"Last Airbender"

After a much anticipated wait since seeing the first previews, I took my boys to see M. Night Shymalan's vision of "The Last Airbender", which is based on the Nickelodeon series.

From the first images, we were all excited to see this animated story come to life.
I for one, enjoyed the cartoon not only because it was animated (ok, so I dig cartoons), but it had an Asian feel with Hindu prophecies to it, something not really seen since the Dragonball series).

The movie in of itself was pretty good. It started out kinda loose as far as the acting and dialog, but once things got rolling, it kept going until the very end.
The special effects were very good. If this movie had been done either 10 years ago, or on a smaller budget, the elements being "bent" would have looked more cartoony. But give props where props are due, it wasn't hard to believe that you were watching people actually manipulate fire, water, the earth (dirt/rocks), and even air. (even though "air" looked like it had a little help from a big fan positioned off camera).

The only complaint the three of us shared, seemingly minor, was the changing of the pronunciation of the names of the main characters.
(taken from an interview with Shymalan):
“Aang” is not [like Tang] but “Aang” [like Tong.] Also, it isn’t “Avatar” like aaah, it is “Avatar” like “Of-Atar.” The other changes: “Sokka” [pronounced Sock-Ka] is pronounced “Soh-ka” (“soh” as in “sew”) and Iroh, Uncle Iroh, isn’t “Eye-Row” but “Eer-Row.”

Of course, when we got home, after a long discussion with my kids about the "reasoning for changing the pronunciations", I had to Google it.
M. Night explains "Because this show, this film, is inspired by these cultures. And most directors wouldn’t care, but this is something I’ve been living with my whole life, this is really important to me. But not just the names, the calligraphy, the drapery, the machinery, this all creates a world that is specific and personal and resonant.”
Yea, not much of an explanation.

But, overall, it's a really good movie. Go see it.