>flying dog
Rest of review to be read in blinding red filter mode.

"I was at test screening of Avatar: The Last Airbender in suburban Chicago today. Pretty much the standard deal - incomplete special effects, sound design, likely not the final cut, etc. I've seen a couple episodes of the series before, but I've never been a fan. I know nothing about the story, characters, any of it. When we walked into the theater and were told that we were seeing TLA I didn't have any strong reaction one way or the other.

The friend went with is a fan of the show, and she told me it roughly covered the first season. For those who haven't seen the show I'll give a brief non-spoiler review: The Shyamalan Twist is that this universe contains no character development and you have to pay another $20 over the next few years to get any feeling of closure. Not too hot. Moving on…

I'll start with the good, don't want to be too much of a downer. First off, the elemental effects (which were… 60% finished?) are fucking sweet. They strike a great balance between realistic and cool. The action sequences are filmed well (though the non-action parts contain some questionable shots) and everything has a very satisfying weight to it. However, once things start to go Helm's Deep in the last third of the movie, they bring in those "300" slow-motion zooms from the Super Bowl spot. I thought they were overused and strangely out of place, since the action up to that point had been shot rather "traditionally," but I suppose it's the current trend in action movies so I'll suck it up and won't hold it against them. For the most part, the action in the movie is pretty good.

The not-so-good is most everything else. The child actors are terrible, especially (excuse me while I consult IMDB for character and location names, since the movie rarely pauses to let you care or remember anybody) Aang and Katara. When it comes to doing anything remotely serious the cheese-o-meter goes through the roof. Shyamalan also gets Dev Patel to channel his best Anakin Skywalker.

Dude, NO.

>>14982332
cont
"The script is the real problem, though. The dialogue is terrible throughout, often unintentionally funny and occasionally not making sense at all. The whole movie is effectively a bullet-point outline of the first season, and man oh man, does it show. It starts with awkward narration by Katara (who sounds oddly on the verge of tears) which briefly sums up the world before jumping right into her and Sokka finding Aang.


At no point in the movie did I feel confused or lost by what was going on, but it always, always felt RUSHED. We're given the information that is directly needed to follow the story, and then it's right on to the next thing


The best example of this comes maybe 2/3 in. Our heroes get to the Northern Water Tribe, and Sokka is immediately hot for Princess Yue. We cut to something else for a bit, and when we get back Sokka and Yue are surprisingly intimate with each other. We understand that time has passed (if only because somebody has a throwaway line akin to "well we've been here a while now, huh?"), but the way these characters are suddenly close felt entirely out of left field. My friend tells me that Sokka chases every girl he sees in the show but this is not conveyed in the film at all, and they've told us quite literally nothing at all about Yue at this point. Shyamalan seems to recognize this, though, and as soon as we cut back to the now buddy-buddy Sokka and Yue we're suddenly given her entire backstory. Sokka makes the mistake of mentioning Yue's white hair and she goes off on her past for minute as Sokka (and the audience) just kind of stand there. The characters and the story ultimately make sense, but the way in which it's delivered feels incredibly rushed - and at many times downright out of order."

>>14982340
cont
This point of the movie is also where it went from kind of bad to flat-out BAD.

Once the shit starts to hit the fan, it becomes painfully obvious that… it doesn't feel like the shit is hitting the fan. The Fire Dudes are coming to mess up the Northern Water Tribe, but there is absolutely zero sense of tension or danger. The movie hasn't been building up to it. We haven't been given a reason to like any of the Water Tribe people or even our heroes, nor do we particularly hate the Fire people.

When Yue has to sacrifice herself at the end, it's supposed to be a huge emotional thing, but I simply didn't give a damn, since she's a cardboard cutout. It's all a bunch of people running around doing stuff with no arc or flow, following their bullet points and ending abruptly.

I do have to mention that the a scene from the ending of the movie has set the current bar for the best unintentional punchline of 2010. It involves Aasif Mandvi, a fish, and a zoom into the eyes of a dude doing his best Incredible Hulk face."

