The Last Airbender

OK, so this movie did a gigantic belly flop into the pool of Hollywood; so big in fact perhaps its belly burst open and the talented Shyamalan was ejected into a nearby cornfield where he will most likely stay banished for quite some time. Honestly, I hope the guy recovers and produces some more memorable stuff, because I like all of it. Perhaps he can focus on something low-key.

Netflix (Canada) is carrying this movie, which tells you something about the quality right there. My friend watched it and reported only good things, which seems to go against the grain of every single person on Earth. With a couple of hours to spare, I loaded the movie up and was expecting a rush of garbage delivered optically. And you know what happens when you expect the worst: you get the best. OK, not the best - far from it - but the thought/sentence needed to be completed that way. What I'm trying to say is this movie is decent.

You get bending. I love the idea of "bending." Four nations who can bend their element at will: earth, fire, water and air. As the title dictates this is about the last airbender (I guess they were all wiped out by the wily fire nation). He also happens to be the Avatar, who is a reincarnation of a being who can control all four elements. Basically, he rocks it hard. Unfortunately for some, this iteration of the Avatar only knows his native element, and needs help with the others, but that's besides the point.

It's just fun to watch: characters move in manner's I'm not familiar and it looks graceful, and these moves are what's controlling the elements. But I'm more excited seeing the ground erupt, blocking a giant fireball. Or when the water benders trap people in ice. In fact the least exciting bending is the title character himself, who  can manipulate air and really only Force Pushes people around. Granted, that seems to be the best and most unstoppable ability, but when he learns how to bend other elements the game gets really interesting. He takes some simple water bending and amps it up: why play with a bucket of water when you can just move the entire ocean? He oversteps his teachers and we get our Neo moment when his eyes and arrow-thing on his forehead start glowing. I need to see more.

This movie is based on a popular (Japanese) cartoon series (was it something else before? Probably). I know nothing of any of it, which evidently has bolstered my appreciation for the film. Character and plot portrayals and devices that stray from the source material are completely lost on me, so I'm allowed to enjoy the movie as a self contained entity and for that, I'm thankful, but I'm also now intrigued to seek out the original series and give it a watch. I may run into a couple of scenarios in doing this:

1. I'll love the series.
2. I'll love the series and despise the movie.
3. I'll love the series and forget about the movie because that sort of thing doesn't bother me.
4. I'll hate the series and applaud Shyamalan for making a better product.

All of these will end up in disappointment, of course. In the end I'll elect for option five: never watch the series and be disappointed that they'll never make a sequel to this film.