Reflections on the Nice Superhero and The Last Airbender, Part I

First, Shymalan's The Last Airbender is a weird movie. 

I remembered reading a series of negatives reviews of the movie when it came out. I decided to watch it anyway before I tried out the animated series. I'm rather tired of a world in which everything is supposedly decided by votes. I'd rather read/watch something for myself. 

If you have never seen the series and don't mind "eh" movies, The Last Airbender is an adequate introduction to the world. I got interested in the series because of the movie. 

Then I watched the series. And I had to conclude--

The movie is very strange. 

I'm not talking about the so-called whitewashing. As far as I am concerned, Shymalan couldn't win here. He was either "whitewashing" or "appropriating," which is likely why he made so many of the antagonists Indian. Frankly, the upcoming series has benefited from Shymalan already being put through the wringer.  

What is strange is that he "whitewashed" for average actors. For great actors, sure. For average actors, um, why? Shaun Toub and Aasif Mandvi walk away with all the scene-chewing acting credit; everyone else's performances are rather lackluster.

What is stranger is the lack of any personal touch. As one reviewer points out, Shymalan didn't even work to his strengths. His movies are often uneven with multiple problems, but what he is good at he is very good at: directing kids, creating an aura of suspense, establishing evocative scenes, following a single perspective across a series of scenes. 

Aside from the final scene, which is quite impressive, the movie is weirdly bland. And the final scene is good by its genre's standards, not good as a Shymalan scene.  

Even stranger, the series has loads of meat that Shymalan brushes over. For a movie that was supposedly just the first season, it sacrifices depth of perception for a cobbling together of a number of issues. 

Part of that meat brings me to Part II of these two posts. 

The Avatar is instructed not to harm people, and the final sequence is an impressive show of nature's power, which I appreciate. However, in the meantime, the Avatar's henchmen--sorry, I mean, supporters--dispose of the bad guy. 

In the series, the spirits dispose of the bad guy. As one of Aang's Avatars states, "Eh, same difference." More importantly, in the series, Aang's moral perspective develops over time, coming to fruition in Season 3. He is faced with legitimate questions, specifically from Zuko: "What will you do when you face my father?" A number of Aang's own Avatars present an entirely retrospective approach to Aang's problem. They believe he should act without hesitation because they wish they had.

By trying to solve the problem in what was supposed to be the first movie, Shymalan shortchanged the character.

BUT--and here's my point--many action/superhero movies do the same. 

More to follow...on the 27th...