The Last Airbender

[Uldric]

I have to say, this is one movie that I was really looking forward to seeing. I really enjoyed the tv series and thought it wouldn't be too hard to stuff up that formula. But after seeing http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/ and http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/ I've lost all hope.

 

 

So now I'm looking for opinions here, what did you think of the movie?

[Pirate_Felix]

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3694232064/tt0938283

 

Well screw that cast

unless sokkah is actually funny

[Zaaps1]

Tbh, I don't think any of the cast looks like they do in the show.

[RpgGamer]

Casting looks horrible, and the fact that Shamallamadingdong is directing it, makes me nervous. But the special effects look gorgeous, so I will defniatly be seeing it in 3-D. The TV show was incredible.

[das]

I had a chance to chat with Jessica Andres at adventurecon. She was cast as suki I believe. Nice girl and friendly enough. She thought the film would be a hit, and thought it would go over really well. it sounded like she thought she had a big part. Turns out, her scenes were cut from the film.

 

Glad I didn't spend $30 on her autograph LOL.

 

The cast isn't fantastic - Some unknowns which can work, but often can backfire.- John Noble is the only actor on that list I have any positives thing to say much about (Lotr - Denelhor). I know Jackson Rathbone is popular, but I can't tell you much about his acting as I don't watch twilight.

[Misterknowitall]

I heard the guy who plays Iroh did a good job. Apart from him and the visuals, the movie seems to be awfull.

Such a pity. I had high hopes for it.

[weezcake]

Am I the only who is disgusted at the casting in the movie? Following the steps of 21 and Dragon Ball Z, they've totally whitewashed the cast. I feel like this could have been a great opportunity for young Asian American actors and actresses to break out into Hollywood. There are very few good roles written for Asian American actors/actresses, and this was obviously one of them.

 

I could go on, but I might fill up a whole page..

 

Racism aside, I'm glad that this was a horrible movie.

[champion]

Glad I never liked the show, everyone says the movie sucks.

[Pirate_Felix]

Glad I never liked the show, everyone says the movie sucks.

the show is awesome :<!

[champion]

Glad I never liked the show, everyone says the movie sucks.

the show is awesome :<!

I watched some of it when I was younger, I thought it was boring I guess. Just wasn't a fan.

[Harakiri]

This movie has been compared to Dragon Ball Evolution and from all the reviews I've seen, it's terrible. They said that more than likely the uproar from the destruction of the series through this movie will be worse because unlike Dragon Ball Z which had ended quite a few years before, Avatar ended rather recently, so having the series fresh in their minds still, most fans will despise this.

[meb]

The show is brilliant. Not going to watch the movie it will probably spoil the movie because of sucking.

[Nadril]

""I'm going to speak plainly in a language everyone can understand. M. Night Shyamalan's THE LAST AIRBENDER is a hate crime against film lovers. No one should ever have to endure what I was unexpectedly put through yesterday afternoon watching this murky 3-D [cabbage]storm of a movie that appears to have been shot through unflushed toilet bowl water""

 

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45640

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

[Myweponsg00d]

I saw it last night and enjoyed myself. I mean, technically speaking, it wasn't a good movie. But how can you make a "good" movie based on a Nickelodeon cartoon with a plot based on 4 nations of people who can bend the elements, and a main character who is basically the Dalai Lama of this world?

 

I mean the plot is just ridiculous. Theres no way that someone could make a "good" movie from that premise. In order to make the movie a technically "good" movie, Shymalan would have needed to abandon much of the cartoon's wackiness. I mean he even had the balls to include a giant hairy mammoth monster that flies without wings or anything. When I first saw the previews I was worried that Appa wouldnt make it into the movie because of how silly it looks.

 

The problem is that the show is a certain mix between serious, whimsical, humorous, and fantasy. This style works well for a cartoon. When you take the same style and apply it to a live action movie, people can't accept it.

 

If you watch the show, I bet youll enjoy the movie. I went with my girlfriend, who has never seen the show, and she actually ended up really enjoying it. In fact, at the end of the movie (when it left us with the cliffhanger) she turned to me and said "Aww! You mean thats where it ends?"

 

On a side note, I should mention that I have 14 years of martial arts experience, and I love any movie that brings authentic martial arts styles into Hollywood.

[Riku3220]

I don't see why anyone would consider making this movie. He essentially took 20 episodes and compressed it down to 1 hour and 30 minutes. That's leaving out a lot of details, character development, and generally everything that made Avatar fun to watch. Add that to the horrible casting, slapped on 3D, and the moody tone and you've got a recipe for disaster.

 

Myweponsg00d, let your girlfriend watch the actual show. It'll take a long while to finish it but it's better than that piece of crap movie.

