Inside The Last Airbender
Kid Reporter on the red carpet of latest M. Night Shayamalan movie.
Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar is one of my favorite shows of all time. When I heard it was going to be made into a movie I couldn’t wait! And now I don’t have to. I saw The Last Airbender last night at its premiere. It opens nationwide on Friday, July 2.
In the animated series, the characters control elements of air, water, earth, and fire. That’s easy to show in animation, but how will the filmakers ever bring that to life on the big screen I wondered? It was certainly the major task facing director M. Night Shyamalan who turned the animated TV show into a live-action 3D movie.
Everything I loved in the animated series came to life in the movie. The characters of Aang (played by Noah Ringer), Katara (Nicola Peltz), Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) and Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) are portrayed perfectly by the actors. It almost seems that the movie came first and the animated characters were created from the cast!
I found the movie beautiful and exciting. Seeing the Northern Water Tribe Village, the Air Temple and the Fire Nation come to life on the big screen was amazing.
Being a true fan of the TV show, I noticed some slight changes in the movie version. But the changes added to the effect of live action and added drama to the story.
Covering the red carpet I got to talk with most of the key actors, as well as the director. Mr. Shyamalan told me about a practical joke he played on Dev during filming. Mr. Patel, who plays Prince Zuko, is encased in ice in one scene. Mr. Shyamalan said that after filming the scene he told everyone to go get some lunch. They all pretended to leave the set with Mr. Patel still encased in the ice. Just his head was sticking out!
Mr. Patel called and called in desperation, thinking everyone had forgotten him. Then they all stepped out from behind the ice, laughing. Even Mr. Patel got a good laugh once he realized he was saved!
PHOTO: Kid Reporter Danielle Azzolina at the premier of The Last Airbender with Director M. Night Shyamalan. (Photo Courtesy Danielle Azzolina)
Comments