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Three AICN Readers -vs- THE LAST AIRBENDER!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Merrick here...
...with three reader reactions to M. Night Shyamalan's THE LAST AIRBENDER adaptation, which screened a day or two ago.
AIRBENDER opens in July. Because July's still a ways off, it's feasible some tweaks could be made to the final product before the film's official unveiling. So, please keep that in mind when evaluating the reviews below.
Know that all of these reviews contain some level of SPOILERS. All of them offer criticisms of the film, the last two reviews are a bit more pointed (one saying it could well work for kids but will blow for adults, the other calling it "flat-out BAD".
First up? Durka Durk...
So last night I was invited to a test screening of a "non-sequel blockbuster from a major motion picture studio". After a long ass wait in line, we finally were greeted by some yuppie old guy to tell us we are about to be the first in the world to see THE LAST AIRBENDER.
The movie starts out with a voiceover from Katara explaining the four tribes - Water Tribe, Earth Tribe, whatevertheycalledtheairbenders and Fire Nation - and explaining the idea of the avatar, reincarnated soul who can bend all four elements. The flick then dives right in, as within about fifteen minutes the avatar is found, released, captured, escapes, and proven to be the avatar.
Katara and her brother Sokka join the avatar and his flying dog as they travel around this world, stopping only to fight some punk ass members of the Fire Nation (who are basically trying to take over the world) or learn how to bend a different element (the movie focuses on him learning to bend water, but it's stated early on that Aang, the avatar, had only learned to bend air before he ended up where we meet him at the start of the movie). The threesome are chased by two different groups in the Fire Nation, one led by the Fire Chief's son, Prince Zuko (played by Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel) and the other by power hungry Commander Zhao (played by for Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi). Zuko wants to capture Aang to get his honor back - Zhao just wants more power. It all builds to a huge battle at a water tribe's city, basically.
The film tries to do too much to fast, and many relationships are half-formed or barely formed (particularly the relationship between Sokka and the water tribe's princess), and many of the scenes that include Patel as Zuko The Tortured Teenager were silly instead of dramatic. The film truly felt like it was missing a half-hour's worth of scenes. The good news, for the cartoon's fans: kid that plays Aang is awesome, Uncle Iroh is a joy on screen, and the action kicks some MAJOR ass.
If you use this call me Durka Durka.
Here's another perspective from never_knows_best...
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. 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.
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.
If you use this, call me never_knows_best
Finally, StephenHawkingDiarrhea offer this write-up...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you use this, call me StephenHawkingDiarrhea.
The movie starts out with a voiceover from Katara explaining the four tribes - Water Tribe, Earth Tribe, whatevertheycalledtheairbenders and Fire Nation - and explaining the idea of the avatar, reincarnated soul who can bend all four elements. The flick then dives right in, as within about fifteen minutes the avatar is found, released, captured, escapes, and proven to be the avatar.
Katara and her brother Sokka join the avatar and his flying dog as they travel around this world, stopping only to fight some punk ass members of the Fire Nation (who are basically trying to take over the world) or learn how to bend a different element (the movie focuses on him learning to bend water, but it's stated early on that Aang, the avatar, had only learned to bend air before he ended up where we meet him at the start of the movie). The threesome are chased by two different groups in the Fire Nation, one led by the Fire Chief's son, Prince Zuko (played by Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel) and the other by power hungry Commander Zhao (played by for Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi). Zuko wants to capture Aang to get his honor back - Zhao just wants more power. It all builds to a huge battle at a water tribe's city, basically.
The film tries to do too much to fast, and many relationships are half-formed or barely formed (particularly the relationship between Sokka and the water tribe's princess), and many of the scenes that include Patel as Zuko The Tortured Teenager were silly instead of dramatic. The film truly felt like it was missing a half-hour's worth of scenes. The good news, for the cartoon's fans: kid that plays Aang is awesome, Uncle Iroh is a joy on screen, and the action kicks some MAJOR ass.
If you use this call me Durka Durka.
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. 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.
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.
If you use this, call me never_knows_best
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you use this, call me StephenHawkingDiarrhea.
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+ Expand All
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Even up to The Village. After that? No.
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Oy, I hope we can just talk about the movie for once instead...
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This sounds awful, as expected. Unbreakable 2 or GTFO.
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I've seen it and the show itself is fun. This just sounds and from what I've seen looks like more of the same. People are being to critical of a film based on a kids show. Simmer down.
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That wasn't ripped days later from other sites. This is like old AICN! I love it! Posting early reviews from readers! If only they'd have posted some from Cop Out...
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Awesome effects, good fights, wind/water/earth/fire motif without shrieking Chris Tucker?Sounds like a good fun summer flick, and at least with more psuedo-spirituality than a Transformers movie.This will be a hit, watch...and a trilogy to boot.
