Bend It Like Beckham!

Here is one of those times when I find myself a little bit torn. Usually, when a movie is made of a book or of an animated television series (which is about every single movie these days) I have to try and keep the movie and the book separate in my mind in order to enjoy both. It seems to be the only way to do any justice to both forms. However, I find it much more difficult when the media the movie is based off of is such, that if the filmmakers do not do justice to the story, it completely ruins whatever chance the movie had of being great. It is my feeling that if a series or a book was popular at one point, it is essential in the movie version to capture those things that made it so well loved by its fans, but not so out there that people who are not familiar with the material couldn't enjoy the movie.

The Harry Potter series is a perfect example of this kind of thing. The books were so well-loved by the people who read them that it seems as though it would be incredibly important to keep the story as intact as possible, and to make as accurate a depiction of the characters and the environments as possible, not only to please long-time fans, but to please people who are unfamiliar as well (which in the case of Harry Potter would most definitely be in the minority). However that is not what occurred. Instead the film versions of Harry Potter went in a completely different direction leaving the majority of the book fans sort of deserted and disappointed.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (directed by M. Night Shyamalan) suffers from a similar case. The animated series has been celebrated for a long time as one of the few series that was created in America, but still captures some of the same quality action and storytelling as Japanese anime. Rather than being somewhat cheesy and poorly drawn as is the case with a vast number of American animated series that are trying to imitate anime, The Last Airbender series became sort of an animal of its own. Of course it was aimed for Nickelodeon audiences, but the show was so great that it caught the attention of a wide range of age groups. It is a story of a world where there are tribes of people who are able to "bend the elements" and use a certain element in their day to day life and in their fighting style. The Fire Nation decided to wage war on the other tribes, and have almost succeeded in taking over the whole world. The Avatar, the one man who is able to bend all four elements and commune with the Spirit World in order to maintain balance in the living world, has disappeared, but then is reborn in the form of a young boy named Aang. Now the Fire Nation will stop at nothing to find the Avatar and destroy him before he comes into his full abilities and overthrows them. The characters were well-developed and likable, there was a lot of lighthearted humor involved along with more dramatic moments that dealt with deep emotional states. And this combined with absolutely fantastic martial arts made it one of the most popular shows in Nickelodeon's arsenal. Admittedly, I have only gotten through one out of the three seasons of the show, but what little I've seen I have thoroughly enjoyed, and gave me a pretty good idea of how the show works and how the story develops.

Sadly, the movie fell far short of all of my expectations, both for the characters and the story. The show characters are lively and strong, and have to deal with their fears and their weaknesses as the story unfolds. The movie characters were utterly and completely flat, and seemed to have no weaknesses at all. All we ever see of them are their strengths and their absolutely deplorable acting. I know there are a lot of young actors in this film, but I felt like the casting could almost definitely have been much better, and the acting could absolutely have been better.

Aang, played by Noah Ringer, was almost painful to watch in his clumsy attempts at lending seriousness to any situation. I wasn't even able to feel anything for him when the film reached what I thought should be Aang's emotional peak, that being, when he discovers that everyone he has ever known, his entire tribe and his entire home have been dead and destroyed for over one hundred years. There is perhaps some screaming of the word, "NOOOOOOOO!" but it issued from a face that was flabby and blank, and that I cared nothing about.

But of course most of the actors suffered from the same thing, even the adults. It could be because the story was written to be so unbearably serious. Where there is lightheartedness and laughter and hilarious hijinks in the show, there is just drama and dark expressions throughout the entire film. Gee, I know their situation is pretty dire but really. Is it necessary to have dire faces and heavy breathing every time there is any kind of dialogue? It must also be mentioned that I couldn't help but notice that the people of the Fire Nation all appeared to be of Indian background, and that the people of the other nations were all Caucasian. The kind of message that is trying to be said here has the potential of being very offensive indeed. All of the bad guys are Indian? What gives?

But of course all was not lost on this film. The martial arts in it was incredibly accurate and beautiful and the special effects were absolutely stunning, especially when it came to water bending. Truly the elements being looped around and thrown and hovering in the air was gorgeous. It was perhaps the most redeeming point of the film for me. I didn't see the film in 3D because I felt that it really wouldn't lend much to it, so I can't really comment on the pros and cons of that, however I was very pleased with it in a normal format.

Basically this film was a mess, a big pretty mess. To filmmakers everywhere: I now know that you have absolutely no problem making something look great, now you need to focus on making a film that is great in its core. The Last Airbender further underscored my conviction that people can make great films, they just won't. I give Airbender two Staryus.