that there is no firm plot line and that the "plot" is just whatever the main characters happen to be doing at one time or another. If someone asked me for the plot I would have to reply like this: "In "The Last Airbender", Aang goes to do this, then this, then he realizes this, but forgets do this, then he fights in a huge battle, and then he does this." It's too choppy and scattered to be a good plot.

Both of the above "cons" of the film demonstrate that certain TV shows should not be adapted into films. TV shows have 10-13 episodes each season to develop their characters. TV shows have a set plot in every single episode of every season. "The Last Airbender" doesn't have these advantages and so it ends up being an unorganized film with fun martial arts and sub-par acting. I give it one and a half stars out of four.

"The Last Airbender" has a running time of 103 minutes and is rated PG for fantasy action violence.