Images: The Last Airbender

The first images for M. Night Shamylan’s “The Last Airbender” have hit the web, which is the upcoming adaptation of the loved animated series. For a while I never actually expected to see this movie get off the ground, but it seems the persistence of the Unbreakable’s director has exceeded the doubts of the internets and produced the referenced images as well as some interesting tidbits on the casting process for the film.

Pictured above is Noah Ringer who was officially chosen the task of portraying the airbender in the film. Splashpage reports that the 12 yr old was cast fror the part by submitting a hom-made DVD showing off his tae-kwon-do skills.And yes, the kid’s a black belt. This trait right here exemplifies Shamyalan’s attention to the characters and their story as the series often mirrors ancient asian folklore and idealogies.Aang is always shown as a skillfully agile monk who practices a fighting style that closely resembles tae-kwon-do and Ringer handling that staff and holding that pose is already 10xs better than I’ve seen of many other anime adapted to anime in recent memory *cough*dbevolution*cough*

Our other featured image is of Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as the diligently dangerous Prince Zuko. No t much to comment on this image other than that’s a cool ring of fire right there. I’m cheerfully surprised to see more of Patel on the big screen and I am enthusiastic about what he will add to the film. Overall I’m excited about this film and hope that the leaks of images and hopefully video continue to find their way to the web. I’ll definitely keep this one on the radar and put this on my anticipated of 2009 list!