Yes, I saw the movie today (July 2, 2010), on opening day, and, despite reviews to the
contrary, it is good. Of course, I never saw the cartoon on which it
was based so came in with no biases. However, some of my cohorts had
seen the cartoon and thought the movie was a bit different but still
good.
The story opens with narration of recent events. The Avatar, the only person who can control all 4 elements, vanished a century ago. In his absence, the Fire nation has sought to conquer the world and seems to be doing a pretty good job of it. The Fire nation has already wiped out all the air benders of the world and stamp out water and earth benders in regions they conquer.
A pair of youths of the Water clan are hunting on the snowy wastes when they encounter something stuck in the ice. Katara, ignoring her brother's advice, cracks the ice and they discover the missing Avatar. Aang has been trapped in a sort of suspended animation for the last century with his elephant-sized manatee/buffalo mount. The Avatar is very like the Dali Lama, reincarnating again and again to assume leadership; Aang is just the latest incarnation. This provides for a peculiar problem for the Fire nation. If the Avatar is killed, he'll just be reborn and they'll have to find him again. The goal is to capture and contain that Avatar.
Though very much a martial arts movie, much of the fighting is just air-boxing. These complicated maneuvers allow one to 'bend' the elements. Thus, Aang does a little martial arts dance and a gust of wind flings a Fire soldier across the courtyard.
After a long string of disappointing films, M Night Shyamalan has finally made something I like again. The movie ends on a note demanding a sequel and I will gladly see it.
The story opens with narration of recent events. The Avatar, the only person who can control all 4 elements, vanished a century ago. In his absence, the Fire nation has sought to conquer the world and seems to be doing a pretty good job of it. The Fire nation has already wiped out all the air benders of the world and stamp out water and earth benders in regions they conquer.
A pair of youths of the Water clan are hunting on the snowy wastes when they encounter something stuck in the ice. Katara, ignoring her brother's advice, cracks the ice and they discover the missing Avatar. Aang has been trapped in a sort of suspended animation for the last century with his elephant-sized manatee/buffalo mount. The Avatar is very like the Dali Lama, reincarnating again and again to assume leadership; Aang is just the latest incarnation. This provides for a peculiar problem for the Fire nation. If the Avatar is killed, he'll just be reborn and they'll have to find him again. The goal is to capture and contain that Avatar.
Though very much a martial arts movie, much of the fighting is just air-boxing. These complicated maneuvers allow one to 'bend' the elements. Thus, Aang does a little martial arts dance and a gust of wind flings a Fire soldier across the courtyard.
After a long string of disappointing films, M Night Shyamalan has finally made something I like again. The movie ends on a note demanding a sequel and I will gladly see it.
Though I enjoyed it, it went on to bomb and further diminish the reputation of M Night Shyamalan. In the wake of the movie, I did watch the animated series and completely understand why this movie failed; the series is awesome! Aang, who in the series is something of a light-hearted goof, comes off as entirely too serious. The mood is all wrong. There were also complaints about casting. A trilogy did not result and a vast army of Avatar fans are understandably upset by Shyamalan fumbling the material.
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