Post by nightfirewolf on Jul 5, 2010 1:50:30 GMT -5
So, I decided to see the Last AirBender..Why? Well, look at it. Doesn't it look amazing from the previews? Well, that's about all that's good about it, honestly. M. Night Shamylan performed terribly, directing this movie, a movie that had SO much potential. It had it's moments, and was all around okay, but I could have waited until it was on HBO.
So, without giving too many spoilers, let's get right into this review.
Note that I will compare as little to the anime as much as possible. This is a review. Not so much a comparison.
Plot
The plot is exactly the same as the anime. Katara and Sokka discover Aang trapped in ice, who happens to be the Avatar. Upon discovery, he decides to do all he can to stop the Fire Nation from taking control of the other nations, but he must first master three of the elements(He already mastered Air):Fire, Earth, and Water, in order to defeat the Fire Lord. 10/10 for keeping it the same.
Casting
Okay, so, there's a lot of controversy over the film because apparently people were expecting the characters to be chinese, which I find slightly ridiculous. Why? Because the entire setting of the movie is NOT set in ASIA! It's simply influenced by a lot of chinese culture. Also, it wouldn't make sense for there to be a purely asian cast, when no one really looks asian in the show, either.
In this section, for me, it was hit and miss. Sokka, Aang, and Katara definitely had the look of the characters they were playing, but..When it came to the Fire Nation characters, there was some terrible casting. Zuko is supposed to be a fearful rival, not a kid who looks like Rufio from "Hook", but with less confidence and intimidation. He just looks like a scared and crazed rabbit. Also, his uncle is...Well....Not old. He looks more like he's in his mid-forties, really. His role isn't the wise elder that exists in the anime, but more of a submissive sidekick to Zuko who tries to offer advise every now and then, but to almost no avail. I will say, however, that his uncle did have an interesting and unique look, alone. I'd give the casting a 6/10, because they did a pretty decent job with Katara, Sokka and Aang. Zuko and everyone else were just mediocre.
Characters
Basically, things were changed around for the sake of the movie being live-action. The movie doesn't support a lot of comedy as the anime does. It aims to be more of an action-drama. Sokka's comic relief is reduced to almost nill, as he plays more of a realist left-brain thinker. Katara is still optimistic as ever, which definitely helps, because what else can she really be? The only thing she lacks is that bit of attitude that the movie needed out of her. Aang isn't the main character he needs to be. He lacks that child-like spark that makes hims really unique. Instead, he's simply a confused little boy. Zuko is shown to be rather powerful, but also crazy. He doesn't appear grief stricken by his past. Only crazed, like he lost his "precious". Honestly, there's very little I can truly say about Iroh, except that he was actually a very intruiging character. Not the same character, but very intruiging in his own way.
A few alterations about a couple of characters did annoy me, though....
Why in the WORLD is Aang pronounced "Ong", and WHY is Sokka pronounced "Soakah?" WHY THE HELL DID THEY CHANGE THE WAY THEIR NAMES WERE PRONOUNCED?!
Again...Not trying to compare to the anime a whole lot..But come on!
Overall, the characters get a 4/10.
Acting/Dialogue
Yeah....It was dreadful. The dialogue seemed rushed and mostly emotionless, or attempting to capture the right emotion. Any time someone asks you, "And did he escape?", and you wait five seconds to say, ".......................Yeeess...", then you might want to proof read your script. There was nothing memorable! Nothing that stood out! No great quotes, nothing! All it did was continue the story from start to finish.
At the same time, the acting didn't help it, either. When Aang(Ong?) visits the Air temple in which he lived, he sees that the fire nation wiped out the airbenders a long time ago. He looks like he might cry...But he does not. You don't feel -anything- from these characters. By the end, you just realize that Sokka talks too fast, that Zuko is just an annoying little rabbit, that General Zhao is kind of a weird little snake, and that Aang is a dulled version of an actual 12 year-old boy.
Let's not forget that the character development is as poor as the acting itself. Come to think of it, what character development? Aang definitely matures, but it's not dramatized in a way a movie should do so, and truly, he's the most developed character. No one else really changes or grows at all. You just. Cant. Get. Close. To. Any. Of. Them....No. Connection. At All.
All together, this gets a 3/10
Soundtrack]
I can't even rate this, because it was that uninteresting. There was nothing memorable about it. NOTHING!
Action/Visual effects
The action sequences? AMAZING! The martial arts, and the way the camera focuses on the action is absolutely brilliant! They adopted a style similar to "300." Something that allows you to actually -see- what everyone is doing. You can really get used to seeing the camera circling around the characters as they fight. A lot of times, the camera is too close up, or moving around too much for you to make out what's happening in a lot of movies.
The visual effects, though...Now THAT is the only thing that is worth seeing in this movie. they are absolutely stunning and realistic. Personally, I think that was the only thing that made the movie any good at all. 10/10.
Overall
Overall...This is a terrible movie. Save your money, honestly. The emotion, dialogue, characters, acting, and so much more are just downright terrible. The only good feature is the fighting and the special effects. Also, for fans of the anime series, I feel obligated to tell you this: When Aang goes into the spirit world, the other avatars don't help him..A Dragon Spirit does....Be warned. You've read the review.
