136. Avatar (Series Film)

Title: Avatar (Series Film)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Animation
Year: 2005, 2010

Summary:

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a world home to humans, fantastic animals, and spirits. Human civilization is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. Each nation has a distinct society, wherein people known as "benders" have the ability to manipulate and control the element of their nation using the physical motions of martial arts. The show's creators based each bending style on an existing martial art, leading to clear visual and physical differences in the techniques used by Waterbenders (T'ai chi ch'uan), Earthbenders (Hung Ga kung fu, for the most part), Firebenders (Northern Shaolin kung fu) and Airbenders (Baguazhang).

At any given time, there is only one person in the world capable of bending all four elements - the Avatar. The Avatar is the divine spiritual entity of the world continuously reborn and reincarnated in human form. When an Avatar dies, this almighty and divine spirit/soul is reborn and reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar Cycle, according to the implied correspondence of seasons to the nations' cultures (Winter/Water Tribe; Spring/Earth Kingdom; Summer/Fire Nation; and Autumn/Air Nomads) and must master each bending art in seasonal order, starting with their own native/birth element. Additionally, the Avatar possesses an immensely powerful spiritual ability called the Avatar State, which briefly endows them with all of the knowledge and abilities of all past Avatars as a self-triggering defense mechanism, which can be made subject to the will of the user by extensive trial and training in total chakra energy harmony. If an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle is broken, and the Avatar identity will cease to exist. Through the ages, the succeeding Avatars have served to keep a relative equality among the nations; whereas in the story's mythology, the Avatar connects the material to the spiritual world, and vice versa.

Avatar: The Legend of Korra: The series opens with a montage introducing Korra as the Avatar and showing that she has mastered every element except airbending. It is then revealed that due to problems in Republic City, Tenzin will not be able to move to the Southern Water Tribe and teach Korra airbending. As a result, Korra sneaks out and runs away to Republic City so that Tenzin can train her there. Once there, Korra clashes with police chief Lin Beifong (the daughter of Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender) after dispensing vigilante justice to the local triads. Shortly thereafter, the two main antagonists of the season are introduced: the Equalists, an underground activist movement; and Tarrlok, an ambitious politician. The Equalists are non-benders led by a mysterious masked man, Amon. Their goal is to bring about "equality" between benders and non-benders. Councilman Tarrlok believes in aggressive tactics for bringing the Equalists to justice, despite protests from his pacifist colleague Tenzin, Korra's airbending trainer. As Korra explores Republic City, she meets the brothers Mako and Bolin and joins their pro-bending team, the "Fire Ferrets". They are successful in the league, but romantic tensions among them and Asami, Mako's girlfriend, put a strain on their relationship.

As the story progresses, Korra discovers that Amon has the power to remove a person's bending ability. Tarrlok cajoles Korra to join his anti-Equalist "task force", and the Equalists begin using terrorist tactics, climaxing in an attack on the pro-bending arena, where Amon strips the winning team of their bending. But when Tarrlok continues indiscriminately repressing non-benders, Korra refuses to continue supporting him. After Tarrlok imprisons her friends to blackmail her, they fight. Tarrlok overpowers Korra with bloodbending, an illegal form of waterbending, and kidnaps her, framing the Equalists. Tenzin, Lin, and Korra's friends eventually discover that Tarrlok is lying, but as they do Amon arrives at Tarrlok's hideout and removes Tarrlok's bending. Korra escapes, only to find Republic City facing an Equalist military coup.

In the two-part finale of Book One: Air, naval reinforcements from the United Forces, led by Zuko's grandson Iroh, are defeated by Equalist sea mines and biplanes. Attempting to find Amon, Korra learns that Tarrlok and Amon are both sons of the bloodbender Yakone, who was defeated some 40 years ago by Avatar Aang, as well as water- and bloodbenders. In a showdown with Amon at one of his rallies, Amon is able to strip Korra of her power to bend all elements but in desperation she unlocks her airbending. After Mako and Korra manage to overpower and publicly unmask Amon as a waterbender, Amon flees with Tarrlok, who later detonates their boat on the open sea. The despondent Korra finally manages to establish spiritual contact with her predecessor, Aang, who restores her bending powers, allowing her to do the same for Amon's other victims.