Swagger Wagon

I saw a condensed version of this video when I went to see The Last Air Bender with my Dad and two sisters, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

Okay. Now I mentioned The Last Air Bender, so I might as well give you a review. But first: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Story line

Benders are people who can control the elements, WaterBenders, EarthBenders, FireBenders, and AirBenders. A WaterBender would come from a water tribe, a FireBender from a fire tribe, and so on. The tribes are divided sorta like this:  Northern Water Tribe, Southern Water Tribe, and so on.

Avatars come one at a time. An Avatar is the only person who can control all the elements. They are also able to visit a “spirit world”. The Avatar keeps the tribes from clashing; they keep things running smoothly. Several years ago, however, the Avatar disappeared.

Now the Fire Nation is taking control of the world, the Fire Nation has created machines that allow them to break through ice and travel through the ocean. They have killed off all Air Tribes in an attempt to keep the Avatar from emerging, for if he was to emerge, their plans of ruling the world would be ruined.

The story starts in the/a small southern water tribe. When Katara, a Water Bender, and her brother, Sokka, are hunting for what scarce food there is, they discover a giant ice orb, with a boy and  his strange skybison (I think that’s what it is called ;)) inside.

After Katara rescues the boy and his skybison, they take them to their village. Soon, though, their village is visited by Princes Zuko, son of the Fire Lord Ozai.

The Prince takes Aang onto one of their ships. There he is tested by the Prince’s uncle, Iroh, and it is discovered that he is the Avatar. Aang is forced to use Air bending to escape.

Aang, Sokka, and Katara travel to Aang’s Air Bending village. There he discovers that the monk, who had raised him like a son, and training him in the ways of Air bending, and all the other villagers were dead.

Aang goes into a passion, and visits the spirit world, a dragon spirit speaks to him shortly.

After wards, Aang, Katara, and Sokka go to an Earth village that has been taken by the Fire Nation. They raise a rebellion and move on, towards the Northern Water city/tribe, where Aang is to train in the art of Water Bending. As they travel they raise rebellions among the imprisoned villages they meet.

When they first reach the Water city, the residents immediately prepare for the war that is sure to follow Aang, Katara, and Sokka’s arrival. Though Aang tries hard, he cannot learn the art of Water bending, though Katara masters the skill quickly.

When the war does come, the Water Benders are hard pressed, but they are able to hold their own. Aang goes to a spiritual place to meditate, that he may receive information on how to defend the city.

He manages to save the day and master the art of Water Bending. He also accepts his role as Avatar.

Characters

Aang:

When Aang finds out he is the Avatar, he flees his Air Village in a passion — for he is told that an Avatar cannot have family —. He is found by Katara and Sokka, and must travel to the northern Water tribe to learn the ways of Water Bending.

Aang has a friendly personality, and he wants to help in the fight against the Fire Nation.

Katara:

Katara is the only WaterBender in her village, and she isn’t a very good one. Her older brother is Sokka, her father is fighting in the battle against the fire nation, and her mother is dead. She frees Aang from his ice orbs, and — partly because she feels Aang is her and Sokka’s responsibility, and partly on her grandmother’s urgings — also helps rescue him from Princes Zuko.

Katara is brave, and slightly impulsive. She believes in doing what is right.

Sokka:

Sokka is Katara’s older brother, who is training to be a warrior like his father. He joins his sister and Aang, and travels with him. He uses what little tracking skills he has to help them.

Sokka is a realistic, and cautious, older teenager. He wants to help fight against the Fire Nation.

Prince Zuko:

Prince Zuko is challenged to fight his father, Fire Lord Ozai, after defending some of his friends. When he backs down to fighting both his father and sister, his father burns him, and then tells him to leave the Fire Nation, and not to come back until he finds the Avatar. Prince Zuko hunts desperately, joined by his Uncle, Iroh, for the Avatar so that he can earn his place in the Fire Nation.

Prince Zuko’s character seems more concerned with getting his place back than anything else. He is someone who will defend his family and friends, but doesn’t think it right to hurt or fight them.

Iroh:

Iroh travels with his nephew, performing tests on anyone who might be the Avatar. Unlike most the Fire Nation, he honors the spirits and the Avatar. Though he wishes to help his nephew, it seems like he mainly just wants Zuko to be happy, to do something like settle down and marry a girl, have a family.

Iroh is an interesting character, he seems to be very close to his nephew. Though I cannot assess quite what I would make of his personality, he seems like a good guy.

Commander Zhao:

Zhao is pretty much the general of Fire Lord Ozai’s army. He, like Zuko, is after the Avatar — a.k.a Aang —. He greatly dislikes Prince Zuko, and would prefer for him not the catch the Avatar and retake his place. He leads the attack on the Northern Water Tribe.

I think Zhao is the main antagonist in The Last AirBender. He is all around evil, and will do anything to reach his goals, even kill a spirit. He is ambitious, and I think he wants to be the Fire Lord’s top man.

Overall

The story line and character COULD be a recipe for a good movie, there is a couple major flaws:

1. Acting: At the beginning of the movie, especially the younger actors with Aang, Katara, and Sokka, seemed off. Later on the acting got a little better, but not much. It is because of this poor acting, that I have decided that Iroh is my favorite character: not only is he interesting, but his acting skills are higher, making him a better character. Plus, at the first Earth village, when Aang started to raise a revolt, the FireBenders that had been stationed there were very slow to react, they just seemed to stand around letting Aang shout for the EarthBenders to fight back.
2. Briefness: This is a bit hard to help, as the movie has a limited time, but I found the movie a bit brief. At the first Earth village, the battle lasted a few moments, and there were only short clips of what happened after that until they got to the Northern Water city, except several minutes where Aang goes to a temple and is captured and how he escapes and all. I think that if they had managed to squeeze in a few more details it would have been a better movie.

I have one good to say, though: the ending of The Last Airbender left me curious about the next. While I probably won’t go to see it in theaters, I’ll make an effort to see the next one when it comes out on DVD.