July 2nd, 2010. This is a friendly warning that you have until this date to catch-up with the rest of us if you have no idea what this is:
That is Appa and he is a giant flying bison who you will learn to dearly love and a character from the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. If you have seen Avatar(This Avatar has nothing to do with blue people), I am sure you need no convincing, but if not let me tell you why it is worth watching before it comes to screens this summer.
It’s Not What You Think
I know I used to doubt it too. When Avatar: The Last Airbender first came out, I had absolutely no desire to watch it. In 2005, Nickelodeon cartoons were a shadow of what they used to be in the Rocko’s Modern Life and Ren & Stimpy days with a glut of dumbed-down series. Adding to this was the fact that at first-look, the show looks like anime. Before the angry comments start flowing, let me say that back in 2005, I was and still am a little jaded on anime. I think many people place so much in it being from Japan, that they throw out any sort of critical eye when watching it. There is great anime, but a lot of garbage too.
A year or so later, I was forcibly told by a friend that I had to watch the show and give it a chance. By the end of the first episode, I saw just how wrong my assumptions about the show were. This was no childrens anime, this was something fresh and new.
Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in the fantasy world where each nation of people has mastery of a different element; water, earth, air, and fire. Special individuals called Benders, the jedi of the story, are able to control their people’s element. One individual in the world can use all of them, bringing balance to all called The Avatar. The Avatar is like the Daili Lama, where he/she reincarnates into a new body with some previous knowledge when they die.
One hundred years ago, a young boy named Aang found out he was the Avatar and ran from home under the weight of this responsibility. Flying on his bison Appa during a storm, he was frozen in the ocean and awakes one hundred years later to find that during that time, without the Avatar to stop them, the fire nation had formed an evil empire across the globe.
The storyarc of Avatar is more inspired by the classic epic hero’s journey than anime, although there are plenty of eastern influences. The creators apparently spent a lot of time looking at Star Wars and Lord of The Rings to try to create that kind of realized world.
The journey of Aang is told with a nice balance of action, character development, and a zany kind of humor that really feels like early George Lucas. The story builds and builds across all three seasons, treating each like a different book in a three part series.
The return of M Night?
The priviledge of taking this golden subject matter and bringing it to the screen has fallen into the hands of M Night S . This is a risky move which will either pay off or fall really flat. With a stable of movies that virtually everyone I know has completely different verdicts on, his last two, Lady in The Water and The Happening being Critically panned (one may have involved trees trying to kill us).
One thing I can not stop being bothered by is the name change. Yes, I am fully aware that calling it Avatar: The Last Airbender could lead to intense confusion and I am fine with just calling it The Last Airbender. What I have a problem with is why it had to be named M Night Shymalan’s The Last Airbender. He did not create the characters or story and I am sure this was a decision made to sell more tickets, but after he put a nymph in a swimming pool, I am not sure for most people his name is a selling point.
Thankfully, M Night is a real fan of the show and on the whole the trailers are looking promising. While the bending powers look realistic and powerful, so far they have shown none of the humor I personally love from the Avatar. As long as the movie is faithful to the subject matter and doesn’t end in a twist like everyone is a robot, I think M Night could have found his way back into the favor of the movie going public.
How to Catch-Up
The easiest way to catch up on Avatar: The Last Airbender is through Netflix, they even have Watch Instantly for the first season. Amazon also has seasons on unbox for $30 and single episodes for $1.99, which you can watch buy by by clicking here
So here is my challenge for you guys and girls. With the young fanbase, this movie is going to be one of the biggest of the year. Watch the fantastic original series, so you can be in the know and get the most out of it. You have until July 2nd.
