The Last Airbender sucked

[Dunnuck]

It was...so...bad...omg

[Wolfy]

Hmm..I'm curious as to how you know, as it's not out yet.

[Brandon]

Sometimes movie theatres do private screenngs with the staff and their family. I know the manager of one so at times, I get to see them before theyre officially released. I saw District 9, Splice, and Shutter island in private screenings  ;D

That aside, Im more interested to know why you think it sucked

[Starlequin]

Saw it coming.

[Dunnuck]

Um...its out today. 12am release...ya know. And I will put here what I put on facebook.

The Last Airbender: 4/10 TLA suffers from a terrible script and extreme pacing issues. With the makings of an epic, like amazing sets and good score, the delivery causes it to suck dramatically. The movie is too short for the content, and the characters are hollow. While most scenes would work good with build up, the lack there of makes it comedic. Scenes are too short and explinations are few. There are few redeeming qualities, and even moving into the fiom with optimism, no amount can overpower the points in which the film falls short. It is more of a quick live action over view of the series than anything. ... See MoreDont get me wrong, it couod of been amazing. Artisticly stunning sets, ok actors, solid atmosphere and epic music are all present. Just script and pacing. Sent the movie spiraling down, the film never really picking up. It also suffers from misplaced scenes taken from the show, some that are supposed to be in season THREE. Not ONE. Positive things to say: Uncle Iroh's character is amazing and on spot. Sets are mimd boggling. Bending is excellent.

More Negative: Romance goes far too quick, as bad as the original twilight film. Sozin's Comet is NEVER mentioned and the reason the Fire Nation fears the Avatar is a completely different reason than in the original plot. The movie could of been SO MUCH MORE. Negative: The moves for bending are inconsistent and over exaggerated. Simple moves require an entire interperative dance while something far more dangerous, big, and eoic can be done in one movement. They also needed COOLER bending.

[Dunnuck]

Allow me to also mention that, while the SFX were good, they were not INTEGRATED well.

[HairyHeretic]

So they tried to compress, what, three seasons of show into a single movie?

[Brandon]

Sounds like it Hairy, remember they tried doing that with the second mortal kombat movie as well and look how badly that fell (espcially with the wonderful first part that was spot on and IMO the first good video game movie).

Well it sounds like you have your reasons which at first glance seem like a solid opinion. Ive never been a big avatar fan and only seen the first season so maybe thats what gets in the way of enjoying it. *shrugs* Ill reserve judgement for later this week, although Ill probably be paying more attention to the girl Im taking then the movie :P

[Cherry Bloodrayne]

I already saw this coming. I personally have had no interest in the animated series either. I will watch it before giving my comments though for sure.

[Jag]

M. Night Shyamalan screw up a movie? Real shocker...:P

Even working from set material, he still can't do it? *sighs*

[Dunnuck]

No, he doesnt try to compress three seasons. He tries to compress the first. Into an hour and a half. And even looking from the viewpoint of someone who is NOT a fan, it is obviously bad. Its just put together bad

[Inkidu]

So they tried to compress, what, three seasons of show into a single movie?

I thought Avatar: The Last Airbender was far more than three seasons?

[LIAR]

Only three.

Going to go watch it anyway.

[Aiden]

I saw it, I did not think it was to bad. The acting was kinda "meh" but the effects were awesome.

[Dunnuck]

The effects cant make up for the abysmal script and terrible pace of the movie. The movie had a story of a hazy dream...which is a bad thing.

[Aiden]

I think you are being over critical, the pace was a little rushed but you can't blame a movie for "skipping" ahead as it did. The obvious solution was to break chapter 1 into more movies but then that would also have people's interest wane.

[Original Content]

Even though I haven't seen it yet, Thank the Gods, if this is only of the first season then you wouldn't hear about the Comet anyway. Now why they fear the Avatar, I guess I'll find out in due time.

