'Avatar: The Last Airbender' trailer: Does it make you forgive M. Night's questionable casting decisions?

Jun 23, 2009, 11:13 AM | by Kate Ward

Categories: Casting, Celebrity Scandals, Film, movie casting, Movie Trailers, Snap Judgment, This could be interesting...

M. Night Shyamalan has yet to finish filming his adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but fans of the Nickelodeon franchise eager for a glimpse into the project can check out a new teaser trailer (embedded below) that has made its way onto the Internets. And though it's giving me more of a Battle of Helm's Deep feeling than an animé feeling, it doesn't look half bad -- barring the awkward fact, of course, that the sole actor featured in the trailer is a white boy playing an Asian character .

Now, it should be noted that Shyamalan has managed to atone for some of his original questionable casting decisions for the adaptation of the series, which is rooted in Asian culture -- he cast Dev Patel in a role slated for Jesse McCartney, as well as non-white actors Cliff Curtis and Aasif Mandvi. And perhaps the coolness factor (CGI! Battle scene!) in the trailer allows you to forgive the director for any perceived white-washing anyway?

Either way, it is nice to see Shyamalan tackle a genre that doesn't quite fit his formula. As long as the killer trees don't serve as Aang's biggest foe in the film, I'm happy. Thoughts,