The Last Airbender Movie

[KingPiccolOwned]

well, if the OP doesn't want to post his thoughts, I'll go ahead.

M. night shyamalan has done some great comedies over the years. I think anyone who's seen the happening can agree with me on that point. However, I don't think that he's the right director for an Avatar movie. For one thing, he seems to be all for affirmative action in the one industry where racial profiling is still appropriate. For one thing, he cast an indian as Zuko, despite the fact that the fire nation is very, very clearly Japanese in origin. He also cast two pale white kids (including one of those fuckers from twilight) as Sokka and Katara, who are both inuit. To top it off, he cast a chinese boy as Aang, whereas any idiot can see that the air nomads are clearly based on tibetan monks. That's not as drastic a difference as a pasty white emo portraying a comedic relief inuit, but it's still astonishingly offensive when you consider what the chinese did to tibet. Given his tendancy to totally screw the pooch on casting so far, I'm half expecting the earth kingdom (chinese, fyi) to be black.

Coming from an artistic standpoint, I don't think that shyamalan's particular style (emo mood and twists you can see coming from the fucking trailers) is all that appropriate for the more lighthearted nature of the avatar series. It begs the question: if there is already an excellent animated series in place, why the fuck do we need an emo reimagining of said series that cuts the approximately 30 hour long plot down to a scant 90 minutes. that's, like, three minutes per hour of the cartoon. Hell, even if it's a movie trilogy (let's hope not) it still won't even compare to the original. seriously, why even bother with a movie?

edit:
just to make everybody here more upset with live action movie news: there is a small chance that zac efron will be involved in the live action full metal panic movie. I shit you not. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Okay I will at least recognise this guys complaint, as it is well worded and describes actual reasons why the movie could be bad. However when it comes to movies like this one, especially considering M. is working very closely with the writers of the show, I generally wait until the movie actually comes out to make a decision. Also, the edit reminds me I have been meaning to watch the rest of Full Metal Panic, as I never actually got to episode two even. Lastly, explain how Zac Efron will be a bad thing, as I do not know who that is.

 

[DoctorWhat]

Did they not learn from Dragonball Evolution or whatever that piece of crap was called? Live-action adaptations of cartoons don't work!

 

[the1ultimate]

To Avatar fans: you do not want to watch this. It will kill everythin you liked about the show.

I would have accepted all white casting, asian casting or black casting, because all of those would at least be consistent. Instead they appear to have really messed up the casting in a way I had thought impossible.

I expect some nice butchering of a plot that most ten-year olds probably understand better than the director.

Maybe I've been watching ZP too much, but I await this movie with low expectations. That means if it is good- *Crushes positive thoughts, before they get smashed*

 

[dwightsteel]

First off, M. Night Shyamalan's last couple of movies weren't so great, but his track record isn't awful. It's not like Michael Bay or even Uwe Boll is making this movie. It's being made by a director who knows a few things about actual storytelling, and doesn't use special effects to cover up shoddy direction. The guy made Unbreakable, and with that in mind, I'm willing to give this movie some latitude on the outset.

Secondly, casting wise, people need to cool their jets. It's not the first time casting choices have gone this way. Besides, it's not like anyone in the original AMERICAN MADE cartoon blatantly stated that they were Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, or Caucasian. Shows like that tend to leave genealogical concepts ambiguous. Get over it. Hell, we don't have ANY idea how this main kid is gonna go, being that this is his theatrical debut. We have seen absolutely no shots of anyone delivering dialogue. Who's to say that the acting will be bad? We have absolutely NO grounds to assume the acting will suffer. It's a nitpick that has no bearing on the quality of the movie.

Finally, why build any expectations on movies like this? Hope that it's good or bad, but to expect anything is dumb. M. Night is gonna make this movie, hopefully to the best of his ability. It turns out how it turns out. It could end up blowing you away. I'll be the first to admit that anime (inspired, in this case) turned blockbuster tend to end up crap, but to say that based on history that this movie will definitely be horrible is a faulty syllogism. All you have to go on is a trailer, and this trailer had the kid, and a bunch of ships. That's it. This isn't Dragonball. This isn't Transformers. The circumstances for this movie are wholly different than any beloved property turned movie before it.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

The film could be good, but it could also be a complete disaster.

I didn't mind the TV series of it, but whether a movie would improve it or ruin it I don't know.

Did they not learn from Dragonball Evolution or whatever that piece of crap was called? Live-action adaptations of cartoons don't work!

They do sometimes. I like to think that the live adaptations of Death Note and Battle Royale were fairly good adaptations. Adaptations in general are always potentially rubbish, but it doesn't mean they all are.

Lastly, explain how Zac Efron will be a bad thing, as I do not know who that is.

He played Troy in the High School Musical films. In short, he is hated by everyone who isn't a twelve year old girl, and they really only like him for his looks. He was also the only one who didn't star in the live stage production of the films, as it turns out he's the only member of the cast who can't actually sing.

 

[Latinidiot]

no film shot in reality can equal the charm and innocence of the series. they will fuck the whole thing up. and when i say innocence, I mean that it's never over the top in the action scenes. they will have to be in real life, because it is impossible to keep a scene wherein a 14 year old girl lift rocks the size of a bus charming.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I'm going to watch it, but I'm not disposed one way or the other, otherwise.