[Will]

M. Night Shyamalan screw up a movie? Real shocker...:P

Even working from set material, he still can't do it? *sighs*

You said it before I could. >.<

[Brandon]

In his defense he is a good script writer, but I think he lacks the experience and vision to be a good director at this time. That said, everyone needs to get their experience from somewhere

[Will]

The only good movie he ever made was The Sixth Sense, and that was only good because I wasn't already numb to his gimmick.  He is not a good script writer in the slightest.  The pacing problems are also far too believable with him in charge.  Have you seen the Village?  I hope not, for your sake.

[Oniya]

I thought Avatar: The Last Airbender was far more than three seasons?

First season he learns water-bending from a man in the Northern Water tribe who happens to be Katara's grandmother's first love.  Second season, he learns earth-bending from a blind girl named Toph.  Third season, he learns fire-bending from Zuko (who has been trying to capture him through seasons one and two).

[Dunnuck]

"A bit rushed"? There was literally no build up to any events in the movie. There was no sense of shock when Aang found out Zuko was the Blue Spirit. Specifically because you didn't get that sense of a feud between the two. It was just bad. Zuko wasn't nearly obsessive enough over Aang (which is an important part of his character). Aang hardly ever enjoyed himself or played around. There was no connection between Appa and Aang. Sokka had hardly any funny lines. He had no sarcasm. Firelord was an idiot. Everything was shallow and shitty. Except the sets.

[Oniya]

Apparently, you're not the only one to think so.

http://io9.com/5576076/m-night-shyamalan-finally-made-a-comedy

[Callie Del Noire]

It was a movie that deserved at least 2 hours.. it was hard to put an whole season in 90 minutes. LOTS of things could have been expanded on. You don't get much of Ang's childish joy of life, and at the end when he steps up to his role as the Avatar it felt.. tragic, he was seeing the life he wanted fading.


Curious to see how the 2nd comes through but not sure I'd recommend this one.

[Jag]

You said it before I could. >.<

Well, it needed to be said.

He's proven that he screws up the movies he writes out of his own imagination, you'd think he could do a little better with a movie that practically has a script already (the damn show!).

In his defense he is a good script writer, but I think he lacks the experience and vision to be a good director at this time. That said, everyone needs to get their experience from somewhere

He's been writing and directing movies for over 10 years, I think he should have enough experience by now...or even a little experience. The Happening, Lady in the Water, Signs (which could of been decent), and The Village were terrible movies. The pacing was awful and the acting generally was too. Shyamalan's little 'twists' aren't that fun. I agree with Will, the only decent movie he's made is 'The Sixth Sense' and even that was only decent to me because it was different from the other movies out at that time.

[Wolfy]

I'm going to go watch it tonight..o3o...

[PureImagination]

I'd still rather see this than sit in a theater full of screaming fangirls for Eclipse... >_>;

[Wolfy]

I'd still rather see this than sit in a theater full of screaming fangirls for Eclipse... >_>;

Just remember: Only one more movie, and then it's done forever..

O-o..I hope.

[PureImagination]

Two movies. They are stealing the Harry Potter bit and splitting up the last movie. ._.;;

[Chikannochichi]

MY wife is a huge fan of the series, and has been ballistic since she heard news that the new movie sucks. I wasn't expecting much, but from what I've heard, I'm not even sure I could sit through it.

[Brandon]

Well I went to see it tonight and it was an interesting experience. Keep in mind that Im coming at this from a not really a fan but I know a little bit about the series perspective. However my date was a huge fan of the TV show...I was unaware that the goth lifestyle of dress and such a series could intersect very well but hey she was into it. Overall I think the problem is once again Fans, Fans wont enjoy it as much while those that dont know the show at all or know little (like me) can enjoy it for what it is without memories of the orignal getting in the way.

