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 Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:06 am
I just got home from the midnight showing of The Last Airbender in 3D. I was able to cosplay as Fire Nation Toph, and my friends dressed up as Fire Nation Katara and Book 3 Haru. It was a success! : D
Anyways, the movie was decent. I enjoyed the fight scenes, and found Yue's death to be emotional, though it seemed very incomplete. In a way, the movie seemed rushed. I did adore the music though! I was impressed by how powerful airbending looked, and Aang's Avatar state in the end was very cool.
There were a few random parts that bugged me, but I will only discuss it with the people who post in this topic.
I will say this: I liked the beginning and how similar it was to the show's opening. [The ones who saw the movie will understand what I'm talking about.]
Anyways, go check the movie out. The movie was pretty good, but expect to be a little disappointed because it can't cover Book 1 too well in less than two hours. [Looking forward to the second movie!]
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:21 am
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:24 am
-Collapses with laughter- rofl Oh my God! He looks miserable! I think that's the girl who plays Azula, and he just might be getting into character. Haha.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:49 am
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Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2010 1:49 pm
Okay! So, fair warning, this is probably going to be something of a novel.
First off, I have a very deep, somewhat obsessive, love for Avatar, which I had already decided would not be swayed by how good or bad the movie might be. Also, a whole bunch of my friends went and saw the midnight showing, and the following morning, my facebook page was more-or-less spammed with the whole lot of them (many of them were avid fans, not casual movie-goers, mind you.) raging about the movie. About how much they'd hated it, and what a disgrace to the series it was, on and on and on. So I went in very excited, but with very low expectations. And here's what I thought about it:
What I loved:
• The Environments. Were astounding. Everything, all of the locations they'd visited, looked incredible. Exactly what I would have pictured them to look like, if not better.
• The Costumes. Were gorgeous. Being a fanatic costumer myself I was gleeing over the detail and fabric and accents that they put into all the different outfits there. I loved it. And even if you're not a total geek for such things as I am, I think anyone would agree that the costumes were extremely well-done.
What I couldn't decide on:
• The Bending. This is easily going to be my biggest section of the rant. The special effects -were- very good. However, I'm not sure that with the technology, practice and experience that the hollywood has had, what with all the superhero and Harry Potter movies and all, I don't know if making fireballs and water-snakes and such should be considered impressive or not. It looked really great, but I'm not sure if I should be impressed by this or not anymore.
As for the bending itself... I liked it, and I hated it. I liked it because the martial arts aspect of it was totally there. I've taken tai-chi and tae-kwon-do, and you could see the tai-chi influence in the water-bending movements extremely well. Same with the firebending, there was a very clear difference in style. What bothered me the most, though, was that there was a lot of wasted movement. Hands and legs and body would move in very lengthy patterns, -before- the element did anything. It seemed to me that you had to move your hands 4x more than the element itself moved. Where as in the anime, it was very much a 1:1 ratio. Bending was quick, very simply executed, with quick, decisive gestures and a lot less flourishing around. And maybe that's just me, but I liked it so much BETTER that way- because the elements and their movements were much more convincing that way- they looked like an extension of the bender's body and movement. ( I'm sorry- I laughed so hard at the earthbender's when they were doing their manly little march at the firebenders. )
Firebending. This was interesting. In the movie, contrary to the show, they had to use fire from an already-available source, and use that in their bending. They couldn't simply create it like they do in the show. I thought that added a new level of depth and strategy, to the whole thing. That the benders had to get fires into the fights they were going into, to use. And it also made a big difference with Iroh, who was supposed to be so much more skilled at Firebending, because of his encounter with the dragons that we learn about in the third book. And having him be the only bender who could make fire out of his own energy, made him so much more badass. So I thought that was awesome.
• The Casting. I'm kind of on the fence about this too. I liked Zuko's acting, but he just didn't look like Zuko to me. I'd always pictured him with pale skin, so that the scar stood out on him that much more. And I didn't like his scar all that much either, for that matter. Unless he was in the right light, I couldn't even tell he had one most of the time. Iroh didn't look anything like the Iroh in the show. I was expecting a warm, short, fat, silly, lovable old man. This Iroh was tall, skinny, not nearly old enough, and not half as warm or silly. Which was the biggest shame for me, because Iroh's one of my favorite characters.
Katara and Sokka weren't too bad as far as what they looked like. Honestly, my biggest complaint was their hair. Katara didn't have her distinctive hair-loopies, as Sokka once called them, and Sokka had this big, poofy ponytail, instead of the little bobtail that he had in the show. I though Katara's personality was decent, but Sokka didn't live up to what I wanted him to be. For me, and for a lot of viewers, Sokka is the comic relief character (along with Iroh) and he didn't fulfill that role at all. He very well portayed Sokka's serious, meticulous, scheduled side, which he indeed has, but I can't remember him saying any jokes. And that bothered me a lot because that's such a core part of who he is, in my opinion.