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Looking forward to seeing his Uncle Iroh very much.
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Uhhhh, I thought that WAS for kids.
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They might get more bidness.
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I won't even rent this.
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...the third reviewer sounds sensible, but also went in pre-jaded.Still, not promising.
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Story 1: We are with Dr. Grace Augustine as she sets up her schools and is eventually banished. Story 2:We are with Col Miles Quaritch on one his last missions on Earth to his first day on Pandora. Story 3: We follow a dual story line of Jake and his brother as their paths converge. YES THIS IS A PREQUEL TO AVATAR.
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All this talk bout bendin elements makes me wanna see a Planeteer movie... especially since the world is tryin to kill us now... but i imagine an all white cast even for the Earth guy...
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please make it stop.
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By M, I mean M. Night Shim-ma-lama-ding dong, not Michael Bandy
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You cracking wise or has the Appa character really been turned into a flying dog?
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Mar 02, 2010 2:25:45 PM CST
Instead of Directing, you could become a Caltrans Inspector
by vulcan_csc_rep
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and it ended up Being M Night's best movie besides Unbreakable
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You are a fucking moron.
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God they need to put that in a trailer. That sounds like a perfect, over-the-top moment for me to enjoy this summer. This does sound a lot like Captain Planet, though. Except the Indian kid in that one had the power of Heart, which isn't an element and only convinced me that he was a retarded kid who followed the Planeteers around and they didn't want to make him feel bad so they gave him a Cracker Jacks ring and told him some silly story about a fifth element.
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Can't wait.
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The only things that bother me are the reports of overacting, and the punching of the moon fish. That strikes me as simply bizarre. Yes changes get made from one medium to another but that's just too silly and strange.
To whoever said Appa felt like Falkor with Down Syndrome, that is precisely the way a SKY BISON is supposed to be. That is pretty much the way the animal acted in the show, and if they got that and the SKY LEMUR right, I'm cool.
To StephenHawkingDiahrea, in the show, the Water Tribe is divided into two enclaves: The South Pole Water Tribe, where Katara and Sokka live, and the North Pole Water Tribe where the Helm's Deep ripoff scene takes place.
For the record the second film would be called The Last Airbender: BOOK 2 EARTH KINGDOM.
If they do Toph right, I'll be very happy. -
Mar 02, 2010 2:40:24 PM CST
What the fuck happened to Shamalangaldo -
by isleptwithkathybatesandallthatigotwasthi
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Good movies: Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs
OK movies: The Village
Bad movies: Lady in the Water
Absolutely "shit on your finger then rub it in your eye until you get it infected and have it cut out by a surgeon who got his degree in Jamaica so it then gets even more infected so it has to be skull fucked in a voodoo ceremony that results in you becoming a zombie who only eats dick but you swear you aren't gay it is because of the voodoo but then you kind of like it so you start anally raping corpses until the army intervenes and studies you in scientific experiments until they get fed up so they just shoot you in the fucking head" bad: The Happening
Just Bad All Around: The Last Airbender -
Mar 02, 2010 2:41:37 PM CST
THAT GUY WHAT DID "UNBREAKABLE"
by isleptwithkathybatesandallthatigotwasthi
So what happened to him? Did a talent vampire suck him off?
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Kevin Smith or M. Night Shamayalan?
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Sadly, this doesn't look like it will be it.
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Trust me, the movie isn't just "dumb" or "bad," it's REALLY REALLY BAD. It is the most disjointed and incomplete narrative I've seen in years. I understand that it's a test cut, but unless they seriously decided to omit the entirety of character development scenes from what we were shown, I kind of doubt the movie will improve much by July.
I doubt anybody but the youngest of children could enjoy it. If you read the few-paragraph-long Wikipedia summary of the first season, you've seen a more full version of the story than we saw last night. -
with Sixth Sense are now as follows:
Great, Great, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit. How much more shit can he put out before he's fired from filmmaking for good. -
Shyamalan brings nothing visually unique to his films. His strength with Sixth Sense and Unbreakable was the screenplay. Sadly, he got his name above the movie title so early that he does not have anyone to veto him. If he focused on writing and let another director bring it to the screen, we might get another M. Night Shyamalan classic.
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Some "Young Urban Professional" Old Guy? tard.
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That was funny and so true... havin feelings and talkin to animals is not a power, its somethin ANYONE can do... he prob got less toy sales than Ernie Hudson ghostbusters char
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...I understand the movie has problems but what you said bout comparin a two hour movie (im presumin) to a season long show (which im guessin has AT LEAST had six episodes equallin roughly two and a half hours) is kinda dumb...
