First Look at THE LAST AIRBENDER Movie
Comments(41)
- By drvenkman
Hey Gang! I just thought you might be interested in seeing the first production photos from the live-action version of ‘The Last Airbender’ which is based on the popular animated TV series on Nickelodeon ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’.
The movie is being directed by a guy that needs to direct a good film or his career could vanish, M. Night Shyamalan. 12 year old Noah Ringer plays the lead character Aang who is an avatar that uses martial arts to manipulate the weather. Noah has a black belt in real life and got the role after he sent in a video tape of him showing off his deadly movies. Here is a picture of him below in full costume.
It is also being reported that this is the first movie of a trilogy of Airbender films. So if this movie does well it looks like we will get some more Avatar action. I am pretty sure the movie will do extremely well for the fact that the cartoon series has a humongous following. Hell, I even watch the show, it’s really quiet good. The next picture of the film is of Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel who plays Zuko the firebender. You guessed it, he can manipulate fire.
As much as I am not a big fan of M. Night as a director these days. He has really made some crap films. But I am excited for ‘The Last Airbender’ because I think it will make for a great movie. I just hope to high hell that M. Night and Paramount Pictures will do it justice.
I like what I see in the photos. As long as they stay faithful to the source material it will be fine. What are you thinking? Are you excited for this movie? What are you hoping to see?
Source: USA Today
The only Shyamalan film I've disliked so far was "The Happening" – he has an impeccable eye, all of his films are technically flawless. This looks quite interesting.
Wow.
So, they did decide to make the Air Nomads Caucasian
and the Fire Nation Middle Eastern.
That's pretty bold Paramount.
Its already a known fact, that the Water Tribe will be Caucasian because of Jackson Rathbone and Nikola Peltz as Sokka and Katara.
I guess Asians are not good enough for fantasies based on Asian folklore, mythology and martial arts.
Just throw the Asians in the background while the caucasians save the world against the evil brown villains.
M.Night should have stuck to the source material.
Good job M.Night, what a way to kill a franchise.
I hope they do well with this. I really like the show, and would be really annoyed if they take the "Creative license" that was used for the Xmen movies.
You make a really valid point. I'm not impressed by the casting here.
Word. I couldn't agree more.
*crosses fingers M. Night manages not to screw this up*
I'm not impressed with the casting either. I'm also not surprised by it. This is the same business that made Jake Gyllenhaal the Prince of Persia.
Has a bit of a Dragonball Evolution look to it, which ain't good.
Anyone notice the lack of a scar on Zuko?
I'm praying that scene is before the scar happened..
Also, if it's ANYTHING like Dragonball Evo (which was a cheesy, funny movie), I will slap M. Night in the face… Or just send him an angry email (which will probably end up including praise for The Sixth Sense).
Hey genius, Dev Patel is Indian – India is in Asia. Ever take geography?
actually, he's british. to be precise. of indian ancestry, sure, but still british.
but i think senju was making a point about them not sticking to the cultures depicted in the series– chinese, japanese, that sort of thing.
well, the x-men movies weren't really supposed to be exact representation of the comics. they are a completely different x-men universe– much like the "other dimensions" that exist in the comics themselves.
avatar, on the other hand…
THIS WILL FAIL! WHERE ARE THE ASIANS????
is the cartoon really good enough to warrant a film?
Noooooooooooooooooooo
This casting is deeply offensive. They need to cast Asians as the LEADS, not just villains and background characters. The way they've done it suggests that the only white people can be heroes.
omg whats wrong with you people yes the show was primarily set in asia and focused on asian philosophy but please tell me which character looks slightly asian. if they were asian, would they have an epithantic fold dont know what that is look it up aang has always looked white….when anime is drawn out they are always made to look white and that is with any anime any arguments against my statement go ahead but you will eventually see the facts
I've seen a few episodes of the series to know that the cast of characters is predominately Asian, with culture and customs included. Just by looking at these pics I will say that I am somewhat disappointed with the casting choice, but the true test will be when this film hits the silver screen next summer.
shamylan is terrible. Only movies worth seeing are sixth sense and signs, maybe unbreakable. other than that he is terrible and unoriginal.
when i look at that cartoon pic above i don't see what looks to be an asian. it looks like they drew a white kid.
YES! It's done really well for an American cartoon inspired by Asian culture.
Shyamalan is one of those directors i have to be in the mood to watch. I think his movies appeal to some others are just down right repulsed by his flicks…a lot of ppl hated the "Lady in the Water" i happened to really enjoy that film….i also liked "the village" come to think of it…maybe im just a fan of Bryce Dallas Howard?
Let me say it again, since what I said earlier was conveniently erased by the powers that be…irritating isn't it when its true? THIS MOVIE WILL FAIL BECAUSE OF THE MISCASTING OF ETHNIC TYPES. Street Fighter: the legend of Chunli, FAILED! Dragon Ball Z, FAILED! Further The Prince of Persia? DOOMED! LOL! This one, DOOMED! LOL! LOL!
Boooooo!!!!
First, it's not anime. It's an an American cartoon, although since it isn't ridiculous and stupid like many of the ones recently I can see the mistake.
It's true that Aang often looks white. I'm not arguing with that. But the Water tribe are clearly not. And Zuko is very clearly of either Japanese or Chinese descent. For that matter so is Toph. They may not have "eye-folds", but the way are eyes are drawn, the clothing and cultural items presented… very clearly relevant to the cultures they're representing.
