Starring: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel,
Jessica Jade Andres, Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub, Cliff Curtis, Keong Sim Director: M. Night Shyamalan
U.S. Opening Date: July 2nd, 2010
THEY SAY
Live action adaptation of Nickelodeon's popular
animated Avatar: The Last Airbender
show which follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of
Avatars who must put aside his irresponsible ways and stop the Fire Nation
from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations. (The studios have dropped
"Avatar" from the title to avoid confusion with James Cameron's upcoming
Avatar, which is not related in any
way.)
The Fire Nation is waging a ruthless, oppressive war
against the other three nations. The film's hero, the reluctant
ten-year-old successor Aang (Noah Ringer), is the "Last Airbender" - the
Avatar who, according to prophecy, has the ability to manipulate all of
the elements and bring all the nations together. Aided by a protective
teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed
brother Sokka, Aang proceeds on a perilous journey to restore balance to
their war-torn world.
Jackson Rathbone plays Katara's brother Sokka, and Dev
Patel plays Prince Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation. Mandvi is set to play
the role of Commander Zhao, an ambitious and hot-tempered Fire Nation
commander. Toub is cast as Uncle Iroh, the retired Fire Nation general and
devoted surrogate parent to Dev Patel's character Zuko. Curtis is set to
play the ruthless ruler Fire Lord Ozai. Keong Sim has been cast in the
role of Earthbending Father.
WE SAY
Apparently Sixth Sense director M. Night
Shyamalan decided to make a live action movie after he started watching
the show along with his kids and fell in love with it. One is sure that
the director has only the utmost respect for the material then – but the
question is “can the director of duds such as Lady in the Water,
The Happening,
The Village and
Signs pull it off?”
Last Airbender will be the director’s first big
budget special effects-driven fantasy epic and the studios have so much
trust in the project that they have moved its opening date to the very
lucrative (and competitive) July the 4th weekend. When one considers the
director’s somewhat ham-fisted fantasy tale
Lady in the Water one
isn’t too sure if the director will pull it off though.
And to be honest the first teaser trailer – your
typical overblown Hollywood blockbuster affair – doesn’t help. After all,
what made this faux American anime show so delightful was its investment
in both characterization and humor, two properties Shyamalan’s
self-important movies have been sorely lacking in.
Check out the show on DVD instead. Oh, and expect an
open-ended ending to The Last Airbender: the show ran for a total
of 61 episodes over three seasons and it is somehow doubtful whether
Shyamalan can cram it all into one full-length movie . . .
