The Positives of The Last Airbender

(Source: IMDB.com)

Growing up in the mid-2000s, no Nickelodeon show caught my attention in a post-Rugrats/Hey Arnold world more than Avatar: The Last Airbender. For those unaware, the latter series centered around Aang (the titular "Avatar") and his friends, as they traveled the world helping Aang master the art of "bending" the elements of water, earth, and fire. Along the way, a country opposing them known as The Fire Nation (lead by their leader, Fire Lord Ozai) is in constant pursuit of the young Avatar. Aang's basic goal throughout his journey is to master bending all remaining elements beside air, and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before the return of Sozin's Comet. Naturally with a series as massive as this, a film adaptation was inevitable; in 2010, such an adaptation was released... and it was absolutely horrendous. The characters were horribly miscast (aside from anti-hero Zuko and his uncle), and due to having to condense the show's first season into around two hours, the film suffered from a myriad of plot problems. Additionally, the work suffered due to unnecessary changes in adaptation, such as cutting iconic characters entirely. Characters such as Aang's previous life, Avatar Roku, Jet, and the Kyoshi Warriors are removed as a result of "streamlining" the overall story. However, despite the film being a massive dumpster fire, there are some positive aspects to it that deserve some recognition.

First and foremost, while the story's adherence to the source material is not the best, the world it plays out in surprisingly manages to remain faithful to its animated counterpart. Throughout the film, there are various references to locations in the world of Airbender, such as the library in the Earth Kingdom, the air temples, and the city of Ba Sing Se. Understandably, this was to start development on the film's world in preparation for the ill-fated sequels (which thankfully never came). Deleted scenes that remained in the novelization and comic adaptations further expanded upon the world; before Shyamalan decided to save it for the sequel, viewers would have been treated to live action versions of the Kyoshi Warriors and Jet. It was also rumored that Avatar Roku was also planned to make an appearance, before being relegated to a cameo in the form of a wooden statue. Speaking of the Avatar, the next positive in this film lies within Aang himself.

Despite casting a Caucasian actor for the role of Avatar Aang, Noah Ringer manages to pull off a fantastic portrayal of the character. He manages to remain faithful to the source material (being a fan of Airbender himself), while also making the role by giving us a portrayal that is more realistic in nature. While this film makes me cringe, I did enjoy this take on the character, as it made me feel like Aang leaped right off an animation cel. The same can be said for Dev Patel's portrayal of anti-hero Prince Zuko, despite lacking the physical resemblance to his animated counterpart. Patel and Ringer both manage to capture the essence of their respective characters, giving us a believable and faithful performance. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for the rest of the cast, as they lack the necessary elements of their characters. Sokka is more serious than comedic, Katara is bland and boring (lacking any sort of expression or emotion as well), and Iroh is just... there. Unfortunately, the animal characters are also given less screentime as well, serving only as background elements.

While the characters and story are not the best (save for Aang and Zuko), the film truly shines in its overall score and (to quote Sokka in The Ember Island Players) "the effects are decent". The score manages to perfectly capture the overall tone of the film, and the effects perfectly portray the elemental bending techniques. Viewers could believe a character was actually controlling the elements, and that there was an actual Sky Bison and Winged Lemur. The CGI is brilliantly integrated into the footage to create a greater visual appeal, with some examples including Aang going into the Avatar State, Appa's model, and the many waterbending sequences.

However, while this film does have a few positives, I would still not recommend watching this if you are wanting to get into Avatar: The Last Airbender. This movie is still an absolute mess, with poor editing, bland characters, a plot with multiple holes, and the omission of many fan-favorites from the source material. If you wish to give this franchise a shot, I would highly suggest you stay away from this; it will give you the wrong impression of the series. However, if you are curious, watch the cartoon first and then watch this only once to see how horrendous it actually is. Hopefully, the upcoming live action Netflix series does not make the same mistakes The Last Airbender did, and gives us the live action adaptation we deserve.

What did you think of both The Last Airbender and its animated source material? What are some bad movies you would like me to find the positives of? Feel free to discuss in the comments below, and also be sure to give a like and a follow for future Reviews and Retrospectives updates!