Plot
The film begins with a fourteen-year-old Waterbender girl named Katara, and her older fifteen-year-old warrior brother, Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe, unfreeze an Iceberg with a 12-year-old boy Aang, and a flying bison named Appa, inside of it. This attracts the attention of Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation who was exiled by his father: The current Fire Lord Ozai. Arriving to Southern Water Tribe, Zuko demands the elderly under the impression that Avatar is an old person until Aang is found. Aang surrenders himself to Zuko as long as he agrees to leave the village alone. Aboard Zuko's ship, Aang is at Zuko's mercy, but he dares the two escorts that he could take them both in a fight with both of his hands tied behind his back. Eventually he manages to maneuver away from the guards before Katara and Sokka arrive on Appa, making their escape. Aang and friends visit the Southern Air Temple where the Avatar learns that he was in the ice for a century and the Fire Nation wiped out everyone he knew there, entering the Avatar State and revealing to the world that the Avatar has returned via spiritually significant statues begin to glow, just like Aang's eyes and tattoos. It was there Aang meets up with the only known remaining "flying lemur", naming it "Momo" as it joins Aang's group. Meanwhile, Commander Zhao invites Prince Zuko and Iroh for lunch, only to humiliate Zuko in front of his men.
Arriving in a small Earth Kingdom town that is controlled by the Fire Nation, Aang's group are arrested while helping a boy named Haru there. They then incite a rebellion with reminding the disgruntled Earthbenders that earth was given to them through the air ducts. Soon after, Katara finds a waterbending scroll that she uses to perfect her skills while helping Aang master waterbending as they make their way to the Northern Water Tribe and liberate more Earth Kingdom villages in the process. During a side track to the Northern Air Temple on his own, Aang is betrayed by a peasant and captured by a group of Fire Nation Yuu Yan archers, commanded by Zhao. However, a masked marauder, the "Blue Spirit", helps Aang escape from his imprisonment. Aware that Zuko is the "Blue Spirit," Zhao arranges the prince's demise. But Zuko survives the attempt on his life and, with Iroh's help, sneaks aboard Zhao's lead ship as his fleet departs for the Northern Water Tribe to execute the plan he and Ozai set up with the scrolls from the Library detailing the spirits there.
Upon arriving, Aang's group is welcomed warmly by the citizens of the Northern Water Tribe as Sokka falls in love with princess Yue while Aang and Katara master their waterbending skills under Pakku. Once the Fire Nation armada arrives, Zhao begins his attack while Zuko infiltrates the tribe on his own, capturing Aang while he entered the spirit world to find the dragon spirit to give him the wisdom to defeat the Fire Nation. Coming to his senses, Aang battles Zuko before Katara freezes him. As the battles escalates, Iroh watches Zhao slay the moon spirit Tui, causing the waterbenders to lose their power. However, Yue, who was imbued with some of the energy of the Moon spirit when she was a newborn, sacrifices her life to revive the Moon spirit. As Zhao is drowned by Waterbenders after Zuko and Iroh leave him to his fate, Aang uses the ocean to drive the armada back. Aang now fully embraces his destiny as the Avatar and prepares to continue their struggle against Ozai. When news of Zhao's death and Iroh's betrayal reaches him, Ozai appoints his daughter Azula to capture both her Uncle and Brother.
Cast
Noah Ringer as Aang,[15] who disappeared from public sight a hundred years ago. While chronologically 112 years old, Aang still retains his biological age of 12. He is the latest reincarnation of the Avatar. Though he is capable of bending all four elements, at the beginning of the film he has only learned to airbend. It is also his duty to maintain balance in the world, which conflicts with his easy-going, fun-loving personality.
Dev Patel as Prince Zuko,[16] a 16-year-old Fire Nation prince who travels with his uncle Iroh. The former heir to the throne, he was exiled by his father, Fire Lord Ozai, and ordered to capture the Avatar (who had not been seen in almost a century, making the assignment a wild goose chase) in order to regain his lost honor. He is the secondary antagonist of the film.
Nicola Peltz as Katara,[15] a 14-year-old girl of the Southern Water Tribe and its last remaining waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Since the death of her mother, Kaya, she has served as the maternal figure in her family, and is no stranger to responsibility despite her young age. She is Aang's good friend and love interest.
Jackson Rathbone as Sokka,[15] a 15-year-old warrior from the Southern Water Tribe and Katara's older brother. He can be condescending, and has no bending powers, but is extremely intelligent (He just doesn't show it at times) and often takes up leadership roles by virtue of coming up with most of the workable plans and tactics.
Shaun Toub as Iroh,[17] Zuko's uncle. He is extremely easy-going and friendly, and often acts as a surrogate father to Zuko. Formerly a great general of the Fire Nation, personal tragedies led to his retirement, and the role of heir-presumptive passed to his younger brother Ozai.
Aasif Mandvi as Commander Zhao,[17] a hot-tempered Fire Nation Commander in pursuit of the Avatar. He is Zuko's principal rival. Hence, he serves as the primary antagonist of the film to both Aang and Zuko. In the show, he is promoted to Admiral when appointing the Yuu Yan archers to capture Aang. In the film, there is no mention of Zhao's promotion, and he dies a Commander.
