Day 233: Fixing ‘The Last Airbender’ — Act I

Most of my thoughts are pretty faithful to the cartoon series, but adjustments are made to adapt to the expedited structure of a film.
Today’s effort come in six parts:
- Introducing Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko
- Act I: Part 1 — The Boy in the Iceberg
- Act I: Part 2 — Zuko’s Discovery
- Act I: Part 3 — The Tragedy at the Southern Air Temple
- Act I: Part 4 — “You’re no longer in command, Prince Zuko”
- The Challenge of Pacing
Introducing Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Zuko
First, we should establish the motivation of the four main progatonists:
— Aang is a fun-loving 12-year old who is thrust into an enormous amount of responsibility. He should instead be eager to have fun and in denial of being the Avatar. This was not at all apparent in the film.
— Sokka provides comic relief through pathetic chauvinism, and girls should reflect that obsession. To move the story in Act II faster, I think he and Yue should already be in a relationship. At the start of the film, all he wants to do is leave the Southern Water Tribe and be with her.
— Katara, on the other hand, wants to honor their father’s request to stay behind to protect what remains of the Water Tribe. At the same time, she hopes to develop her own skills as the Tribe’s last waterbender. Katara should be obsessed with waterbending from the start.
— Zuko is three years into a wild goose chase: find the Avatar (who hasn’t been seen for 100 years) and redeem his honor after disrespecting his father years ago at a war council meeting. That is all he cares about, and anything that gets in the way is an obstacle.
All of these interests should come to a head as quick as possible.
The Plot of Act I
Act I, Part 1— The Boy in the Iceberg
The story begins with Katara and Sokka fishing somewhere in the Southern Pole. Katara is trying to fish with waterbending. Sokka’s putting in a half-effort while reminiscing about the last time he visited Princess Yue.
Katara grows annoyed with Sokka, chastising him for focusing too much on himself and not enough on the Tribe. Sokka fires back, saying that they should be on the front lines of the war against the Fire Nation.
This argument explodes into Katara over-extending her bending powers, shattering a large nearby iceberg that contains a frozen boy and his … sky bison. Could this boy be … The Avatar?
Aang wakes up from a century-long slumber, but he doesn’t introduce himself as the Avatar. In fact, he’s completely wide-eyed and excited, curious about the other members of the Tribe and what’s changed. Sokka and Katara agree.
Act I, Part 2— Zuko’s Discovery
Meanwhile… Zuko sees a powerful beam of light shoot past the sky and demands his ship pursue it. Disgraced General Iroh, Zuko’s Uncle, reclutantly agrees to the pursuit but reminds Zuko that this mission will never bring him the inner peace he seeks.
As Aang acquaints himself with the Tribe, playing games with the children and enjoying the local (non-meat) cuisine, Zuko’s ship barrels into their shore and demands that they hand over Aang. At first Aang is reluctant to reveal himself, but when Zuko attacks Katara, he steps in to intervene.
Overwhelmed by the Fire Nation forces, Aang, Katara, and Sokka, and narrowly escape on Appa. Sokka and Katara, overwhelmed with anger, decide to dedicate themselves to supporting Aang, who is confused by the assault and wants to go back to the last place he called “home.”
Act I, Part 3— The Tragedy at the Southern Air Temple
Aang returns to the Southern Air Temple, excited to see some semblance of the happy home he remembered. As he walks through the empty halls and courtyards, he remembers playing with other young airbenders, sky bison, and monks. None of that exists now.
Sokka and Katara try to explain what happened to the Air Nomads, but Aang is pleasantly in denial. When he discovers a skeleton wearing his former guardian Monk Gyatso’s necklace, Aang is finally confronted with the reality that he is the last airbender, and he slips into the Avatar State.
Pleading with him to calm down, Aang composes himself and tells the story of why he abandoned the Temple — he just wasn’t ready for the responsibility. Realizing the extent of the Fire Nation’s brutality, he now accepts that he alone must bring balance to the world and accepts his role.
Act I, Part 4— “You’re no longer in command, Prince Zuko”
After defeating the Southern Water Tribe, Zuko sent word back to the Fire Nation at the hopes of some redemption. Iroh again advises that they abandon this mission and leave the Water Tribe camp immediately.
Zuko declines and awaits a response from his father. Instead, he is intercepted by Commander Zhao, the mission to capture the avatar is now under his authority, including Zuko and Iroh.
Offended, Zuko refuses to hand over responsibility and challenges Zhao to an agni kai (fire duel). Zhao accepts and defeats Zuko. Defeated, Zuko runs away, and Iroh serves reluctantly under Zhao, resuming their pursuit of the Avatar.
The Challenge of Pacing
This entire act shouldn’t run for longer than 45 minutes, ideally as close to 30 as possible. Each part should be 10 minutes each, and I think it can be done.
A good film paces itself well, and if it “feels” long, then it probably needs editing or a re-design in plot. My aim here is to keep things moving as quickly as possible, to contain things that will most likely play out given the precedent of character development.
Thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.
— Lee
