Avatar The Last Airbender

[skynet]

I'll probably miss this and only rent the DVD if I feel like watching some more SFX. So far it looks pretty bad. It also seems to have a very different feel from the original animation. Then I wonder why Shyamalan is still directing movies... and why is he directing this one? His movies at best are barely average for me. Seems like a lot of bad choices here. Same old story?

[SNAKEBITE]

I'm actually looking forward to this movie..and this is coming from someone who calls M. Night, Shalamalamadingdong...but I love the cartoon and this
looks like it might be fun...I'll still wait to Netflix it, though..

[paburrows]

Well I've actually liked most of the M Knight movies that I've seen. But I did read a few reviews from people who had gone to prescreening who said that it was just OK. But hopefully M. Knight will take the notes and be able to make it better. I loved the animated series.

[skynet]

Yeah, definitely a netflix rent for me... I thought the animation was pretty good, most of the time. Too bad it was outsourced to Korea... but this seems like one of those movies where you don't want to have any expectations. The trailer actually feels silly to me and it was making me laugh. Maybe the more serious they try to make it look, the more it feels like a parody.

Now I'm at the point where I've been training myself to never have expectations for any film. I'm hoping I'll be surprised one of these days. It's very hard to find something to watch that is better than just OK.

[Will Ryan]

Maybe the more serious they try to make it look, the more it feels like a parody

You nailed what was the same problem I had with the Star Wars prequels; none of the humor from the original was there. The smaller, character based fun moments help contrast the dark epic scenes and let us get to know the characters as people rather than plot devices. Let's hope M Knight hasn't forgotten that.

[Glen Moyes]

Yeah, lets see what happens when the movie gets released. You really can't base too much off of the trailers (remember the Iron Giant?).

[skynet]

You do have a good point there... but in this case I am definitely not counting on much, between a director who has bored me more than enough times and how all the actors are from TV or nothing of interest...and the actor playing the main part has never been in anything (He must be a natural or something to grab a big role like this). I've known some movies that worked very well with a cast of rookies, but it's usually rare. Hell, even with "pro" actors a good movie is rare. Either way I'll wait for it to get to netflix... well, unless everyone is coming out of the theater saying their mind was blown (and not just by the FX). I don't want to go through the same thing I did when I saw the other Avatar which was all FX and no story.

I'm sure all the kids that saw the animation will go see it without question. It's PG.

[Will Ryan]

I was so excited about Airbender until I saw this little bit from what should be one of the most awesome jaw-dropping action sequences in the film. Instead it's full of unmotivated loose wirework that lacks all of the grace and appeal inherent in Aang's movement as well as his character. To top it off, we see all of it in super slow motion. Disappointing: it doesn't even look like he's moving of his own accord but rather a rag doll being whipped around by some unseen villain. It's such a shame as there's some drop dead beautiful particlework and stuntwork choregraphy being done, but the wirework betrays all of that effort.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty damn positive when it comes to rooting for movies and it takes a lot to drag me down. I'm a career George Lucas apologist and I even found lots to love in the Matrix sequels that are so easy to hate on. But when something so core as the effortless & graceful animation inherent in Aang's movement from the cartoon was literally thrown aside for this, I'm skeptical at how much this director gets what makes The Last Airbender so special.

Prove me wrong, M Night.

[Will Ryan]

[SNAKEBITE]

all you need is the youtube code 64q_SC0KVHQ and nothing else in the link to embed the video into the thread.

[SNAKEBITE]

I feel ya, and I'm not very impressed either...oh well, maybe thats where they are incorporating the comedy aspects of the animation???....lol

[skynet]

Seriously? That's a clip from the final cut? Those unnatural movements on the wire are lame and the slow motion makes it look even worse. All those high end FX everywhere and they ruin it with that, making it feel cheap.... weird.

[Greg B]

I've heard of the cartoon and seen images but never watched it. The trailer looks exciting.

Shyamalan has an annoying tendency to assume the audience is low brow when it's not. He starts off good but even a grade school kid can get what's going on and it ruins the suspense of his movies.

