Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender
Avatar Aang’s one regret is running away from home, the choice that made him the last airbender. So when a new airbender shows up, Aang is overjoyed. But that joy might be blinding him to what this airbender actually wants.
Avatar Aang the last airbender is a fantasy adventure movie. It was directed by Lauren Montgomery and stars Eric Nam, Dave Bautista, and Jessica Matten. It has similar vibes to Avatar: The Last Airbender, obviously since it’s a spin-off, Nezha, due to the fantasy aspects and trying to save the world from someone we think is good but end up turning bad, or Big Hero 6 for that nice character who ends up being a villain and the team has to stop him.
Spoilers ahead, so be warned. If you haven’t watched, then go watch and come back.
The movie starts with a bang, with Aang at the Southern Air Temple placing a relic he found of Sonam, as he is attacked by the Denied. This scene perfectly shows Aang’s fighting style, as he was very passive and didn’t want confrontation with them. This shows another thing about his fighting style, him being passive when fighting leads to less destruction. The Denied try to take him out, and they’re fighting to kill or harm, and they almost kill their own, which leads Aang to save that person. It's great to see how Aang’s kindness is a strength because it makes that one person think that the Avatar isn't too bad. I do wish they would have given her more screen time to show her separating herself more from the Denied because they were hurting people. But back to the fight, she leaves and grabs what they need. Aang’s goal is to save the temple, which is now falling after a reckless attack. He goes into the Avatar State and gets the temple back upright before it can be destroyed. This scene was great to show how powerful he is and how even outside the Avatar State he is powerful, but if he needs to really get some stuff done, he will tap into that power.
One big theme from this movie is Aang’s guilt, still, because he feels like the genocide of the Air Nomads is his fault. Aang is rebuilding the world and trying to make it whole but neglecting the fact that his own soul is shattered as he is racked with guilt. He tries to preserve the culture as much as he can to ensure that, hopefully in the future, the airbenders can learn about their past. The opportunity to learn from an airbender and the possibility to bring back airbenders blinds him from Tagah’s true nature.
A realization that this movie imparted on me is how no one has experience fighting an airbender in a manner that is aggressive. Aang always fights very passively and with a lot of restraint. This restraint is what we see at the Southern Air Temple, now being tested against someone with none. This is a shock, with the team facing Tagah, who was a threat like no other, an airbender who fights to kill. His fighting reminded me of Azula because it seems like they shared the same goal, and also that air shot to the chest really looks like lightning. Because of this lack of experience, it not only explains why the group would lose but also shows how, even though we have known Air Nomads to be peaceful, if they decided to be full-blown killers, it would be scary.
Avatar Sonam’s staff had spirit energy that could grant its user immense power and even create benders. Obviously, this is enticing to Aang because that’s an opportunity to bring back airbenders. One thing I knew immediately after hearing about the staff was that it would be destroyed. It’s something that makes the ending a little less surprising, but it’s really the only way to go. If there is something that powerful, there is no reason to keep it so someone else can potentially grab it and do this all over again.
Avatar Sonam’s story was sad and beautiful when we finally get to meet her. Sonam tries to use this staff to build up the airbenders, but when Tagah sees some getting killed by earth benders, he wants to use the staff for revenge. She led the Air Nomads to Jharana, which was the center of Air Nomad society, and something that I feel like got a little lost with everything going on is how she is the reason why the different air temples exist because she sent the Air Nomads there for protection while she took Jharna to the spirit world. Jharana is actually the Nepali word for waterfall, but it symbolizes flowing through life and the soul’s constant journey, which seems very fitting for the Air Nomads. What happened with Tagah was one of her greatest mistakes, so she locked away the staff and hid with hopes that a future avatar could help heal the world. Sadly, she tried so hard to do so much good, but in the end, a follower who wanted to take the dark path made her feel shame and guilt because she felt like the monster was created by her.
What happened with Sonam further shows that many avatars do so much good, but there is usually something they do that will have a lasting impact in the future. The Denied and how they feel well denied because they don’t have bending seems like a failure of Aang. Obviously it’s a lot to handle, but non-benders feel neglected, and this would be something that leads right into The Legend of Korra, considering her first big villain, Amon, is removing benders’ powers and gains a lot of support with non-benders. It just goes to show that in the end they still didn’t feel like a welcome part of society; they felt second-class behind benders.
There are plenty of cool moments, but one that was completely unexpected was a cool suit-up. Toph is about to battle some airbenders, and she makes a suit from the metal in the city, and it’s the most badass suit, and she proceeds to sweep the floor with them. Toph really had her moment to shine, and she took it and reminded us why she’s one of the best fighters in the group.
Casually summoning the ocean spirit was something that was not on my bingo card. I thought Aang was summoning a lion turtle, but then the ocean spirit comes and gets them where they needed to go via the spirit world. It’s funny to see how, once in the spirit world, Katara and Zuko look like their characters from Legend of Korra. I was glad to see Aang still has a connection with this spirit he helped out in the show.
Aang is trying to figure out who Avatar Sonam is, so naturally he asks his past lives. The one who knows some info about her is Avatar Xian, who is brilliantly voiced by Ke Huy Quan. He was funny from the get-go, acting like this massive figure while he was super tiny. I truly related to his disgust of sandals and seeing people’s crusty feet. I got the feeling he was a fun avatar to be around.
The gang reunites in this movie, and seeing how much they have grown was a true highlight. They not only each fight well individually, but they also work well together in a fight, maximizing strengths but also not getting into each other’s way. They are much stronger, so even when they aren’t fighting, they are doing impressive things like Katara parting the sea like Jesus, Zuko casually unleashing a massive amount of fire into the engine, or Toph closing a massive hole in the ship. Sokka may be the non-bender of the team, but he has tricks up his sleeve, like his invention that saved the gang’s life by taking out some of the Denied. It’s heartwarming to see the support they give each other, especially Aang, because that’s his only family alive.
