"The Last Airbender" Supersize Review/Critique/Analysis, Part 4!
In Which I Talk About Storytelling in "The Last Airbender", Consisting of a Script Examination, The Absence of Humor and Why the Firebending Thing Actually Threatens the Story Itself.
Part IV: WEAVING A STORY... OF FAIL
(Back to Part Three!)
11) Writing Yourself Into A Corner
Never let it be said that original ideas or concepts have no place in modern fiction, but in the end quality is always going to be the most important deciding factor in any given work's potential endurance. You can have the most out-there, astounding, totally unique story in the entire world, but it doesn't mean a goddamned thing if you have no idea how to tell it. Conversely, great writing can take the most familiar and time-tested ideas from the earliest days of storytelling and reinvigorate them into something fresh and exciting.
In many ways, "Avatar" is all about old ideas-- concepts at the heart of mythology from around the world-- reborn into 30-minute fragments of one long epic.
The young hero on a grand adventure,
Good versus Evil,
Spiritual beings that can help or hinder at a whim,
The living, breathing, natural world,
The interplay of the earth and the heavens,
Sexual ambiguity,
And the triumph of the hero when all seems lost.
"The Last Airbender" is all about cramming as much shit into the script as humanly possible.
In this regard, Shyamalan does deserve our respect-- very rarely in cinema is so much time spent saying things that ultimately translate into nothing at all (outside of Twilight, easy joke).
While dialogue is obviously important, he makes the mistake of utilizing it for nearly EVERY SINGLE INSTANCE POSSIBLE-- it's almost like, having never made a children's movie before, he figured that kids wouldn't be able to follow along unless someone was literally telling them what was going on all the time. It betrays an instance of him yet again discarding techniques he's already familiar with under the assumption that he'd need a whole new set for "Last Airbender."
As if this information overload wasn't bad enough, we conversely have Shyamalan skimming on things that actually DO require addressing, or even including 'fan details' that come across as completely random in context EVEN IF YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S REFERRING TO.
And in some cases it's just plain BAD. It's pretty astounding overall just how tangled the web of screenwriting awfulness is.
I've been putting this one off for awhile since giving a proper portrait of Shyamalan's 'writing' in "Airbender" would more-or-less require a blow-by-blow rundown of some of the more egregious bits of dialogue. And since I cannot express my frustration properly in verbal form, I'll be enlisting Azula here to visualize my turbulent state of fannish indignance.
Okay so first off, let's look at the scene where Katara walks into the igloo and talks to a now-conscious Aang.
KATARA: How did you get all the way out here?
AANG: I ran away from home. We got in this storm. We were forced under the water of the ocean.
K: Oh... I see.
A: It wasn't very smart. I was just upset. Thanks for saving me.
K: (SMILES) Lucky.
A: I should probably get home. They'll all be worried.
K: You're not still upset?
A: Not as much as I was.
In doesn't seem like much, but in this little one-minute exchange you can see alot of the issues with writing/cinematography that are repeated over the course of the film.
#1: Note how stilted and awkwardly the actors speak to each other. There's no natural progression or rhythm to the conversation; it's quite literally just exposition coming out of their mouths. It's almost like the characters themselves are aware that all this isn't really happening, and of a futuristic recording device capturing their every movement and relaying it to a group of unrelated people for entertainment purposes. True, part of this is that the actors are largely new to film but that doesn't change the fact that the dialogue itself is awkward to begin with.
#2: Despite the dialogue being nothing but information, note how little we actually know at the end of the exchange. Yes, we are now aware of what caused this kid to get stuck in a block of ice and that he had... feelings about it, but we still have no idea of WHO he is, WHY he was upset or even what his NAME is.
#3: I wish I was kidding when I said that these two images are literally the ONLY SHOTS in the scene and the camera switches back and forth between them rotely as they continue to speak. You'd think that if most of your movie was going to involve characters talking to each other, Shyamalan would've at least make an effort to make the conversations visually interesting.
