The Last Airbender (or How I Learned to Stop Fanboying and Dislike a Movie)
Note: Yes I'm totally ripping off Dr. Strangelove. No I don't really know much about the movie other than it is awesome, according to a lot of my friends. I haven't really seen it all that much.
So I went to see The Last Airbender this afternoon. There were plans that were made to see it opening night however horrible reviews by critics and long travel times made those plans slip to the following day, and then further, until I finally I found some time today to see a matinée. It was both my love of the series it is based off of and a review by Movie Bob that made me go see it. Otherwise I can't say I'd recommend this movie to anyone other than those people who are already going to go see it despite whatever I may say. I'm not expressly saying don't go see it but if you're already on the fence, don't go see it, and if you do go see it, go see it matinée. For those of you who have never seven seen the television series, I actually do suggest you don't see this movie until you have at least watched the first season.
So for those of you who don't know, The Last Airbender is based off a cartoon called Avatar: The Last Airbender, distributed by Nicklodean Studios and created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It is a story about a world where people are born with the ability to control the four natural elements of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, called "Bending". Around these four elements, four nations grew and lived together peacefully under the guidance of the Avatar, the one person who can bend all four elements. The show, which is 3 seasons long, focuses on young boy named Aang, who the newest Avatar after the Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. During that time, the Nation of Fire took advantage of the Avatar's absence and waged a war upon the other three nations. Aang and his friends travel the world, trying to prepare him to face the leader of the Fire Nation before the world loses the war.
Despite the seriousness of the synopsis, the television show does an excellent job of presenting an interesting world for both children and adults to enjoy. The premise, characterization, and breadth of the story intrigue older viewers, while the story, animation, and humor engage children. I have even heard the show is popular among the teenage age group as well. If you have no seen the series, I highly suggest you give the first few episodes a try.
But this blog post deals with The Last Airbender, not Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am not going to make an exhaustive review of this, simply because I'm not sure the movie warrants it. The movie, unlike the television show, was written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan and while I have enjoyed all his past movies, I can't say I enjoyed this one and of all the problems I can think of, they all rest more or less on Shyamalan shoulders.
So what was wrong with this movie? What makes it the first really bad review I'm ever going to give a movie? Well when it comes down to it, it is how the story was told. The movie consists of an excessive amount of scenes told at "The speed of kid", that is to say just enough to get the point across with dialog or visuals, then moving on to the next scene. One might say that it had an action film feel to it, except that the majority of scenes were exposition and dialog rather than action. Being a fan of the television show, I pretty much understood everything that was going on but I feel bad for any who aren't. I have a hard time believing that without a history of the story, people could actually follow what was going on. To compound the issue, the acting in the film wasn't really all that great. Often times I will hear a friend claim that a movie wasn't well acted when I didn't really see anything wrong with the performances but this time it was painfully obvious. Shots lingered where children just kind of stood around. Lines were delivered unemotionally or with hesitation. This was not limited to just the child actors either, sadly.
Now I'm sure you've heard other reviews. Some will tell you the entire movie is nothing but bad. I can't agree with that. But we all know I find entertainment in areas where most won't even bother to look. But some reviews have commented that there are certain aspects of the film which are worth seeing such as the cinematography, costuming, special effects, and the action. Well I can agree with two and a half of those things, total. The costuming for the film was excellent and interesting. I loved the invention of it all. The cinematography was good but odd cuts seem to dull its effect a little. Where I differ from most people who seem to want to find something good about the film is the special effects and the action. While the special effects are up to ILM's usual level of awesomeness, how they were used in the film was somewhat lack luster. Most of the best action scenes are already in the trailer and the rest come out looking somewhat flat. While I understand why fire bending was changed to require a source, it somewhat lost its offensive action thrill when fireballs had to fly from a near by torch. To nitpick, it felt like a majority of the action scenes if they required bending, felt rather flat in their action. And to make matters were, there were exceptionally few of them.
Ultimately the reason why I think The Last Airbender fails is because it made a serious kid's movie. It had the pacing and dialog of a child's film, with the tone, atmosphere, and special effects of an adult action film. It lacks that finesse that Avatar: The Last Airbender managed between being having humor children adore, a world adults found interesting, and a story that both could share. This movie lacked the humor but kept the pacing, shortened the story to almost nothing, and presented the world far too quickly for anybody to understand. But at least the fire looked real?
Oh and Appa looked like a reject from Where the Wild Things Are.
