Live action Avatar: The Last Airbender

[CrimsonRyu17]

Race issue aside, I need to remind everyone they had the span of one movie to accomplish an entire television season's worth of events... Things are gonna be a little mashed up.

Mashing an entire television season into an hour or so long movie is where they went wrong in the first place. There's no excuse for it, honestly.

[Radical Dreamer]

Mashing an entire television season into an hour or so long movie is where they went wrong in the first place. There's no excuse for it, honestly.

Dude, no kidding. XD I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if they stuffed season 1 of Lost into a two-hour summer blockbuster.

Yikes. XDD

Anyways, I've heard enough bad things about this movie to keep me far away from it, even after I've started watching the TV series. XD I've heard the dialogue is awful, the story is too condensed, and the acting isn't all that great. XD The only positive thing I've heard thus far is that it's pretty, and that's not really difficult to accomplish for any movie these days. XD Put another one in my "Why I dislike M. Night Shamallamadingdong" jar. XD

It's kind of like how I inexplicably like Lady Gaga.

WHAT. You never told me this! Whhyyyyyy?? DD:

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Dude, no kidding. XD I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if they stuffed season 1 of Lost into a two-hour summer blockbuster.

Yikes. XDD

Anyways, I've heard enough bad things about this movie to keep me far away from it, even after I've started watching the TV series. XD I've heard the dialogue is awful, the story is too condensed, and the acting isn't all that great. XD The only positive thing I've heard thus far is that it's pretty, and that's not really difficult to accomplish for any movie these days. XD Put another one in my "Why I dislike M. Night Shamallamadingdong" jar. XD



WHAT. You never told me this! Whhyyyyyy?? DD:

The difference, Corrie, is that Avatar is a show that is intended to be sensible. We should be able to understand the events of the show by the end of the season.

*Ducks from the ensuing violence*

[Radical Dreamer]

The difference, Corrie, is that Avatar is a show that is intended to be sensible. We should be able to understand the events of the show by the end of the season.

*Ducks from the ensuing violence*

At first I was like,




But then I was like,




XDD

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Well, that's better than I hoped for. I figured it was gonna be more like this.



Ah well.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

God, this movie plain sucked. So bad.

Everything about it sucked.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Spoken like a man with experience.

[ShiroiHikari]

Like I said before, did anyone ever think this was going to NOT suck?

(PS I'm on episode 4 of the TV show; so far it's blown my expectations out of the water.)

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Yeah, actually. Say what you will about Shamyalan's story-telling (And believe me, I'd love to) but as a director he's more than profficient and he was working with a story that was not his creation.

I can't decide if the surprise twist is that the Water Tribe is caucasian or that the movie was awful.

[Nate]

I think lots of people were hopeful this would be good. I however knew differently the moment I saw "M. Night Shyamalan" attached to it.

For the record, a friend of mine went to see it last night. She's a die-hard Avatar fan and she said it's the worst movie she's ever seen. She said it was even worse than Eclipse...and she hates Twilight.

Don't assume that I'm ignorant enough to believe Japanese is the only Asian language out there. I studied Chinese for two years and spent two months in China. I'm no expert nor am I fluent by any means, but I know what the language generally sounds like.

I know that. XD It's just that you said the show got it wrong, but...only if you're adhering to a certain language pronunciation (which the show obviously doesn't). Anyway, you've said that you got over it, so I guess there's no point in talking about this further. I just wanted to say that I didn't think you were ignorant of any languages other than Japanese, I was just using it as an example.

[ADXC]

Well, I guess what we can learn from this is that if it's too good to be true, it probably is.

If I ever do see this movie, it won't be out of my pocket.

Honestly, there are so many events, feelings, and character developments in the series, that they cannot possibly be all placed in a film to where someone "gets the gist" of what Avatar is about. Sure they may get the idea of it, but they cannot fathom every aspect from a limited point of view.

This just makes me sick...

[Etoh*the*Greato]

No offense, but I think that might be an overestimation of Avatar. I don't know if this film has done it well, honestly, as I haven't seen it, but taking the series as one movie per season it would be a relatively easy task to make a good stab at the story in 90 minutes. YEAH, there is a lot that happens but it's still entirely possible.

[ADXC]

Eh maybe, but I don't see how. There were many episodes.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

There were many episodes, but much of that was filled with either things that were a) fluff, or b) ultimately non-essential to the story ie they could have been cut out and the story would not have lost much - if anything - for it. This is the reason why we occasionally have book to movie transitions that work. If one could not take a longer work and conceivably condense it into a shorter one, we would not have the Lord of the Rings movies, Harry Potter movies, or any other wonderful adaptations.

And that's what these are... adaptations. They are not the original works themselves. They are takes on the original work adapted to another medium with different constraints. Do you know the only way that the movie could have held all the complexity and nuances of the TV show? If it were the same length of the TV show, thus defeating the purpose.

The movie might just suck for its own reasons, but I'm seeing a lot of fans screaming out in anguish for stuff that, be it in the scheme of life or in the scheme of the adaptation, really don't actually matter. The Kiyoshi warriors were great, but if you removed them the plot didn't lose much. Same with Jet, or any other number of characters. The movie was about the metaplot, not all the little twists and turns they took on their way. I'll bet you the movie didn't even mention the water scroll Katara stole or Katara's jealousy that Aang learned to waterbend so quickly.

