2.5/5
I’d like to start this review by saying I thought I’d hate this film. I’ve been a fan of the animated series for quite a long time, and while I never got into the debate regarding racebending, I see where it stems from. While the movie did not hold up to its animated counterpart, it was not nearly as bad as I wasexpecting.
I suppose I should start with my problems with it. As a whole, it lacked the charm and humor that made Avatar: The Last Airbender such an excellent series. I don’t think Aang laughed a single time in the entire film, and Sokka made possibly one sarcastic remark. The characters were very serious and aware of the gravity of their endeavors in a very mature fashion. The first five minutes of the film were essentially the first five minutes of the show with the funny bits cut out.
Also, they changed the pronunciation of their names. This was probably the part that irked me the most about the film. There was no need to call Sokka “Sowe-kuh.” It made it seem like the Shyamalan had never actually watched the television series, and just decided to pronounce the names as they were seen on paper.
Some of the graphics, also, were a bit dodgy. There was one close-up on Appa’s face that was especially bad, but most of the animals weren’t done very well.
That said, I think there was some decent stuff in the film. I was impressed by the fight scenes, and it was interesting to see a “realistic” interpretation of the different sorts of bending.
The movie stayed pretty close to the plot line of the show, so there weren’t too many jarring “that never happened” moments. While Sokka, Katara and Aang seemed different than their show counterparts, Zuko seemed dead on. Besides one awkward scene forced in to reveal his backstory, his personality stayed in line with Zuko from the series. Iroh, while quite different from the show, also was interesting to watch.
The movie felt evenly paced, although there was definitely more room for character development to be inserted without upsetting the flow of the film.
All in all, not a bad film. Not amazing, but not the total disaster I expected. I left it feeling about the level of satisfaction I felt after seeing Percy Jackson and the Olympians or one of the first two Harry Potter films. I’d watch it again, but wouldn’t pay money to do so.
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