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...Aasif is in this? i cant wait til Daily Show talk about it... i love when they mention the pen in the eye scene in Faculty (which coincidentally features the WEIRDEST and fugliest red head ever)...
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Mar 02, 2010 3:05:58 PM CST
Borrows plot from the show but chucks the character development?
by textual
That is the best part of the show! And fish-punching? In the cartoon, they just used fire on the damn fish. Why did they let him write it? Why not have the cartoon writers do it?
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You'd be able to get any chick to fall for you with absolutely no effort. Shit would be so cash bro...
All the other rings will just get your ass in trouble as a government sniper will eventually take you down, steal your ring, and mass produce them for the military! -
SQUIRRELS!
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His character is supposed to be menacing and evil, which he may be for an eight year old, but all I could see was him on the Daily Show. As for the fish punching, it made everyone laugh and the studio guys did not look happy.
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Mar 02, 2010 3:14:13 PM CST
As the father of two young boys,call me StephenHawkingDiarrhea
by thunderbolt ross
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I just wanted to make sure it fit: "As the father of two young boys, call me StephenHawkingDiarrhea." I mean how can anyone doubt the genius of this site?
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...Thats true, heart can get you ladies... but if ya rock the heart ring ya have to be gay to utilize its power... its written in the Dic Bible (side note... namin a production company DIC? WTF)...
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... cuz ya know, the world is tryin to shake all the humans off... that and you CAN GROW WEED! girls love drug dealers, its true
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Anyone else have examples of writer/directors or just directors who seemed so on top of things at first and just lost it like this guy has? It's really remarkable, I think. I'm almost afraid to watch the Sixth Sense or Unbreakable because I feel like I'll find signs (no pun intended) of shittiness to come. What's interesting is he has gotten consistently worse, with each quality drop more precipitous than the one before. Slight drop off between Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Then a pretty good drop off between Unbreakable and Signs, until Lady in the Water which was just shockingly bad. Anyway I find this whole thing fascinating.
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After RogerEbertTongueSex, ChristopherReeveDanceParty, RonaldReaganSucksCocksInHell, FuckYouBallisticEcksVsSeverRules, and RobertVaughn06942.
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I'm sure it would seem weird to the audience that no one bothers to eat it afterward.
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Yes, I can count.
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About squirrels.
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IM a fan of the show and this is making me sick, and who's bright idea was it to make Shyamalan the director the man can't direct a action scene to save his life
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Shymalan really needs to quit directing and concentrate on his acting career.
He was utterly convincing as a red-neck mid-west farmer in SIGNS right? Right?
Aw fuck it. M. Knight (no, I dont know what the M stands for either) - dude, you're a multi-millionaire. Just fade away from the public eye and enjoy it. Raise a family, drink some wine, watch other peoples movies. Not such a bad life eh? -
The action scenes were actually the best part of the movie. You can actually see what is going on between the fighters and the use of the elements was pretty cool.
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But I still fear The Ember Island Players is spot-the-fuck on
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... maybe my next name should consist of transformers, michael bay, and will smith... also i should add GI JOE SUCKS, HOW CAN YOU SAY THATS BETTER THAN TRANSFORMERS?!
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...=(TALKBACKHANDLE) DGDB, what hast thou wrought?!?
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...JettLisMyPersonalFluffer... CaponeisAICN... yesSNLisSTILLon...
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...JettLisMyPersonalFluffer... CaponeisAICN... yesSNLisSTILLon...
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...JettLisMyPersonalFluffer... CaponeisAICN... yesSNLisSTILLon...
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Just make sure you tell them squirrels to get off your nuts...
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HISSSSSS
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Shamylan called himself the next Spielberg? I'm sure as soon as he said somewhere in the background a toilette flushed.
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is that he gets all of his direction from a fucking TomTom.
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That about sums it up.
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That about sums it up.
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THE LAST FISH PUNCHER HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Now THAT is an eternal talkback name!
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And it's all thanks to YOU, you beautiful bitch.
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Ugh, I think that these three bring the total up to 5 people who have seen this movie and written to AICN about it. But not one of them seems to have been a fan of the show. At this point we're not learning anything new. I want to get impressions from fans of the show, because people who like this show (like me) are rabid about it.
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...I have to say that it doesn't sound good.
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He needs to have crying little kids in his movies for them to be successful. Remember Sixth Sense? Haley Joe whatever crying for 90 min = drama. Unbreakable, same thing, whenever Bruce Willis' son was on screen he was crying. Because what he learned from Sick Sense, crying little kid = drama. Lady in the Water had no crying kids and it failed. Oh and it also sucked dog balls.
