where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Thursday, July 1st, 2010
show: 10:20 p.m.
costs: $6.50 Ticket + $4.00 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Cherry Flavor ) Coke + $3.07 bulk Chocolate Candies ( assorted ) = $13.57
auditorium: 14
seat: 5th row, 4th column
synopsis: An air-bending avatar, Aang ( Noah Ringer ), is awakened from his 100-year dormant slumber as the Fire Nation wages a war against the other elemental nations of Air, Water and Earth, to rid them of their benders. But Aang, with the help of the last water-bender of the Southern Water tribe, Katara ( Nicola Peltz ), learns that he has the power to control all four elements. Together, and with the help of Katara's brother, Sokka ( Jackson Rathbone ), they set out to restore balance among the nations.
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Sphere; 2.) Unwelcome visitors at the Southern Water tribe's village; 3.) Responsibility; 4.) Floating creature; 5.) Pass the tests; 6.) Glider; 7.) Suspended animation; 8.) Dragon spirit's lair; 9.) Sparring; 10.) Prisoners; 11.) Revolt; 12.) Sacred scroll; 13.) Sacrifice; 14.) Banishment; 15.) Previous incarnations; 16.) Betrayed; 17.) Rescue; 18.) Report; 19.) Sabotage; 20.) Volunteer; 21.) "Eliminate the Spirits"; 22.) "Spiritual place to meditate"; 23.) Invading ships; 24.) Ice man; 25.) Yin/Yang; 26.) "No love without sacrifice"; 27.) Refusal; 28.) Water wall; and 29.) The acceptance.
audience reaction: The audience gave it a brief "Hands Clapper" ending.
recommendation: This is okay for fans of the animated TV series or anyone who's into Martial Arts and/or Fantasy/Adventure films. The SFX are good, but the story could have been better.
spoiler alert! The Southern Water tribe lived in ice & snow country. So, based on what I learned in Physical Anthropology, all the people should have been short, stocky, big-headed and have fat deposits around their eyes ( The "Eskimo" look which is also seen in the peoples of Siberia and Greenland ) as anatomical/evolutionary adaptations to living in a place with a sub-zero temperature weather. So, what's up with the tall and skinny round-eyed white people? ( 'Must have been adopted by the tribe and made into honorary members. ) The name, Aang, is mispronounced as, "Ung". When Aang ran out of the room, he did so without his staff in hand. But, later on, he was in possession of the staff. A glider like that is not big enough to hold his weight and make him glide through the air. How did Aang's Lemur-Bat pet manage to live for so long when all the other ones of its own species supposedly became extinct? When they went up to the Northern Water tribe's princess, whose back was to the camera, her hair was fashioned into something that unmistakably resembled a beautifully circumcised P ... E ... N... I ... S--no kidding! L.O.L. You don't believe me? Well, take a closer look for yourself--just don't get poked in the eye doing so. Ha, ha, ha. Only a spirit can eliminate another spirit. Aang asked about a spiritual place that he could go to to meditate. But I'm sure that the dungeon where he was kept hanging in shackles by his wrists was no spiritual place, yet he was able to meditate and communicate with the dragon spirit with no problem whatsoever. All those water-benders gathered around to watch the invading ships approach, but it never occurred to them to pool their ability together and send the ships to a watery grave. Why were the Fire Nation's warships outfitted with flame-throwing cannons for, when there were a bunch of fire-benders on-board ship? In the time that it takes any bender to do his/her fancy hand/arm movements to load-up for a super-sized elemental shot, he/she could have already been shot half-a-dozen times with arrows by a lone archer ( mind you ). The bow and arrow is a weapon that is suspiciously under-utilized in this movie! Gee, I wonder why .... I guess the benders don't know anything about Chemistry and Physics; otherwise, they'd know that fire cannot form in the absence of air. In other words, all an air-bender has to do to neutralize a fire-bender is to remove the air around the enemy, i.e. create a vacuum. If I were an air-bender and a fire-bender was fixing to shoot a flame at me, I'd simply turn around, drop my pants and "break wind" to torch the poor, hapless S.O.B. into a crispy well-doneness--now that's turning the tables on someone! Ha, ha, ha.
fyi: If you remember the preview for this movie about a year ago, you'll notice that a scene was omitted: It's the one wherein a bunch of ships are catapulting flaming projectiles at a temple on top of a cliff. I was hoping that they'd have this scene in the movie 'cause I was itching to point out the implausibility of such an assault ( the physics is all wrong about the angle, distance and the trajectory of the catapulted projectiles ). Hey, Director M. Night Shyamalan, hire my services as a consultant next time!
At least M. Night Shyamalan got one thing right, the order in which an adept learns to manipulate the elements: First is Wind, then Water, then Earth and, lastly, Fire. This is even alluded to in its proper order in the New Testament Gospels: In the storm, Jesus Christ rebuked, first, the Winds and then the sea. He walked on Water. He showed power over the Earthen grave/tomb. And He gave the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Pentecostal Fire.
You don't need to know Tai Chi and do all sorts of fancy hand/arm movements to "bend" air. If you have read my blog for THE KARATE KID, you'll recall that, in my tidbits section, my entry for Monday implies that I can manipulate the wind. I used to do it a number of times, whenever a strong wind would blow through the neighborhood, back when I was about 11 years of age and living in G.S.I.S. Heights, Matina, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines. The ability to stop a strong wind from blowing and then letting it blow from the opposite direction is one that I discovered quite by accident. It was all just child's play for me, literally and figuratively speaking. Interestingly enough, I discovered this ability at around the approximate time that I taught myself a style of Tai Chi by Bruce Tegner. So, is there a connection ...? I don't know. And after many years of no practice, just out of curiosity, I tried manipulating the wind again, surreptitiously, about two months ago at a park across the street from my yogi's house in Union City, CA; and I was able to do it successfully without the knowledge of the other people in the park. I wonder if my yogi psychically picked-up on it.
word of advice: Don't upset the balance/order of things.
tidbits: I was out all day. I swung by my workplace at around 9:30 p.m. to pick-up my paycheck. There was a police roadblock nearby. So I had to make a detour. Later, I arrived at the theatre with plenty of time to spare.
If you had noticed what I paid for the ticket, you would have known that I got a good discount on the price--but that was only because the box office ticket seller rung-up my purchase wrong: He entered it using a senior's discount. I don't know whether to be happy that I got a cheaper-priced movie ticket or feel offended that he would mistake me for an old fart!