The two points avatar really had going for it were the cenematography and special effects, I dont think you could have asked for better from an avatar movie. The problem with the movie is the narrative.The movie just tried to pile to much into one movie, if they had just done the creation mythos of avatar and stuck with that a little traveling as Ang tries to learn control of the different elemental bending I think it could have done a lot better. They just piled to much into it forcing the movie to have next to no character development/personality (consequently givign us little reason to care about them or the impending war) and to bog everything down with long drawn out explanations. Once it gets done explaining everything its a damn good movie that works but the problem is theres only like 20 or 30 minutes left by that time

The problem here probably lies in the trilogy mentality. Everyone tries to do these huge oversweeping stories in trilogy format and while that worked with Lord of the rings and Back to the future it doesnt work as well with other products. Twilight would be even worse then it is (scary right?) if it were bogged down into a trilogy, as would harry potter, or Xenosaga. With large franchises like these the trilogy line of thinking needs to be done away with and they need to slow down and not try to pile too much together. If avatar was 6 movies, or even 4 or 5 then I think it would work much better. As is its still worth a look, I dont think it sucks but its not exactly good either

[Dunnuck]

Im wondering if you laughed at some of the stupidity in it. Like doing a giant like 8 second long interpretive dance to throw a (small) rock, then turning around and raising a slab of earth in one movement, or perhaps moving from scene to scene as quickly as a fart in the wind. "You are saying my son is this rogue?" "Yes" *next scene*. Or, this is rich, let me go and start a rebellion while under watch from soldiers, and not have them jump in until I rally the people. Lets also provide next to no fluent action and an incoherent story. Lets waste all this money on sets that are in the fil, for a total of like 2 minutes. While we are at it, lets show literally ever piece of action in the commercials and cut out any fights that may actually be cool (katara vs. zuko). And cinematography? You mean how the camera was up the characters nose while they were talking? Like all the time? The good cinematography was few and far between. The special effects were not intergrated well, either. Yeah they are good alone, but set against the movie, it looks cheesy. I will admit, it had its (two) moments, but I dont understand how anyone could say the movie doesn't suck. All that had nothing to do with being a fan of the show. The whole last section (the attack on water tribe) was (kinda) good. Everything else felt like it was slipped in at the last minute (most of the scenes feeling like deleted scenes).

[Brandon]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree then. I think the major problem was they tried to put to much into the movie because it was all from the first season. If they had done the first season in two movies rather then one then Im sure that the quick pace the movie took wouldnt be a problem because there would be more time for character development/personalizing, plot development, and better done action scenes.

Once again, I think fandom more then anything else is going to get in the way of enjoying the movie for what it is and it could have been better if it didnt spread itself so thin. I walked out of the theatre thinking it was alright while my date thought it was horrible due to it not following the TV show more closely

[Wolfy]

Well..they used the first movie to get the exposition out of the way. (And I love how there's that little kid that Zuko calls over, who's ONLY purpose is to explain what the hell happened to him with his father.)

Sooo...hopefully the Second should be better. Especially if Azula is Bat-sh*t Axe-Crazy....and if they include Boomy, damn it!...D: Seriously, they missed a perfectly good chance to inject some comedy.

[Will]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree then. I think the major problem was they tried to put to much into the movie because it was all from the first season. If they had done the first season in two movies rather then one then Im sure that the quick pace the movie took wouldnt be a problem because there would be more time for character development/personalizing, plot development, and better done action scenes.

The movie is only 103 minutes long.  There could have been more to it, if the writers/directors had wanted. :P

[Inkidu]

The movie is only 103 minutes long.  There could have been more to it, if the writers/directors had wanted. :P

So sure? Surprising as it may seem not everyone is Cameron (why God?) or Spielberg. They don't get limitless funding to churn out whatever their hearts desire. I don't think  M. Knight falls into that circle. A ton of special effects later and there goes the budget.

[Brandon]

The movie is only 103 minutes long.  There could have been more to it, if the writers/directors had wanted. :P

Most movies get cut down if they run longer then that just because of the industry's preferences.

Just a minute ago I went to look at this weeks Zero punctuation and I noticed this video. He makes an interesting point that if you had to tell a story in 1/6th of its alloted time as well as keep all the plot points, backstory, character developments, and setting information the same your story would seem spread to thin too.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1849-The-Last-Airbender

[Will]

So sure? Surprising as it may seem not everyone is Cameron (why God?) or Spielberg. They don't get limitless funding to churn out whatever their hearts desire. I don't think  M. Knight falls into that circle. A ton of special effects later and there goes the budget.