[Atria35]

Whaaa-?! The Kyoshi Warriors weren't important?! So just who did [spoiler]Azula and her friends impersonate to infiltrate enemy territory? And who helped Sokka out at The Boiling Rock?[/spoiler]

[ChristianKitsune]

I just wonder why Shamaylan doesn't think he is capable to make a two-hour movie... I mean 102 minutes? That's NOT a lot of time...at least the Twilight movies are two+ hours and the Harry Potter movies are sometimes nearly three.

If he could have pushed it a little longer, say to like two hours, maybe even 130 minutes; we could be looking at a completely different situation....

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Whaaa-?! The Kyoshi Warriors weren't important?! So just who did [spoiler]Azula and her friends impersonate to infiltrate enemy territory? And who helped Sokka out at The Boiling Rock?[/spoiler]

Hate to say it, but it's a role that could have easily been filled in another way. The fact is, you have 90 minutes to fill with 520 minutes worth of story. They can be removed. If you take out the Kiyoshi warriors, you are not taking out a major building block of the plot that cannot be easily explained away in another fashion. Unlike Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Aang they are pretty much expendable.

[ChristianKitsune]

Hate to say it, but it's a role that could have easily been filled in another way. The fact is, you have 90 minutes to fill with 520 minutes worth of story. They can be removed. If you take out the Kiyoshi warriors, you are not taking out a major building block of the plot that cannot be easily explained away in another fashion. Unlike Zuko, Katara, Sokka, and Aang they are pretty much expendable.

Not really. Suki is a huge plot element by the middle to the end of the series...without her, Sokka's character doesn't really grow much.. ^^;

Although IF they ever do another movie, they can introduce her then...although it would have been a lot better if they introduced her in the first movie.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

They're already filming 2. And I realize she's a catalyst for Sokka, but honestly they can write that in in another way. It's honestly not a section of the story that absolutely requires true-to-the-original authenticity. Yue was a catalyst as well, though, so they could end up throwing the entire weight of his character growth on her (even though she'll likely be out of the picture if they keep to THAT section of the plot at least). Or, they'll just fall flat and not cause any growth on his part at all.

[ich1990]

Well, I just saw it.

Plot? Mashed and relatively incoherent (if I hadn't seen the show I wouldn't have known what was going on)
Acting? Pitiful, with few exceptions.
Dialog? Often cringe worthy.
Characters? The Fire Lord and Sokka were pretty much fail. The others were decent, albeit different from the show.
Fight scenes? Excellent, well choreographed, and artistic.
Special effects? Perfect, from the opening title to the end credits.
Pacing? Pretty much leaps from one major event to another, without showing the effects of the time elapsed between them.

They cut a lot of subplots and side characters, which was expected, but I didn't expect the Kiyoshi warriors to be cut. I guess that means they are going to have to cram another romance into an awkwardly short period of time.

At first, I was ready to give it a 1/5 just for the acting and dialog (it was that bad), but during the last third those elements (har har) improved slightly and the fighting/bending became the focal point --resulting in my final score of 2/5. Please don't ruin the show for yourself by seeing this movie. If you have seen the show, watch at your own risk. It isn't abominable, but it is pretty bad. I expected much, much better given the source material and the director.

EDIT: Don't let anyone fool you, this was definitely better than Twilight.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

There, see? It can fail on its own merits, thank you very much. lol

[ADXC]

If it's just a fighting movie and doesn't resemble the show that much, then I honestly don't want to see it. I don't even know why I thought cramming a whole season of 520 minutes into two hours would be cool.

I liked the whole show and I do not see anything expendable. Sorry, but I guess I'm a "the show was definitely better than the movie" person.

Okay rant over. XD

[CrimsonRyu17]

Dunno why someone would defend a movie they haven't even seen yet.

[ADXC]

Well, I guess I won't fully know untill I see it then.

[ich1990]

There, see? It can fail on its own merits, thank you very much. lol

That is better than it failing on the show's merits, I guess.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Katara's waterbending scroll was in the movie. Instead of her swiping it or anything cool, though, it just kind of fell out of a cupboard and rolled up to her feet.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Dunno why someone would defend a movie they haven't even seen yet.

I think the whining in the video touched me the wrong way. The same question can be redirected at those who are attacking it without seeing it, though.

That is better than it failing on the show's merits, I guess.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Katara's waterbending scroll was in the movie. Instead of her swiping it or anything cool, though, it just kind of fell out of a cupboard and rolled up to her feet.

Well, that was a nice nod to the show then.

[LadyRushia]

Really, parts of this movie were hilarious. Every time Katara got hit in the face by some random burst of energy, I laughed hysterically. I especially liked the part where she ran at some guy head on and pushed him while grunting, only to be hit in the face or something.

The best part, though, was when Aang was like "I had to leave" and Ryan, who was sitting next to me was like "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE?" Two seconds later, Katara said the exact same thing in the exact same tone. It was hilarious and it really spoke volumes about the writing.

[Scarecrow]

I can't believe the hate this film is getting... I saw the first trailer and thought it looked like it'd be pretty interesting. I was interested to see it till all the reviews came out. I was even thinking of checking out the show for preparation. I knew Night was directing but I thought him getting away from the "twist" movies would be good for him.

Ah well, now I kinda wanna see it to see how bad it is =/ I can't believe it's even getting worse reviews than Twilight.

[Yamamaya]

God, this movie plain sucked. So bad.

Everything about it sucked.

From what I've seen from the trailers the special effects look nice. Can't say the same for the rest.

It's really not that surprising that the movie sucked. Most anime/cartoon adaptations fail hard.

I can only hope that the Ghost in the Shell live action movie will be at least passable.

LadyRushia I love it when that happens when I'm watching a movie.XD.

[Cognitive Gear]