Live action Avatar: The Last Airbender

[Nate]

From what I heard the 3D in this movie is apparently really badly done (probably for the reasons dyzzi stated).

[Chrysolite]

In that case, I'll probably skip seeing it in theaters. Thanks for your advice, guys.

[ShiroiHikari]

Post-production 3D is never a good idea.

[Cloud500]

I read an article in Time magazine recently where the director was asked something like "How would he be able to please fans of the original series?" His response was something along the lines of "I'm a fan of the original, so I know what the fans want in the movie."

Haha.

[Radical Dreamer]

I read an article in Time magazine recently where the director was asked something like "How would he be able to please fans of the original series?" His response was something along the lines of "I'm a fan of the original, so I know what the fans want in the movie."

Haha.

I read the same article today at work, and nearly laughed out loud when he answered the question about race. Something along the lines of, "people are racially ambiguous in anime, so it didn't really matter who I cast!"

BTW guys, Mr. Popo from DragonBall Z is totally a racially ambiguous white guy.

XDD

[Cognitive Gear]

I have decided that I need to see this movie someday. I found some gifs on the internet, and I can't even imagine a context in which these scenes would not be funny.

[Cloud500]

I think I will probably rent this when I'm in need of a good laugh.

[Nate]

If you want to see it, rent it I would say. Or find "other ways" to view it, not that I'm encouraging piracy or anything! It's just that if people go to see this just to see how bad it is, it'll still make money, and if it makes money then they'll make sequels.

Angry Joe gave his review of it today and while I can't link it on CAA because it has a bit too much language, he said it's easily the worst movie of the year, one of the worst movies he's ever seen, and he even said the special effects were pretty much crap aside from one or two scenes. Heck he went so far as to compare it to the Dragonball live-action movie. He said he couldn't decide which one was worse, it was like deciding between [crap] and more [crap].

But yeah he said something along the lines of "I know a lot of you out there want to see it now, because you want to see how bad it is. I implore you, do NOT go see this movie, even if it's to see how bad it is. It's a waste of money, you can find things to spend your money on that are far better. And definitely don't go see it in 3D, that's just the ultimate ripoff. I mean it's not even like one of those movies where it's so bad it's good, and you can laugh at how bad it is. No, this is just BAD."

If nothing else, it'll at least make for a fantastic Rifftrax.

[Cognitive Gear]

If you want to see it, rent it I would say. Or find "other ways" to view it, not that I'm encouraging piracy or anything! It's just that if people go to see this just to see how bad it is, it'll still make money, and if it makes money then they'll make sequels.

Oh, I definitely agree with you, and will be renting this one. I make it a habit to "vote" with my money.

[ChristianKitsune]

So to humor my older sister (and because she agreed to go see another movie with me and actually enjoyed that one...) I saw this movie...

I gotta say, I'm a very generous person and I give it a C-. (I like Twlight movies for goodness sakes XD So if I didn't really like this movie, then it must be pretty bad.)

From the beginning of the movie, I could tell it was going to be pretty bland. During the perfect time for Katara to do her "narration" (when all the nations are doing their moves like in the anime) It's just awkward silence, and then it moves on to SCRIPT narration with her reading it...(and rather monotone I might add.) and it isn't even INTERESTING script either...it's a plain, flat script. (At least movies like STARWARS had it going diagonally away from the audience...)

The pacing was really awful, in this movie we really don't get to know ANY of the characters, Sokka and Katara are like afterthought shadows, and there are hardly any scenes with them together. And certainly no scenes when they are actually having fun.

Zuko had a slightly decent storyline, but I couldn't get past his father who looked like some sort of Indian Caeser (and my friend and I were pointing that out during the entire film).

The martial art bending was actually really terrible and seemed to take forever before it actually had any effect on the elements. Like Katara could be bending for 5-10 seconds before any water reacts... O_o and then it just looked ridiculous. (see the earth bending GIF from Cog's post) It was painful to watch...

Bending and martial arts WORKED in the anime, because it was...animated. But to watch it live...felt fake and stupid. And that's not really how it's supposed to work... It's supposed to look awesome and artistic.

The special effects were Okay, but like someone mentioned earlier that's to be expected of movies nowadays. Technology is getting better.

The entire movie seemed rushed...like Shamaylan just poured all the plot into a blender and pressed "Frappe."

It just...didn't work as far as movie goes. I'm only giving it a C because of the artistry, and the costume designs. And Appa and Momo were adorable.

I really, really wanted to like this movie. I was hoping that people were just being over critical and listening to the critics and not to what they actually wanted to see...(a huge pet peeve of mine).

But for once I agree with the critics. This movie is a movie I wouldn't even buy if it were in the $5.00 bin. It's just that boring. I was looking forward to the end of the movie, so I could go to Walmart and buy a new sketchbook the entire time. XD

It was emotionless, and in a series that is very emotional, Shamaylan go it very, very wrong. :/

[Wolf-man]

If nothing else, it'll at least make for a fantastic Rifftrax.

True that, my friend.

[Abi-chan]

I'm a big fan of the show, and the first thing I said after the movie was, "We should've gone to see Toy Story 3 again." It was just.. Bad. I hope they don't make a second one.

At least we're getting a new cartoon.

[Nate]

I guess the somewhat good news is that as of today, this movie has made only an estimated 134 million in revenue...and it cost 150 million to make.