His "Unbreakable" and "Signs" were awesome.

Maybe using someone else's stories will show more power in his films and this new movie will be just as good as his old ones.

[Glen Moyes]

Okay. I said withhold judgment until after the movie got released. My brother went out to go see it at a screening and he said it sucked. We talked about it and apparently it did hold up to our expectations according to his experience at the theatre (some people did walk out and there was a few boos at the end).

So I went to go check the reviews and sure enough... http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/

The good news is that previous to watching the movie he went ahead and watched the animated series so he could be familiar with the source material, and he was glad he did because the movie would have spoiled a very good animated series.

Apparently the one good idea that made it into the movie was changing the magic system so that fire benders needed fire to bend instead of just conjuring it. That does help unify the magic system.

Hopefully this movie doesn't ruin the franchise because the animated series is quite good, so don't let that stop you if you haven't watched the series yet.

[paburrows]

Well the original 3 Star Wars movies are still great even after the prequels were made, so hopefully the movie/movies won't kill the TV series.

[skynet]

Actually, I didn't think it would bomb as hard as it is or be as bad as everyone is saying. It looks like it's even worse than I expected. Ouch... hopefully Shyamalan will get the idea this time and stop directing movies. What a huge waste and negative slam for the animation.

Yeah, if you haven't seen the animation, go watch that and forget about the movie. Pretend the movie doesn't exist. I wonder how many people will know the animation before they attempt to see the movie. I may still watch the movie when it's streaming on netflix (probably will) just to see how bad it is.... or I may not because I don't want to see a good animation turned into live action crap. That's a tough one.

It was pretty obvious to me when I saw the preview. The cast alone made it clear enough. Sometimes you can't let a preview influence your opinion but there are other times when you can just know.

Too bad.

[Will Ryan]

I just saw it in 3D at the Cinerama Dome here in Hollywood: absolutely dreadful.

Nothing redeeming whatsoever. M Night needs to at least stop being allowed to write the scripts to the movies he directs, if not put on the directing bench for a long time.

This material should have been treated like Lord of the Rings but instead it was given the sub-Golden Compass treatment. Wooden acting, clunky editing, incredibly poor post-stereo 3D, and more exposition dialogue and narration than I've ever seen in a single movie.

I've never been in a theater where the crowd laughed so hard at poor editing choices or actor's deliveries. All of the vibrancy and humor in the characters was drained out in exchange for angst or use as exposition devices.

I didn't expect to be bothered by the "racebending" issue with the casting, but there's literally a scene where all of the speaking parts are white actors while the rest of the water-bending tribe are of an Inuit or Asain race. It was jarring if not wholly offensive.

To top it all off, Aang's name is pronounced incorrectly throughout the movie.

Epic fail has never been used more appropriately.

[Easy Zee]

What's with all the slow motion. Okay I get it! They want everyone to see the special effects and CGI, so they make it slo-mo so the audience doesn't miss any of it. I hate that logic. Slow motion ruins the pace of what should be an exciting scene. I have been watching a bunch of old kung-fu flicks from the 70's, mostly Shaw Brothers Venoms films; the fighting is fast paced, the faster the more exciting, the more awe inspiring. The use of slo-mo in the Shaw Brothers movies is minimal. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, fought fast, very little slow-mo.
Avatar, the cartoon, did not make everything in slow motion. Remember the last episode, Ang vs. the fire lord, it was super fast paced, and every second was exciting.
This live action movie has no redeeming qualities at all. I could rant about a dozen different aspects of the film, the casting, the exposition, the lack of humor, but I chose to rant about the slow-mo this time.

[Jose Saenz]

This movie was SO bad. I can't remember the last time I fell asleep at the movies (I would have left but my wife was still trying to sit through it). The casting, the acting, and most importantly, the script...it was so bad. I am officially no longer a fan of M. Night. I was a huge fan of his work, but the last couple of movies have been so disappointing.

[skynet]

In case you were thinking to rent the DVD...

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/