>>14982332
This was the 2nd review, btw
Here's the third
"Longtime reader and sometime reviewer here. I was part of the test screening tonight of M. Night Shyamalan's THE LAST AIRBENDER in Warrenville, Illinois. As soon as I saw the non-disclosure agreement said Paramount Pictures, my hopes of it being INCEPTION were shattered. I tried to go in with positivity but it was hard in the wake of THE HAPPENING and THE LADY IN THE WATER. I was a big Shyamalan fan. UNBREAKABLE is one of my favorite movies from the past ten years. I tried to not let my disdain show on my face as we entered the auditorium. We had the standard rigmarole that the film was not complete and it had temporary music.

The movie opens with one of the most convoluted and rushed explanatory montages I have ever seen. I am not very versed in the AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER cartoon so I am sure it made sense to fans of the show. Basically, you have the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water and each element has a nation of people. Within those nations are people called Benders who are able to harness the power in a pseudo-martial arts kind of way. They can attack using their element only after performing complicated moves that result in no physical contact. There is one Bender who, like the Dalai Llama, is reincarnated ever generation with the ability to manipulate all four elements.

This being is known as the Avatar, or Ahvuhtar, depending on how the actor pronounces it. But, the last Avatar has been missing for 100 years. In that time the Fire Nation has built metal war machines and taken control of the world. It is now time for the Avatar to return. Blah, blah, blah. All of this is explained in the first five minutes, literally."

>>14982363
cont
"The title card then reads Book One: Water. I was hoping they were going Tarantino on us and dividing the movie into chapters, but the entire movie is Book One. We open in the Southern Water Kingdom which appears to be an Inuit Village. Here we are introduced to Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone, mandatory TWILIGHT actor).

These actors could quite possibly be the worst two actors I have seen in a long time. I partially hope their is CGI to be added to their acting as they delivered each line as if this was a high school play. They stumble upon Aang, the Last Airbender of the title, frozen in a giant bubble with his weird dragon creature that reminded me of Falkor with Down's Syndrome. I know that is harsh, but when you see it you will know what I mean. We really get little explanation as to why or how he is frozen. Quickly the Fire Nation gets involved in the form of banished Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) who overacts so much in his first scenes I could not forgive him the rest of the film. Aang is taken away and then found again, which seems to repeat through the film.

While Aang, Sokka, and Katara venture to help Aang learn all four elements and save the world, Zuko is trying to catch them with his Uncle Iroh (the only excellent performance in the film from Shaun Toub). We also meet Admiral Zhao (Aasif Mandvi from THE DAILY SHOW) who is kind of the Grand Moff Tarkin of this film. He is trying to catch the Avatar for Fire Lord Ozai (always dependable Cliff Curtis) so the Fire Nation can rule the world.

>>14982373

Along the way, Aang makes numerous stops at meditation locations to speak with the Dragon Spirit who gives him fortune cookie advice on his path to greatness. The whole film climaxes at the Northern Water Nation (why there are two Water Nations, I have no idea) in a sequence eerily reminiscent of the Battle of Helms Deep, right down to the soldier uniforms and castle design. I mean, it is so much of a copycat sequence that I have to cry plagiarism on the set designers. The film ends with the setup for the sequel along with a final scene with the Fire Lord that is tonally perfect.

There is so much wrong with this movie that I can just sum it up with this: Shyamalan is done. He is creatively spent. The film bares little to no visual distinctiveness to set it apart from Percy Jackson or any other generic Harry Potter wannabee. Shyamalan has maintained his trademark shitty dialogue. While Peltz and Rathbone are unforgivablely bad actors, everyone from Dev Patel to Cliff Curtis have no choice but to overact to match the hammy, heavy handed, telegraphed dialogue. And while my wife thought Aasif Madvi was good as the villainous Zhao, he just fell flat for me. When you cast a funny comedic actor from The Daily Show as your primary villain you cannot expect to be taken seriously as a movie.

>>14982384
THE GOOD:

The final 30 minute "Helms Deep for Kids" sequence was well paced and fun to watch

Dev Patel in the final two acts of the film.

