The Last Airbender 2 2017

The author is also behind an analysis project about M. Night Shyamalan‘s five films from 1999 to 2006. There are several articles on each film: (1999, and ), (2000, and ), (2002, and ), (2004, and ) and (2006, and ). All the articles can also be accessed through. There are also about (2016) and two articles on After Earth (2013),.

This is the second of two articles about The Last Airbender (2010). The first one is. The sense of ‘s films as rituals arises from a recurring narrative line: characters gradually approach the truths about the world and their own potential and purpose through a ritual of various self-doubts and crises. The ceremonial nature of the works is greatly enhanced by the repetitions of, and variations on, a large number of recurring motifs. His films of 2008-2013, made with lesser independence and artistic control, cannot compete with the earlier ones in this complexity.

Also, in Shyamalan’s early days, each scene was often governed by a stylised formal device, lending the works an extra value through a series of hypnotic enigmas. Nevertheless, he succeeds in The Last Airbender to a considerable extent in creating formal elegance, but on a lesser scale and in a more discreet fashion. Like in the, you are getting an appetizer here, as I am jumping straight to the climax of the film.

Even though the Moon Spirit has been revived and the defenders of the Northern Water Tribe city have regained their strength, everything is still hanging in the balance. It is up to Aang to find the inner resolve and peace required to fulfil his role as the Avatar, and to succeed in unleashing his full waterbending powers. He is hurrying up to the parapet, to face the warships of the invading Fire Nation. The following slide show unfolds that shot (please note that all slide shows can be restarted from the beginning by clicking on the current image to enlarge it and then return to the article). So during this shot we have seen Aang both from the back and front, as if the camera is driven by an urge for completeness.

The methodical nature of the camera movements enhances the impression of a ceremony. Of course, there is a narrative function too: we are shown the invaders and then basically a reaction shot of Aang, but we get the extra value of elegance and ritual. Now there is a cut to a close-up that, causing an epiphany in Aang, leading in turn to the climax.

In the first article I walked through the of that climax. It is highly recommended that you first follow the link and take a look. Here the circle motif is extra important since it introduces a major character (Zhao). Aang’s flying contraption forms a half-circle, which also fits the scheme – and in fact there is another half-circle at the tail. Like in Signs (see ) the circle is the most important motif of The Last Airbender. And similarly to the four motif, the circle stands for completeness and healing. It manifests itself in many ways: circular objects and circular movements, of both characters and camera.

Let us first round up some objects. Just afterwards, when Aang tries to escape, he runs over an entire field of small circles, which the camera then transforms into a vast, dizzying pin cushion. Another major variation of the circle motif is through camera movement. Most of them are weaved quite discretely into the film. Often the camera points carefully in four directions, connecting the circle motif to the. (All of the screenshot montages below – snapshots of moments within a single shot – are meant to be read row by row, from left to right. For the sake of completeness, I have mapped out all of them, but due to the high complexity of some shots, the snapshots do not always yield an easily legible account.

Avatar The Last Airbender 2 Movie

Understanding them in full is not necessary, however, for the general point that is made.). This shot is a model of clarity, however – one of the most beautiful and serene moments of the film.

In a long take the camera is circling Aang and Katara as they are practising their waterbending “dance”, until they are interrupted by the “black snow” (visible in the last snapshot), a sign of the approaching Fire warships. Both camera and characters stop moving when the snow starts falling. This shot is also a prime example of the, since the background is gradually disclosed with great lucidity. Now come several brief shots revealing that Fire Nation soldiers have been hiding behind the statues, of which this is the most interesting, the action nicely framed by two soldiers. The scene ends with another very nice shot, depicted in the slide show below, where the staging is full of meaning underpinning the scene’s uppermost narrative layer. The monk has asked Aang’s forgiveness: “I have lived in poverty because of your absence, Avatar.

So you will understand my actions today.” Still he is racked by guilt and self-disgust. He is backing out and up a staircase, as a phalanx of soldiers are pouring into the chamber, down the same steps. The shot reflects the monk’s conflicted emotions in multiple ways. He and the soldiers are moving in opposite directions.

He is splitting their rank into two lines. The torrent of their entrance indicates the unstoppable flow of events he has set in motion. His walking backwards reflects his shameful unease. He holds out his hand for his “” and one soldier deposits a small bag in it. Until now he has been unable to tear his gaze away from Aang, as if punishing himself, but now he looks down at the money, back at Aang, and down at the bag again with disgust. The shot (and the scene) ends with the monk disappearing up the stairs, his figure and stature diminished.

