Avatar: The Last Airbender live action movie


JackFetch

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That was how he saw the movie, not how everyone else will.

Jack, it's a fucking review.

The 3D should not be part of the review because everyone won't see it in 3D. How many more times can I say that until you understand what I'm saying? I could give 2 shits about how the 3D is crappy or awesome because I won't see it in 3D. I just want to know how shitty the movie is. He is a professional critic who prides himself on being able to pick apart the script, acting, and cinematography and his first paragraph is how shitty the 3D is. He might as well tell me how comfortable his chair was, because that's another thing that won't affect how I see it.

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That was how he saw the movie, not how everyone else will.

Jack, it's a fucking review.

The 3D should not be part of the review because everyone won't see it in 3D. How many more times can I say that until you understand what I'm saying?

Yeah, I think they're just saying you're wrong. Which I'd have to agree with, since 3-D is a buying option for the film and a great many WILL see it that way. Nothing wrong with someone telling them they might be better off seeing the 2-D because the 3-D is lazy.

But like Des said, its just a review, I'm sure there are 100 more you could check out.

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Just saw it.

Okay, lemme set this up for you:

I went into the theater along with a bunch of friends, notably this kid:

IMG_2213.jpg

(He's dressed as Fire Nation Aang from Season 3. His "tattoo" was made of glow-in-the-dark paint and everything; it was really pretty awesome)

And his older brother, who, if you can't tell, is wearing a homemade Appa hoodie.

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At one point during the night, little Aang jumped on his brother's back, yelled "yip yip!" and proceeded to "fly" down the sidewalk. It was one of those epically adorable things. Even the older fans had a weird geek-out moment there.

IMG_2218.jpg

Anyway, my point is that, despite this kid's fandom (which was probably more extensive than anyone else's there), even he didn't like it.

All the heart and soul of the series is... well, it's off-screen. All the comedy, all the character-building stuff, everything, it's all left out. There's maybe one or two very brief scenes where the characters simply interact. 99% of the dialogue in the film is expositionary. "We must go over there!" "The Fire Nation is here!" "Aang is in trouble!" Virtually nothing is said in the film that isn't merely stating fact.

The entire film is basically just a montage of quickly-intercut traveling scenes. There's very little explanation of the universe, and most of the characters (including AANG) don't even get a real introduction. The movie moves VERY fast, and seems to purposely leave out all the magic and wonder of the show. It's bizarre.

There's a lot of weird things that'll piss off the fans. For one thing, the bending is entirely different. Whereas in the series, bending was an extension of body movement, in the film it's more of a psychokinetic ability that's merely focused through the martial arts moves. Basically, there's a near-complete disconnect between the kinetic energy of the bender's body and the movement of the elements, which is the exact opposite of the series. Oh, and apparently firebenders CAN'T GENERATE FIRE (sort of). LAAAAAAAME.

Also, the characters' names are pronounced more like they would be in the real world, rather than how they were in the series. Sokka's name is now pronounced "Sow-kuh", Aang is "AHng", Iroh is "EE-roh," etc. Perhaps worst of all is that "Avatar" is now pronounced "AH-vuh-tar." Well, most of the time, anyway. A few times they actually say it normally, which sort of just confuses things.

Now, hey, there's some good stuff in the movie, too. The environments are incredible. When you look at any of the locales in the film, they look both visually stunning and perfectly accurate to the series.

The cast actually works for the most part. Nicola Peltz (Katara) in particular manages to express emotion (as well as stir it within the audience) despite the fact that she's actually given little-to-no development.

The special effects are pretty. They're not particularly well-used, but they're pretty.

The music is... decent. There's really only one major theme that's used, but it's pretty good. Nothing to rave about, though.

It's very, very weird. I'm genuinely confused about this movie. It's completely lacking most of the very basic tenets of filmmaking and screenwriting.

As a general film, it's about a 5/10. It's not "bad", per ce; it's just "there." For fans of the show, it's somewhere between a 3 and a 4. It's definitely cool to visually see so many of the show's environments realized, but there's really nothing beyond that. There's nothing particularly offensive, it's just... boring.

People actually booed at the end.

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That was how he saw the movie, not how everyone else will.

Jack, it's a fucking review.

The 3D should not be part of the review because everyone won't see it in 3D. How many more times can I say that until you understand what I'm saying? I could give 2 shits about how the 3D is crappy or awesome because I won't see it in 3D. I just want to know how shitty the movie is. He is a professional critic who prides himself on being able to pick apart the script, acting, and cinematography and his first paragraph is how shitty the 3D is. He might as well tell me how comfortable his chair was, because that's another thing that won't affect how I see it.

Should a reviewer not mention how the film plays to a crowd if you're not planning to see it in the theatre? Seriously, it's a fucking review. A review by someone who's been reviewing movies longer than you've been alive. I think he knows what he's doing.

Get the bug out of your ass.

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A review by someone who's been reviewing movies longer than you've been alive. I think he knows what he's doing.

Oh, so now Ebert is a review-god, whose word is infallible? Give me a break. He's just as capable of screwing something up as anyone else.

Don't put words in my mouth. Never said that. In fact, I disagree with him more times than not.

But to say he shouldn't be mentioning 3D in his review is retarded.

Edit: what Dubs said.

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That was a good fan's recap, Knightwing. That pretty much settles it for me that I'm waiting for the DVD. It's a shame though, because my little girl wants to see it SO badly.

I kinda thought my cautious optimism was doomed, however.

EDIT: I actually quite like Ebert's review. I think it's the first one I've read where the reviewer seems to have done any research into the source material (not a surprise with Ebert, though). I'm glad he gave more than casual lip service to the casting decisions. And I'm very glad he brought up the moronic 3D conversion and pointed out how dark and drab the film looks - even in the trailers, which are supposed to sell the damn thing.

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