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I thought it was a very entertaining movie and had some pretty decent scares throughout. Sure the twist ending was completely unnecessary, but it was still a pretty decent film. "The Village," now that's where the the M. Night suckitude began. I still think that's his worst. As terrible as people running from killer wind in "The Happening" was, it was at least a step up from "The village."
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I remember TIME or NEWSWEEK calling this guy "the next Spielberg." Well, I got news for ya...he don't even come close. He has lost whatever creative oooomph he had, and now just turns out junk. His turning a crappy cartoon int a live-action feature is proof positive of this. What will he do next...a direct to video SCOOBY-DOO sequel. Somebody please tell the powers that be nbot to back his films anymore...he has become a hack!
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Then he went and squandered things away instead of making his Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Now that should be a tb name... last fish puncher sucks tho...
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...He made a movie where the alien dies from the planet theyre invadin... ugh, War of the Worlds anyone? but Signs was better only cuz WotW had so much potential but was ruined by an invincible douche of a kid and Tim Robbins... and cuz of hide and go seek wit aliens in the basement... and CUZ BOSTON HAD NOT ONE SCRATCH...
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...is a cerebral comedy. Shyamalan stated multiple times in interviews that his intent with the film was to make a "B-Movie". Unfortunately, the marketing was terribly misleading to the general populace. I don't see, however, a film with such a ridiculous title could mislead cinephiles.
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I can't believe people still pay to see his movies. What a complete waste of talent.
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Shaymalan is a very talented hitchcockian director.If only he stopped writing his own terrible scripts,and start using brilliant ones from professional scribes.He would have made a dozen of masterpieces.But now its too late.fuck him.
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Mar 02, 2010 5:03:06 PM CST
I'll stick with the Spielberg comparisons for his early movies
by d.vader
They were very much like early Spielberg the way he dealt with melodrama and amazing events happening to everyday, mundane, suburban family life.
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Didn't I already tell you?
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BITCH!
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...was a pitch perfect thril-ride (Spielberg's specialty) and was satisfying as such up until the cop out ending.
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And The Village was ok. Lady in the Water was disappointing, but still kind of interesting. The Happening was terrible... but still kind of interesting.
I guess I still like his directorial chops well enough that I'm putting up with the really bad stories. Regarding this movie, the most interesting aspect for me was the amount of action and special effects... kind of a new direction for M. Night. Thought it might revitalize him. -
The bar has been lowered, people...
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... i really did enjoy WotW until Tim Robbins entered the movie... i just like to think the whole planet was destroyed in that battle field scene...
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....name being attached to it.After that killer plant movie, I know people who swore they would never go and see any of his movies.
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Tim Robbins wasn't even doing a particularly bad job, but talk about a shtity place for your blockbuster summer movie to spend the next half hour of your time. Trapped in a basement with a crazy, retarded, vaguely pedophilic guy who wants to tunnel out of his basement. The movie really derails right there. And I also thought them arriving in a completely untouched Boston and meeting up with his miraculously unscarred kid was completely out of sync with the relentless nature of everything that came before it.
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I know people who actually liked that movie.
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Not too hard to stay away if it's suackass in the first place.
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...First a hack director steals the title of your show for the Last Samurai Fern Gully Smurfs Dancin Wolves, but now you got another hack ruinin your story... i really wish well for that bald lil white kid... PS- i dont think Cameron is a hack, but i lost respect for him for Avatar (you know if Night did Avatar EXACTLY the same way, he would be flamed... or if he did Shutter Island) and i was bein sarcastic bout the whitewashin of Aang...
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... Guy (or gal) youre cool in my book for feelin what felt... i mean, that movie was bananas (a slang i hate but it applies here) in the beginning and it literally had me on the edge of my seat... I HAVE NEVER FELT so thrilled while watchin a movie... but then a hand holdin a shotgun in the air completely ruins it... worst third act ever!... It beats Sunshine and 28 Days Later, even tho those two movies turned into another genre movie somehow while WotW stayed the same movie throughout... but then again if some burned naked military men started chasin Tom around, tryin to rape him, it might had become enjoyable... for the gays and JettL at least
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Till then this weak ass whining is mute (to me anyway).
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Gotta say, the naked man chasing Tom and Dakota in a post-apocalyptic fueled moment of rape mania would be a helluva an unexpected ending. I mean, how many fun to read reviews would that movie have now with that ending. The aliens abandon Earth in the end, apalled by the behavior of the humans.
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... man, thats how EVERY alien invasion should movie end (instead of bein allergic to water or germs)... x.orl46- "why didnt you take over the blue planet?" 't48Ing- "we were going to but then we found out what a jelly donut was... we thought it was a dessert treat"... PS- DONT GOOGLE JELLY DONUT, IT WILL MAKE YOU LOSE HOPE AND FAITH IN MANKIND
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...These reviews are like the positive reviews non Trek fans had for that "movie" that came out last year... PS- im neither a Trek fan n or did i like that movie... i like those lightin effects tho
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See y'all in a minute.
