The Last Airbender
I posted this on my other, Disney, LJ, but wanted to post it here, too, because I feel like there's more of a possibility some of you are Avatar: TLA fans, and I am annoyed and want to vent. lol
I'm posting this because I saw an advanced screening today, was disappointed, and told my friend so on facebook. She asked me why, but since she hasn't seen it yet, and I don't want to spoil her too much, here is a list pertaining as too why I didn't like the movie. Just be forewarned, since I was writing it as a fb comment, it reads like one. A lot of it isn't as detailed as it could be, and I don't feel like going back and changing and writing more.
1) It was rushed. Big time. It was only 90 minutes long, and it just felt like big chunks were missing.
2) It did not feel all that lighthearted at all. There were some cute moments with Aang that made me smile, but most of what I laughed at wasn't meant to be laughed at.
3) They took out one of my favorite scenes, after the Blue Spirit saves Aang, and then Aang saves him. When Aang talks to Zuko, asking if he thought they might have been friends at a different time.
4) They pronounced all the names differently. Which is a small details, but it was Ahng, Sew-ka, Ear-oh, Ah-vatar. It was just annoying
5) They made Katara into the fawning fangirl. There was no badass Katara fight with Master Pakku. Sokka barely said anything, never mind being the meat and sarcasm guy. Although we at least saw the boomerang. But mo Kyoshi warriors, and no Suki. :(
6) Aang had issues with waterbending, and couldn't waterbend at all. It seemed like they took his issues with earthbending. and put them in this movie.
7) Katara did a lot of exposition and narration with the movie. You know how they tell you to show, not tell? Yeah, they didn't follow that rule.
8) General Zhao was not the villian he should have been.
9) I was not intimidated by Ozai at all. I think they should have done what the TV show had done, and not shown his face.
10) The ending. It just didn't resonate with me, and didn't make sense to me at all. They changed too much from the original, and I'm wondering how they will continue, considering what they've changed.
Edited to add 11) Why is Monk Gyatso a young black man instead of an elderly tibetan monk? It just doesn't make sense! Also, Avatar Roku was married, so why would they tell Aang he can't have a family. And what 11 year old do you know that would get upset at not being able to have a family. They would be upset at having so much responsibility at such a young age (just like in the TV show!) so why add the extra, and unbelievable, info?
12) Going off of 11 in a way, it annoys me just how much M Night ignored from the original show, and how much of that was what was based on the Asian culture. Something as simple as Katara's kimono was crossed the wrong way, right over left, which indicates death.
13) Also going off of 11. The racebending in this movie was just fail. Katara and Sokka, two characters from the water tribe, which is obviously based on Inuit cultures, are white. Aang is white, although his culture is based on the Tibetan monks. The bad guys are darker skinned (except for Monk Gyatso for some random reason.), and the Earthbenders are asian, but are presented as passive and downtrodden until the white people show up to give inspiring speeches and set them free. In fact, their whole trip isn't about going to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang can learn waterbending from a master, it's to go to all the Earth Kingdom villages to set them free. Aang doesn't even get the idea to go there until a dragon in the spirit world tells him to, because he needs to save the moon spirit.
14) Grandma mentions that the last time the firebenders invaded the south water tribe was when they took away her friend, Hama. Yeah, nice nod to the TV show, but guess what? Sokka and Katara had to deal with Firebender invasions when they were younger, because they came LOOKING FOR KATARA! AND HER MOTHER SACRAFICES HERSELF TO SAVE KATARA. Just sayin.
At this point I'm just getting nitpicky. Which I tend to do after movies. Never talk to me after a Harry Potter movie. It just ain't worth it. And honestly, I could keep going on and on, but I've gotten most of it out. And reading through it, a lot might not make sense, considering it's late and I keep adding random stuff. This started off as 7 points, and has grown double in size. The last one is the most nitpicky, so feel free to ignore that one.
I was sitting next to a couple of big fans, and they seemed to agree with me, they were swearing all throughout the movie. I heard a lot of people saying it was a horrible movie as I was leaving. I'm just sad, because it could have been epic, and it wasn't. It tried, but just couldn't reach the level it needed.