I have other nitpicks but honestly, I'm not sure they're worth saying. So no spoiler section. If you have a complaint or praise of the movie, comments are going to be declared a spoiler zone by default.
So I went to see The Last Airbender this afternoon. There were plans that were made to see it opening night however horrible reviews by critics and long travel times made those plans slip to the following day, and then further, until I finally I found some time today to see a matinée. It was both my love of the series it is based off of and a review by Movie Bob that made me go see it. Otherwise I can't say I'd recommend this movie to anyone other than those people who are already going to go see it despite whatever I may say. I'm not expressly saying don't go see it but if you're already on the fence, don't go see it, and if you do go see it, go see it matinée. For those of you who have never seven seen the television series, I actually do suggest you don't see this movie until you have at least watched the first season.
So for those of you who don't know, The Last Airbender is based off a cartoon called Avatar: The Last Airbender, distributed by Nicklodean Studios and created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It is a story about a world where people are born with the ability to control the four natural elements of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, called "Bending". Around these four elements, four nations grew and lived together peacefully under the guidance of the Avatar, the one person who can bend all four elements. The show, which is 3 seasons long, focuses on young boy named Aang, who the newest Avatar after the Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. During that time, the Nation of Fire took advantage of the Avatar's absence and waged a war upon the other three nations. Aang and his friends travel the world, trying to prepare him to face the leader of the Fire Nation before the world loses the war.
Despite the seriousness of the synopsis, the television show does an excellent job of presenting an interesting world for both children and adults to enjoy. The premise, characterization, and breadth of the story intrigue older viewers, while the story, animation, and humor engage children. I have even heard the show is popular among the teenage age group as well. If you have no seen the series, I highly suggest you give the first few episodes a try.
But this blog post deals with The Last Airbender, not Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am not going to make an exhaustive review of this, simply because I'm not sure the movie warrants it. The movie, unlike the television show, was written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan and while I have enjoyed all his past movies, I can't say I enjoyed this one and of all the problems I can think of, they all rest more or less on Shyamalan shoulders.
So what was wrong with this movie? What makes it the first really bad review I'm ever going to give a movie? Well when it comes down to it, it is how the story was told. The movie consists of an excessive amount of scenes told at "The speed of kid", that is to say just enough to get the point across with dialog or visuals, then moving on to the next scene. One might say that it had an action film feel to it, except that the majority of scenes were exposition and dialog rather than action. Being a fan of the television show, I pretty much understood everything that was going on but I feel bad for any who aren't. I have a hard time believing that without a history of the story, people could actually follow what was going on. To compound the issue, the acting in the film wasn't really all that great. Often times I will hear a friend claim that a movie wasn't well acted when I didn't really see anything wrong with the performances but this time it was painfully obvious. Shots lingered where children just kind of stood around. Lines were delivered unemotionally or with hesitation. This was not limited to just the child actors either, sadly.
Now I'm sure you've heard other reviews. Some will tell you the entire movie is nothing but bad. I can't agree with that. But we all know I find entertainment in areas where most won't even bother to look. But some reviews have commented that there are certain aspects of the film which are worth seeing such as the cinematography, costuming, special effects, and the action. Well I can agree with two and a half of those things, total. The costuming for the film was excellent and interesting. I loved the invention of it all. The cinematography was good but odd cuts seem to dull its effect a little. Where I differ from most people who seem to want to find something good about the film is the special effects and the action. While the special effects are up to ILM's usual level of awesomeness, how they were used in the film was somewhat lack luster. Most of the best action scenes are already in the trailer and the rest come out looking somewhat flat. While I understand why fire bending was changed to require a source, it somewhat lost its offensive action thrill when fireballs had to fly from a near by torch. To nitpick, it felt like a majority of the action scenes if they required bending, felt rather flat in their action. And to make matters were, there were exceptionally few of them.
Ultimately the reason why I think The Last Airbender fails is because it made a serious kid's movie. It had the pacing and dialog of a child's film, with the tone, atmosphere, and special effects of an adult action film. It lacks that finesse that Avatar: The Last Airbender managed between being having humor children adore, a world adults found interesting, and a story that both could share. This movie lacked the humor but kept the pacing, shortened the story to almost nothing, and presented the world far too quickly for anybody to understand. But at least the fire looked real?
Oh and Appa looked like a reject from Where the Wild Things Are.
I have other nitpicks but honestly, I'm not sure they're worth saying. So no spoiler section. If you have a complaint or praise of the movie, comments are going to be declared a spoiler zone by default.