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Interesting information on the jelly donut. I also found out about jelly thumping. That's a game girls play where they try to fuck more fat guys at a party than the other girl. That only thing I'm wondering is why don't I ever find these parties.
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... thats sucks for me cuz im skinny... but if its true, im sure Harry hasnt had the privilege either...
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looks like piss poor American anime about eskimos who control water. I don't see how there's enough demand for a feature film.
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Girls from my old job told me bout that... it really makes ya question what girls do behind closed doors...
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... if ya cant see why theres a demand, then you must be blind cuz its easily the top five best cartoons to come out in a long time... only thing better would be Justice league (preferably after season two i believe)
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behind closed doors. It will fuck your mind up permanantly.
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re-think the few times I've actually been laid at a party. I now feel so used.
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...You came out a winner... If ya did, hey, at least ya got laid! whoop whoop!
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dammit, I was betting this was going to be good
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I'm a fat guy, dammit. We gotta go the extra mile when we get laid. It's our only sexual value.
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... i guess we all got our tricks and moves... mines is payin them in exact bills... man, they get mad when you ask for change... whats this tb about again?
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Who hasn't wanted to punch a koi?
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That's all I can think of. I'm glad to hear that the fish punching moment is a part of the story and can't be excised by the studio, but I'd rather see a movie where a character with anger issues constantly punches random things. At one point going all Fight Club on a fish. "I just wanted to destroy something beautiful." That spoiler about the last shot of the movie has promise of fish abusing awesomness.
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I think that's the koi who stole my car!
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... i have wanted to punch a girl for smellin like a koi, but never wanted to punch a fish...
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THE LAST FISH PUNCHER HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!!!
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... prejudist, and he doesnt like gay fish... ha ha ha...
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...is when the fish turns around and Isabella Rossellini's voice comes out, screaming "HIT ME AGAIN! HARDER!"
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I think you might be going to Hell for it though.
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Yep, it's even funnier if the fish likes it. Or even during the beating, the fish grabs a hook and begins hooking himself, moaning in disturbing tones.
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If they can't get the races of the characters right...what made people think they were going to get the other details (acting, sets, costuming, story, ect) right?
Oh and best part:
THE BAD:
Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone are unbearably bad.
AICN Procaster:
BUT THEY THOSE THE BEST ACTORS AVAILABLE, THEY JUST HAPPENED TO BE WHITE STFU!!!111!1!!!!one
Use your brain and go to Racebending.com to learn how NOT to be fucked in the ass by Hollywood's racist boner... -
one of those prissy little perch. Leave my bait alone you little fucking bastard.
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...Im an atheist so i dont believe in hell... but if i do go, i will be helly thumpin... thats when you intend to go to hell just to have sex wit demons, witches, republicans, pretty much anythin evil...
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Uh...what the FUCK was any of the Voldemort VS Dumbledore fight in Order of the Phoenix was NOT for kids!?! @,@;
StephenHawkingDiarrhea, putting the "M" back in the word "Moron". -
what does the term "questionable shots" even really mean?
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So from what I understand this movie is a bad live-action version of a good cartoon. I watched a handful of episodes a few months back with my nephews and the plot of this movie sounds exactly like what I saw in that first season... negating any reason for me to spend money on seeing another badly-acted live action rehash on the big screen.
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Punching the Fish. The specific moment when a filmmaker's career dies.
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George Lucas "punched the fish" the moment Jar Jar appeared in Episode I.
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I loved the show and liked the trailer.
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Are you fucking kidding me?? I wouldn't take directions through a drive-through from some idiot who chooses to call himself StephenHawkingDiarrhea. I'd actually probably think this movie will be great based on an idiot who uses this name. Thanks!
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StephenHawkingDiarrhea. Brilliant.
"Voldemort Vs.Dumbledore for kids"... Wasn't Harry Potter always for kids? -
I posted before I saw your post haha.
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That would explain a lot. It's a damn shame they didn't have someone else write it. He needs to just stick to directing and stay away from the keyboard. He doesn't have enough talent for writing. Give him story credit next time but keep him far away from the screenplay.
Well, I suppose there's still plenty of time to work some magic in the editing room and add some nice sfx and music and such. There's still hope. -
First, we get "DannyGlover'sDickBlood" and now we get this reviewers name? And he complains about bad writing and lack of creativity?
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Unless someone can give me a better explanation, that's just poking fun at Hawking's physical disabilities. Nice. Real nice.