Another thing that becomes a disturbing pattern is how utterly bored everyone sounds here, to the point where it starts to make even the movie's fictional reality seem dubious-- Aang just talking about running away from home and getting frozen in a goddamn block of ice like it's NOTHING, and Katara just going "oh I see" like ANY OF THIS SHIT IS COMMON? Really?
SOKKA: (WALKS INTO IGLOO WITH KATARA AND AANG) The Fire Nation is here.
K: what?!
S: And they brought their machines.
Okay, what exactly are these 'machines' that keep getting referred to? Seriously, it continually gets brought up but nobody ever bothers to explain what they are exactly. In fact, other than the ironclad Fire Navy ships and ONE steampunk pick-up truck (?!?!?!), there's literally nothing else that we see of Fire Nation technology-- the technological advances that are giving them a HUGE advantage over nearly every other Nation. I can only assume it's referring to the unstoppable Tanks of theirs that we see in Northern Air Temple, but oh wait, that would require SHOWING the audience what that is to get newbies up to speed, so FUCK THAT NOISE.
K: They took Mom away the same way when we were babies. She wouldn't have stood there and watched us being taken away, she would have fought! We found that boy and he's our responsibility, we should fight!
Oh I see Katara, so... you're prepared to go into ENEMY TERRITORY to get some kid you don't even know, where you and Sokka will be COMPLETELY isolated and with all those scary Fire Nation 'machines' around you (which now that I think about it... might just be... armor, actually), but you won't even raise a finger to SAVE YOUR ONLY OTHER LIVING RELATIVE when Zuko demands "ALL YER ELDERLII" for some unclear reason?
(that's finding the Avatar, by the way-- thanks for clarifying that shit Zuko, but I guess explaining what you're doing here in the first place would require relaying information to these 'Water Tribe peasants' who you told your name and title to--OH WAIT)
GRANDMA: There hasn't been a Waterbender in the Soutern Tribe since my friend Hama was taken away.
*insert record-scratching noise here*
Wait... Hama? Oh, as in Hama the Bloodbender? Hama, who is so vital to the narrative that she appears in ONE EPISODE IN THE MIDDLE OF SEASON THREE, or if the prospective franchise happens, TWO MOVIES FROM NOW? Hama, who while a great antagonist and central to one of the creepiest episodes of the series, SERVES ABSOLUTELY NO PURPOSE IN BEING HINTED AT THIS EARLY IN THE STORY?
This is something else that characterizes "Last Airbender's" writing: foreshadowing at something that happens much later in the series but has no real impact on what's going on at the moment. Similarly, while there is a hint in Season One about Wan Shi Tong's Library that plays a vital role in Season Two, it's a brief aside that gets dealt with fairly quickly (almost 10 episodes later) and is never mentioned again until a "previously on" segment recalls the moment to help give us some context for what's going on. And even then they at least SHOWED us a bit of what they were talking about.
But in "Airbender" it's brought up so repeatedly and hammered on so often that it almost seems like a sales pitch-- almost a step short of Shyamalan coming onscreen in an old-timey snake oil salesman's outfit and saying with a wink, "see audience, if you see this movie enough to justify a sequel you MIGHT know what the hell Zhao keeps talking about in another three years or so!"
A: Earthbenders! Why are you acting this way? You are powerful, and amazing people! You don't need to live like this! There is earth-- right beneath your feet. The ground-- is an extension of who you are!
Okay, now onto shit that makes no sense. As about eighty billion other people have pointed out, WHY are the Earthbenders detained RIGHT ON A PLACE WHERE THEY CAN BEND?
In the "Imprisoned" episode this scene corresponds to, the Earthbenders are stuck on a rig in the middle of the ocean made out of metal, so they have nothing they can bend along with being demoralized by months of labor and imprisonment. Here they're literally just sitting around in a camp ON REGULAR-ASS SOLID GROUND. Not only does this make the Earthbenders look stupid, but it also makes the Fire Nation look lazy and even dumber by comparison. Jeez, at least put 'em in an ENCLOSED space made of metal or something.
