I have a question for those who saw this movie.I've been asking around if I must have seen the TV show first.Some say no because it's like movies adapted from books:They show everything from the source rather than creating another episode to it.Some say yes because the movie's biggest fault is not resembling the show.What do you say?
Well, I went onto Netflix and watched the first six episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and then I saw the movie. I feel The Last Airbender would have come across as laughably awful either way, but by watching just those first six episodes, I was able to see exactly why it was laughably awful, and how much it missed the boat.
Oh Manoj, what a folly you've wrapped yourself into.
The good:
Shaun Toub: Toub isn't spectacular, but he's fine as Iroh. He's not Mako, but only Mako was Mako.
The bad:
Noah Ringer: Ringer's stiff as Aang. To be fair to him, he was OK in Cowboys & Aliens, so maybe it's Shamwow's doing that he sucks in this.
Jackson Rathbone: "It's trying to eat me!" Disturbingly, this is one of Rathbone's better scenes! That's something that Sokka would, maybe, say if he has a lobotomy. At least he isn't head-butting anyone this time!
Dev Patel: Patel's career is like him when he was a little slumdog: in the bottom of a port-a-potty! Also, does anyone else find it funny that his Slumdog Millionaire co-star Freida Pinto made a perfect example of a good summer movie while he blew it with this?
The ugly:
The special effects and the 3D: Crap 3D post-production tinkering strikes again! But as terrible as the 3D was, it's over-shadowed how terrible the other special effects are! Seriosuly, in a couple scenes, the water-bending isn't even animated!
Nicola Peltz: This is some Pia Zadora sh*t right here!* She's a terrible actress and her performance is just terrible!
M. Night Shyamalan: It's a stock, criticism cliche that all the blame falls on the director. Here, on the other hand, it's 9001% true! With the exception of the special effects, everything wrong with this falls on his shoulders! He wrote this. He wrote every single dumb line of dialogue in this. He wrote every single scene that defecated all over the show's ideas. He said that the movie wouldn't have the fart jokes that the show had.** He derailed all the characters. Also, he's kinda sexist. Take notice of how every female character is inept, easily defeated, and needs a push to get to conclusions. He's not quite at Neil LaBute's level, but still!
WOW! That was a bad one! Also, does anyone else think that Nicola Peltz looks like Daveigh Chase? Maybe, Jackson Rathbone got S. Darko related PTSD and head-butted her! Grade: F
Next-up: The Cat In The Hat!
*There's a rumor that her dad bought her this role. Considering how Pia had her career, the similarity is un-canny!
**I can't remember a single fart-joke from the show, but it's been a while since I've seen the show, so maybe I'm mis-remembering. The point still stands that he's an idiot, though.
Joel Schumacher is history's greatest monster!-Robot Chicken https://twitter.com/SchumacherH8r Next-up: The Oogieloves
Yes, yes, yes ... a thousand times yes! That is spot-on where the blame should be pointed. As for the so-called fart jokes, hey, the series is called "Air Bender" after all.
Originally posted by SchumacherH8ter
The ugly:
M. Night Shyamalan: It's a stock, criticism cliche that all the blame falls on the director. Here, on the other hand, it's 9001% true! With the exception of the special effects, everything wrong with this falls on his shoulders! He wrote this. He wrote every single dumb line of dialogue in this. He wrote every single scene that defecated all over the show's ideas. He said that the movie wouldn't have the fart jokes that the show had. He derailed all the characters. Also, he's a massive misogynist! Take notice of how every female character is inept, easily defeated, and needs a push to get to conclusions. He's not quite at Neil LaBute's level, but still!
