The film stars Noah Ringer as Aang, with Dev Patel as Prince Zuko, Nicola Peltz as Katara, and Jackson Rathbone as Sokka. It was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Development for a film began in 2007; it was adapted by Shyamalan, who also served as screenwriter and producer. Other producers include Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Sam Mercer and Scott Aversano.
The series from which it was adapted was influenced by Asian art, mythology and various martial arts fighting styles and was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Filming began in mid-March 2009, with locations in Greenland and Pennsylvania.
The Last Airbender was made for $150 million. Premiering in New York City on June 30, 2010, it opened in the United States the following day, grossing an estimated $16 million. The Last Airbender opened in second place at the box office behind The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and eventually grossed $131 million domestically and $319 million worldwide.Despite being a box office success, the film and 3D conversion was largely panned by critics and fans alike, and won five Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture in 2010.
(KnightlySamurai)I don't have much to say on this film, but I will say that if you do want to see it, watch it before you see the animated series. While the CGI in this movie isn't horrible, per se, there is hardly any depth to the characters like what is showed in the animation, nor does it strictly follow the same timeline, nor do the same rules in bending even apply (in this movie it is rare for a fire-bender to produce their own fire, whereas they all did that in the animated show, it was lighting that was rare). They kind of just squeezed the entire first season into an hour and 40min.
Now, like I said, it isn't all horrible. There are several parts I liked, like the one with Iroh trying to protect the fish and whatnot, lol, and just other random ones that are mainly for scenery. I can tell they tried - it's just not a movie that works well with real actors. It's made for cartoon.
Okay, now for the animated show, which I think is pretty nice:
Avatar: The Last Airbender was popular with both audiences and critics, garnering 5.6 million viewers on its best-rated showing and receiving high ratings in the Nicktoons lineup, even outside its 6–11-year-old demographic. The series has been nominated for and won awards from the Annual Annie Awards, the Genesis Awards, the primetime Emmy awards and a Peabody Award among others. The first season's success prompted Nickelodeon to order second and third seasons. An art book was also released in mid-2010. Furthermore, the president of Nickelodeon announced on July 21, 2010 that a sequel would be produced. The Legend of Korra premiered on April 14, 2012.
(Me) This show was pretty good all-around. Nice and likable characters, not too stupid but stupid enough to be hilariously funny at times, quite in-depth, long, and still pretty cool. All nice things for a show that's aimed at 12yr olds.
Now, don't get me wrong, but the number one thing I didn't like about this show was also one of it's main components. What is that, you say? Well it's the mystical eastern religious stuff, like reincarnation and other "spirit-world" related references. I've never liked that kind of stuff, but I do really like animated action - so it's still good in my opinion, and personally, since I like really long shows I wouldn't mind if they had made it a tad longer, lol.
Okay, now we've got the Legend of Korra series just coming out, and that's the sequel to the above show.
The Legend of Korra is an American animated television series that premiered on the Nickelodeon television network on April 14, 2012. It was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko as a sequel to their previous show, Avatar: The Last Airbender.
(Me) Anyway, similar setting, 2 generations later - and it's made for a slightly older crowd. I've watched the first season and it's pretty good.It's not as good as the older show, but the art and action is better, which I'm a big fan of.
It also looks like it'll be shorter, which is unfortunate. Every TV show that comes out these days seems to end a season or two too short! It's sad.
Anyway, the "eh, okay" rating of the live-action movie comes with the warning to watch it before the TV shows.
As for the TV shows, I would definitely recommend them to animated show lovers and anyone who likes animated/anime action. ^_^ Not perfect shows, but in that genre there isn't always much that is decently exciting out there with in-depth character.
~KnightlySamurai