There is even a similar downward camera movement, but instead of a straight tilt there is a slanted movement in the chamber scene. Also, the urns might be seen as a pathetic downgrading of the majestic statues of the chamber. Sokka and Princess Yue during the film. Although love at first sight, a cat-and-mouse game of unspoken feelings is played out.

Consequently, they pretend it is not Sokka but his grandmother who is inquiring: “Why is your hair white, young lady? You look very odd.” The game is reflected in their roundabout, circular walk in the shot leading up to that conversation. It is fascinating, then, to go back yet another step, to the scene before the helicopter shot. Here the Fire Lord learns from Zhao that it is likely that Zuko, his son, is identical with the Blue Spirit, and therefore a traitor. One shot shows his hand, finger tapping against the throne, the very same finger that bears the Fire Nation symbol. In another shot we also see a fire placed close to his head. Could this be more foreshadowing of the assassination attempt?

Originally the Fire Lord (according to the list of deleted scenes ) ordered his own son dead, and these visual clues could be a remnant of that – but even in the changed version they are operative as general foreshadowing. Where a firebender will use that very fire in a display of power to cow the tribespeople.

The opening sequence, including the discovery of Aang inside the globe of ice, is (without being brilliant) a very well-made piece of film, always interesting to look at however many times the film is watched. It has a nice mixed approach of immersing us in the characters’ point-of-view and a more objectively observing position, with fine use of crane and overhead shots, and the almost featureless surroundings. This slide show presents another fine scene, shot in a 38-second take, with the heroes practising by a brook, ending with Sokka detecting smoke in the distance. (Followed by a nice cut to, indicating the source of the smoke.) Camera movement A main source of the elegance of The Last Airbender is the relentlessly moving camera. Like many outstanding qualities of The Last Airbender, it does not come into its own until (roughly) the second half of the film. The camera records the action in elegant, methodical movements, smoothly alternating between tracking, steadicam, crane and helicopter shots, in lingering sweeps that constantly reveals new elements of scenes, new features of landscape.

The reveal aspect is discussed in the next chapter, and in regards to sophisticated movement we have already seen some examples: Aang, Aang in the, and, to a certain extent, Sokka and Yue on their. Later, a Fire Lord scene start with exhilarating camera motion. In many cases the camera movement creates a bridge from scene to scene by letting the motion follow through into the next shot, for example in the panning movement linking the helicopter shot and the Iroh-Zuko encounter, before the assassination attempt. The last of this three-stage camera movement across shots is sluggish, as the camera “struggles” to get past the enormous warship, the laboriousness lending weight and enormity to what we are witnessing, namely the moon turning red. The reveal motif Revealing shots, where features of a scene are gradually disclosed by camera movement, are clearly overrepresented in The Last Airbender, and is a generous provider of its elegance. By its nature, this motif is closely connected to the camera movement discussed in the previous chapter.

Later the device is in action in some Fire Lord situations, for example, where Ozai tells Zhao about his ruthless plan for world domination. After that scene, which ends with Ozai looking up at the heavens, yearning for power, there is a direct cut to an image of the sky. We could believe that it was the heavens above the palace that he was gazing at, but the image instead shows the consequence of his plan, in a manoeuvre of cohesion. Later the same type of manoeuvre is repeated, as a visual and dramatic echo, when the fleet has reached the fortress city where the heroes are staying. But here the reveal has more dramatic power, since the peaceful blue sky is substituted with menacing black smoke, and not least, much less time elapses before the ship is disclosed: the danger is acute now that the ships have reached the target.

Last Airbender 2 Full Movie

(It is this smoke that causes the.) We have already seen the reveal device used many times, for example in the, the scene, and in the Princess Yue/Sokka. Now for some more examples. Another double reveal.

