July 3, 2010 -- I went into this movie with very low expectations since it has the lowest critical rating score of any movie in theaters, but it turns out to be not as bad as they say it is. I can certainly see why it is getting such bad scores from critics. It is not depressing. It does not promote a negative outlook on life. It has no suicides. It has no teenage angst. It has no existential ennui. There's almost no blood in it. Very few characters are killed. It does have heroes. It is life affirming. It does demonstrate a respect for life. It makes the argument that people can wield power without becoming corrupted by it. In short, it challenges the worldview of many artists, many critics, many moviemakers and many in the Hollywood establishment. It is a minor miracle it ever got made. It is no surprise to me it is doing a better business at the box office than most experts anticipated.

This is a movie aimed primarily at children (note to the reading impaired, this does not mean I think children are stupid or unsophisticated, just that presentations that interest children and those that adults find interesting are often different), and it doesn't even really try to appeal to adults. Most films these days try to be blockbusters and try aim at everybody at once, but that is a difficult trick to pull off. Pixar seems best at this all-in-one approach. The main characters in this film are young, teens to pre-teens. The villains, however, are older, and more interesting as characters. Two of the most interesting villains are the exiled Prince Zuko (played by Dev Patel of “Slumdog Millionaire”) and his mentor in exile Uncle Iroh (Shaun Toub of “Iron Man”). Prince Zuko's fate is tied to the fate of the main hero of the story, Aang (Noah Ringer). Each ends up saving the life of the other. Uncle Iroh appears to have both wisdom and power not possessed by most mortals. He is a member of the evil fire nation, but also seems to stand outside that nation. His own beliefs and goals are mysterious.

Two teens of the southern water nation, Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) find Aang buried inside the ice in a huge sphere. Katara is the last water-bender in her tribe. Aang is the last of the air-benders, but is also the one and only avatar, able to control all the elements, earth, air, fire and water. He alone can bring peace to the warring nations of his world. For this reason, he is feared by the fire nation, who holds the upper hand in the war. Aang is the last in a long line of Avatars, who, like the Dalai Lama, is reincarnated every generation. Aang has been in exile, literally frozen for 100 years, causing his world to become unbalanced, lapsing into war. He finds that the air nation has been destroyed. The fire nation, led by Fire Lord Ozai (Cliff Curtis) is the only one of the four nations to have mastered technology. Their mighty ships and tanks have allowed them to conquer much of the world, except for the far northern stroghold of the water nation.

Aang, Katara and Sokka agree to travel to the northern water nation, spreading a bit of revolution in the earth nation along the way. The three are pursued by Prince Zuko as well as a separate war group led by Commander Zhao (Aasif Mandvi) of the fire nation. After several battles, a major battle ensues at the northern water kingdom. The main themes of the movie have to do with a combination of kung-fu, a supernatural spirit world which affects the material world and belief systems similar to Buddhism. Aang's own power is tied to the proper use and control of his own emotions. Rather than sublimating those emotions, he is encouraged to express them. Another part of the story has to do with heroic self-sacrifice for the good of others. In one of the final scenes there is a remarkable display of restraint as the fleet of the fire nation is spared destruction. A display of overwhelming power takes the place of total destruction. This is very similar to one of the alternate endings of the film “The Abyss.”

The overall tone of the film is eastern, not western. Eastern worldviews prevail. Nature prevails over technology. Spirituality prevails over materialism. Harmony between nature and spirituality is emphasized. Peace is not achieved, but is the clear goal of the story. The goal is peaceful coexistence between the four nations. This film was meant to be the first of several, but the others will probably never be made. There are too many forces opposed to this film. That is too bad, since we will not get to see the impending alliance between Aang and Prince Zuko and we won't discover the role that Uncle Iroh has to play in that alliance.

The film is based on an animated TV series aimed at kids (same note as above on children's programming applies here, and I'm assuming it is aimed at kids because it is on Nickelodian during mornings when that network's programming is aimed at children aged 6-12, not because I have any knowlege at all of the TV series). I've talked briefly to one fan of the TV series who didn't like the film, apparently because it was different than the TV series. I've never seen the TV series, so I can't compare the two. As for the ethnicity of the actors, there is apparently some controversy over that, but I don't know why. Perhaps this controversy too, is based on comparing the movie with the TV show. I'll leave that sort of thing up to those who are actually concerned about the apples-and-oranges similarities and differences between an animated TV show and a live action movie. As far as I'm concerned, the film held my interest and I found the characters engaging. The action scenes were interesting, as were the philosophical underpinnings of the story. This film rates a C+.

Also, I should note I intentionally saw this movie in 2D, not 3D. I've heard the 3D version of this film is technically not well made (it was converted from 2D). Most theaters show 3D movies with inadequate projectors, or have their projectors set too dim, which makes dark movies like this one way too dark in 3D because of the 50-50 nature of current digital 3D technology (each eye sees an image only half the time). The local Fox Storyteller theater, which features a nice bright 3D image in one of its auditoriums, wasn't showing this film in 3D. It looked fine in 2D.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

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