A: The day they told me I was the Avatar, they said I could never have a normal life. That I could never have a family! They said it cannot work with the responsibilities of the Avatar.
K: Why can't the Avatar have a family?
A: I ASKED that! They said that's a sacrifice the Avatar always has to make!
First note about this scene-- OH JESUS CHRIST THAT CAMERAMAN NEEDS TO BE FIRED FOR THAT POINTLESS EXTREME CLOSEUP OF AANG THAT OCCUPIES HALF THE SHOTS HERE. There's 'close' and then there's GET THAT GODDAMN CAMERA OUT OF MY NOSE.'
Anyway, please tell me I'm not the only one getting a creepy vibe from the contents of this exchange. Why exactly does Shyamalan feel that 'the Avatar can't have a family?' I know that it's one of those staples of mythology, the whole 'lone warrior who forgoes earthly attachments' thing, and while that is part of the lore in some way, the thing to remember is that no such restrictions actually exist in the show itself.
Hell, Aang's predecessor Roku was an Avatar, but it didn't prohibit him from getting married and having kids (he IS Zuko's great-grandfather after all), and that was kind of the nice thing about how the role of Avatar was portrayed in the series-- it's this profoundly and innately spiritual thing, but it's also about being tied to the world itself not just physically but emotionally too, while at the same time UNDERSTANDING that these bonds will eventually fade with time as everything does.
Aang gets taught all about 'letting go of his attachments' in The Guru, but this isn't a call to block them out completely. So why does Shyamalan opt to put this extra burden on the Avatar's purpose and consequently on Aang-- or did he think that losing nearly every single person he'd ever known or loved and the world suffering because of his mistakes wasn't enough to be miserable about?
Also, consider that apparently the whole Aang/Katara thing is being taken into account for the planned Movie 2.
Waitaminute... an awkward romance set in the second part of a trilogy involving a main character being part of a lifestyle that requires him to live without romantic attachments for no clear reason? GEE. I WONDER IF IT WILL BE ANYTHING LIKE THIS.
K: (VOICEOVER) The scroll we had was proving to be helpful. Aang was practicing, but for some reason he was having trouble with Waterbending.
HEY IDIOT-- How is the scroll 'proving to be helpful' if the guy who NEEDS it ISN'T ABLE TO USE IT? Oh I see, it's helpful for YOU isn't it? Geez, just be honest.
ZHAO: Our spies have discovered someone claiming to be the Avatar.
HEY DOUCHEBAG-- You don't even need 'spies' to determine that shit. Hasn't the Gaang been going through your Earth Kingdom settlements AND OPENLY ADVERTISING THAT THEY HAVE THE AVATAR WITH THEM? They have fucking POSTERS for fuck's sake. AND HE CAN AIRBEND. Are you really doubting the validity of this? Hell, why don't you just ASK THE SOLDIERS WHO GOT THEIR ASSES KICKED BY THE AVATAR if you want confirmation so bad?
...Token Gay Kid from "School of Rock," is that you?
ZUKO: Hey, little one. Come here. (A YOUNG BOY IN FIRE NATION CLOTHING GETS UP FROM HIS TABLE AND WALKS OVER TO IROH AND THE CLOAKED ZUKO) You look like a very smart boy. Tell me what you know about the Prince-- the Firelord's son.
EXPOH ZHISHUN (UNOFFICIAL NAME): He did something wrong.
Z: He spoke out of turn to a general, in defense of some of his friends who were going to be sacrificed in a battle.
EZ: Then Prince Zuko was sentenced to an Agni Kai duel. But when he showed up... it was his father he was to fight.
Z: That's right.
Of all the scenes of awkwardly placed, half-baked plot relation throughout this movie, THIS one takes the cake. Yes, this information is important to get, but there is no good reason for us to get it IN THIS FORM.