I loved Aang. He looked just like I thought he would, and was very cute, and very sincere. He could have been a little more lighthearted, but they were developing the time in his character when he was struggling with not wanting to be the Avatar, so for the most part, I let that slide.
I also loved Yue. Pretty much everything about her, I totally adored. She was gorgeous, smart, funny, and very enjoyable to watch. She actually reminded me a lot of queen Amidala, o.o; did anyone else draw that connection?
What I hated:
• Pronunciation. EASILY the thing that drove me the craziest was that they didn't pronounce half of the names correctly. Aang was said 'Aahng', Iroh was Ear-oh, Sokka was Soak-ah, Avatar was Aah-vee-tar. It drove me absolutely insane, and made me cringe every time they said it.
• The resolution of the end of the Seige of the North- something I loved about this arc in the show was when the black koi, the spirit of the Ocean, possessed Aang and became a giant glowing koi-monster-thing, that kicked all the fire benders out of the north pole, and killed Zhao. And that that wasn't in there annoyed me, and to have the ocean rear up and go 'rawr' at the fire navy did not impress me. -.-
• It was rushed. It REALLY was. But this, I also rather let slide. Because they WERE cramming an entire season into two hours. And that's no easy feat. The rushing bothered me, but I wouldn't know how to fix it, or how to do it any better without having it be four hours long. XD So it's kinda hard to be very critical.
Yeah, and that's all I can come up with at the moment. I might add/edit in more later.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 5:11 am
I agree with everything you just said, Miss Pryce. 3nodding Except, one thing:
The Upcoming Harry Potter movie is going to be released as 2-parts. And, we have Lord of the Rings.
Yeah. I said it. What are you guys going to do? THEY COULD'VE AT LEAST DONE THE MAJOR/BIG/LONGER SCENES! stressed
Edit: Oops. Forgot: Actually, I can understand why they did Firebenders that way: Remember, Katara always had that water bag with her at all times. Not only was it used so that they can drink water but, for her and Aang to Waterbend, when they weren't surrounded by water, EXCLUDING desert scenes because we all know they finished the water. 3nodding
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 11:18 am
NOTE: I haven't seen the movie. My sister has (granted, she hasn't watched the entire show -or season- so she wouldn't be all that judgemental) but I watched the "Avatar Revealed" mini on Nicktoons. Saying this, I don't know all that much about it aside from the mini-show and reading reviews. I LOVE the cartoon though, obsessively... so I'm not sure if I'll go and see it if it really is as bad as some of the reviews say (some are comparing it to Eragon, Golden Compass, and The Dark is Rising... all three are what I would consider the worst movie adapations to date...)
The major reason why I'm unhappy, even having not watched it, is their casting.... could they not get some wigs? A bald cap and a pony-tail-wig would have been SOMETHING for Zuko. And Iroh...... *sighs*
I probably would put up with everything that erritates me and go see the movie if he had included the Kyoshi warriors, which he didn't, which makes me irked.
A last note on the whole "needing fire to firebend" thing, I always assumed they drew the fire from the life within themselves, like how Katara and the witch-lady can bloodbend. The Sun Warriors talked like firebending came from the sun, that it is in all life.... so why exactly would it make sence for them to NEED a source of physical fire? People don't have rocks inside them, so you would NEED a rock to earthbend. People don't have air in them (except for when you breath) so you need air to bend (or exhale, using the air you just breathed...). You need water to waterbend, yes, but you can also bend the water in someones blood. SO WHY WOULD YOU NEED TO BRING FIRE WITH YOU WHEN FIRE IS THE SUNS ENERGRY/LIFE?!
Also, if time was an issue and they didn't want to make more than one film for each book, they could have planned for an extended edition DVD like LOTR.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 2:55 pm
@ SakuraMiku: Thank ya. 8D I'm glad you agreed with most of that, and that it's not just me....
But the key difference between Harry Potter and LoTR vs. Avatar, is that HP and LoTR were already world-wide phenomenons before they were made into movies. They already had a STAGGERING international fanbase- so they already knew that the movies would rake in billions and billions of dollars, that they would be profitable. So they knew that they could not only afford to make 8 movies of Harry Potter and three of LoTR, because they knew that people would see it, and they could make a profit off of it; and also, they knew that people will actually sit down for three hours to watch Return of the King, or four hours, technically, for the Deathly Hallows. Because there are so many people who love it.
