It seems, as reviews begin rolling out for “The Last Airbender”, the overwhelming consensus is that it blows (or, bends air?) I’ve chosen to respond to Roger Ebert’s review, because I am honestly a huge fan of Roger Ebert. His opinion, on the general lack of quality of the film, appears to be shared by most. In fact, I haven’t seen the film, but I’m willing to guess, once I see it, I will agree that the film is not good. With that said, there are some things I would like to comment on, that do not require me to have seen the film.
Click here to read Roger Ebert’s review of “The Last Airbender”
As I said, I’ve not seen the film; so, I can only comment from the perspective I have: as a big fan of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and as an occasional fan of M. Night.
1. Everyone needs to get over the whole “race” thing. The characters on the show HAD NO RACE. I respect Ebert very much (and fear his opinion of the film, in general, is accurate), but how the hell can he say the characters were “clearly” Asian? Their race was never discussed on the show. No races were ever discussed on the show. The only “races” were of the four nations, and possibly of the “benders” and “non-benders”. The fact that people can’t get over this speaks much more to them than to M. Night or the people who made the film. Honestly, the appearance of Iroh is of more concern to me than the race of any of the actors.
2. What perceivable reason could there be to have made “The Last Airbender” an animated film? The story has already been animated and amazingly well. Why in the hell would there need to be another animated version of the same story?
3. It sounds as if M. Night chose to go the route of “cartoon violence” with the special effects: meaning, fire doesn’t really burn (except when it’s convenient) that sort of thing. This was, in my opinion, a clearly wrong move. I haven’t seen the film, but that’s what it sounds like. In bringing the film into live-action, M. Night should have recognized that the elements have to be real for something like this to work.
4. 3D can suck a dick. I mean, it can go in search of the rumored “last dick”, hunt it for years, finally decide to join its quest, then suck it dry. That’s what 3D can do. All current 3D technology does is fuck up resolution, camera movement, visual perception of film, and my god-damned movie watching experience.
5. I do not hope the title proves prophetic (I’m assuming Ebert meant that he hopes another film isn’t made, though, the title wouldn’t lead to that). I hope “The Last Airbender” is a blockbuster and they move ahead with their plans to make two more films. “Why?”, You may ask, “If this film is so bad, why would you want them to make two more?” Obviously, they made mistakes with this one, but the source material is too dynamic to just abandon it. Hopefully, they’ll take what they’ve learned from making this one and apply that to the others. Undoubtedly, they’ll choose to make them in 3D, but hopefully they’ll make that choice before making the film (instead of retrofitting it) and that will improve their use of the 3D technology (even though 3D can still suck a dick, remember?)
In summation, I’m sure this film isn’t “great”, or likely isn’t even “good”, but I will still see it, because other people don’t form my opinions.
Filed under: Movie reviews, Stupid crap Tagged: | 3D, M. Night Shyamalan, movies, Roger Ebert, The Last Airbender
I watched it and hated it. I had high hopes for the film, but the acting was just horrendous. I tried to like it, but it couldn’t hold my attention. I was sadly disappointed because I happen to like M. Night films…even The Village.
Really? That’s unfortunate. The acting was the worst part. If anything should make people not like the film, it’s the acting. At least M. Night did well.
I like the way M. Night makes films. Signs is incredible, in my opinion. Then Sixth Sense and Unbreakable are great. Lady in the Water is a good example of his ability to tell a story. The film isn’t very good, but he tells it very well (“storytelling” is separate from “writing”, as Lady in the Water has some serious “writing” problems). Then The Village is next; it’s directed very well, and the acting is very good; the story is just lackluster. The Happening is just, basically crap all-around. If anything, the directing is good, but even that isn’t very good. That’s M. Night’s catch; he can do very well at everything (writing, directing, storytelling), but he can’t seem to get them all together, anymore. The Last Airbender, I think is his fourth-best film (behind Signs, The Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable — then, The Village and The Happening). He has other films before The Sixth Sense, but for all intents and purposes, his career began with The Sixth Sense.