A 2/10, overall. Don't expect the sequel that they're hoping for. >.>
So, without giving too many spoilers, let's get right into this review.
Note that I will compare as little to the anime as much as possible. This is a review. Not so much a comparison.
Plot
The plot is exactly the same as the anime. Katara and Sokka discover Aang trapped in ice, who happens to be the Avatar. Upon discovery, he decides to do all he can to stop the Fire Nation from taking control of the other nations, but he must first master three of the elements(He already mastered Air):Fire, Earth, and Water, in order to defeat the Fire Lord. 10/10 for keeping it the same.
Casting
Okay, so, there's a lot of controversy over the film because apparently people were expecting the characters to be chinese, which I find slightly ridiculous. Why? Because the entire setting of the movie is NOT set in ASIA! It's simply influenced by a lot of chinese culture. Also, it wouldn't make sense for there to be a purely asian cast, when no one really looks asian in the show, either.
In this section, for me, it was hit and miss. Sokka, Aang, and Katara definitely had the look of the characters they were playing, but..When it came to the Fire Nation characters, there was some terrible casting. Zuko is supposed to be a fearful rival, not a kid who looks like Rufio from "Hook", but with less confidence and intimidation. He just looks like a scared and crazed rabbit. Also, his uncle is...Well....Not old. He looks more like he's in his mid-forties, really. His role isn't the wise elder that exists in the anime, but more of a submissive sidekick to Zuko who tries to offer advise every now and then, but to almost no avail. I will say, however, that his uncle did have an interesting and unique look, alone. I'd give the casting a 6/10, because they did a pretty decent job with Katara, Sokka and Aang. Zuko and everyone else were just mediocre.
Characters
Basically, things were changed around for the sake of the movie being live-action. The movie doesn't support a lot of comedy as the anime does. It aims to be more of an action-drama. Sokka's comic relief is reduced to almost nill, as he plays more of a realist left-brain thinker. Katara is still optimistic as ever, which definitely helps, because what else can she really be? The only thing she lacks is that bit of attitude that the movie needed out of her. Aang isn't the main character he needs to be. He lacks that child-like spark that makes hims really unique. Instead, he's simply a confused little boy. Zuko is shown to be rather powerful, but also crazy. He doesn't appear grief stricken by his past. Only crazed, like he lost his "precious". Honestly, there's very little I can truly say about Iroh, except that he was actually a very intruiging character. Not the same character, but very intruiging in his own way.
A few alterations about a couple of characters did annoy me, though....
Why in the WORLD is Aang pronounced "Ong", and WHY is Sokka pronounced "Soakah?" WHY THE HELL DID THEY CHANGE THE WAY THEIR NAMES WERE PRONOUNCED?!
Again...Not trying to compare to the anime a whole lot..But come on!
Overall, the characters get a 4/10.
Acting/Dialogue
Yeah....It was dreadful. The dialogue seemed rushed and mostly emotionless, or attempting to capture the right emotion. Any time someone asks you, "And did he escape?", and you wait five seconds to say, ".......................Yeeess...", then you might want to proof read your script. There was nothing memorable! Nothing that stood out! No great quotes, nothing! All it did was continue the story from start to finish.
At the same time, the acting didn't help it, either. When Aang(Ong?) visits the Air temple in which he lived, he sees that the fire nation wiped out the airbenders a long time ago. He looks like he might cry...But he does not. You don't feel -anything- from these characters. By the end, you just realize that Sokka talks too fast, that Zuko is just an annoying little rabbit, that General Zhao is kind of a weird little snake, and that Aang is a dulled version of an actual 12 year-old boy.
Let's not forget that the character development is as poor as the acting itself. Come to think of it, what character development? Aang definitely matures, but it's not dramatized in a way a movie should do so, and truly, he's the most developed character. No one else really changes or grows at all. You just. Cant. Get. Close. To. Any. Of. Them....No. Connection. At All.
All together, this gets a 3/10
Soundtrack]
I can't even rate this, because it was that uninteresting. There was nothing memorable about it. NOTHING!
Action/Visual effects
The action sequences? AMAZING! The martial arts, and the way the camera focuses on the action is absolutely brilliant! They adopted a style similar to "300." Something that allows you to actually -see- what everyone is doing. You can really get used to seeing the camera circling around the characters as they fight. A lot of times, the camera is too close up, or moving around too much for you to make out what's happening in a lot of movies.
The visual effects, though...Now THAT is the only thing that is worth seeing in this movie. they are absolutely stunning and realistic. Personally, I think that was the only thing that made the movie any good at all. 10/10.
Overall
Overall...This is a terrible movie. Save your money, honestly. The emotion, dialogue, characters, acting, and so much more are just downright terrible. The only good feature is the fighting and the special effects. Also, for fans of the anime series, I feel obligated to tell you this: When Aang goes into the spirit world, the other avatars don't help him..A Dragon Spirit does....Be warned. You've read the review.
A 2/10, overall. Don't expect the sequel that they're hoping for. >.>