Now with Avatar, Avatar is popular with a select group of people- and considering it was aired as a Nickelodeon Cartoon, most of that select group are children and young adults. So the movie makers can't expect that crowd to sit through a four-hour long movie (despite how freaking badass that would be, and how happy it would make the lot of us). With no guarantees for its success, as they had with HP and LoTR, they couldn't take a risk like that, they can't afford to make six movies, two for each book, or have a trilogy of four-hour long movies. So yeah.... I think that's why that didn't happen....
Which sucks, because it would have been so cool. =/ A part of me wants to seriously disagree with above logical argument by saying that maybe if they HAD made it longer, and added the major, big, longer scenes- then they would have, in turn, made it more successful. Because it would have been that much BETTER. So yeah, I guess It's one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't.' kind of problems....
@ Shade
( I liked the Golden Compass.... D: But maybe that's just because I haven't read the books....)
Yes.... *moment of silence for the murder of Iroh*
Good news on the Kyoshi Warriors, however. I believe they're in the second movie. In one of his interviews, he mentioned wanting the Kyoshi warriors to be included, along with some other aspects of the Book of Water, but they saved them for the second movie. Which makes sense, because they're going to HAVE to include Suki in the Trilogy at some point, since she IS a main character by the third book. And seeing as she's from the Earth Kingdom, it makes a bit more sense to have her and the Kyoshi warriors come up in the Second movie, for the Book of Earth. Also, I HAVE seen movie footage of the Kyoshi warriors; so if nothing else, I'll bet you can see deleted scenes of them on the DVD once it comes out. So there's that. :3
Back to Firebending. You're right, you DON'T NEED an external, physical source for firebending. It's just that 99% of the firebenders don't know that, because the art of Firebending has more or less become corrupt and bastardized from what it was. With the mass-slaughter of the Dragons, the pure form of Firebending, which is with one's own chi/energy/life, as you say, has been lost to everyone but a rare few, like Iroh. So yes, the point you've made is right on the money. But they did it that way in the movie, to further differentiate Iroh's pure/advanced/supreme method of firebending, with that of everyone else's. Because the only difference we saw in the series itself, wasn't very obvious, and it was that of, "Everyone uses anger as their source of firebending, but the masters use the pure life within them."
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:49 pm
I think the movements were to help get a feel for the bending, somewhat of a practice. Also, the names were said differently because the names in the cartoon were said with an American accent, while the ones in the movie were said with a wide cultural-influenced accent. I also agree that the movie was somewhat rushed, but that is to be expected in a movie that has to cover an entire season in less than two hours. I'm hoping that at least the third movie comes out in two parts because that season covered A LOT of important events. I also wish that Aang and Katara had been a lot closer in the movie, as it is obvious that he was in love with her from the moment they met.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:40 pm
i liked it but i was looking forward to see more azula but i guess she'll be in the next two movies the most along with ty lee and mae
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:29 am
SytheMeisterArika i liked it but i was looking forward to see more azula but i guess she'll be in the next two movies the most along with ty lee and mae Well, in the series, Azula only showed up twice in book one. One was in the flashback of how Zuko got his scar, and the other was at the end of the season. So you can't really expect her to show up a lot in the movie, though I am pretty sure you'll see her a lot more in the next one. I'm wondering how the lightning effects will turn out.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:04 am
I liked the movie, for what it was, granted it has to be really difficult to cram a whole season of a show into a 1 hour and 40 minute movie. The beginning and end were awesome. Where the water tribe (and even some of the attacking firebenders) bow down as Aang has to accept he is the avatar, something that took all of season one to demonstrate.
There was no midnight premiere at the theater in my town but I did see the first showing at 11 in the morning.
Sure Shyamalan missed a few key elements but for what it was it was great. I liked it and Noah ringer is adorable! (Just wish they would have said Aang right!)
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 8:06 pm
i agree that the movie overall rushed, the bending took forever to actually start moving the element, and the pronounciation drove me insane stressed
but i did like the movie and i await for its sequel
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 5:49 pm
After the reviews I've heard from the people in Onemanga and my horrified shock at the fact that they took out the Asian characters(Zuko, Azula and Iroh) and made them Indian and white, I've decided to forgo buying a damn ticket and to bootleg the movie instead.
Overall, I still hate the movie even if I have never watched it. It was only due to my conscience that I didn't spray paint the advertisement posters in the subway and MRTs. stressed
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 10:32 pm
Coo Beastie After the reviews I've heard from the people in Onemanga and my horrified shock at the fact that they took out the Asian characters(Zuko, Azula and Iroh) and made them Indian and white, I've decided to forgo buying a damn ticket and to bootleg the movie instead. Overall, I still hate the movie even if I have never watched it. It was only due to my conscience that I didn't spray paint the advertisement posters in the subway and MRTs. stressed Iroh was actually great, and Zuko wasn't bad, but there is just something missing about Azula. I don't view the Fire Nation as Indian at all. Seriously though, the movie wasn't bad.
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