Monday, October 17, 2011

The Last Airbender Review













The Last Airbender


Release Date: 16th September 2010 - Australia


Production Companies
Paramount Pictures (presents)
Nickelodeon Movies (presents)
Blinding Edge Pictures
The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Distribution
Paramount Pictures Australia


Genre: Fantasy/Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 103 minutes


Budget: $150,000,000

Box Office Gross: $319,713,881 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
The Fire Nation has devastated the world through its war against the peaceful Air, Water and Earth nations. Only a reluctant young boy named Aang can stop them and learn he's the Avatar, a rare being who can bend all four elements and restore peace to the world. Now, Aang has to fulfil his destiny with his friend Katara and other allies when they join him in his quest.


Cast
Noah Ringer - Aang
Dev Patel - Prince Zuko
Nicola Peltz - Katara
Jackson Rathbone - Sokka
Shaun Toub - Iroh
Aasif Mandvi - Commander Zhao
Seychelle Gabriel - Princess Yue
Cliff Curtis - Fire Lord Ozai
Summer Bishil - Princess Azula
Francis Guinan - Pakku
John Noble - The Dragon Spirit (Voice)
Damon Gupton - Monk Gyatso
Katherine Houghton - Gran Gran
Randall Duk Kim - Old Man in Temple
Dee Bradley Baker - Appa/
Momo (Voices) (Uncredited)

Crew
Writer/Director/Producer - M. Night Shyamalan
Based on the Series "Avatar:
The Last Airbender"/Executive Producers -
Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko
Executive Producers - Kathleen Kennedy
and Scott Aversano
Producer - Frank Marshall
Producer/Unit Production Manager -
Sam Mercer
Co-Producer - Jose L. Rodriguez
Military Advisor - James D. Dever
Casting Director - Douglas Aibel
Production Designer - Phillip Messina
Supervising Art Director - Richard L. Johnson
Art Directors - Robert Fechtman,
Patrick M. Sullivan Jr. and Gerard Sullivan
Construction Coordinators - Robert A. Blackburn
and Paul Williams
Set Decorator - Larry Dias
Property Master - Robin L. Miller
Costume Designer - Judianna Makovsky
Assistant Costume Designers - Holly Davis
and Lisa Tomczeszyn
Makeup and Hair Designer - Ivana Primorac
Makeup Department Head - Lori Hicks
Director of Photography - Andrew Lesnie
Production Supervisor - Gerald Scaife
First Assistant Director - John Rusk
Second Assistant Director - Allen Kupetsky
Second Unit Director/Stunt Coordinator -
Jeff Habberstad
Stunt Rigging Coordinators - Jake Lombard
and Jake Brake
Fight Choreographers - Ben Cooke
and Markos Rounthwaite
Assistant Fight Choreographer - David M. Morizot
Aerial Pilots - Frédéric North and Cliff Fleming
Special Effects Coordinator - Steve Cremin
Visual Effects Supervisor - Pablo Helman
Visual Effects Associate Supervisor: ILM -
Craig Hammack
Visual Effects Producer - Alison O'Brien
Creative Consultant: ILM - Dennis Muren
Visual Effects Art Director: ILM - Christian Alzmann
Concept Design: ILM - Devon Cutler,
Yanick Dusseault, Carlos Huante,
David Nakabayashi and David Yee
Digital Model Supervisor: ILM - Ken Bryan
Animation Supervisor: ILM - Tim Harrington
CG Supervisor: ILM - Daniel Pearson
CG Sequence Supervisors: ILM - Simeon Bassett,
Mathieu Boucher, Mark Casey, Brian Connor,
Brennan Doyle, Willi Geiger, Bryant Griffin,
John Hansen, Ryan Hopkins, Cyrus Jam,
Michael Jamieson, Katrin Klaiber,
Francois Lambert, Kent Matheson,
Brett Northcutt, Khatsho John Orfali, Greg Salter,
Lee Uren and Scott Younkin
Creature Supervisor: ILM - Michael Balog
Digital Matte Supervisor: ILM - Barry Williams
Layout Supervisor: ILM - Terry Chostner
Compositing Supervisor: ILM - Jeff Sutherland
Pre-Visualisation Supervisor: HALON -
Daniel P. Gregoire
Film Editor - Conrad Buff IV
Sound Designer/Supervising Sound Editor/
Re-Recording Mixer - Randy Thom
Supervising Sound Editor - Richard Hymns
Sound Effects Editors - Will Files,
Collette Dahanne, Josh Gold, Scott Guitteau
and Pete Horner
ADR (Uncredited)/Dialogue Supervisor -
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
Production Sound Mixer - Chris Munro
Re-Recording Mixer - Rick Kline
Foley Artists - Jana Vance and Dennie Thorpe
Foley Mixer - Frank Rinella
Music - James Newton Howard
Score Recordist and Mixer - Shawn Murphy
Additional Score Recordist - Alan Meyerson


Review
I've always loved the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender for its anime-like style, world-building, rare, complex storytelling in episodes and strong impact. Compared to most anime action shows featuring Dragon Ball Z, Avatar has needed to boost its potential as the new generation of Star Wars. This recent movie adaptation was disheartening and made no real sense due to a lack of momentum. I found the ending very disappointing as the movie should have concluded in an action-packed manner. However, the film's casting seems misplaced, and how could its director, M. Night Shyamalan, want to make those decisions with characters that are unmatched in their diversity? It lacks energy and direction. The acting is flat, which sums up the movie as having no structure or resonance.

To fans of the animated TV show, this film did not uphold the original qualities of the cartoon hit. There is news about a possible sequel to THE LAST AIRBENDER, which is in the works.

Star rating: (1/5) Not Worth Watching


And now, here's Team Avatar's reaction courtesy of the show's fictional characters, Aang, Zuko, Katara and others. ENJOY!


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