You’re either going to love him or you’re going to hate him, but you can’t ignore him. M. Night Shyamalan is back! The man who brought us Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village is back, but with a different approach this time. With The Happening and Lady in the Water (which I actually liked by the way) behind him, Shyamalan is making another epic action-adventure, only this time, he’s adapting a kids show on Nickelodeon called “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and when I say epic I mean big.
If you’re like me and know absolutely nothing about “The Last Airbender” let me give you a little story synopsis:
In a world where the four elements can be controlled by people known as “Benders”, the Fire Nation is waging a ruthless, oppressive war to control the other great nations. The only hope for stopping the brutal war led by the Firebenders rests on the shoulders of a reluctant young boy named Aang (Noah Ringer, who is the only one we see in the trailer). The last known survivor of the peaceful Air Nomads, also known as Airbenders, Aang is also the world’s “Avatar”. The “Avatar” is the physical re-incarnation of the world itself, with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone, “Jasper” on Twilight), Aang begins a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. Standing in their way are Fire Nation Admiral Zhao (Aasif Mandvi) and Prince Zuko (Dev Patel, of Slumdog Millionaire fame), the banished prince of the Fire Nation who seeks to capture the young Avatar to regain his honor.
Alright, well that wasn’t from me, that was copied from the film’s Wikipedia page, but you get the idea.
As a long time fan of M. Night, I am really hoping that this will be his “turn around” movie. As a director and a writer, I love him, and although I haven’t loved or liked his last few movies, aside from The Lady in the Water, I am going to give this one a chance. I think that with him having been out of the limelight for a while and with The Happening behind us, more fans will return to their first love and re-discover the greatness and mystery that is M. Night Shyamalan.
Discussion: What is your favorite M. Night Shyamalan film? Do you think this one will find its audience outside of the hardcore fans of the TV show?
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Roger Butner
Thanks for the preview, Dan. I have always been impressed and intrigued with Shyamalan, who is certainly a uniquely talented guy. Like you (and many others, I guess), I have had mixed responses to his various films. I haven’t yet seen The Lady in the Water – I guess because I had been disappointed with some of his other stuff.
I think his best work to date has been The Sixth Sense, but that’s an easy one. My favorite film by M. Night has been Unbreakable, which is a great example of how I have been both impressed and disappointed by his work. Fascinating and unique story that drew me in with its overall mystique and flashes of dramatic brilliance. But I was left with the feeling that he had cheated me out of 25% of the ending, or something. I don’t mind a cliffhanger, but sometimes his films seem to have just left out some vital element that would have really completed a brilliant whole. Signs was another example.
This one looks interesting – I’ll probably check it out.
June 24, 2009 at 7:21 am
Dan
Roger, you need to see The Lady in the Water. I will and have been berated by many people for liking or recommending that film to people, but I really liked it. I loved how the story unwound and how deeply personal all of the characters were. Put aside The Sixth Sense, Signs, and everything else, and just watch it as a movie, not as another “M. Night” movie.
I completely agree with you about Unbreakable. I have always felt like it ended so abruptly and inevitably left it open for another film to come alongside it and provide closure. There are rumors floating around that Shyamalan would like to write a sequel to Unbreakable, so who knows, maybe we’ll get our ending.
June 25, 2009 at 7:18 am
Donna
The Sixth Sense was by far my favorite Shyamalan movie but like Roger said, thats a given. I really enjoyed Signs and still will check it out when it comes on TV. The last couple of his movies have been disappointing to me because I know he can do great work but I, like you Dan, hope this new movie will bring him back. With it being a TV show, it might draw more people to see the movie not just his fans and us who hope he hits a home run with it..will at least a double.
June 24, 2009 at 8:38 am
Bob Baker
I think Shyamalan is very talented and look forward to his movies. I base all of that on the strength of The Sixth Sense and still feel that way despite the not-so-good movies. I think of him as “a man of great ideas.” Because I see him as being very creative, I will never count him out.
Now, about Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am very familiar with this tv show and was very surprised that Shyamalan is directing. This raises the bar for me and I must tell you, I’m expecting great things. My 13 year old, Katie, has watched every episode and read a number of the books (in manga style). I watched an episode with her to make sure I approved of it and ended up watching many episodes with her. If you want to know ANYTHING about this story, just ask Katie. The series concluded this season. Notice, I didn’t say “ended” because the story actually came to a conclusion. Katie loves the humor and sarcasm the young main characters throw around at each other as well as the hint of some characters having a crush on other characters. Outside of that, Avatar: The Last Airbender is a classic good versus evil story. In case you didn’t catch this, the main characters are children and teens. The strength of the story is how this group of kids work together to overcome whatever obstacles they face. They build trust and even though they might be quite angry with each other at times, they still work together.
(Sorry I’m writing so much!) Lastly, I’m exited about the visual effects I know are coming. The trailer gives an excellent and accurate glimpse of what to expect but is like the part of the iceberg above the water. I’m expecting Shyamalan to bring to life the amazing effects I’ve seen in animation. Staying true to the story line and making the effects come to life is what might bring people into the theaters who are unfamiliar with the tv show.
June 24, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Dan
Bob, thank you for shedding some light on a world I know nothing about. What intrigues me the most about this film is that it’s set up as a trilogy. I am very interested in seeing how M. Night handles a continuing story spanning across three films, but I don’t suspect this will be anything new to him as most of his films carry a lot of the same elements and themes.
This looks like, from the little we see in the trailer, it’s going to be one of, if not the, biggest movie M. Night has done, in terms of scale and reach. I hope, unlike Speedracer, that this will transcend the niche-fan-base and reach out to more people, like myself and I’m sure a lot of other people.
Bob, being Truth On Cinema’s Expert on Avatar, do you think it has a mainstream appeal?
June 25, 2009 at 7:14 am
Bob Baker
Dan, I was just starting to write and say thanks for letting me know it’s a trilogy when Katie walked by. We had a long talk about Avatar. Turns out, there were three seasons of the show and three books. Okay, I get it, it’s a trilogy! The order is Water, Earth and then Fire. I would expect the movie trilogy to follow the same order.
On your question of mainstream appeal, well, that’s what all the investors are hoping for of course. I think it has mainstream appeal if character development is strong. Think of character development in Lord of the Rings. Maybe the Harry Potter series is a better choice because the age of the main characters is similar. We must be led by the director to care about the characters enough to want to see how they fare in movies two and three. Does that make sense? The CGI effects will be worth seeing (but probably not as cool as in 2012). I don’t think a movie can live on it’s CGI these days without a good story. We’ve become too savvy as movie goers, don’t you think? So, mainstream appeal? I say yes, if CGI lives up to expectations and the main characters are not immaturely portrayed.
Dan, I loved your reference to Speedracer. I think Avatar has tons more appeal than Speedracer.
June 25, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Shyamalan's The Last Airbender | Pink Raygun.com
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June 26, 2009 at 7:00 am