The action sequences are filmed clearly and without the Bourne shaky cam that pervades in action movies these days. Also a proper and sparing use of slow motion.

Shaun Toub in the entire movie is worth watching.

The one on one fight sequences are pretty cool visually. Think "Voldemort versus Dumbledore for Kids"

THE BAD:

Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone are unbearably bad.

Shyamalan's screenplay is absolute dreck. His dialogue is embarassingly bad.

The editing is atrocious. The movie is not slow, just incomprehensible.

JUST POST A LINK, DUMBFUCK

>>14982389

THE UGLY:

I must highlight this one scene (MAJOR SPOILER!!!!!!!!!)

The Fire Nation believes that the only way it can defeat the Water Nation is by killing the Moon Spirit, which takes the form of a Koi fish. General Zhao captures the fish in a bag and, after saying something menacing, PUNCHES THE FISH TO DEATH. I am not joking. He punches the fucking fish to death.

The entire audience applauded at the end of the film but I could not bring myself to do it. This was a bad movie. As a movie fan, I hated it. As a film geek, I despised it. As a Shyamalan fan, it ended any hope I had for him as a director or a writer.

But, as the father of two young boys, I know they will enjoy this movie. If the studio gets a PG rating, they are swimming in dough. There was zero blood and only two characters die. I honestly do not think I saw a single soldier killed at all in the entire movie, just knocked unconscious by an elemental attack. I know that this will appeal to most kids, but I feel sorry for the parents who have to sit through it with them."

U EXCITE, /CO/?

>>14982393
or you could read it all here

>No citation.

I fully expected it to go this way, but still can't help but to feel disappointed.

Cool link bro.

>>14982428
>>14982450
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44143

>>14982428
>>14982393
>WHAT IS THIS "GOOGLE" YOU SPEAK OF?
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/44143

I'm just pissed off that the animated specials, the ones that were SUPPOSED TO FINISH OFF THE ENTIRE STORY ARC, were cancelled because the studio suits wanted to focus more on this trainwreck.

http://www.aintitcool.com

Well there's your problem.

>>14982497
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TELEVISION BUSINESS!

>>14982498
AICN is everyone's problem.

>Aasif Mandvi

And now everyone, Commander Zhao: our senior Fire Nation correspondent.

>>14982389
>Think "Voldemort versus Dumbledore for Kids"

But Voldemort versus Dumbledore WAS for kids. And it sucked.

Is anyone really, honestly, ACTUALLY surprised?

I mean, it IS M. Night Shamadong.

>I honestly do not think I saw a single soldier killed at all in the entire movie

yup. it's avatar alright.

>The Shyamalan Twist is that this universe contains no character development and you have to pay another $20 over the next few years to get any feeling of closure.

Ouch.

I knew that this would be a bad movie, but taking out the character development? Night's a master troll.

This is the same man who once wrote a movie, that was rejected by the studio as being "psychotically egotistical" about how only he can save the world from... mermaids? I don't really remember.

Anywho, yeah, not surprised.

>>14982703
>This is the same man who once wrote a movie, that was rejected by the studio as being "psychotically egotistical" about how only he can save the world from... mermaids?
Can't. Stop. Laughing.

Reviews say their opinion, not facts.

>>14982703
I'd watch it. It would be probably better than transformers.

>>14982723
>implying reviews are invalid
>even when they have the same opinion

>>14982723
According to this opinions, Avatar the movie sucks dick.

I will be waiting here for release date when you post crying bitch tears at this movie.

>>14982703
I AM THE HERO ATLANTIS DESERVES

>>14982725
it's called lady in the water
came out a couple years ago

>>14982723

Oh, come on. Do you really think that this movie is going to be secretly awesome?

It'll be in the same pile that the Spirit, Elektra, and Fantastic Four 2 ended up in.

>>14982731
>>14982732
>>14982741

I honestly don't know if it's going to be good or bad. It's just everyone in this thread is taking this review as fact. I respect his opinions, but I may disagree with them.

Everything is just as bad as I expected it to be.