"People say 'It's all about the story’. When you're making tentpole films, bull$hit." -Andy Hendrickson (Disney Animation Studios' Chief Technical Officer)
SchumacherH8ter: I find the bolded sentences below to be very unreasonable. Ivy in The Village is one of the strongest female characters ever portrayed on screen. M. Night continues with his strong female characters in Lady in the Water with Story, played by the same actress. The same goes for TLA. I don't know what movie you saw, but Katara kicked all kinds of ass and Princess Yue, although short in screentime, is one of the more emotional characters in the film. Just because the female characters were "easily defeated" doesn't make him hate women. Wasn't Katara against the all powerful and evil Prince Zuko, and wasn't she just learning how to practice her ability to waterbend? So isn't it reasonable that she lost that battle? Jeez. That's like saying Hermione sucks as a female character because she lost a battle with Lord Volemort. If anything, she was the one pushing Aang to fulfill his destiny.
Originally posted by SchumacherH8ter
M. Night Shyamalan: It's a stock, criticism cliche that all the blame falls on the director. Here, on the other hand, it's 9001% true! With the exception of the special effects, everything wrong with this falls on his shoulders! He wrote this. He wrote every single dumb line of dialogue in this. He wrote every single scene that defecated all over the show's ideas. He said that the movie wouldn't have the fart jokes that the show had.** He derailed all the characters. Also, he's a massive misogynist! Take notice of how every female character is inept, easily defeated, and needs a push to get to conclusions. He's not quite at Neil LaBute's level, but still!
Katara did kick all kinds of ass... in the cartoon. The only scene that I recall seeing her kick-ass was during the Earth-benders camp were she pushes a guy over and then akwardly looks at the camera. The worst scene was when she fought Zuko and got her ass-kicked easily. The Hermoine comparison is baseless because she never defeated Voldemort in the book. As for Yue, in the cartoon she came up with the decision to sacrifice herself on her own. In the movie Iroh had to tell her. Calling Shamwow a misogynist was a bit too far, so I'll edit to be less inflametory.
Joel Schumacher is history's greatest monster!-Robot Chicken https://twitter.com/SchumacherH8r Next-up: The Oogieloves
Katara did kick all kinds of ass... in the cartoon. The only scene that I recall seeing her kick-ass was during the Earth-benders camp were she pushes a guy over and then akwardly looks at the camera. The worst scene was when she fought Zuko and got her ass-kicked easily. The Hermoine comparison is baseless because she never defeated Voldemort in the book. As for Yue, in the cartoon she came up with the decision to sacrifice herself on her own. In the movie Iroh had to tell her. Calling Shamwow a misogynist was a bit too far, so I'll edit to be less inflametory.
Didn't she freeze Zuko at one point in the movie? So she got back at him in the end.
Originally posted by Vits
Wait -- STORY was the "damsel in distress."
Well, not really. She's like one of the "hero" characters in which she couldn't accept that she's the "Madame Narf" at first, but slowly gives in to it and accepts her faith.
I forgot about the freezing Zuko thing. Still, that's only two ass-kicking scenes and it doesn't make-up for the scene were Zuko kicks her ass! Especially if you watched the cartoon because she won there!
Joel Schumacher is history's greatest monster!-Robot Chicken https://twitter.com/SchumacherH8r Next-up: The Oogieloves
I disagree that M. Night writes STRONG female characters. For the most part, his females are always in danger, and do very little to get out of that danger. Look at the roles BDH played in "The Village" and "LITW", one who is blind and survives by dumb luck, and the other that spends most of her time hiding in a shower. Not very empowering if you ask me. The woman in "Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", and "Signs" aren't any better (the two female leads in "SS" are struggling in life or are depressed, as is the wife/mother of "Unbreakable", and the wife/mother in "Signs" is already dead).
However, as poor examples of female empowerment as M. Night's women characters are, I agree with SchumacherH8ter's comment about Neil LaBute. If you watch any one of his movies, you can plainly see that if his female characters mirror what he thinks about women, then he must think that ALL women are the direct spawn of Satan!
"People say 'It's all about the story’. When you're making tentpole films, bull$hit." -Andy Hendrickson (Disney Animation Studios' Chief Technical Officer)
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