O.o

Dude, I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that was an hour and forty-three minutes.  You don't have to be "Cameron (why God?) or Spielberg" to make a two hour movie.

[Inkidu]

O.o

Dude, I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that was an hour and forty-three minutes.  You don't have to be "Cameron (why God?) or Spielberg" to make a two hour movie.

I've seen plenty of movies that fall under the two-hour mark and are good or bad. I'm saying special effects are expensive as hell and that M. Knight is probably not up on the list of directors that gets to use as much as he wants. Especially with his movies being questionable. People always want to know where their money is going.

[Will]

I just can't give M. Night Shyamalan (Night?  What a ridiculous name to self-apply) the benefit of the doubt.  Is it possible that he simply ran out of budget and had to cut the whole thing short?  Sure.  Is it more likely that he did what he usually does and screwed up the whole flow of the movie, leaving movie-goers with the feeling that there should have been more?  Yeahaaa.

[LIAR]

I was looking forward to this movie. I didn't expect anything super-amazing considering it was smushing an entire season into a mere movie-going experience. But I figured 'at least the bending will be cool.' It wasn't. The acting was terrible, the characters were not well played, the plot was incredibly rushed, the bending was sparse and kind of lame. There was nothing good about this movie.

[consortium11]

As a complete non-fan of the source material the blatant whitewashing got me as soon I saw the cast list on another site I frequent.

[Dunnuck]

That guy (on the escapist) was far to lenient. He made some good points, but watching that movie was painful. Cinematography was good, but there was also really bad. Like being in the characters grill whenever they talk. It made it feel awkward. The script was also terrible, giving the exposition in a stupid way. He also failed to mention the pace of the film, which (in combination with the script) single-handily ruined the movie. I mean, yes the sets are amazing. Music is amazing. Outfits are amazing. But you don't see them enough and a lot of decisions shymalan made with his directing was just bad.

Example: Having Aang run out into a fully guarded camp and start preaching about protest (with a bad script)
Example: When the fire nation was about to attack the Northern Water Tribe, having them jam their (spears?) into the ground like flamming idiots. Lets face it, they looked stupid
Example: Back to example one, after Aang finishes his terribly written script and the baddies come, katara stupidly runs over and pushes one of the guards screaming 'leave him alone'. Weak.
Example: Possibly the best example of bad script writing and terribly quick pace was when the general confronts the firelord about Zuko being the Blue Spirit...everyone in the theater laughed
Example: The interpretive dance moves required to do some (stupid looking) bending, then a single movement for something far cooler and complex. It just doesn't make sense.
Example: Like said by Brandon, a lot of the problems come from trying to jam too much content in....but that spawns the bad pacing, the bad script, the odd flow of the movie, and the incoherent story. Which took up until the last like ten minutes when the movie actually started getting good....

[Brandon]

As a complete non-fan of the source material the blatant whitewashing got me as soon I saw the cast list on another site I frequent.

I might have complained about that if it wasnt a Hollywood thing. It seems like theres some rule that you have to have Caucasian actors in the main leads when it comes to anything fantasy or historically based. Remember prince of persia had that problem too, as do a lot of movies in the past where the inhabitants of the area should have been "Brown" people. Its more of a blame the producers not the director thing because usually its the producers of movies that are responsible for casting (I dont know who exactly was responsible for casting in Airbender or Prince of persia)

That guy (on the escapist) was far to lenient. He made some good points, but watching that movie was painful. Cinematography was good, but there was also really bad. Like being in the characters grill whenever they talk. It made it feel awkward. The script was also terrible, giving the exposition in a stupid way. He also failed to mention the pace of the film, which (in combination with the script) single-handily ruined the movie. I mean, yes the sets are amazing. Music is amazing. Outfits are amazing. But you don't see them enough and a lot of decisions shymalan made with his directing was just bad.