Seychelle Gabriel as Princess Yue,[17] the princess of the Northern Water Tribe. She has committed herself to defending her people against Fire Nation attacks.[18] She is also Sokka's love interest of the film.
Cliff Curtis as Fire Lord Ozai,[17] the leader of the Fire Nation as well as Prince Zuko's father. He is a secondary antagonist of the film, and the main antagonist of the series.
Summer Bishil as Azula, the daughter of Ozai and sister of Zuko who is a gifted firebender as well as a sociopath.
Francis Guinan as Master Pakku, known as the greatest waterbender in the entire Northern Water Tribe. He teaches Aang and Katara waterbending.[19][20]
Katharine Houghton as Kanna, the grandmother of Katara and Sokka.
John Noble as the Dragon Spirit, a being of the spirit world who serves as a mentor to Aang.
Damon Gupton as Monk Gyatso, an Air Nomad who was a dear friend of Aang's who was killed by Fire Nation soldiers long ago.r.
Development
On January 8, 2007, Paramount Pictures' MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies announced that they had signed M. Night Shyamalan to write, direct and produce a trilogy of live-action films based on the series; the first of these films will encompass the main characters' adventures in Book One. The film was in a dispute with James Cameron's film Avatar regarding title ownership,[21] which resulted in the film being titled The Last Airbender.[9]
According to an interview with the co-creators in SFX magazine, Shyamalan came across Avatar when his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween. Intrigued, Shyamalan researched and watched the series with his family. "Watching Avatar has become a family event in my house ... so we are looking forward to how the story develops in season three," said Shyamalan. "Once I saw the amazing world that Mike and Bryan created, I knew it would make a great feature film."[22] He added he was attracted to the spiritual and martial arts influences on the show.[23]
Avatar co-creators Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko voiced their opinion within an interview regarding M. Night Shyamalan writing, directing and producing the film. The two displayed much enthusiasm over Shyamalan's decision for the adaptation, stating that they admire his work and, in turn, he respects their material.[24] Producer Frank Marshall explained that they have high hopes to stick to a PG rating. "I'm not even sure we want to get in the PG-13 realm. Furthermore, Shyamalan said, "I took away a little bit of the slapsticky stuff that was there for the little little kids, the fart jokes and things like that...We grounded Katara's brother...and that really did wonderful things for the whole theme of the movie."[25]
Shyamalan also said he will write the second film while preparing to shoot the first.[26]
Casting
Shyamalan originally offered the roles of Aang to Noah Ringer; Sokka to Jackson Rathbone; Katara to Nicola Peltz; and Zuko to Jesse McCartney.[27] In an interview with People, Shyamalan claimed that he did not want to make The Last Airbender without Nicola Peltz, the actress who plays Katara, "I said that only once before in my career, and that was when I met Haley in The Sixth Sense auditions."[28]
The casting of Caucasian actors in the Asian-influenced Avatar universe triggered negative reactions from some fans marked by accusations of racism, a letter-writing campaign, and a protest outside of a Philadelphia casting call for movie extras.[29][30][31][32] Rathbone dismissed the complaints in an interview with MTV, saying, "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."[33] The controversy wasn't well received by critics either, who say that the original casting call expressed a preference for Caucasian actors over others.[34] Movie critic Roger Ebert was one of the critical voices against the casting. When asked about casting a white cast to portray the characters, he said, "The original series Avatar: The Last Airbender was highly regarded and popular for three seasons on Nickelodeon. Its fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian. Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans? There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts."[35] Jevon Phillips of the Los Angeles Times noted that despite Shyamalan's attempts to defuse the situation, the issue will "not fade away or be overlooked", and that this film exemplifies the need for a debate within Hollywood about racial diversity in its films.[36]
In February 2009, Dev Patel replaced McCartney, whose tour dates conflicted with a boot camp scheduled for the cast to train in martial arts.[37][38] Katharine Houghton and Seychelle Gabriel played "Gran Gran", the grandmother of Katara and Sokka, and Princess Yue, another of Sokka's love interests and princess of the Northern Water Tribe, respectively.[39] Isaac Jin Solstein played an earthbending boy.[40] Aasif Mandvi played Commander Zhao, Shaun Toub played Uncle Iroh, Cliff Curtis played Fire Lord Ozai, and Keong Sim was cast in the role of an Earthbender.[41]
Filming
Pre-production began in late 2008, while filming began in March 2009 in Greenland. After two weeks, the cast and crew moved to Reading, Pennsylvania, where production designers and special-effects crews worked for several weeks, preparing the local site for the film.[42] A production team scouting the area found the Pagoda on Mount Penn, which served as an ancient temple in the film.[42] Reading, Pennsylvania mayor Tom McMahon explained that crews made road improvements and buried electrical lines surrounding the structure.[42]
Filming also took place in Ontelaunee Township and at the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower in Pennsylvania after the production crew finished at the Pagoda. When asked about filming the movie in Reading, Pennsylvania, Pamela Shupp, vice president of Berks Economic Development said, "They needed buildings to shoot all the interiors, and were looking for a group of buildings with high ceilings and specific column spacing. We showed them a number of buildings, but we couldn't come up with enough to meet their requirements. So the interiors will be shot in Philadelphia."[25][42]
Visual effects
Industrial Light and Magic is the principal effects house for the film. ILM was responsible for creating the fire, water, earth, and air effects as well as providing the CGI to create the many creatures that were seen throughout the film. Pablo Helman served as the visual effects supervisor.
