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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