Example: Having Aang run out into a fully guarded camp and start preaching about protest (with a bad script)
Example: When the fire nation was about to attack the Northern Water Tribe, having them jam their (spears?) into the ground like flamming idiots. Lets face it, they looked stupid
Example: Back to example one, after Aang finishes his terribly written script and the baddies come, katara stupidly runs over and pushes one of the guards screaming 'leave him alone'. Weak.
Example: Possibly the best example of bad script writing and terribly quick pace was when the general confronts the firelord about Zuko being the Blue Spirit...everyone in the theater laughed
Example: The interpretive dance moves required to do some (stupid looking) bending, then a single movement for something far cooler and complex. It just doesn't make sense.
Example: Like said by Brandon, a lot of the problems come from trying to jam too much content in....but that spawns the bad pacing, the bad script, the odd flow of the movie, and the incoherent story. Which took up until the last like ten minutes when the movie actually started getting good....

Interesting, what you call leniancy I call being fair. People should judge the movie on all its good and bad points but something I notice about most reviewers is when they see a lot of bad points (and there are a lot of bad points in airbender) they disregard the good and are to quick to say "oh this sucks".

[Dunnuck]

No, I stated the good. The good was just greatly outweighed by the abysmal

[Wolfy]

Bending in the Original Show only usually took one, quick movement. Especially fire bending, where in it only takes one simple forward punch to launch a fireball.

I also liked the part in the movie at the camp, where 10 earth benders all move in unison, and manage to levitate a rock the size of a basketball, and send it at the fire nation soldiers at a speed a snail would laugh at. >_>

[Wolfy]

Also, Mr. Dunnuck. I found a problem with your review on the first page.

Sozin's comet IS mentioned, rather specifically (There's an entire scene devoted to it being mentioned near the end), and it's said to arrive in 3 years time, just like in the show. The Fire Lord also said that it would give his troops ultimate power....and the ability to create fire. (Which was something I don't understand..>_> I mean...Couldn't they already create fire from nothing in the original?)

[Chris Brady]

I thought Avatar: The Last Airbender was far more than three seasons?

Technically there's four 'books', but two were compressed into a single season, hence 3.

[GeekFury]

So I heard there is penis hair in it, true?

[Nyarly]

I only heard that it is so bad, it's like watching your sister getting raped. At least, someone in full Nerd Rage mode said so.

[Dunnuck]

@ Wolfy

I know they did. I just copied and pasted the review from what I put on facebook. And in the show, it is not three years. It is about sixth months, in time for the summer solstice. But yeah, they mentioned it, but they mine as well of just changed it all together since they stupefied what it does.

Being a fan does help with analyzing the movie, but people should be able to see that it is some ass when they watch it. As a fan, yes I paid attention to the bending. But 5 guys to move a tiny rock? Then another guy raising a slab in one motion? That stupid 'logic' is used throughout the entire movie and anyone with a half a brain should be like 'fuck?'. It seems some people are getting "fans" mixed up with people that don't have an attention span of a fish. I mean come on! The movie is bad! All the good is this: Music, sets, scale, outfits, and occasionally the cinematography. Everything else is bad! Which accounts for 4/5s of the movie! Come on! 

[Oniya]

Technically there's four 'books', but two were compressed into a single season, hence 3.

Why would there need to be a fourth book?  I mean, Aang already knew airbending, and each book dealt with a specific element?  (I only ask because when it was still in 'new episodes', I had briefly wondered about a 'book 4'.)

[Jag]

So yeah...went to see it last night...it wasn't great, but it wasn't overly terrible. I'm relaxed with movies though. I can find the good in just about any movie that isn't outright stupid or filled with butt jokes.

Though one thing really made my eye twitch...Katara and the way she said the word 'Avatar'...also the mispronouncing of so many names. It's not like a book where names could be debatable. There was a TV show with their names spoken in every damn episode.

And what's with the Firebenders not being able to create fire? Even the most low level of firebenders in the show could do that. *shrugs*

[RedMoonRising]

I agree with Michi. I actually did like the movie, despite its drawbacks. My biggest beefs with it were the mispronunciation of names and the somewhat sub-par acting (Noah Ringer and the girl who played Katara didn't impress me too much), but I think the biggest issue is that, simply, it's an entire season of an animated show compressed into an hour-and-a-half live-action movie. It's a foregone conclusion that it won't be as good as the series that it's based off of, so I went into the theatre not to see an adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but just to see a movie, no bias involved. As an adaptation, yes, I think it certainly did drop the ball, but as a movie I thought it was rather good and, dare I say it, I'm considering going to see it in 3D.

