AVATAR AANG: The Last Airbender

The film opens centuries earlier, with a young Aang (Sander Agrabite) flying in a race with other child Airbenders. His victory is stalled by Monk Gyatso (Francois Chau). When Aang and Gyatso arrive at the Air Temple, everything goes dark and Aang sees the other Airbenders and Gyatso caught up in flames.

An adult Aang (Eric Nam) wakes up from his nightmare. He is comforted by his animal companions, Appa and Momo. They then head to an abandoned Air Temple, where they are ambushed by a group of non-benders called The Denied. They are seeking a totem carved after a mysterious figure from myth named Sonam. Aang tries to defend the temple from destruction and ends up sparring with a young Denied member named Kallik (Geraldine Viswanathan). One of the Denied fires a blast at Aang, but the Avatar rescues Kallik before the temple starts to come down. The Denied escape with a map after finding the totem, and Aang flees with Appa and Momo. Aang tells them he has to go to Republic City.

A brief recap shows the events of the series, from Aang being found in ice and fulfilling his destiny as the Avatar, master of all four elements (water, earth, fire, and air). He was taught by Katara (Jessica Matten) how to waterbend; the blind Toph (Dionne Quan) taught Aang how to earthbend; and his former nemesis-turned-friend Zuko (Steven Yeun) showed him how to firebend, while non-bender Sokka (Roman Zaragoza) showed Aang how to be a leader with what you already have. Together, Aang and his friends defeated Fire Lord Ozai and ended the Hundred Year War across the Four Nations. They have established Republic City as a means to unite the rest of the world and continue to let it grow and heal.

In Republic City, Katara is addressing a crowd of citizens as a representative of the city council before Aang arrives. Katara tends to her boyfriend’s wounds, and Aang expresses concerns to her about The Denied and trying to figure out what connection they have to Sonam.

Aang taps into the Avatar State to try and communicate with past Avatars. Unfortunately, none of them seem to have heard of Sonam, until Aang meets Avatar Xian (Ke Huy Quan). According to Xian, Sonam is the “long lost Avatar” from the golden age of Airbenders. She had forged a staff that could channel the energy of the Spirit World, granting the holder unlimited power. Sonam and the staff mysteriously disappeared, and nobody knows what happened to them. Aang thinks the map stolen by The Denied will lead to the staff. Xian’s only lead for Aang is that Sonam disappeared at Mount Baihu.

Aang leaves a message for Katara to let her know he is heading on a mission with Appa and Momo. Katara sends messages to Zuko, who is now overseeing Fire Lord duties; Sokka, who teaches waterbending children; and Toph, who is teaching metalbending to the earthbenders, for them all to meet Aang at Mount Baihu.

At the top of the snow-covered mountain, Aang encounters a figure trapped in ice, believing it to be Sonam. Using his powers, Aang frees the figure, who turns out to be a man. The mountain starts to collapse and crumble. Aang is surprised to find that the man is an Airbender, and he helps Aang briefly keep the mountain from falling on them until Aang’s friends arrive to save them.

Team Avatar brings the unconscious man to a tent. He wakes up and says his name is Tagah (Dave Bautista), and he is particularly unnerved at seeing Toph (for being an earthbender). Aang has to break the story of the Air Nomads’ genocide at the hands of the Fire Nation, and how Aang was the last Airbender. Tagah, in turn, tells Aang that Sonam’s staff is not weapon, but a gift that powered his ancient Airbender city of Jharana. Sonam used her powers to give Tagah the gift of Airbending since he was born a non-bender. The revelation overwhelms Aang since it means he can bring Airbenders back to the world.

Tagah tells the gang that the location of the staff is on an island that requires a path through the sky. On the voyage, Tagah shows Aang how he learned to Airbend through Sonam, which allows them to move together as one.

The Denied attack the gang’s airship overnight. Tagah uses his Airbending to try and crush The Denied’s airship, something that Katara notices. After shaking The Denied, the heroes end up in the path of the Immortal Storm, which they cannot avoid. Aang and Tagah work together to lead the others out, while Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko try to keep the ship together and stop it from falling into the ocean. Aang and Tagah get them out of the storm’s eye, but Aang’s friends criticize him for nearly getting them killed.

The heroes end up around a bunch of Lion Turtle islands where it is believed the staff is located. While Aang goes off with Appa and Momo to find the staff, Tagah stays behind with the rest of the gang. Katara clearly doesn’t trust him anymore, so when she goes to confront him, Tagah’s true colors are shown, as he believes that Katara herself is a weakness for Aang to truly fulfill his destiny. He attacks Katara, then goes after Sokka, Toph, and Zuko when they intervene. Tagah finds Aang after defeating the others, but before Aang realizes what kind of man Tagah really is, he takes the staff from the Avatar after incapacitating him. Tagah steals Appa and locates The Denied, where he uses the staff to grant them bending abilities.

Aang finds himself in a realm between realms and is met by the spirit of Avatar Sonam (Freida Pinto). When she learns about Tagah and the staff, she reveals to Aang that Tagah used to be a peaceful man before he became who he really is. During the era of Airbenders, Jharana prospered greatly, but after the Earth Kingdom rose up to separate from the other nations, Sonam forged the staff to give others Airbending abilities. The Earth Kingdom attacked Jharana and killed all of Tagah’s loved ones (hence his apprehension at seeing Toph). Corrupted by war, Tagah wanted to use Sonam’s staff to form an army and go against all their enemies (anybody who’s not an Air Nomad). When Sonam refused, Tagah stole the staff and became a hulking monster after connecting the staff to the temple. Seeing him as too powerful to kill, Sonam imprisoned Tagah in the mountain and hid the staff away before she died.

Aang is woken up by his friends who have revived him. Knowing that Tagah is trying to locate Sonam’s temple in the Spirit World, Aang calls upon the Ocean Spirit to help take them all into the Spirit World. They all end up warped to different ages (Aang and Toph are kids, Katara and Zuko are old, and Sokka is still the same) before meeting a spirit called the Gorillavark (Taika Waititi). It takes Momo to convince the Gorillavark to help, but he manages to transport the heroes to their destination.

The heroes discover Tagah trying to bring the temple down on Republic City. The citizens flee in terror, but some are unlucky (like the Cabbage Merchant…naturally). They spring into action but are overwhelmed by the newly powered Denied. Aang battles Tagah while the others take on The Denied. When Katara, Zuko, and Toph run out of elements to control, Sokka saves them with his “Sokka Cycle” to provide backup. The temple comes down, and Tagah connects the staff. This turns him back into the giant rage beast. Aang manages to go full Avatar State to fight the staff out of Tagah’s hands. Aang connects the staff himself and takes in its power, but he ultimately destroys it. This causes The Denied to lose their powers. Tagah turns back to normal, but he starts to disintegrate. In his final moments, Aang helps him find redemption and peace before Tagah is gone for good.

Later on, the heroes work to rebuild Republic City, and Aang sets up a new Air Temple. He talks to Sonam again and reaffirms that the legacy of the Air Nomads can be passed on. Aang sets up a new team of Air Acolytes, including Kallik since she was grateful to Aang for saving her, to carry on the teachings of the Air Nomads. Together, the group finds a field of Sky Bison like Appa, long thought to be extinct. They then take to the skies together.

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