The camera is closing in on the battle, reveals Aang and his friends (in the fourth snapshot), then the camera repositions itself, to reveal what they are seeing: enemy soldiers in the distance, including Zhao and Iroh, on their way towards the spirit cave. The following slide show presents one of the most impressive revealing projects of the film, as the heroes arrive at the Northern Water Tribe City: over three shots, totalling 57 seconds, there are three stages: first the small boats are disclosed, then we go around a bend to discover the city walls, and then there is a large “welcoming party” at the harbour, while the camera glides past and also reveals the city behind them. There is little use of strong foregrounding, but here are three situations: during the discussion what to do after Aang has been abducted; Iroh relaxing while Zuko is working off steam; in the opening shot of the scene where Grandma fills in some background. There is an unusually high number of situations where characters are shown both from the front and back. Some instances are obviously to show that they are immersed in a situation (a kind of point-of-view shot that fully includes the person looking), others have arisen from circular camera movements ( and ) and other types of movement. Yet others, however, bestow a genuinely ritualistic quality upon the situations.

This slide show presents a full list, always with the frontal one at the top, regardless of chronology. Finally, in a fight scene just before Aang storms up to the parapet to take care of the climax, rhythmical alternations between several modes of slow-motion are used to quite exhilarating effect – most memorable here, when an enemy soldier is encased in a prison of ice while Aang is somersaulting over him.

The Fire Lord scenes All six scenes featuring the leader of the Fire Nation, Lord Ozai, are distinctly staged, as if further underlining that we are dealing with the film’s most powerful and exalted figure. And the scene ends with this return to the previous position. (Also see.) Scene 4 This is just a short scene where stylisation is provided by Ozai sitting motionless (until he straightens up at the last second) while the camera is calmly closing in on the tableau. Please note the demonstratively reclining, powerful posture. (This scene is probably a continuation of the previous one, but in the narrative flow it is experienced as a separate situation.) Scene 5 Here a low-flying camera, in elegant and exhilarating fashion, glides over the fields towards Ozai’s far-away castle (see below slide show).

We hear the start of a conversation on the soundtrack. The often of the film are not always deftly executed, but it must also be said there are several situations with conversation “played over” visually captivating images, making exposition more pleasing to digest. The below slide show is yet another manifestation of the motif. The mobile camera does not only record the conversation, but also gradually reveals more and more of the surroundings. Thus the scene is made more visually vibrant, while Ozai’s powerful position is discretely emphasised: we see what he rules over. Furthermore, part of the pattern of the first scene is repeated. Again Ozai and Zhao are walking in conversation with the camera frontally before them, they turn around, shift positions in relation to each other.

But the situation is now reversed. Ozai is dominating the conversation (this time in a long, 32-second take).

After a cut, an effective full stop is bestowed on the scene with the following strange constellation, Ozai towering unnaturally high over Zhao. This is eminently suitable for a situation where the ruler is in the process of divulging a plan in which the Fire Nation shall do away with a supremely important spiritual being in order to install himself as sovereign of the known universe. Zhao is taken aback, but also enthralled by this daring and game-changing scheme. Scene 6 This is the epilogue.

Some of its aspects have already been mentioned in the first article,. There is a cut to the other person, who answers “I do, Father.” She smiles in half delight, half malice, as the camera is closing in. The epilogue paves the way for a second film that so far has not come to fruition.

The person is Zuko’s sister, whom we basically have forgotten, since she is only in scene 2 (announced as “your sister” in voice-over), and who has otherwise merely been in passing during Zuko’s ruminations. Does she have legs or not? It seemed like she stepped forward in scene 2. She is also seen sitting in Zuko’s. Perhaps her strange position at the start of the epilogue is only meant as a distraction?

(I still prefer the current epilogue, but the original one, given as a deleted scene on the Blu-ray, is also quite impressive. Here the Fire Lord sets a field ablaze upon hearing the disastrous results of the battle. Zuko’s sister do not appear, so the current epilogue is more clearly setting up a sequel.) The climax This is actually a climax-within-a-climax, for the battle has been raging for some time, with many tumultuous events. Its five-minute crest, however, is set apart with its calm, rigorous formal restraint that emphasises not brute force and domination, but the effortlessness and harmony of the Avatar’s powers. The Last Airbender turns into a silent movie here, the monochrome colours reminiscent of black-and-white cinematography, or a tinted silent film.

Its dignified, delicate grandeur and lyricism is seductive but also awakens emotion, because the film is succeeding, like Aang, in finding its purpose. The musical score, camera motion, character movement, production design and surroundings act in unison to create an aesthetically alluring, atmospheric piece of art. First the reader should refresh some already described situations over these two articles: the shot where Aang before the enemy fleet, and his epiphanous, and the of the climax. Also bear in mind that the sequence is accompanied by one of ‘s finest pieces (, although somewhat rearranged it seems).