[Jag]

My biggest beefs with it were the mispronunciation of names and the somewhat sub-par acting (Noah Ringer and the girl who played Katara didn't impress me too much)...

While Noah Ringer probably looked the closest to his source character, I did really enjoy how into it Dev Patel seemed as Zuko. And while Shaun Toub didn't look like Uncle Iroh, I think he did well with the part (very relaxed till he's forced to act). Other than those two...yeah, the acting wasn't that great. I do hope that Azula goes completely nuts by the end of it. That would be nice.

[Sethren]

LOL I don't care that this hasn't been touched in ages, I'm responding to it. Simply because a bunch of people and myself were just recently talking about screw ups of books being made into films and other related stuff with film and this.

This one killed me when it came out.

I was a very big fan of the animated series. I get it, not everyone's cup of tea but it was one of mine!

The movie was horrendous and the official excuse to explain how and why it was done the way it was?

It was based off of the play that the characters saw of themselves at some point in the series...Which also, had been done horrifically and was factually inaccurate and based off of rumors about the characters and their journey's thus far. The characters had hated it too lol.

So...NOPE. I hated it. Was right up there with a let down like Eragon and now, modern day - the Dark Tower movie.

I can't sleep and can't focus enough to write my stories so I'm just spamming these threads that I find interesting lol.

[Oniya]

Wait - they actually tried to claim it was based on the play?  I remember seeing a joke about how the 'play episode' was a prophetic review of the movie (Well, that sucked.  Eh, the effects were decent!)  (Besides, Shamalamadingdong's movie had even less to do with the play than it did with the rest of the animated series.  Dude couldn't even get the pronunciation of the characters' names right, despite the fact that there were audio samples!)

[Sethren]

Wait - they actually tried to claim it was based on the play?  I remember seeing a joke about how the 'play episode' was a prophetic review of the movie (Well, that sucked.  Eh, the effects were decent!)  (Besides, Shamalamadingdong's movie had even less to do with the play than it did with the rest of the animated series.  Dude couldn't even get the pronunciation of the characters' names right, despite the fact that there were audio samples!)

That's what I've heard over the years, dunno if that's confirmable. The mere idea that it's even possible just has me in giggle fits! I was so excited for it too, so I'm still mad, a decade later that it was a total flop.

On the subject of Avatar the Last Airbender, have you seen the kickstarter for a rpg style game for it? I can't wait for it to be released! Totally buying it.

[Oniya]

I think I saw that mentioned over in System Game news - I don't have a tabletop group any more, though.   :'(

[Sethren]

Oh nooooo, the sadness!

I mean, I can't talk. It's only my fiance and myself and occasionally a friend when he comes in from out of town to visit us and his family.

I think it can be played between two people? I need to recheck. I will march my anxious and awkward ass to the game store down town and beg people to play with me (not a video game store, a dice/rpg game store where they hold D&D sessions and card competitions, etc.)

[RperSeeker69]

Well it has been a while since this was posted in and honestly not sure the movie has aged well all things considered, plus, there is now another live action attempt in the series which is another discussion altogether.

I will share my thoughts on the movie, it was, quite bad really. There is no sugar coating it. The movie just couldn't hold a candle to the animated work which when it comes to adaptations in itself is a tricky venture altogether. They just couldn't hit the marks and given the scale that the Director was facing going into it...he likely had high hopes to at least finish it off with the two remaining volumes into film. Suffice to say the Director has moved on but this trash of a film still exists for people to go back and watch again and again and who knows maybe after so many viewings they will change their opinion. 

Will it ever see the big screen again? Highly doubtful and again the series is out there now.

[Oniya]

Little Oni has commented that the 'play' episode (when the Aang's gang sees the Fire Nation troupe perform a rendition of the story so far) is the first case of a review coming out before the movie:

'Well, that sucked.'
'The effects were pretty good.'