The Last Airbender is carrying a lot of weight on its fantastical shoulders. It has to single-handedly restore M. Night Shyamalan’s reputation after The Happening, satisfy fans of the cartoon and offer up something different from all the other effects-crammed adventures that have come before it bearing mystical messages about chosen child warriors. To keep the momentum moving, the international trailer has now been released.

Okay, so it’s technically not a studio release for Western audiences, since this is aimed at the Japanese market (hence the narration overdubbing and splashes of Japanese characters on the map of the various tribes in the film that look like someone spilt ink on it), but it’s of interest since it features some new footage.

We’re not sure it’s likely to win over anyone who has already written the movie off, but it does look like it could be fun.

For those who have seemingly missed the plot explanations before, here you go: four elemental nations, Air, Water, Earth and Fire are thrown into chaos when the Fire people decide to invade the rest. After a century of unflinching combat, there comes a possible hope in Aang (Noah Ringer) an Avatar with the power to manipulate the air and more. Can he and his allies restore balance to the world? Or will the Fire Nation wreak havoc on everyone?

You get three guesses once you’ve gone to take a gander at the trailer. The film, freshly converted into 3D, will land in our cinemas on August 13.