[Myweponsg00d]

I don't see why anyone would consider making this movie. He essentially took 20 episodes and compressed it down to 1 hour and 30 minutes. That's leaving out a lot of details, character development, and generally everything that made Avatar fun to watch. Add that to the horrible casting, slapped on 3D, and the moody tone and you've got a recipe for disaster.

 

Yeah I mean its nothing worth writing home about. I think the only reason for making it is to have a fun experiment with transforming a cartoon into live action. Also I mean come on, it is a PG movie. What PG live-action movie has ever been good? I think the acting needed to be purposely dumbed down so that the pre-teen audience could still be entertained.

 

And I didn't see it n 3D...I dont see anything in 3D. I think its completely ridiculous how much of a fad the whole 3D thing has become. 3D has been around for forever, in places like Disney world. Now all of a sudden people want to apply it to feature length movies...I really dont understand. Its just some silly gimmick or something.

 

Myweponsg00d, let your girlfriend watch the actual show. It'll take a long while to finish it but it's better than that piece of crap movie.

 

Yeah I had her watch the first episode when we got home and she enjoyed it. Maybe the movie is a marketing tool for encouraging people to watch the cartoon :mrgreen:

 

Oh, and I thought that the last 30-40 minutes of the movie was far better than the first hour.

[meb]

The best part of the Avatar series were the side-stories most episodes are built around. I don't think the movie will have those.

[RpgGamer]

I don't see why anyone would consider making this movie. He essentially took 20 episodes and compressed it down to 1 hour and 30 minutes. That's leaving out a lot of details, character development, and generally everything that made Avatar fun to watch. Add that to the horrible casting, slapped on 3D, and the moody tone and you've got a recipe for disaster.

 

Yeah I mean its nothing worth writing home about. I think the only reason for making it is to have a fun experiment with transforming a cartoon into live action. Also I mean come on, it is a PG movie. What PG live-action movie has ever been good? I think the acting needed to be purposely dumbed down so that the pre-teen audience could still be entertained.

 

And I didn't see it n 3D...I dont see anything in 3D. I think its completely ridiculous how much of a fad the whole 3D thing has become. 3D has been around for forever, in places like Disney world. Now all of a sudden people want to apply it to feature length movies...I really dont understand. Its just some silly gimmick or something.

 

Myweponsg00d, let your girlfriend watch the actual show. It'll take a long while to finish it but it's better than that piece of crap movie.

 

Yeah I had her watch the first episode when we got home and she enjoyed it. Maybe the movie is a marketing tool for encouraging people to watch the cartoon

 

Oh, and I thought that the last 30-40 minutes of the movie was far better than the first hour.

 

Allow me to jump into this thread for a second to point out that 5/6ths of Star Wars is rated PG, and is an amazing movie.

 

You may now continue to be on topic. As you were, gentlemen.

[meb]

The phantom menace was awful :unsure:

[Harakiri]

The phantom menace was awful :unsure:

I wouldn't say it was awful. Taken for its merits, it's decent. But taken as a sequel to the originals it was pretty bad. Same with Attack of the Clones. Boring and not really that great of a Star Wars movie, all right if you subtract Star Wars from it.

 

Personally, I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith. I found the final fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin to be pretty awesome. Hell, all of the movie was action and it was all pretty good. In my opinion it's the best of the prequel trilogy.

 

Then again, I think George Lucas has lost it. With the Star Wars prequels and Indiana Jones sequel, I think it really shows that he is not as much a pioneer as he was in the eighties. It was the great story and characters of those two series in the 70s and 80s that made them what they were, they were family friendly adventure. And the special effects being as good as they were helped too. Anymore CG renders all of that useless and very few people can be awed at special effects when they are not done using models or the stunts or whatever are not actually done and instead CGed in. That's why Jackie Chan movies really appeal to me, he does his own stunts and its more authentic. There is no CG to make it into a cartoon world. Star Wars and Indy had the very exciting special effects and action scenes that few could produce back then. Now anybody can with a computer team to back them up.

 

Movies, to me, just don't have the magic they used to have.

[Atom Smash40]

Am I the only who is disgusted at the casting in the movie? Following the steps of 21 and Dragon Ball Z, they've totally whitewashed the cast. I feel like this could have been a great opportunity for young Asian American actors and actresses to break out into Hollywood. There are very few good roles written for Asian American actors/actresses, and this was obviously one of them.

 

I could go on, but I might fill up a whole page..

 

Racism aside, I'm glad that this was a horrible movie.

you are completely correct.

