Acting:

Of course, the acting of the actors is the first disappointment. I had a little hope when I saw Sokka (Jackson) react to Katara's (Nicola's) waterbending, but when they found Aang (Noah) and he awoke, that little bubble of hope was punctured. Then it fully popped as the rest of the film waned on.

Noah played Aang too seriously. He's supposed to be a fun-loving airbender, not a moping cueball of "Aangst"! Same with Jackson which might have been left over from his silent vampire-persona Jasper. Sokka is supposed to be snarky, goofy, and a tad klutzy, not all serious and jerk-ish. His lines where there, but he didn't pull them off in the Sokka way they're supposed to be. Personally, I'd have loved to see the scene where Aang introduces Appa, his flying bison and then Sokka retorts with "And this is Katara, my flying sister," in his infamous sarcastic voice. But sadly, it is not there...

Now, Nicola played Katara as well as any girl could play a motherly yet still kick-ass waterbender with a temper. But I think she left out the kick-ass and the temper. Motherly was there though... mostly...

Seychelle, as Princess Yue, did... okay. She was soft, she was kind, she was all princess-like. Nothing much to do when the character in the cartoon only showed up for the season finale...

Dev as Zuko... wow, I had high hopes for him. He played angry, angst-ridden prince real well, in my opinion. Pushing aside his uncle's fatherly advice (because he wants the advice from his father, not his uncle), moping about his honor and catching the Avatar, and his scar. I have to admit, Dev was one of the only actors who was in-character. Pity there were barely any funny Zuko & Uncle moments... and too bad that I can't rate him on his performance as the Blue Spirit because we all know that he didn't play the Blue Spirit until the mask came off...

Shaun Toub as Iroh. He portrayed the famous general much younger then his cartoon counterpart, but the concerned surrogate-father personality was there. So was his love for music and tea. Very wise, very kind, not wanting to get into conflicts... and yet, the humor in his character is lacking somewhat...

Aasif Mandvi as Commander (later Admiral) Zhao. He portrayed Zhao as he should be portrayed; scheming, ruthless, one who would seize the bull by its horns. He is not afraid of anything, not even defying the Spirits, but that brings his downfall. I dislike the way they killed him off though (with waterbenders instead of Aang's Avatar State humanoid koi fish) and he flits in and out of scenes too much, making it difficult to evaluate Aasfi's acting. I would've liked to see his and Zuko's Agni Kai though, but correct me if it was actually in the film because I can not recall that...

Cliff Curtis as Firelord Ozai... I can't evaluate him fully until he has more productive scenes. And I fiercely disliked how Shyamalan put Ozai in the first film when his face wasn't even shown until Book Three! But I can say this... he doesn't play fierce and intimidating Ozai too well. Maybe its the lack of goatee, or maybe its because he's always shown standing and walking about instead of sitting on his throne surrounded by fire (which really adds to the intimidation, might I add...). Whatever it is... he has to grasp it before the final battle in Book Three or we're all doomed to suffer...

Overall, the acting was lacking... extremely lacking. Not even Zuko's angst can make up for it. Too much seriousness and not enough humor that the show is famous for. Of course, I'll have to admit that it was Shymalan's intention to make the movie a tad darker then the cartoon, but it only disappointed fans of the cartoon. He should have been more faithful to the series...

Oh, and one last note: Dev apparently had doubts about TLA and he was unimpressed with the script. They should've gotten another director who was more faithful to the cartoon, huh? XD

Stay tuned for the next article: Special Effects