Get Bent?

[word_geek]

Got a parenting/moviegoing dilemma. Sparky and I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender earlier this year, and loved it. Loved it. I think I may have liked it more than he did, actually. It had an excellent balance of high drama and comedy, kid stuff with adult stuff -- very appropriate for a story with a theme of balance. So we were both pretty

Comments

[free_laddicals]

I would say keep the promise and go, but go to a matinee and DO NOT see it in 3D.

Streaming Book One through Netflix via the Xbox, my four year old has been, "Next one, Daddy!" at the end of every episode. Whether this is because she enjoys the show are because she enjoys watching cartoons with Daddy, I don't know, but thankfully whatever enjoyment she gets is limited to the time the show is actually on, and there's been no interest in the movie from either of the girls. So I can do what you can't, and quietly ignore it until it, too, is on Netflix streaming.

I can't say I'm shocked, but I was hoping Shyamalan would push himself on this movie. Bringing his quiet, understated dourness to the vibrant and kinetic world of the Benders was probably the first of many missteps.

[free_laddicals]

I am disappointed, though, because I rewatched the trailer last night after reading some of the reviews, and even with that in mind, I still got a little thrill recognizing the moment in the trailer where Aang and Masked-Zuko are fighting back to back from the episode where Aang was looking for medicine for Sokka and Katara.

[word_geek]

I ruled out the 3D from the moment I heard it was post-converted. Fortunately, Sparky doesn't care. He hasn't seen a 3D movie yet, because he's not wild about the idea of wearing the glasses for two hours (unlike me, he doesn't need glasses in daily life, so he's not used to them).

Matinee was the original plan, although I'd toyed with the idea of Friday night, just for fun. But with the reviews, not to mention the hordes of Twilight fans, matinee is the way to go. Sadly, that doesn't save very much money in these parts.

I have to admit that the "Blue Spirit" moment in the trailer gave me a thrill too, as did any number of small things that I recognized from the show. My biggest concern was that there wouldn't be enough humor, but the last couple of trailers have had some "Sokka moments" that were making me feel better about that too. I think what we have here is a classic case of "great trailers, but now you don't need to see the movie."

[_kent]

I have to say, I think a lot of reviewers enjoy lining up to stick the boot into M. Night Shylamalan. Whilst I have no idea whether it's justified in this case, I don't feel that I can trust them anymore when they do.

[word_geek]

That's actually the worst part of this whole thing. I used to like Shyamalan. I want to like Shyamalan. He's Philadelphian! He makes big hit movies set in the Philadelphia area! Money and free publicity for the community! One of the counselors from Sparky's summer camp is an extra in Airbender...I went out myself to try to be an extra in The Village, but the line was hours long, so I didn't bother. The man should be a local treasure...and he was, for the first couple of movies, which I thought were great. Then I saw Signs, and came out of it thinking, "You're kidding me, right?" The Village dropped to Netflix levels, and again, the reaction was, "That's not really your big twist...oh, OK, it is."

The consensus that seems to be shaping up is that this movie isn't just bad, it's monumentally bad. It sets new standards of badness. When I was a teenager, I would have gone to see it just for that; I did see Waterworld in the theater, after all. Since I'm already locked in, I'm just going to have to try to recapture some of that

[_kent]

Oddly, I didn't hate Signs. There's something I kind of liked about the aliens not making a lick of sense.

Some instinct in me tells me that I should see this new film, and, as someone with no preconcieved ideas about what it should be like (not having seen Avatar at all), I might end up not being personally offended by it, in much the same way as I kind of enjoyed Speed Racer.

[word_geek]

"Hate" is a bit strong for my feeling about Signs. It was certainly moody and atmospheric, which was cool, but it fell down badly in the final act. And fairly or unfairly, the "big thing" people look forward to in Night's movies is the reveal, so if the reveal falls flat, the movie kind of unravels. So it was disappointing, more than anything. Also, it was disappointing for me in particular because there wasn't any place I particularly recognized in it. Sixth Sense and Unbreakable had a lot of Philadelphia locations that I've been to before, but Signs could have been any farm country, anywhere. I've been to upper Bucks County, sure, but it's not like there's a ton of landmarks up there.

As for Speed Racer, I implied in my comments at the time, but didn't say directly, that the only problem with the movie was that it was marketed to adults, in the same way that Transformers is, but the movie itself was very clearly for kids. Since I'd taken my kid, and I "figured it out" in the first couple of minutes, I was able to enjoy it

[_kent]

Oh, and in answer to your actual question, I took a mob of four year olds to see The Magic Roundabout one time. So yeah, a promise is a promise. Sometimes you just have to endure wretched cinema for your nearest and dearest.

I tell you what I would do, though; if there's anything good on this weekend that he wants to see also, double bill it, if he'll sit through two movies. Preferably with the good movie second.

[free_laddicals]

If you haven't seen "Toy Story 3", I imagine it would be a perfect palate cleanser as a double feature. Assuming Sparky wants to go. And if he doesn't, take him anyway - it was Pixar doing what they do best.

[word_geek]

No, that's a slightly different topic. Elora and I decided that given the price of tickets these days, we'd institute a "limit: one parent" rule on this summer's movies. The only real locks for Sparky were Karate Kid, Toy Story, and Last Airbender. So when Elora and I divided them up, I got all the ones with martial arts, and Elora got the rest. In short, Elora and Sparky saw it last week; I'm going to wait for DVD.

[fluffiana]

As long as the reviews aren't saying it's inappropriate for kids, I think you should go. Summer movies are supposed to be fun rather than deep anyway.

Besides, you will probably see more regrettable movies than this one in the name of kiddie entertainment over the course of your lifetime, even if it's just chaperoning a summer camp outing to Beverly Hills Chihuahua III or something similar ("I didn't realize that's what the day's activity was going to be!").