1) The three main actors were white, and M. Night Shyamalan sacrificed talent for novelty. Noah Ringer was a Taekwondo martial artist, when Aang is at first a Ba Gua master. Those aren't even the same ethnicity. It was like he was saying Asian is Asian, there's no difference between Chinese and Korean and Japanese. On top of that, Ringer was a terrible actor. Nicola Peltz, who played Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, was a terrible actress, and Jackson Rathbone, I suppose still reeling from the undeserved success of the Twilight movies, was unable to show to any emotion as the highly emotional Sokka. He was basically brunette Jasper Cullen with a slight fake tan, a furry coat, and a stick.
2) This isn't mentioned as much as the whiteness of the movie, and I totally love East Indians because they're Asians, too, but Shyamalan basically took a fantastic t.v. show that glorified East Asian culture, especially Chinese culture, and cast his bffs in it (Dev Patel). I've never seen Slumdog Millionaire, and because of The Last Airbender, I never will. Dev Patel was either horrendously miscast or he's just a suck-*ss actor, because his portrayal of the banished prince Zuko (who is CHINESE AND NOTHING ELSE IN THE TV SHOW) is creepy, pedophilic, and just terrible overall. And to make the whole Fire Nation, the most Chinese out of all four nations, Indian, is just a slap to the face of all Chinese around the world. There is actually an explanation of the Tao concept of qi that happens somewhere in the movie, and my blood pressure definitely went up. Qi is not Indian, it's not even originally Japanese or Korean--it's quite exclusively Chinese. So when I see a smooshy-faced-not-scary Fire Lord Ozai (OZAI IS SUPPOSED TO BE TERRIFYING >:[ ) talking about qi, I'm gonna get pretty pissed. The audience, especially an Asian American audience, can't suspend belief when the differences that make our cultures unique are glassed over in the name of M. Night Shyamalan's nepotism.
3) The whole movie just kinda sucked. In general. Everything. (Except maybe Uncle Iroh because Shaun Toub is aiight).
So rumors have been floating around that Shyamalan has got a rough draft for The Last Airbender 2. There are some things you just have to finish once you start. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM. I didn't exactly boycott the first installment of this trilogy travesty....(I just didn't pay for it). Azula is returning, and she's being played by a very sweet-looking girl. That's bad. Azula is sadistic, sociopathic, and cruel. Summer Bishil's version of her is inevitably going to be a disaster.
I hereby officially condemn any further action taken relating to M. Night Shyamalan and The Last Airbender supposed trilogy. I highly do not approve.
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