We see Aang going in and out of the Avatar State when fighting, which seems to be a defense mechanism so he doesn’t mess up the cycle. He is definitely traumatized from the battle with Azula, so when in battle, if he needs it, he will use it, but he usually won’t stay in it. When Tagah kills him, you see him in it but then dropping out of it so he can preserve that. Luckily, his guardian waterbending master saves his life.
One thing about Aang is you may fool him once, but he learns quickly, so don’t try it again. Aang and Tagah’s second fight sees Aang using what Tagah told him against him, which was not only smart but ensured that he won the fight. It shows how well Aang is adapting in these situations, and even with the upper hand, he still chooses a way to depower his villains instead of killing them. In this film, it was destroying the staff, which is something Avatar Sonam should have done.
Aang has died 2 times, and luckily Katara has been there to save him both times. It makes me wonder if any other avatars have died and come back to life. Katara is truly the MVP and thankfully they had some spirit water around.
I don’t care what’s going on, but no more capturing Appa. Let the sky bison live in peace and be happy; he has been through enough.
Every scene with Monk Gyatso made me tear up. In the OG series, we see how important he is to Aang, and in this movie we are reminded how much of an impact he had. Gyatso really hammered in the notion that yes, Aang can win everything, but it’s important to show restraint. I feel like this is something he said in the show as well, so it was nice to come back to this. In the end, Aang has another vision of him, which was a great way to close out the film. He mentions that Aang will do great things and that Aang’s people are always with him. It made me cry happy tears because Aang is the last airbender, but he is not alone even if the Air Nomads aren’t physically with him.
The opening for the animated series is iconic, and the one for the film is a level up that beautifully pays homage to the original but also shows how the characters have grown. They go through the elements with more explanation as to how each operates, which is narrated by the voice actors. They also use the characters and show the original animation from the original series, and they do a bending move that then flips it to their adult version. It was the perfect addition to the movie and did well, making sure to incorporate all of the gang.
With older characters comes new voice actors, which, if I’m being honest, really had to grow on me. One thing about the original series is that they had such great voice actors, and while I do think these are also great, it took a bit of adjusting to hearing different voices for the characters. There are some scenes of Aang as a kid that really threw me for a loop since he sounded so different. As an adult, I can make the justification a little bit more when it comes to the voices.
The animation for this film was beautiful. It’s different from the original series, but I think it looks great. It seems more influenced by anime styles, especially once Aang and Tagah get a power boost from the staff. Like Aang reminded me of Nezha with his look, and it was so badass, and then he was also so powerful. Overall, it was just some stunning visuals throughout the movie.
Jeremy Zuckerman returns to compose the movie as he did for the TV show. The TV show's soundtrack is one of my favorites, and the movie one did a great job having music that felt like it belonged in the greater universe but was different for this film. It really helps elevate the film.
During the original series, the Fire Nation created a genocide with the Air Nomads, which made fire only seen as a destructive force. When Tagah wakes, he explains that during his time, the earthbenders did something similar. It was eye-opening and made a lot of sense because if you look at the map from the original series, Earthbenders have so much land compared to the other nations. It’s always interesting to see what history will add to this world that reshapes how someone may view it.
There are so many callbacks from the show which highlight that they haven’t forgotten about the OG fans, aka me. Of course, the Cabbage Man makes an appearance, the foaming mouth man is there, the cave of 2 lovers singers, Zuko mentions his honor, Toph says she’s the greatest earthbender, and Flamio Hotman comes up. There may be more, but they are mixed into the story in a way that doesn’t feel forced.
When it comes to the adult Team Avatar it’s nice to see they all have their own things going on. Aang is preserving Air Nomad culture while trying to help build unity, Katara is a councilwoman in Republic City trying to deal with the city and make everyone feel welcomed, Sokka is in the Southern Water Tribe teaching the next generation his ways, Zuko is leading the Fire Nation while trying to show the world that his father and grandfather’s actions are bad and that’s not the path for the Fire Nation moving forward, and Toph is passing along her metal bending skills while reminding people she is the best earthbender. It feels more realistic to have them all doing these things instead of running around, hanging out together constantly.
This movie was beautiful and had me very invested, which makes it a shame that it was pulled from theatres, and they opted for a streaming release except for LA and New York. It’s crazy that a show that came out 20 years ago that still has so much influence gets a movie, and they don’t think it’s a good idea to do a wide release. I looked at the Burbank showings, and it was sold out, and I’m like, just imagine if you gave us more options, but no. I really wish I could've experienced it on a huge screen. While my home experience was good, that would’ve been way better.
At the end of the film, a new air temple is built right outside Republic City. If it looks familiar, it is because it’s where Tenzin stays in The Legend of Korra. It’s a great callback to that show but also shows how Aang is now adding to his culture.
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender shows that there’s so much more to explore with the last airbender. Aang has so much he has helped other people with, but there’s some trauma that he needed to address. Tagah is a villain who Aang initially trusted, but seeing his extremist views, he remembers his upbringing and realizes that airbenders, just like other benders, aren't always good. One of the most important and also hardest lessons he learns is mentioned at the end of the film: “You can't erase the pain of the past. It’s time to let go; you have to forgive yourself, and I have to forgive myself too.” It’s so important because sometimes it hurts more to hang on, and unfortunately for Tagah and Aang, they can’t change the past, but they can find ways to create a better future.
