So.. that new Airbender movie?
It was like watching the abridged version of the cartoon Book 1 series... rushed! Other than that, I guess it was okay.
Since I had seen the cartoon in its entirety beforehand, I was ready for it to not to be close. But it still got to me at how some of the characters didn't even look like the cartoon counterparts. I kept wondering if Zuko really was of Indian descent here (yes, I had seen the SlumDog Millionaire... this was not helping my brain), then why did his father and almost everyone else in the Fire nation elite army look Roman? Wait, wait.. don't tell me, his long lost mother would also be Indian? As for the whole Fire Nation = Roman empire... kind of makes sense for the movie to make the "whole world" feel more worldly, rather than just Asian concentric as in the cartoon. (I'll admit, I was equating the Fire Nation to the Asian communist regime, with a bit of Japanese warmongering thrown in.)
Also started to think that the actor for Master Pakku looked a lot more like Iroh than Shaun Toub. Not that there was anything wrong with Shaun, just that I had gotten used to Iroh being the short n chubby one. ;p
The martial arts was good for the slower tai chi forms and the water bending, but the faster actions scenes and battles... still kind of amatuerish for live action. Too many slo-mo moments. But prolly becuase I got spoiled from watching the really good martial arts films. And Peter Jackson's style of movie making! M. Night Shyamalan just doesn't have the same kind of talent or timing that the orginal Avatar creators had.
I'm currently mixed with curiosity and horror to know that they will be making two more movies for the other two books. Book 2 and 3 from the cartoon series were my favorites. *feeble laugh*
Since I had seen the cartoon in its entirety beforehand, I was ready for it to not to be close. But it still got to me at how some of the characters didn't even look like the cartoon counterparts. I kept wondering if Zuko really was of Indian descent here (yes, I had seen the SlumDog Millionaire... this was not helping my brain), then why did his father and almost everyone else in the Fire nation elite army look Roman? Wait, wait.. don't tell me, his long lost mother would also be Indian? As for the whole Fire Nation = Roman empire... kind of makes sense for the movie to make the "whole world" feel more worldly, rather than just Asian concentric as in the cartoon. (I'll admit, I was equating the Fire Nation to the Asian communist regime, with a bit of Japanese warmongering thrown in.)
Also started to think that the actor for Master Pakku looked a lot more like Iroh than Shaun Toub. Not that there was anything wrong with Shaun, just that I had gotten used to Iroh being the short n chubby one. ;p
The martial arts was good for the slower tai chi forms and the water bending, but the faster actions scenes and battles... still kind of amatuerish for live action. Too many slo-mo moments. But prolly becuase I got spoiled from watching the really good martial arts films. And Peter Jackson's style of movie making! M. Night Shyamalan just doesn't have the same kind of talent or timing that the orginal Avatar creators had.
I'm currently mixed with curiosity and horror to know that they will be making two more movies for the other two books. Book 2 and 3 from the cartoon series were my favorites. *feeble laugh*