For one thing this goes completely against Zuko's character in Season One-- he didn't bother to hide his scar, but he wasn't exactly open about WHY he got it. Fact is, he IS ashamed of what it means, but he's not exactly looking for misplaced or false pity, hence the reason he's not sharing his TRAGIK BAKSTORIE with anyone. In fact, the only reason we DO get it is because Iroh tells some of Zuko's own soldiers who don't know about it in order to help quell dissent in the ranks. Why would he go out of his way to hear his own sob story from some random kid?
Also, let's think about this-- in the show Zuko's OWN SOLDIERS don't know about how he got his fucking scar. But we're expected to believe that SOME RANDOM KID in SOME PODUNK FIRE NATION COLONY IN THE EARTH KINGDOM just happens to know about it because "he looks like a smart kid"? GODDAMNIT ALMOST EVERY SINGLE THING IN THIS GODDAMN MOVIE MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE.
AANG: To get your Airbending tattoos, you have to meditate for long periods of time, without losing focus. Some of the great monks can meditate for four days.
...
...
...
...
...wait, WHAT? I... I've got nothing. I have no idea why that is even there.
IROH: Stop, Zhao! The world will go out of balance. Everyone will be hurt.
ZHAO: The Fire Nation is too powerful... to worry about children's superstitions, General Iroh.
...Okay ARE YOU EVEN AWARE OF THE FUCKING WORDS COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH ANYMORE? So if the 'world getting thrown out of balance' because of interfering with the spirits is a 'children's superstition' than WHAT WAS THE POINT OF YOU COMING TO KILL THE OCEAN AND MOON SPIRITS AT ALL? Isn't the world getting thrown out of balance kind of EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE GOING FOR in order to beat the Water Tribe?! And remember how in this point at the show, Iroh was completely ready to beat Zhao's ass down if he so much as HARMED the spirits? Why the hell is he JUST SITTING THERE PASSIVELY WATCHING HIM GO ABOUT THIS CRAP, THEN GOES INTO RAEG MOED WHEN *GASP!* HE DOES IT?
GODFUCKING DAMMIT YOU FUCKING FUCKERS JUST PUT SOME
FUCKING EFFORT INTO IT OR SHUT YOUR STUPID FACES
AAAAAAGGHGHAHAHAFUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKYOOOO--
12) Together In Perfect Harmony: The Balance of Humor and Drama
Throughout the production of "Last Airbender," Shyamalan repeatedly brought up his decision to diminish the comedic elements that pervade "Avatar" as a series.
For the most part, I can understand the decision to excise some of the zanier moments of more 'cartoony' humor, which rarely translate well over to a live-action format. That said, Shyamalan choosing to take as much of that away as he could and make it as 'serious' as possible is a sign that he might not have been just the 'wrong director', but that he may not have ever gotten a key element of why "Avatar" worked as well as it did.
See, "Avatar" is certainly not without its serious bits, but it never forgets that it's a children's cartoon first and foremost. And especially by the standard of most children's cartoons (not to mention the ones that the show shared a network with), its humor is surprisingly well-written and character-oriented. The important thing is that it understands how to find a happy medium between these two very different tones, along with a keen awareness of when to include it. "Avatar" manages to be funny but not so much that the narrative tension is sacrificed because of it, or dramatic without losing its generally lighthearted spirit.
Now I should note that not EVERY movie needs to balance these moods-- "The Dark Knight" is a largely humorless affair but isn't any less of a good film because of it, and "Airplane" wouldn't work nearly as well if it were meant to be taken as a serious drama
but this approach generally works well for most epic adventure series, especially those aimed at kids like "Avatar." In fact, alot of series of this category such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings can cover some pretty heavy ground, but they don't cut out their humor for the sake of being taken more seriously.
(In Harry Potter's case they just murder half the cast, but that's something else.)
A healthy dose of humor can also end up doing wonders for the serious bits themselves. A big laugh after a particularly harrowing moment can be an effective catharsis for the audience, and it helps to keep them on their toes. Sometimes if your movie is too grim or takes itself too seriously when it doesn't need to, it can actually end up desensitizing the viewer and making them lose interest, despite the intriguing and amazing things that may be occuring onscreen.