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The last airbender is actually just an avatar of some fat guy from Philly playing a video game.
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This doesn't surprise me. AICN's integrity has dipped so low they could receive a review from "KiddiePornLvr69", or "JewHatinNazi" and they'd still post it as long as they deemed it a "scoop".
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The dead OD joker fool. Get it! becuz he died {everyone laughs}
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Please take your frantic claims of racism somewhere else.
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I actually liked the movie up until the alien got burned by water. Why the fuck would you try to invade a planet that has 2/3 of something that can kill you on its surface?
That would be like us invading a planet that was 2/3 of its surface was acid. Stupid -
As soon as I read that the movie was going to be the entire first season of the show.. I knew it we were in trouble. This just doesn't work. Sunrise/Bandai do this sort of thing with almost EVERY Gundam series and it almost never works. It would be like trying to remake the OT of Star Wars into one movie.
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So, where's the news?
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*ROLLS EYES*
if shyamalayadingdong was going to cast bad actors... he may as well have caught bad asian or inuit actors... why make a mockery of the cartoon and hire BAD WHITE actors???
www. racebending .com is gonna have a field day with these reviews...
how is liberal hollywood so r@cist when it comes to casting? i guess money trumps all!!! -
I don't know why Hollywood is so reluctant to cast Asian leads.
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The descriptions of the action and "Fish punching" are true to the source material. A negative review based on no knowledge of where these ideas come from is bull.
Worried about the quality of the kid actors but my sons will absolutely love this! -
And I'm really hoping these reviews are off, as I REALLY want this to work. Easily one of the best US animated series of the last 20 years, if of all time.
Yes, there's fish punching (Firebending), and the reviews make it sound like the movie is a point-by-point highlight of the whole first season. Still, I truly believe the series deserves better. My ass is in a seat regardless. -
in Nolan's next Bat-flick?
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Surely you jest!
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without the self-awareness.
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to the second unit director and the EFX department.
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IS IN THE FUCKING CARTOON, YOU TARDS! It makes complete sense in the cartoon!
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Mar 03, 2010 10:04:37 AM CST
After a long ass wait, we met an old hippie ass
by fa_tass_dinomolester
who told us we were going to see a movie about some punk ass fire asses!
Really, can't there be some sort-of of standard for who's allowed to submit reviews? The first guy talked like such a retarded ten-year-old, I couldn't take anything else he said seriously.
In any case, never cared about Shyamalan, and this sounds like he's just continuing his downward spiral. If you want to know what the guy's really like, read "The Man Who Heard Voices", about the making of Lady in the Water. M Night's a total kook. -
"punch the fish" doesn't become the new "nuke the fridge"...
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Mar 03, 2010 10:25:18 AM CST
"Jumping the shark" has been replaced by "punching the fish"
by feralangel
I do hereby decree. But screw these reviews, I'm seeing the film anyway. I saw Astro Boy despite Harry being disappointed that the boy robot wasn't beating up bigger robots every 2 seconds, thus offending his teeny tiny attention span - fuck him, the movie was great. As for this fish-abuse business - hey, in the toon version of Avatar The Last Airbender, the bad guy also punched the fish (offscreen)...what, should he have stabbed it instead? Stomped it? Cleaned its clock with a Glock? The idea was that he killed the spirit of the Moon, and the Moon of that world went dark and the Waterbenders lost a great deal of their power. But if the deed had been onscreen I suppose it would have looked a bit silly, so maybe the moviemakers could have had the bad guy throw the fish to the ground with some force. Or hell, stab it, with blood and everything. Stabbing a fish isn't as potentially amusing as punching one, I guess. Anyway, still seeing this movie. Loved the toon so I'll hope for the best.
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On Hollywood and race: they made the goat boy black. The Percy Jackson movie, which, hell, make Percy black. I'm a black man, I've known about 700 Percys in my day, not a one white. My niece likes the books. Cool. But--correct me if I'm wrong--Grover's a pasty, white boy Rasta wannabee in the books ain't he, or more like Shaggy looking for Scooby Doo? So...to throw folks a bone so people can't say the only non-white character in the story is the black god Cleophus, god of rhythm, who shows up at the end, the committee-powers say 'Let's make Grover black." He's just a side kick. Can't make the white girl black, 'cause that ain't the natural course of romance. What's this got to do with The Last Airbender? Everything. Don't act like race does not factor into such decisions, because race is money. And what is Hollywood? Money. Scared money, actually. Can anybody say Charlie Chan??? In 2010 there is no legitimate reason to have cast M. Night's movie the way they did. None. Resorting to the default white balance means the suits think a movie won't make money if a bunch of (insert infinite diversity in infinite combinations here) are on screen kicking ass and air bending and whatnot.