Of course, DVD sales will contribute to the revenue, but the fact that it hasn't even made its budget back yet after two weeks in theaters is a pretty bad thing. Compare this to say, Spider-Man 2, which cost 200 million to make and had made it back plus 50 million more by week 2...and that was before a lot of foreign revenue came in (Spider-Man 2 actually made more money in foreign theaters than in American). Last Airbender currently has made a paltry 20 million dollars outside the US.

Hopefully, this means no sequel or at least Shyamalan gets taken off, both of which I think would be good.

[mechana2015]

It's gonna take around 500 million for the studio to actually break even on this, since they spent about as much marketing the movie (130 million) as making it , and the studio only gets around HALF the box office earnings (the other half goes to the theaters), so it's actually worse than it sounds for trying to make money off this disaster.

[Sheol777]

I know everything has been said, but I just wanted to throw my opinion to the side of the naysayers.....

You are absolutely correct.

Remember when Aang smiled? - M. Night doesn't

They will have to do a lot of damage control (firing Shyamalan, getting the kids some acting lessons) for me to see a sequel.

[Yamamaya]

I guess the somewhat good news is that as of today, this movie has made only an estimated 134 million in revenue...and it cost 150 million to make.

Of course, DVD sales will contribute to the revenue, but the fact that it hasn't even made its budget back yet after two weeks in theaters is a pretty bad thing. Compare this to say, Spider-Man 2, which cost 200 million to make and had made it back plus 50 million more by week 2...and that was before a lot of foreign revenue came in (Spider-Man 2 actually made more money in foreign theaters than in American). Last Airbender currently has made a paltry 20 million dollars outside the US.

Hopefully, this means no sequel or at least Shyamalan gets taken off, both of which I think would be good.

Mr Popo is displeased with the Last Airbender.

Spider-Man seems to be extremely popular in East Asia so that should explain some of the movie's massive sucsess over there.

Plus I don't get where M is getting this racial ambiguity in the Last Airbender from. Sure in other animes this is the case but not The Last Airbender.

[Shao Feng-Li]

How did Shamalamadingdong end up being such a screw up?

[ich1990]

Now that you mention it, it is pretty funny how that worked out. I wouldn't say he was doing it intentionally, though. Nobody wants the kind of publicity that racism provides.

There is a lesson to be learned here, folks: save your money and watch Inception instead!

[ShiroiHikari]

There is a lesson to be learned here, folks: save your money and watch Inception instead!

Or Toy Story 3.

[steenajack]

Or Toy Story 3.

Or Dispicable Me. XDDDD!

[Shao Feng-Li]

Now that you mention it, it is pretty funny how that worked out. I wouldn't say he was doing it intentionally, though.

Either he's a lazy moron or a racist jerk. Loses either way, lol.

[Nate]

That's another reason I think Last Airbender sucks. I can't take Aasif Mandvi seriously as a villain. He's been on The Daily Show for like four years. It's kind of like casting Stephen Colbert in a movie to play anyone but Stephen Colbert. All anyone is going to think during the movie is "That's Stephen Colbert." Now granted, Aasif Mandvi isn't quite as big of a household name as Colbert is, but the fact that he's been on The Daily Show for so long pretty much destroys any serious acting he could do in my eyes.

[Yamamaya]

I don't think the racism claim really holds much water. Just because the heroes are white and the villian is a foreigner does not automatically make it racist.

Now if the movie makes it very clear that this villian is a representation of his entire race and generally tries to make the race look as evil as possible then there might be some grounds to the racism claim.

[ChristianKitsune]

I don't think the racism claim really holds much water. Just because the heroes are white and the villian is a foreigner does not automatically make it racist.

Now if the movie makes it very clear that this villian is a representation of his entire race and generally tries to make the race look as evil as possible then there might be some grounds to the racism claim.

O_O *tries to put the lid on the can of worms that was just opened* >_<

[ich1990]

Or Toy Story 3.

........or Inception in Imax.

[Nate]

I'm going to go see Inception for one reason and one reason alone. Because Christopher Nolan hates 3D too, and refuses to make movies in 3D, and I need to support him for this.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I don't think the racism claim really holds much water. Just because the heroes are white and the villian is a foreigner does not automatically make it racist.

Now if the movie makes it very clear that this villian is a representation of his entire race and generally tries to make the race look as evil as possible then there might be some grounds to the racism claim.

Still, the way he cast his movie doesn't make much sense.

[dyzzispell]

Yeah I never thought the race mattered much, since it was a cartoon, but that picture comparing the actors to the cartoon characters is pretty ironic.

But still, I didn't care, until I found out about the pronunciation of names in the movie. It sounds like he tried to give them more Asian pronunciations. In my opinion, you don't do that if you aren't choosing Asian actors. That makes even less sense.

You want to make the movie more Asian - fine. But then in that case you should use Asian actors. That's what I think, anyway.

[CrystalChalice]

I think the last lines from The Ember Island Players would probably fit what most of us here think of this movie:

Zuko: That… wasn’t a good play.
Aang: I’ll say.
Katara: No kidding.
Suki: Horrible.
Toph: You said it.
Sokka: But the effects were decent.

[Chrysolite]

I think the last lines from The Ember Island Players would probably fit what most of us here think of this movie:

Zuko: That… wasn’t a good play.
Aang: I’ll say.
Katara: No kidding.
Suki: Horrible.
Toph: You said it.
Sokka: But the effects were decent.

Steenajack posted this on a separate thread, but I just couldn't resist reposting it here. It's just too perfect! XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfDk3I6di5E&videos=TnmbQUG4PTY