This innate understanding of a balanced tone in "Avatar" is best exemplified right in our main characters: Aang and Zuko.
Over and over again, Konietzko and DiMartino emphasized that our two protagonists were foils to each other-- that is, characters who contrast in order to emphasize each other's respective traits.
So if for most of Season One, Zuko is a driven, humorless, rigid and angry character, then it makes sense for Aang to be an easygoing, positive, joyful and humorous character, wouldn't you say?
So why did Shyamalan feel it was necessary to make Aang as much like Zuko as he could without outright giving him the scar? Because it seemed like he 'wasn't upset enough' or something?
Aang's not exactly 'over' his pain or guilt-- Southern Air Temple, The Storm and The Guru prove that-- but part of what makes him work as a hero is because he's working to try and fix things despite his shortcomings AND because he's ultimately an unflappably positive person. God forbid there should be a protagonist who's genuinely in awe of and enthusiastic about the world he's apart of. It's also part of what makes Zuko's journey stand out so much by comparison.
Regardless of which hero you feel is 'best,' the fact is that not only do BOTH of them need to be there, but BOTH of them have to portray these two vastly different worldviews and personalities, in order to hold each other up as characters. In much the same way that the differing tones of drama and humor have to be intact in some degree to elevate the film and make it work.
Otherwise, well... it's just boring.
13) Do You Smell Gasoline? Why the Firebending Issue makes "Airbender" Go Up In Flames
Now let's get into one of the big liberties Shyamalan decided to take with "Avatar" when he brought it to the big screen-- the fact that Firebenders now require an active, external source of fire in order to do their thing.
This is admittedly a small detail at first glance, and it may seem like nothing more than a case of knee-jerk fan reaction, but the more you start to think about it the more it actually threatens to bring the movie down on itself and crush its own internal logic. To be honest, I can't think of a single good reason for this to be made part of Shyamalan's revisionism-- sorry, "reimagining"-- in the first place.
First off, let's look at what we know of the Fire Nation itself based on "Avatar."
-They're highly trained, well-organized, and fight without hesitation in almost all cases.
-They're walking flamethrowers.
-They're apparently going through a sort of pre-emptive Industrial Revolution that the rest of the world hasn't yet caught up with, leading to a huge advantage in military arms/technology.
-They have a strong nationalist/imperialist mindset.
-They consider Firebending to be a superior discipline because, well, that sort of thinking kinda comes with being able to shoot fire out of your fucking hands as opposed to manipulating the naturally occuring elements such as Air, Water and Earth.
It's important to understand that all these factors play a part into both why they were driven to start taking over the world in the first place, as well as why they were able to largely succeed in the Avatar's absence. While the Fire Nation in "Last Airbender" seems to have points 4 and 5 down, with 1 and 3 being a bit more dubious but passable, 2 is the ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL POINT.
In "Avatar" the Fire Nation is ruthless, persistent and because of their abilities, they can conquer opposition through a combination of sheer numbers and firepower. But since this 'firepower' literally came from THEMSELVES, it made EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM A POTENTIAL DANGER. Some of those in the Army weren't Firebenders to be sure, but even they were adequately trained in melee combat and thus a valid threat.
But if Firebenders in "Last Airbender" are completely dependent upon external sources of fire in almost all cases (Iroh and Zuko apparently being the lone exceptions, and probably Ozai), it raises the question of WHY NONE OF THEM HAVE ANY WITH THEM PERSONALLY.
Granted, later in the movie we do see that some of the projectiles shot from Fire Navy ships are basically destructive sources of fire for ground troops, but considering all they seem to have in terms of their 'scary machines' are the ironclad battleships and considering they were attacking the ocean-oriented coastal settlement of the Northern Water Tribe, that seems like more of a special instance than anything else.
Those ships might be powerful, but the problem is that by its very nature a battleship is most effective AT SEA and thus doesn't do much to help with attacking mainland targets aside from troop insertion and suppression. And in order to have been as successful as they (supposedly) were conquering most of the world, they'd need an effective way of pressing an advantage over unprepared or smaller towns, and especially bigger cities like Omashu and Ba Sing Se.