And so I leave you with this:
I couldn't find the bigger gif version (if one even exists), so you're stuck with this.
I'm posting this because I saw an advanced screening today, was disappointed, and told my friend so on facebook. She asked me why, but since she hasn't seen it yet, and I don't want to spoil her too much, here is a list pertaining as too why I didn't like the movie. Just be forewarned, since I was writing it as a fb comment, it reads like one. A lot of it isn't as detailed as it could be, and I don't feel like going back and changing and writing more.
1) It was rushed. Big time. It was only 90 minutes long, and it just felt like big chunks were missing.
2) It did not feel all that lighthearted at all. There were some cute moments with Aang that made me smile, but most of what I laughed at wasn't meant to be laughed at.
3) They took out one of my favorite scenes, after the Blue Spirit saves Aang, and then Aang saves him. When Aang talks to Zuko, asking if he thought they might have been friends at a different time.
4) They pronounced all the names differently. Which is a small details, but it was Ahng, Sew-ka, Ear-oh, Ah-vatar. It was just annoying
5) They made Katara into the fawning fangirl. There was no badass Katara fight with Master Pakku. Sokka barely said anything, never mind being the meat and sarcasm guy. Although we at least saw the boomerang. But mo Kyoshi warriors, and no Suki. :(
6) Aang had issues with waterbending, and couldn't waterbend at all. It seemed like they took his issues with earthbending. and put them in this movie.
7) Katara did a lot of exposition and narration with the movie. You know how they tell you to show, not tell? Yeah, they didn't follow that rule.
8) General Zhao was not the villian he should have been.
9) I was not intimidated by Ozai at all. I think they should have done what the TV show had done, and not shown his face.
10) The ending. It just didn't resonate with me, and didn't make sense to me at all. They changed too much from the original, and I'm wondering how they will continue, considering what they've changed.
Edited to add 11) Why is Monk Gyatso a young black man instead of an elderly tibetan monk? It just doesn't make sense! Also, Avatar Roku was married, so why would they tell Aang he can't have a family. And what 11 year old do you know that would get upset at not being able to have a family. They would be upset at having so much responsibility at such a young age (just like in the TV show!) so why add the extra, and unbelievable, info?
12) Going off of 11 in a way, it annoys me just how much M Night ignored from the original show, and how much of that was what was based on the Asian culture. Something as simple as Katara's kimono was crossed the wrong way, right over left, which indicates death.
13) Also going off of 11. The racebending in this movie was just fail. Katara and Sokka, two characters from the water tribe, which is obviously based on Inuit cultures, are white. Aang is white, although his culture is based on the Tibetan monks. The bad guys are darker skinned (except for Monk Gyatso for some random reason.), and the Earthbenders are asian, but are presented as passive and downtrodden until the white people show up to give inspiring speeches and set them free. In fact, their whole trip isn't about going to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang can learn waterbending from a master, it's to go to all the Earth Kingdom villages to set them free. Aang doesn't even get the idea to go there until a dragon in the spirit world tells him to, because he needs to save the moon spirit.
14) Grandma mentions that the last time the firebenders invaded the south water tribe was when they took away her friend, Hama. Yeah, nice nod to the TV show, but guess what? Sokka and Katara had to deal with Firebender invasions when they were younger, because they came LOOKING FOR KATARA! AND HER MOTHER SACRAFICES HERSELF TO SAVE KATARA. Just sayin.
At this point I'm just getting nitpicky. Which I tend to do after movies. Never talk to me after a Harry Potter movie. It just ain't worth it. And honestly, I could keep going on and on, but I've gotten most of it out. And reading through it, a lot might not make sense, considering it's late and I keep adding random stuff. This started off as 7 points, and has grown double in size. The last one is the most nitpicky, so feel free to ignore that one.
I was sitting next to a couple of big fans, and they seemed to agree with me, they were swearing all throughout the movie. I heard a lot of people saying it was a horrible movie as I was leaving. I'm just sad, because it could have been epic, and it wasn't. It tried, but just couldn't reach the level it needed.
And so I leave you with this:
I couldn't find the bigger gif version (if one even exists), so you're stuck with this.