I like Noah. Dev' ok. I'm still reserving judgement for when the trailer comes out and we get to see them actually in action. Otherwise, I can't say anything from two pics alone.
Oh, and the outfits look waaaaaaay too CLEAN. They really need to DIRTY UP the outfits to make them look more USED. Otherwise they just look like typical Halloween costumes you might bought at Walmart or cosplay or something. xD
Alright, is 'Aangs tattoo in more of a henna style there of am I crazy? I mean you can hardly see it. It is bloody bright blue people!
On a second not for the people saying Dev is not Asian…er you might want to do a geography check. India is in Asia. that being said, Aang should be from the Himalayas. If you have ever met anyone from that region you will find they have more of a Caucasian tan yes, but they are clearly Asian in feature. As for those who say the character looks white in the art…Yes yes he does but that is also a product of the art's origination. Odd as it may sound but State Side and European artists have the tendency to draw more Asian looking characters where the Asian artists tend to lean more European. If you want the country of origin for a character in art, look at their clothes and hair styles not their faces.
In character designing, the artists draw the eyes large to symbolize "innocence" and "youth".
I am sorry that they didn't use the right shade of yellow and small slanted eyes to help you realize the character is Asian.
Its too bad you were colorblind to notice that the heroes were Asian/Inuit.
And that was the beauty of the animated series,
it expressed the diversity within Asian.
Now, the live action film is just going to throw all the Asians in the Earth Kingdom.
The Air Nation and the Water Tribe suffered through genocide
and they casted caucasians… o… k… that makes sense…
especially, when the villians look Middle Eastern.
Shaun Toub (Iroh) is Persian,
Cliff Curtis (Ozai) is Maori,
and Aasif Mandvi (Zhao) is Indian.
All of them are part of the Fire Nation.
All 3 actors are known to play Middle Eastern characters.
So, on screen, they will all look Middle Eastern.
personally, i don't think aang distinctly looks asian on the show, even if it is in an asian-influenced setting. so i'm fine with his casting. a white kid who's a trained martial artist will work. in dbz, goku didn't look asian, and wasn't even human, so i couldn't really complain with him being played by a white guy (still a cruddy movie). dev patel as zuko works too. be grateful, it ain't jesse mccartney.
i understand that hollywood basically sticks a middle finger up at asian actors that aren't curvaceous females or kung fu stars, but i think it works right here.
for the elder fire nation members, i think all three men could work for zhao, iroh, and ozai. i think the weakest casting of the three is zhao's, but it isn't that big of a deal when you hold his picture up against his characters and imagine some wicked sideburns.
the water tribe siblings is a whole nother story. katara and sokka's skin tone is way too dark for the actors portraying them, and using blackface or makeup or whatever is slightly lazy, in my eyes. To be fair, I haven't seen them actually act, but I'm doubting that they're so good that Shymalan couldn't have looked for a more diverse cast to be faithful to the source material.
Shymalan is the real wild card here. If he does this right, and is faithful to the show, then the casting won't matter. If not, he's a dead man– Avatar is hands down, one of the finest animated series of all time. I'd rather that the movie never be made than be made poorly.
On the pics above, Aang's costume looks fine, except that the arrows are nowhere near distinct enough. Agree with above, it's a giant baby blue arrow. Not hard to get. Zuko's costume looks too ordinary– the armor he wore for season one was a lot more unique, and this hairstyle doesn't come into play until season 2.
I'm nitpicking, but this is how much i love this show and don't want the movie to suck. DBZ got screwed over. I don't want the same happening here- if it can't be done right in live action, turn it back over to mike and bryan to continue the series.
zuko's scar is on his left eye, so it's kind of hard to see here from the way dev's standing, but i think there's a bit of redness there.
of course, it could just be the fire. or since i know the scar should be there, and expect and pray that it is, my mind is just telling me it is.
here's hoping this movie works.
one last point, i swear.
noah is twelve. aang is biologically twelve. fine.
katara is fourteen on the show. nicola is TWENTY-ONE.
aang and katara's romance is a big plot point in the series– how are they going to recreate that with such a disparity in the actors' ages? if they go ahead anyway it'll look downright strange onscreen. but if they cut it out, they're ripping out the show's heart.
it's not looking good for this one, i've got to say.
I love the avatar tv series but I hate to say it that its not looking good. Anime to live action movies are most of the time not that good.
Since each tribe's bending is based on a different style of Kung-Fu, I would have at least like to have seen some people trained in martial arts in the movie (not just somewhat popular actors). OK, so Noah is trained in martial arts, but still not what I pictured for Aang. I guess I was thinking more Shoulin Monk, since that's what airbending is based on.
im with you, i mean it would be cool to have some asian actors but i doubt it would work, look how dragonball z turned out, it was a disaster. Besides the majority of people ive talked to think that aang is caucasian
hell yeah mickey right on, i think your points are valid and i stand behind them. You really get the whole idea of the show, i respect that.
Who did you talk to, Caucasians. Rather biased dont you think?
Don't bother mate, its already screwed up. Just look at the casting. LOL!
You ever heard of that movie 21 about an Asian poker player that cheated the system successfully? Well they made the movie and they put a white person in its lead and it failed. LOL!!! Good luck to M. Night. He's Asian, I wonder what went through his head casting the idiot village for a lead. LOL!