Oh hell, I hear the boss coming down the hall. That means work. Sorry for the unfinished thought. Carry on. -
Mar 03, 2010 12:25:49 PM CST
This sounds like a hostile TB for me to participate...
by immortal_fish
...but Abe Vigoda STILL laughs at you all!!
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Oh, and for my money, "punching the fish" sounds way too much like "choking the chicken." I'm just saying. Makes me vaguely uncomfortable, like when I secretly think Bugs Bunny in drag is hot. Or the Esurance cartoon lady with her pert bosoms. I'm gonna ask the wife if "punch the fish" is some secret female code for high personal sin.
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Way back when I first heard MNS was to write/direct the film, I knew it was doomed. =/
To those who keep saying that it sounds like it's still staying close to the show, I have to wonder if you and I've been watching the same thing. One of the biggest draws of the show was the characters and writing. Its script was witty, and its cultural details brilliantly well-researched. There was a depth to the show, that it sounds like this film lacks. The show wasn't all about Aang getting from point A to point B, or about OMG EVIL FIRE NATION!...
We watched the characters grow up. We watched Aang be a child, and have to cope with war and the pressures of living up to his title. He had to go against everything he believed, everything he was raised to be. He was a pacifist who was being told that he had to KILL someone.
And Aang's really just one example. There were very few static characters, especially within the main cast. Character development was one of the key selling points of the show. If the film tossed it out, trading it for action, then it's really become a different animal entirely.
Also, I have to ask these reviewers... Judging from the trailers, it looks like the film's trying to be super serious. Is this really the case? Was the film trying desperately to be dark and serious? How child-like was Aang? Was Sokka a wise-cracking sarcastic cynic? Was Iroh wrapping his wisdom up in the guise of being a silly old man? -
Bubba, honestly, the Percy Jackson film was nothing at all like the books, except for keeping character names. Grover could be any race, though I sort of always pictured him Greek. Since...you know...he's a Greek satyr. I don't think people were really so upset with him being made black as they were him being made into a stereotype (making him "talk black"). None of the casting for the main characters in that movie was done well, though...especially considering that the main characters were supposed to be about twelve. In all honesty, though, the guy who played Grover was the best actor of the main three. At least HE knew how to deliver a joke and how to emote his lines. The other two...Jesus...I've seen better acting when I co-taught middle school kids at a theatre day camp.
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Mar 03, 2010 2:03:49 PM CST
It's back to taxi cabbing and serving Blue Raspberry Slushies at
by blue meanie
This proves M. Night just got lucky with the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Since then, it's been a downward spiral into descent. Call it Beginner's luck, much like the Blair Witch boys. Hopefully, this movie will finally spell the end of his Hollywood career. Oh well, there's always Bollywood...
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First it's plants, now it's fish....
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What kind of rating does that review think the Harry Potter mvoies have? Rated R? Give me a break!!! I don't give a shit about this reviewers, really. It's the sport of the day now to piss and shit on M. Night Shymanlan. Fuck that shit. Youa re not going to autiomaticvally belong to the clib of the col kids just because you profess to hate M. Night Shymalan or love JJ Abrams. Fuck that shit. Fucking ass!
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The fyuck M. Night Shylmalan got lucky wioth THE SIXTH SENSE and UNBREAKABLE. Those are not movies made "by chance". Those are movie that only a talented filmmaker would make. Only soemboy with talent for filmmaking could make those movie,s you don't trip and make two movies like that! Any movie geek worth of the name would know that as an obvious fact. Give me a break!
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Like just about all anime. GASP! I said it. The statements these reviewers make about this movie? Sounds like exactly what I'm thinking just about any time I try to watch any anime show. No one is claiming Night got the STORY wrong, right? It's the correct story from the show? Well, the story sounds fucking stupid and gay and there was never any way to make a decent movie out of this nonsense. I'm not defending Night here, because he has totally lost it - but let's not pretend that if this movie sucks it will be a result of his lack of ability. There was never a good movie here to make. "Blah blah blah elements, blah blah blah kung fu, blah blah blah Chosen One, blah blah blah characters whose names you can't remember, blah blah blah Boss Fight." That's what this movie was always going to be, because of the source material.
