The Last Airbender (the movie not the show)

Television, Movies Games and Books Other Science Fiction
#1

I know this site is generally full of love and niceness but sometimes something is so vilely bad that it needs to be said.

Let me get this out of the way first. I am a HUGE fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was really really looking forward to this movie. I was even a M. Night apologist. Then I saw the movie.

To say i hated it is like saying Nazis are not so nice. Yes I invoked Nazis. This movie is the worst movie i have ever seen. It is insulting to what is easily the best Animated TV show if not one of the top 10 best tv series ever. The horror of this film is not just an opinion. It could be proven on a purely technical level. Two things vital to the series two spoken words in the series were changed. Two kinda important things. Like the main characters name. In the series they call him Ang pronouncing it like Hang minus the H. in the movie they for some reason call him Ong pronouncing it like Hong minus the H. Oh and he is no long called the Avatar but more like the Ovatar.

Then M. Night stripped out all the humor and heart from the show. Sokka is no longer the sarcastic funny guy who is also pretty smart. Well you actually cant tell what he is as he only has like 8 lines of dialogue in the entire movie. Ang looks like he is always about to cry and/or sh%$ his pants the entire time.

They make the Bending in the movie look complicated. Firebenders need an actual flame near by to do their deed which would be easy to combat in this world by just putting out any flame near by. But no they don’t do that. In fact they people tend to light more fires around them.

The Actors are all wooden and the casting is offensive. I wasnt worried about that before but after seeing the movie i am now offended. I am not one that is easy to offend. The only white people in the show are the 3 main characters and maybe one or two others.

But the worst part of it all is the writing and directing. M. night broke one of the golden rules of Showing not Telling. He told the entire movie. And many times literally. At one point Katara who narrates literally said, “My Brother and the Princess instantly became friends” then they show them being friends.

i know this is more of a rant than a review but thats how bad this movie was. I was angry at this movie. The entire audience was angry. The entire audience booed the screen when it was over. There were groups of people talking about how much they hated the movie and how much better the tv show was.

Please do not watch this movie. Watch the show instead. It is soo much better.

#2

Wow! I have never seen the show but I thought the trailers looked impressive enough to make me want to see this movie. I have to ask: if you had never seen the show before, what would you think of the movie? Does it work on its own merit at all?

#3

I really don’t think it does. I tried to separate myself from the show. They more or less show you the only awesome scenes in the trailer and they are actually better in the trailer than in the context of the movie. The movie is almost entirely exposition and whats worse is that its repeated exposition. A dude sitting a few seats down from me brought his girlfriend and he was apologizing most of the movie saying that the show is so much better and he was sorry for bringing her. Normally talking during a movie would bug me but everybody was doing it in this one.

#4

I haz a sad. :frowning:

My family loved the series. I was hoping the movie would be just as good. Oh well.

#5

It currently has a 5%(!) rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

#6

This is disappointing to hear. Perhaps Omra and I should organize an anime frak. I’ve yet to see the series.

#7

That is up 5% from yesterday…:rolleyes:

Roger Ebert calls it ‘Racebender’, because of the non-Asian casting. If there was a genetically engineered plague sweeping the world that kills only Asians with acting talent I could forgive the casting. I might even be sympathetic if the round-eyed actors were exceptional, but from what I have heard they are all ‘wooden’, so that begs the question… “Why did you cast them then???”

And I thought M Night was a fool for casting Markie Mark in ‘The Happening’, this eclipses even that. I guess I will avoid this movie then, I have yet to hear a single positive comment from anyone on this film.

#8

On the upside, to promote the movie Nicktoons channel has been showing minimarathons of the actual series! I’ve been splurging on it all month and reminding myself of how much I love it, and talking some of my friends into giving it a shot.

#9

io9 has the best review of the movie yet.

#10

I’ve had the series in my Netflix Instant Queue and been watching episodes when I had the chance. It’s pretty enjoyable. Sorry to hear that the movie stinks though.

#11

I read the Washington Post’s review last night before bed. They pretty much said what you just said (and what every other critic seems to be saying). It’s apparently a mess and the dialogue just repeats what the characters are doing. Too bad! The trailers looked SO cool.

Still, in reading the reviews a lot of critics are talking about the show and now I’m curious to check it out. I thought it was straight up anime (which I’m not a big fan of) but I guess it’s an American, anime-influenced show with a lot of humor. Is that so? Cause I’m definitely curious about it now.

Edit:

OKAY, I’m going to record these then. W00t!

#12

The show is amazing. Its funny, some times a a bit scary, its got lots of really awesome action and its pretty deep. The characters have development and change over the course of a season and over the entire series. If you have Netflix all three seasons are on Instant watch as well.

#13

Anyone up for a frak? Monday seems open during the summer.

#14

I wouldn’t mind watching the series again…

#15

Is it really as bad as I heard? I’m afraid.

#16

Ill Frak with yall

#17

Almost a year ago, some GWCers frakked Book 1.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water Volume 1

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water Volume 2

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water Volume 3

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water Volume 4 & 5

Check out the threads see what other fans have said about the series.

#18

Is it weird that I’m oddly excited to see one of my favorite pieces of media ever get completely destroyed by an apparently terrible director/producer?

Mostly I’m torn. On the one hand, all of the reviews talk about how amazing the show is before they tear apart the movie. So, that’s good I guess; it means people who wouldn’t encounter the show before are seeing all these great things about it. On the other hand, the poor, poor quality of the movie is bound to make people turn away.

Mostly just like the rest of ya’ll: sad to see it turned out so bad. Dunno how many times I watched the last four episodes of the show.

#19

Well one good thing about the movie…it made me go watch the show. Watched the first 8 last night, enjoying it thus far.

#20

is the featured film called “The Last Airbender” and not “Avatar: The Last Airbender” because of James Cameron?