 

my friend told me to not go and see it because there are no asian american actors/actresses. the TV show had characters that were influenced by asian culture. and though the animated characters didnt have asian appearances (namely the eyes), it's kinda fricken obvious that theyre supposed to be of asian descent. the balance of nature is a very asian oriented belief. not to be racaist, but you wont find the "balance of nature" stuff in any western religion or teaching. so why portray the characters as being white?

[Wizz]

Thank God it sucked, now I can laugh at the people who bought merchandise before the movie was showed.

[Myweponsg00d]

Actually I have no idea what people are talking about with the whole racism BS.

 

Ang is pretty white, but he also has very pale skin in the show. I really can't tell if he is supposed to be chinese or anything by looking at his face in the cartoon...

 

Also, the Water nation is NOT supposed to be asian. If you watch the cartoon, the water tribe is clearly supposed to be a reference to the Alaskan native tribes or eskimo. Their skin is the wrong shade and their eyes are the wrong shape. It might just be the fact that I am a native american and can tell the difference between a caucasian and someone with possible native roots...I mean here is the water princess:

If you guys think shes your average white girl then I'm sorry, you need to have your eyes checked. Katara and Sokka look very white though, but at least they are clearly not purely irish, british, or german. I think they may be italian, but I think theres a chance they have some native blood.

 

As for the other two tribes, the fire and earth tribes...

 

The fire tribe, in the cartoon, is asian. Shymalan casted all middle-eastern actors for this nation. Racism, right...okay. I haven't seen as many middle easterners in any other movie.

 

And the earth tribe, theyre chinese in the show and were all chinese in the movie.

 

So two actors out of the whole cast might be slightly too white for their tribe.

 

Damn, people are sensitive. I mean Ang's favorite monk was a god damned black man. WTF SHYMALAN RACIST YO

[Riku3220]

[hide=]

Actually I have no idea what people are talking about with the whole racism BS.

 

Ang is pretty white, but he also has very pale skin in the show. I really can't tell if he is supposed to be chinese or anything by looking at his face in the cartoon...

 

Also, the Water nation is NOT supposed to be asian. If you watch the cartoon, the water tribe is clearly supposed to be a reference to the Alaskan native tribes or eskimo. Their skin is the wrong shade and their eyes are the wrong shape. It might just be the fact that I am a native american and can tell the difference between a caucasian and someone with possible native roots...I mean here is the water princess:

If you guys think shes your average white girl then I'm sorry, you need to have your eyes checked. Katara and Sokka look very white though, but at least they are clearly not purely irish, british, or german. I think they may be italian, but I think theres a chance they have some native blood.

 

As for the other two tribes, the fire and earth tribes...

 

The fire tribe, in the cartoon, is asian. Shymalan casted all middle-eastern actors for this nation. Racism, right...okay. I haven't seen as many middle easterners in any other movie.

 

And the earth tribe, theyre chinese in the show and were all chinese in the movie.

 

So two actors out of the whole cast might be slightly too white for their tribe.

 

Damn, people are sensitive. I mean Ang's favorite monk was a god damned black man. WTF SHYMALAN RACIST YO

[/hide]

Do you watch any anime? Characters do not represent their race 80% of the time. You've got rainbow colored hair Japanese girls with eyes the size of dinner plates. Just because they're drawn with white skin, doesn't mean they're white.

[meb]

The phantom menace was awful :unsure:

I wouldn't say it was awful. Taken for its merits, it's decent. But taken as a sequel to the originals it was pretty bad. Same with Attack of the Clones. Boring and not really that great of a Star Wars movie, all right if you subtract Star Wars from it.

 

Personally, I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith. I found the final fight between Obi-Wan and Anakin to be pretty awesome. Hell, all of the movie was action and it was all pretty good. In my opinion it's the best of the prequel trilogy.

 

Then again, I think George Lucas has lost it. With the Star Wars prequels and Indiana Jones sequel, I think it really shows that he is not as much a pioneer as he was in the eighties. It was the great story and characters of those two series in the 70s and 80s that made them what they were, they were family friendly adventure. And the special effects being as good as they were helped too. Anymore CG renders all of that useless and very few people can be awed at special effects when they are not done using models or the stunts or whatever are not actually done and instead CGed in. That's why Jackie Chan movies really appeal to me, he does his own stunts and its more authentic. There is no CG to make it into a cartoon world. Star Wars and Indy had the very exciting special effects and action scenes that few could produce back then. Now anybody can with a computer team to back them up.

I don't even know if I like the Star Wars movies because they're good or because they're, you know, Star Wars. They're like a fairy tale; everyone just knows the story and doesn't really have an opinion of it. This goes mostly for the original 3 (episodes 4-6 :P )