We'd been following it from the beginning. All in all, we thought the movie followed the original series pretty closely.
Posted on 07/01/2010 8:27:47 AM PDT by Neoavatara
You want the quick version?
Don't waste your money. And don't keep reading.
But for the few that still care...
(Excerpt) Read more at neoavatara.com ...
By far, the most disappointing movie of the summer; and probably should end M. Night Shyamalan’s once heralded career.
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I thought “The Village” should have done that!
Crap.
I watch “Airbender” with my girls (8 and 10) and we LOVE this cartoon. I was hoping the movie would do it some justice, but this review is disheartening.
I’ll wait to see what Fat Guys at the Movies say. They have been a good predictor for me as to whether I will enjoy a movie or not.
OK, I feel ya, dont waste our money.......what’s the signature M Night “trick” ending? That the Avatar boy is actually dead and in a dream?
It’s for the kids. Keep repeating this
Looks like Jonah Hex and Predators will be at the top of my list for movies to watch next then.
They said that about Lady in the Water but nobody told us..
I went to the midnight show last night with my daughter and son-in-law, both of whom are big fans of the series. We all agreed that the movie was not well done. It had no detail or complexity, just moved from one huge development to the next without explanation. Suggest saving this one for a rental.
MM (in TX)
That's all you need to know.
We’ve always called him, M. Night Shyama-lama-ding dong.
My 2 daughters both liked the cartoon series. I liked to tease them with euphemisms about “airbending” meaning “passing gas”.
Was kind of looking forward to this, Oh well there are other movies to spend my money on.
Roger Ebert Review: 1/2 star: "The Last Airbender" is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100630/REVIEWS/100639999
Ebert panning it almost assures that I will enjoy it.
Currently scoring 6% at Rotten Tomatoes with 62 reviews in. Stinks on ice.
Movie is projected to only make $50 MM over the extended weekend which is not that great for a $150 MM blockbuster type movie. Given the bad work-of-mouth the movie might not top its budget in domestic BO.
At this rate, I doubt it makes anywhere close to $50 million.
I cannot explain how disappointed I am about this film without using several curse words.
Airbender - a 3 season epic toon. I watch when I can but even the toon has bad spots.
So, how do you take (about) 26 hours of toon view time and make a ‘good’ 2.5 hour movie?
You don’t. Becasue a person simply cannot.
Cowboy Bebop (and even that was animated) made a good movie because it was, in essence, an extended episode.
THe same might apply for a good book, full of detail, plot twists etc - a movie simply does not have the time to do justiice to an existing and popular work.
There are a few exceptions, but most do not work.
Guess I’m the odd man out. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed “The Last Airbender”. To those who thought it stunk, a rasberry to you! :-)
OK you’ve posted a link to your blog.
You’ve got a link to your blog in your sig.
Your blog name is the same as your posting name.
And you won’t say what you don’t like about the movie.
Is your post, any better than your alleged opinion of the movie? Please without pimping your blog, perhaps you can explain to readers what exactly it is you didn’t like about the movie?
Hmm?
I’m with you both of those qft
We call it, “The Last Air Biscuit”.
Great minds think alike.
What did you like about it? What made it enjoyable for you and your family?
We'd been following it from the beginning. All in all, we thought the movie followed the original series pretty closely.
I’m familiar with the original series; were there any differences in characterization or plot that you thought were improvements to the series, or anything you didn’t care for in that regard?
I particularly liked how Aang was portrayed. The weight of the world showed in his emotions, especially the very last scene of the movie, when the Water Nation bowed to him - the look on his face said it all. And the scene earlier when he returned to the monk's temple and saw the devastation; "I was just here yesterday!"
I do hope the producers let Shaymalan make the remainder of the 3-part series. I think the final battle with the Phoenix King in live action/CGI would be awesome.
I might take the movie in. I often thought that Aang was portrayed *too* much like a carefree American kid.
But he was raised by monks, and he had recently (give or take a century. :-) )been told that he had an important job to do.
I suspect that a young boy raised in a life of great discipline would not act like the Aang in the cartoon.
That's a very good observation, and the Aang in the movie is more in line with that type of behavior, as opposed to the Aang in the animated series.
One thing I read somewhere is that the movie bends over backwards in emphasizing non violent reactions; Zuko is prohibited from dueling Zhao; Aang, although he drives away the Fire Nation warships, does not sink the ships (thereby enabling them to be prepared to fight another day, when the Avatar is not assisting the Water Tribe).
Is this accurate? What are your thoughts?
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