"The friend went with is a fan of the show, and she told me it roughly covered the first season. For those who haven't seen the show I'll give a brief non-spoiler review: The Shyamalan Twist is that this universe contains no character development and you have to pay another $20 over the next few years to get any feeling of closure. Not too hot. Moving on…"

lol

>>14982741
I never thought the entire movie would be secretly awesome, but I always kinda hoped it wouldn't be dramaticly terrible. just average, middle of the road kids flic, like harry potter or city of ember. I'm still holding out until I see it for myself, but from the sounds of these reviews; it doesn't look good.

>>14982756
Are you actually expecting a Shymalan movie to be good.

>>14982756
so why are you saging?

>>14982794
Honestly, I forgot to delete it.

>Shyamalan also gets Dev Patel to channel his best Anakin Skywalker.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Welp, can't say I'm surprised.

Oh well.

I find the lack of Suki disturbing.

>>14983038
she'll probably have a cameo in this one as a fighter with a line in a short kyoshi scene, only to come back in book 2 and 3 for increasing amounts of screen time each movie.

>General Zhao captures the fish in a bag and, after saying something menacing, PUNCHES THE FISH TO DEATH. I am not joking. He punches the fucking fish to death.

laughing so hard

>The entire audience applauded at the end of the film

I don't understand. If the movie sucked why are people doing this? Also people are saying the actors are good and others are saying they aren't. Oh well, I'll form an opinion when I see it.

>>14983038
She's in it

The first book was the worst one of them anyway (not saying it sucked just saying the other 2 are way better) Lot of introductions and flashbacks

>>14983145
>Why are people doing this?
Because its a test screening. If they like it they applaud. People who worked on it are in the crowd

>>14983128
>He punches the fucking fish to death
My intrest in this movie just went from none to some. Zhao confirmed for Raul Julia tier.

>General Zhao captures the fish in a bag and, after saying something menacing, PUNCHES THE FISH TO DEATH. I am not joking. He punches the fucking fish to death.

I'm going to go see it for this scene, if nothing else.

>>14983180
why doesn't he just fireblast the fish like he does in the show. maybe the fish cracks wise about his mutton chops or flips him off or something...

>>14983195

Well, that's no fun! Haven't YOU ever wanted to PUNCH a FISH to DEATH!?

>>14983210
Yes.

>>14983210
If I could weild mystical fire sorcercy I would grill a fish to death, with my bare hands. punching just seems like a waste of effort.

>>14983247

Why not punch it WITH FLAMING FISTS?

>>14983303
Why not punch it with FLAMING LIPS?

>>14983314

Wait, so you bludgeon it to death with burning kisses?


...kinky.

>>14983303
I'm not convinced this isn't what the reviewer means.
Anyway, it sounds to me like the majority of the negative comments are coming from either people who couldn't be arsed to pay attention to the backstory, or else people who are OMG TRUE FILM BUFFS, so I remain positive.

>>14983325

Nah, he means punch it with a copy of Flaming Lip's latest album, Embryonic.

>>14983325
You need to listen to some Flaming Lips. And no, I'm not asking you to go to /b/. /mu/.

Well, when they eventually make a Naruto live action movie you guys will have Avatar in movie form done right.

>>14982648

>>14982741
>It'll be in the same pile that the Spirit, Elektra, and Fantastic Four 2 ended up in.

hold on there, sparky. FF2 was radically better than FF1.

>>14983371

It was still straight2dvd shit.

>>14983371
>FF 2 was better than the first one

THIS JUST IN: Condensing an entire season into a single movie results in something not as good as the season.
You heard it here folks.
What an unexpected development.

>>14983145
PEOPLE ARE STUPID

HAVE YOU NOT FIGURED THIS OUT YET

AVATAR (Cameron)

IS POPULAR

It doesn't have to be good for people to think it is.

>>14983169
>>14983180
please don't.
>>14983395
As well as getting shitty out of character actors, a shitty writer, a shitty director and everything else.

>>14983407
Avatar (TLA) isn't so popular that they were likely to completely fill a theater at random with people who would lap up the movie no matter how shit it is.

So does M. Night just hate Asians or something?