Director M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount Pictures worked with a company called Stereo D LLC to convert The Last Airbender into a 3D film. The conversion process cost between $5 million and $10 million, adding to the reported $100 million that already went into the film. This decision came after an increased amount of movies being made or converted to 3D, such as Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and Clash of the Titans, made a decent profit at the box office.[10]
Music
In December 2008, James Newton Howard was announced as the composer for The Last Airbender.[45] This was the seventh collaboration between Howard and Shyamalan. Howard most recently received acclaim for his work with Hans Zimmer on The Dark Knight.[45] On May 13, 2009, producer Frank Marshall announced that Howard was recording music for the teaser trailer that was later released that summer.[46]
Marketing
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Promotion
The teaser trailer for the film was attached to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, released in theaters on June 24, 2009.[47] The teaser trailer was also shown exclusively on the June 22, 2009 episode of Entertainment Tonight.[48] The trailer shows Aang airbending in a temple which is being attacked by a multitude of Fire Nation ships. A theatrical trailer was to be released around Christmas 2009, but it was pushed back until February 2010 because not enough visual effects shots were completed.[49][50] This trailer was attached to the Percy Jackson film released on February 12, 2010.[51] A theatrical trailer was later released on March 25, 2010.[52] It was then attached with How to Train Your Dragon. The last theatrical trailer is attached to Iron Man 2 which was released May 7, 2010.[53]
The first TV spot for the film aired during Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010.[54] It showed parts of the film that were not shown in the teaser trailer and had no diagetic dialogue, but merely narration. On February 10, the theatrical trailer was released online.[55] It shows multiple scenes from the movie and is an expanded version of the first TV spot. McDonald's are selling Happy Meals to promote the film.
Comic
Two original black-and-white comics, drawn in the manga style, will be written by Dave Roman and are expected to be released on June 1, 2010.[56] The prequel comic will be illustrated by Nina Matsumoto and the movie adaptation, expected to be published in June 2010, will be illustrated by Joon Choi.
“We’re excited to be working with Nickelodeon to bring these great stories to the manga audience,” says Dallas Middaugh, Associate Publisher of Del Rey Manga. Avatar: The Last Airbender has shown incredible crossover appeal with manga fans. The release of The Last Airbender movie and original tie-in comic gives us the chance to share completely new stories with Avatar fans looking for more about Aang, Zuko, and their favorite characters.”[57]
Action Figures
On February 9, 2010, Nickelodeon Consumer Products debuted the upcoming line of toys based on The Last Airbender. It includes various 3 3/4-inch action figures, as well as larger, action-enabled figures, costumes and other props. Among the toys featured in the line were figures based on Aang, Prince Zuko, Sokka, Katara, and a fully ride-able Appa the Sky Bison.[58]
"We worked very closely with M. Night, the rest of the Paramount team and our in-house design team, along with our partner Spin-Master, to come up with the right assortment, the right size for these action figures and make sure we had representation of all the nations within the 'Airbender' series," said Nickelodeon's Lourdes Arocho. The Last Airbender action figures are expected to be released in three "waves"; wave one on June 1, wave two near the movie's July release date, and wave three near the 2010 holiday season.[58]
Release
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The Last Airbender was rumored to be released in the summer of 2010 before it received a formal release date of July 1, 2010.[9] In order to avoid confusion with James Cameron's Avatar, the title was changed from Avatar: The Last Airbender to simply The Last Airbender.[9] On June 16, 2010, it was revealed that the film would be released on July 1, 2010, and after questions about the definition of the release being limited or wide, was later confirmed by the studio to be a full nationwide release.[5][59] The film premiered in New York City on June 30, 2010,[14] and opened the following day in 3,169 theaters, against The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.[60]
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by M. Night Shyamalan
Frank Marshall
Kathleen Kennedy
Sam Mercer
Scott Aversano
Written by Screenplay:
M. Night Shyamalan
Original story:
Michael Dante DiMartino
Bryan Konietzko
Starring Noah Ringer
Nicola Peltz
Jackson Rathbone
Dev Patel
Shaun Toub
Aasif Mandvi
Cliff Curtis
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography Andrew Lesnie
Editing by Conrad Buff
Studio Nickelodeon Movies
The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Blinding Edge Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) New York City premiere:
June 30, 2010
United States:
July 1, 2010
Running time 103 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $150,000,000[2]
Gross revenue $151,871,222[3][4]