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Even white the Grover character would have been a one dimensional annoyance. Iaolus on the old campy Hercules TV show had more sidekick depth. I did a little research and see what you mean about them taking the name without using the characters. Maybe they felt they had to make the kids older to go for the older kid Harry Potter demographic, since Harry's grown with specific hairy bits now. My point, though, is there was likely a definite, calculated decision to go with "urban flavor" Grover, just like a bunch of vanilla is filling in for Avatar's rocky road. One gets tired of the white kids getting to have all the mystical, pre-destined fun. And agreed: the acting sucked major High School Musical balls. I didn't expect much, but having promised the niece I'd take her, I sat through it. Every telegraphed, unoriginal, annoyingly scored, ineptly directed (I'll say it: Chris Columbus has only made one movie his entire life and if not for the fact that mogwais were so damn cutesy, that one would suck Corbin Bleu's balls too; all else has been a retread of the same "Wow, look at this special effect" crap)minute of it. By the end I wanted the 3 main characters to die. Plus the wardrobe dept stole all the costumes from the ones they used on extras for Xena and Hercules. M. Night's movie will suck the balls of Corbin Bleu, too, but so has everything he's done, starting with the self-ballyhooed and so-freaking-obvious-it-hurt Sixth Sense and on down the line. Hell, best comedy I've seen in a long time was Signs. Maybe M. Night's a misunderstood performance artist making us think we're watching one type of movie when it's completely another. In that case, brilliant!
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You can decree all you want but I pre-decreed you by about 30 posts. Scroll up beyotch!
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The PETA folks are going to bitch and moan. Stop cruelty to fish... Koi tastes like shit.
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More Percy Jackson hate: The Dark Crystal and Coraline had better acting, and they were fucking puppets! Better story too. Don't tell me kid's stuff has to be so paint-by-numbers that even retarded babies on ritalin find them boring. After the movie my niece said she liked the books better. Can anybody tell me if the books are total Chris Columbus-stle crap? Or are they worthy of Bone, that classic that will likely be made into a vehicle for some Disney teen? (I dread the day.) Hey, maybe we get a "Movies That Would Be Better With Puppets" thing going (if not already out there)? Team America proved there's nothing puppets can't do. Hollywood? Screw actors. One word: Puppets.
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I thought it had a pretty good message in the end... about faith. And keeping the faith, and everything happens for a reason -- really deep shit. Although I have to admit that the special effects were pure hilarity - Alien looked like a tard in a rubber suit.
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... with "Punched the Fish."
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First off, it's not an anime. It's an American show that has an anime-inspired art style. Secondly, if you haven't seen the show, you really shouldn't be jumping to such conclusions. The story of the show was actually very well done. The writing was great, and the dialogue and character development was fantastic. Even my husband enjoyed the hell out of it, and he hates pretty much everything. Anyway, from what it sounds like, the film isn't really sticking to the show all that much. Just, as I believe one reviewer put it, working like bullet points. Sort of capturing the highlights, without really including any of the substance. I have a feeling that if A:tLA fans went and saw this film, we'd likely be watching something that sort of maybe kind of resembled the show...if we squint...and tilt our heads...and are very, very drunk. Point is: if the script sucks, it is totally, 100% M. Night's fault; not the fault of the original show. There was already a great story and great characters; he simply had to copy-paste and it would work out well for him. He didn't, though. He hacked it up and re-did the entire thing the way he wanted it, cutting out most of what made the show good.
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Just a ATLA TV show reference for those who know-- apparently this movie is adapted from the spoof episode of the show which was done... to show how some people completely misunderstood the show: "Well, the effects were nice".
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Oh, yes, I was in total agreement with you about the "urban flavor" thing. Like I said, that's what was rubbing people the wrong way, really. Because, seriously, there's no reason to completely change the character of Grover just because you make him one race or another. It just sort of perpetuated/promoted stereotypes... Which most people are getting rather tired of, I think. Just as, like you mentioned, people get tired of the heroes being monochromatic. That's one of the reasons there's been such a big outcry over the casting for The Last Airbender. Perfect chance to have non-white heroes, and what does Hollywood do? Yeah... Not to mention it'll just look awkward to have two fair-skinned whities hanging out in a village of Inuits.
In response to your question about the books, they really are NOTHING like Chris Columbus' presentation. There's an actual story, for one thing... They're simply written, but it's to be expected since it's for kids. The plot's good, though, and the myth references are nearly flawless. Don't know if it's be too good done in puppets, though... Perhaps an animated film. Honestly, it could have done well as a live-action if they'd just...you know...stuck to the original source a bit more. And had better casting. And better directing. Same for TLA, I'm sure. Though I never really thought A:tLA would be a good thing to make into live-action. Never seemed like something that would translate well from animation to real people. =/ TLA as puppets...is an interesting thought, though... -
Zhao laid some firebending on it and killed it dead. I just watched that episode to be sure. Punching the fish was invented for the movie.
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If the movie will be good or not, but what I realized is that the reviewers and most of the talkbackers have no idea what the fuck they are talking about. They haven't seen the show and are pulling bullshit out of their asses.
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