>>14983395

Well, Watchmen condensed 12 issues into a 2 1/2 hour movie, and it seemed to do pretty good for itself.

The point is, we have the cartoon. This is what /tv/ gets. We should be proud.

>>14983448
pretty sure the general public hated it though

In these kind of cases, fans of the show tend to fill in the blanks without thinking about it. I do believe it's going to be huge dissapointment, but I also think that they will get progressively better...

I'll watch it just to see how bad the twilight-guy acting is.

Katara starts the series at 14+ years old (I think, Wikipedia only mentions that she won some water-bending competition at 14). In the pictures that I've seen of the movie, she looks like she's 10. Same with Aang and Sokku. The fuck.

Way too young of kids.

>>14983420
Even if it sucks it'll at least be amusing. Pic related.

>>14983447
Shymalan is Asian, dude.

>>14983511
Which is weird, considering that all of them are the same age or older than their characters.

>>14983515
>Shymalan is Asian, dude.
He's an native american, says so on wiki.

>>14983448
Enjoy your giant blue penis.

Watchmen sucked. So will this movie.

>>14982316
do they explain why the lead characters are white and everyone else isn't?

>>14983551

Because we live in America, duh!

>>14983551
Because Shyalaman wants to suck up to the powerful white man.

>>14983540

If the only thing going for the movie was a blue penis appears. never erect though at least that's one thing.

What does TLA have going for it?

>implying there are several asian actors he had the choice of picking from
>implying the cartoon is explicit in it's cast of asians
>implying it really matters if they dont have slits for eyes and straight black hair in the movie, which would be just like the cartoon clearly

there. now don't start on the asian bullshit and feed the troll any more.

>>14983560
He still looks 16, and he will look 16 for another thirty years.

>>14983527
Michael Cera still plays 16-year old teenagers, and he's 21. Same with Jerry Trainor, who is 30-something but plays Carly's 26-year old brother in iCarly.

Weird how this movie makes the kids look wayyy too young though... =/

>>14983585
Lol, true that.

>>14983579
apparently good action scenes. whine more

>>14982620
...Azula still looks decent.
That's all I'm saying.

Also, anyne think it's possible to get a second movie...but with someone else to make it?

Azula and Toph were my two favorite chartacters...

>>14983551
Because Heil Hitler!

So let me get this straight: the Slumdog Millionaire kid plays Zuko and the Daily Show correspondent plays Zhao. Even though the Fire Nation had some of the whitest people of the show, now they're a nation of niggers and Kwik-e-mart clerks?

>>14983733
I blame the guy who made this movie.
I can't spell his last name, so I'm not even going to try...

>>14983536
He's Indian.
As in, from the subcontinent.

>>14983733
Shyamalan's son loves Zuko, so he made the Fire Nation characters Indian. I'm surprised he didn't cast himself as Roku...

>>14983614

There weren't any action scenes in Watchmen?

>>14983733
The Fire Nation were clearly Japanese. The Earth Nation were the Southern Asian nations. Water Tribe was Native American/Inuit, and the Air Nomads were Indian.

this movie is made for people who watched the cartoon.

we can fill in the gaps. Simple as that.

>>14983733

Yes, but the movie's producers felt that there needed to be more diversity.

Get ready for Sassy Black Toph in the sequel!

>this movie is made for people who watched the cartoon
Movies should be able to stand on their own. If someone who has never watched the animated series can't follow along and enjoy/be entertained by the movie, then it was a waste of time to even make the movie in the first place.

>>14984071
Except the people who've already watched the cartoon already KNOW what happened in the first season, and would rather find out what happens after the third than see a re-hash of the first.

>>14983195
because in the movie they can't create fire, only manipulate it.

they need the comet to actualy make their own fire

>>14984091

>Bad dialogue

I HOPE they used the series dialogue.

>>14984187
that's the reason we have so many bad movies that are adapted from other things.

>>14984032
Uh, no. The Fire Nation is stated by the creators to be based off of the Northern Chinese, and the Air Nomads are Tibetan.