Like, say, a tank. But oh wait, we're not gonna see that. Sorry
.
Anyway, if we're going by the logic that Firebenders can only manipulate their determined element based on their surroundings, and if the only supposed way of supplying them with Fire on their side isn't effective in most of the Earth Kingdom (the LARGEST of the Four Nations), then it doesn't make sense for them TO NOT BE PREPARED FOR THE POSSIBILITY THAT THEIR SOURCE OF POWER ISN'T AVAILABLE.
Katara managed to counter the potential unavailability of water in "Avatar" by keeping a waterskin with her, so it stands to reason that Firebenders would logically need to have something they could carry with them as a source of Bending in similar situations. Maybe some sort of lighter, or even a small pouch of flammable liquid they could conceal easily. Christ, even just some flint and rock would help.
The other side of this equation is that it makes every other Nation look remarkably stupid. If they've been fighting for 100 years with these guys who can control FIRE but only by means of a physical source, then the grand solution for what to do becomes obvious.
PUT OUT ALL YOUR FUCKING FIRES.
Bam, problem solved. Yes, they'll still have armed close-combat troops, but come on, you can still Bend/fight/do SOMETHING to them. Hell, they'll probably be too shocked upon realizing that somebody actually caught onto their pattern to be able to fight right away. Are we really expected to believe that this Nation that can only control an element that DOESN'T naturally occur in the world was able to take over ALMOST THE ENTIRE PLANET without any clear tactical or technological advantage in the movieverse? Or that NOBODY even considered pre-emptively cutting off their ONLY SOURCE OF OFFENSIVE POWER?
This also brings up the crucial question of HOW EXACTLY the Fire Nation was able to wipe out the Air Nomads at all. In Southern Air Temple, Aang suggests that the only way to get to an Air Temple at all is by, well, air travel (specifically skybison-travel, but whatever). But since non-Air Nomad air travel is nonexistant before the War Balloon gets introduced, there doesn't seem to be a way that the Fire Nation could've attacked the Air Temples... until we get a solution in the Tanks introduced in Northern Air Temple, which in addition to being able to instantly right themselves also have grappling hooks strong enough to ACTUALLY PULL THIS GIGANTIC HUNK OF METAL UP A SHEER CLIFF FACE.
But since THE FIRE NATION TANKS DON'T EXIST and neither does Zeppelin/Balloon travel yet, there is simply no feasible way the Fire Nation could have killed all the Air Nomads.
Actually, now that I think about it, are we even ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the Fire Nation was at the Air Temples at all in "Last Airbender's" continuity? After all, there was actual evidence of their presence at the Southern Air Temple in the show-- old armor, bodies, scorch marks and so on-- but here we literally only have a field of skeletons and KATARA'S WORD that the Fire Nation is responsible for this shit.
Jeez Katara, don't jump to conclusions or anything. M...maybe they all just got drunk or something, and then sat around watching basic cable infomercials until they all expired? Hey, based on the actual evidence we have that seems as likely as anything else.
In "Avatar," the Fire Nation seemed like a valid threat and their actions against people throughout the series confirmed this on a regular basis. In "Last Airbender" we have no real reason to believe that they'd be this supposedly powerful fighting force that subjugated most of the world in the 100 years Aang was indisposed. So it's not just our Main Villains that seem questionable in their validity as baddies, but THE ENTIRE ENEMY FORCE as well. And yet again the question becomes "if there's no tension and no danger, then why should we care about this 'planned series' in the first place?"
Well, to be fair people shooting fire out of their hands and feet and mouths is pretty freaky and a little out-there to buy offhand. Maybe... maybe Shyamalan altered Firebending in this way to make it easier for the audience to accept it visually? I mean, it's not as if the show itself ever gave an explanation for how Firebenders can create fire themse--
Oh wait they do exactly that within the first five minutes of the very first episode.
...Awkward.
*((%TO BE CONTINUED%))*
(On To Part Five!)