Let me just say I'm not the big Avatar fan like my son and daughter are but I am aware of the show and have seen some episodes so when I sat down for the screening I really didn't have any expectations. So I am coming at this movie not as a raging fan but a fan of film and there are elements of the film that I really liked and others that I did not. First the bad. The child actor who played Aang was really not that good, but also the script for him was also not very good. Stilted dialog will do that and it really is a shame because the bending parts and martial art scenes the kid is quite good. The other two kid actors are really not given much to do, the girl is so-so and her brother looked like he could have done something with the role but for the most part was relegated to the back. Also there are some continuity gaps in the film that kinda make you go huh? Plus and this is a good-bad thing the movie only runs about 90min and I truly would have liked to see the movie run a little longer. There are some great scenes with the Firebender banished prince and his uncle and a scene with Saka and the princess about her blonde hair that makes you look at the screen and go yes, but then there are parts where the film is rushed to get to the action. And now the good. I'm glad to say the action in the movie is really well done. The SFX are very good and very organic so they don't stand out at you and go look FX. Also the action isn't all cut up MTV style. M.Night chose to film some of the action in long full shot takes and I truly enjoyed those elements. As for fans of the show I think it will be a mixed bag. I think the movie should have used Asian actors and dealt with the relationships more but on the whole if I could I'd really give this movie a 6.5. It's one of those movies that could have been really good, but just misses the mark. Plus save your money and if you see it see it in 2D. The 3D adds nothing.
Review of The Last Airbender