>>14984024

This. Shyamalan cast Indians in a movie where there was only one guy resembling a Indian (the Guru) because he's Indian and the rest are white because he's only used to white actors, which you can tell by his previous films. Other Asians not from the subcontinent apparently scare the living fuck out of him.

>>14983733
>Even though the Fire Nation had some of the whitest people of the show,

Avatar fans:
"If they have round eyes they're Asian, if they have squinty eyes they're white!"

>>14984032

It was stated that the Earth Kingdom was based Korean culture and styles while Air Nomads were more Tibetan monks.

Btw, I don't care how good Aasif Mandvi is as an actor, Zhao is a Chinese name and if you're going to give a Chinese role to an Indian and give white people names like Katara, Aang and Sokka, I'd better not hear you bitch when a black guy gets cast as Heimdall in Thor.

>>14984306

>>14984306
He's being literal. Their skin is the palest.

>>14984359
I sure haven't been bitching.
I'm pretty sure most of us haven't.

>>14984410

Which I don't get. They're in the warmer climate, they should be darker.

>>14984410
Toph's skin is the palest and she's still pretty obviously supposed to be Japanese.

>>14984306
Their eyes are like that because they are the bad guys.

>>14984433
this, toph better be played by a asian or at least japanese girl. not a damn nigger

OH GOD

IT'S GOT THE EXACT SAME PROBLEMS AS ERAGON

Live your life indoors and you will be pale, anon should know this... Toph is not japanese.

>>14984478
Except the part where the original media sucked just as bad as the movie.

Am I the only one that thought the world of Avatar was strictly populated by Asiatic-type people, the way Middle Earth was populated by European-type people? I mean yeah they had big eyes, that's one of the best ways to show emotional expression in animation. That doesn't automatically make everyone in the Avatar universe white, Jesus Christ. The clothes, the calligraphy, the names, the architecture...

I mean if I saw a bunch of Gallic script on European-style castles in some highlands populated by medieval knights and squires, I wouldn't assume they were Asian no matter how small their eyes.

>Live your life indoors and you will be pale, anon should know this

Based on the character names and based on the settings, etc., I had assumed that ALL of the characters were Asian. I thought that the darker-skinned characters were sort of like Near-Eastern people (India, etc.) and the lighter-skinned ones were like Far-Easterners (Japanese, Koreans, etc.).

As soon as I saw THOSE WHITE MOTHER FUCKING ACTORS

I knew this movie would be shit, white people and arabs ruin something else.

>>14984498
Well, that's up for debate in the case of Avatar.

>>14984478
Oh God, don't remind me. I had a 'friend' in my first year of college who would not shut up about Eragon, to the point of giving me his Eragon fanfiction to read and review.

We're not friends anymore.

>>14984566
There's a mix of skincolor all through asia, not limited to each individual country. With a name like Toph Wei-Fong (fuck I can't remember if that's correct) I would guess she is chinese...

>>14984455
They've already stated the earth kingdom will be based on africa

>>14984645
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>>14984645

in b4 a rapping zulu toph.

>>14984645
YAY

>>14984669

>>14984645

Heh...

>>14982497
this is the first time I've heard of this..I is sad.

>>14984530
I always figured it was because of the over-arching influence of one of the more powerful kingdoms, either Fire or Earth nation, early on in the Avatar-world's history. There are definitely different races, but the cultures are all Asian-inspired.

Some evidence: The abbey in the Earth Kingdom. Very western idea, but Eastern execution.

mai, azula and ty lee better be good looking

>>14984645
What

WHAT

I like how that one reviewer explained the plot of Avatar in 4 sentences then complained that the movie only explained it in 5 minutes.

>>14982497
well won't they get to work on them after the movies? or did they outright say they were canceled?

I don't see what you guys are complaining about. It'll be about as good as the Harry Potter movies.

Did you expect more or less?

>>14984645
>>14984669
THATS IT! i'm blowing up the planet!

You people who like avatar are in closet weeaboo's right?

Because you sound just like them.

>>14984530
>>Middle Earth was populated by European-type people
Except the Haradrim (Black or Middle Eastern), and the Easterlings (Middle Eastern or Asian).

>>14984624
Bei Fong. Close though.