AIRBENDER Gets A Pair Of Hot New Posters

Once Iron Man 2 opens less than 48 hours from now, M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender is the summer blockbuster as far as we're concerned. As you know, the film's based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, and Shyamalan's Airbender is the opening chapter (of a planned trilogy) chronicling Aang the Avatar's struggle to survive. 

Today, Paramount Pictures released yet another elemental pair of posters for the movie, featuring the titular dude himself as well as one of the film's firebenders and chief  baddie, the power-hungry Fire Lord Ozai.  We wouldn't be surprised if earth and water aren't hot on the heels of fire and air here; after all, balance is what the Avatar's about. We have the two newest promos below; and be sure to blogsneak back a few days to check out The Last Airbender's previous appearances on the comicsblog [here].  The movie opens 02 July 2010.

Coming Attractions: Full-On Awesome Trailer For THE LAST AIRBENDER

We haven't been on an 'bender' for -- wow, time flies -  FOUR months, and the movie most deserving of the name 'Avatar', M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender, has come full circle in that time.  Although promising clips from the action/adventure borderline Eastern fairy tale flick -- an adaptation of Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon series -- have been teasing audiences for nearly a year, everybody and their brother's been eagerly awaiting Airbender's 'big-hitter' - the full-throttle trailer that will prove their wait worthwhile.

Dabblers, that wait is over. Paramount Pictures released Airbender's 'big hitter' over the weekend, and it's amazing.  If you're new to the magical realms of Airbender, a quick read of our short synopsis will be all you need to protect you from the elements:   

  

The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender is one in which the four elements of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air can be controlled, and those who control them are  known as "benders".   In Airbender, the powerful Fire Nation is waging a ruthless war to control the others, whose only hope for stopping the war rests on the shoulders of a reluctant young boy named Aang. The last known Airbender and survivor of the peaceful Air Nomads, Aang is  also the Avatar. He's  the physical embodiment of the world; he can control all four elements and draw upon the combined power, knowledge, and experience of all the Avatars before him. His duty is to maintain a peaceful balance between the four nations and the spirit realm, but it's a balance threatened for upset by the Fire Nation's war. 

Aided by the protective teenage Waterbender  Katara and her warrior brother Sokka, Aang begins a perilous journey to restore harmony to their war-torn world. Standing in their way is the ambitious Fire Nation Admiral Zhao, and Prince Zuko, the banished prince of the Fire Nation who seeks to capture Aang to regain his honor.

While the proof will ultimately be in the pudding, any concerns we've had of M. Night directing a movie of this magnitude vanished after seeing the latest trailer. From the utterly awesome way the film uses its over-the-top special effects to the fact that we get to hear the characters speak for the first time, the new High-Def Airbender trailer suggests we're in store for a four-star feature.  

That's our opinion, anyway. If you liked the Airbender teaser Coming Attractions brought you in January, you just might need to change your Jockey shorts once you've seen what's on tap today. Check it out ...

Pretty darn sweet, huh? Yeah? Were we right!? Hell yeah we were! Damn!! The Last Airbender will easily be one of this summer's blockbuster kings after it hits on July 2nd; that it'll be an experience of the three-dimensional kind just adds to the wow factor.  Almost too much to handle in one afternoon without having a nervous breakdown.  Whoa...can...can somebody get me my clonopin...   

Visit the official movie site of  

The Last Airbender  
[ here].

Coming Attractions: (AVATAR) THE LAST AIRBENDER (Redux)

 

  

Since we last blogged about M. Night Shyamalan's next film, (Avatar) The Last Airbender, Paramount Pictures has upgraded the movie's teaser posters to full-on cinema-ready promos.  The buzz has been excellent, and the film's starting to look really sleek. (And we think this Avatar's art kicks the other Avatar movie's ass!)  We're getting all kinds of excited for this movie -- so we thought we'd give all of you a chance to get excited, too.  The teaser's been out for some time, while we're anxiously awaiting the full-length trailer to debut any day now, we'll be satisfied with what we have. So if you've already seen it, take another look; if you haven't, enjoy - and get ready for more coming attractions!

Coming Attractions: (AVATAR) THE LAST AIRBENDER

Coming Attractions can be a mixed bag, can't they? For instance, even though we just had one, Christmas still probably ranks high on a lot of kids' Coming Attractions lists today; Spring mid-terms, not so much. This summer's Avatar: The Last Airbender, a re-telling of Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko's animated Avatar series, borrows from both our examples. On the one hand, Nickelodeon's Avatar cartoon concluded its third and final season last fall, and the popularity of the show already gives the feature film version a sizable fanbase. On the other, many fans -- as well as some folks involved in the production of animated Avatar -- have voiced their strong disapproval of the film's casting decisions.

You see, Avatar's story is decidedly Eastern-focused; its main character - known as 'The Avatar, Master of the Four Elements" -- is the sole peacekeeper between the earth's elemental clans of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. He disappears, of course, and havoc ensues. Havoc's ensued in this world because the film's writer and director, M. Night Shyamalan, placed mostly Caucasian actors into the principle roles, the exception being Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame in the part of Zuko. (The rest of the cast includes Noah Ringer as Aang, The Twilight Saga: New Moon's Jackson Rathbone as Sokka, and Nicola Peltz as Katara.)

Shyamalan's not Caucasian, though, but public opinion splits between those who view his decisions as somewhat racist, and those who view anyone saying his decisions are racist as being racist. We see the whole thing as being ridiculous. Fans should worry more that their beloved Airbender is in Shyamalan's hands in the first place. True, old M. Night's a comic book fan, and we loved Unbreakable. But that was ten years ago, and in our opinion, dude's been breaking every other film since.  Does The Happening make anybody wince besides us?

Avatar: The Last Airbender -- which, we'll note, isn't using its first name thanks to James Cameron's little film co-opting the moniker -- also happens to be Shyamalan's first adaptation. Which we think might be a really, really good thing. Maybe M. Night's finally giving up on that elusive Sixth Sense repeat, after all.  Then again, he and producer Frank Marshall have already stated that, like the cartoon, their Avatar's going to be a trilogy as well. Considering the movie's sixth months out, it's not looking like M. Night's seen the light of day just yet. 

 Paramount Pictures' The Last Airbender is set to make waves July 2, 2010