ravenswept (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ravenswept) wrote2010-07-05 08:51 pm
ravenswept) wrote2010-07-05 08:51 pm
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I have...issues...with M. Night
Today, unexpectedly, I saw The Last Airbender. Honestly, I had no plans to see it (in theaters), because of low reviews, low expectations, and just not feeling like it. But some friends wanted to, I was invited, and so here I am.
I don't care too much about spoilers, if you're a fan you've seen the series anyway. If not...Rosebud was his sled.
I went in with hopes as low as possible. I had no false pretenses about what I was about to see, so going in I tried to prepare myself. These expectations...were met, actually. It was horrible, truly, but did not go above my imposed level of mediocrity.
Good things; surprisingly well done sets, costumes, and effects. I honestly thought that they brought the Avatar world to life quite well. The costumes were not cheaply made, and went beyond what the cartoon showed for believability (mainly in the small ornate details, materials used, and the way they were used together). Aang's tattoo was a nice addition, because it gave more credence to the spiritual aspect of it. The sets I loved. The Northern Water Tribe looked just like the show, only, you know, real and detail rich. The world itself didn't look like a Lord of the Rings ripoff, which is always a nice change of pace for movie journeys.
And the bending...wow. That was one part they well invested their money in, because fire looked like fire, ice and water looked, well at this point I'm just going to repeat myself. If for little else, I did believe.
But if the effects were where the money went, they should've cut back on those and looked more into their actors.
Bad things; Aang, Katara, and Shyamalan. Aang might've been okay, but was never given anything to work with. Or direction, there was so much that could've been better, even with the same dialog, but just came out flat.
Katara...no. Just no. How she was ever hired I have no idea. In no way was she believable, ever. Her voice overs were flat, her acting was barely at elementary school play level, and just...no. Her starting and ending point in emoting is always just about to cry, and she never leaves it. And Shyamalan loves her, because too often the camera cuts to her for emotion shots when she's not even the focal point.
Shyamalan. Directed. Produced. Wrote. If he had to be involved, I can't say word one on the first two, though I'd be happy with him not involved period. But written by him, that's just where the whole thing went down the drain. Series creators DiMartino and Konietzko should have been the writers, end of story. Why Shyamalan- okay, here's what went wrong.
M. Night is a man of limited camera angles. Behind and over the shoulder, landscape, and facial shot. Not much in between. So the action scenes, while very nice, were still very constrained.
Names. I understand Shyamalan is Indian. That probably had a lot to do with how prominent Indians played in casting (strangely the villains, hmm). But this is a pre-established world, with thousands of fans, why the hell was he allowed to change how the characters names were pronounced? Aang became "Ong", Iroh became "E-roh", Sooka turned to "Sue-ka", it took me right out.
And the writing, again, is where it all went wrong. The dialog was so contrived, making grown adults sound like it was their first script reading. I don't think he allowed any editing to his script, because the movie repeats itself again, and again, and tells us things that either we don't get to see, just saw, or is happening right then. Zhao is obsessed with the library, almost every time he appears on screen he as quickly as possible brings it up. There are also many various points were either the story was just ignored or fuzzed. Such a big deal was made of the moon turning red, that that was the big deal in the finale, not the fact that in the actual show the moon fucking disappears. It turned red when the spirit was captured, and vanished upon death, not this turns red upon death and that's it. There's also a bit about earthbenders being held along the side of a cliff, but I can give that a pass on being so disheartened and/or having their family threatened.
Middle ground; casting, bending mythology, various elements. Most of the casting wasn't horrible, Sooka's actor I wouldn't have had a problem with too much if he had been allowed to actually play Sooka, and not be so serious. The racial casting will always be a thorn in fans side, and to some degree it's true. Aang alone is maybe the only one who could have been played by a Caucasian, he being the only one of his kind. But Katara and Sooka, surrounded by Inuit people, are white as daylight. Gran-Gran too, but only to try to make their different coloring believable. Yue, I thought, was a good casting choice and looked very close to her cartoon counterpart, probably the closest of anyone.
The Fire Nation is entirely Indian. Weird. Maybe it was to take them away from the obvious Japanese influence the cartoon had, but still, it was just...odd. And as bad as this may sound, hair and makeup didn't do enough to the main players, because Zhao, Ozai (yes, Ozai appears early and multiple times, fully revealed), and any close soldier without a helmet looked way to similar. No topknots, Zhao didn't have his huge chops, just short and slightly curly hair; he was also played by Aasif Mandvi, of the Daily Show. Only Zuko and Iroh had anything different, spiky and dreadlocks respectively.
Speaking of those two, they were the best casting choices ever and saved the film. I don't care if Patel was a late entry to stave off racial criticism, he was Zuko. While Yue was closest in looks, he was as dead-on as possible with the character as a whole. His voice was so close that I couldn't tell after a few minutes, he had the drive and passion, and made the dialog he was given actually work. Iroh, also known as Shawn Toub, was also good. He was never given enough of his "life, love, and tea" personality (he only mentioned tea once, almost like an afterthought), but still portrayed a strong connection and loyalty to Zuko.
What changes that were made to the way and why of bending I didn't have too much problem with. That the Fire Nation, in the series, never needed a source of their element to bend did seem strange, but it never bothered me, so making them need it wasn't horrible. But then I remember that this fact was always what made the Fire Nation so dangerous in the first place. A big annoyance was how much movement was involved in bending. I realize that the budget could only be so big, but it became too much to see them go through five or more forms just to perform a very basic bending move (such as "fireball" or "wind"). And then not even be consistent later on.
One thing I thought was smart, and bought themselves a lot of time, is changing the time line from 3 months in the show to 3 years until Sozen's Comet arrives. It outdoes the show in that regard, but more importantly it buys them an out for when the actors age and grow. Smart move.
The writing, I've said, tanked the movie, but really deviated in the final act. As mentioned, I care not for spoilers, either you've seen the series or you saw the movie. If you don't plan on seeing the movie, you can't keep yourself hidden from it until the DVD rental.
First, the Zuko vs Katara battle was weak. They recreated the first few moves directly from the show, but then backed off and ended it much too quickly. Katara wasn't a badass, she got taken out by weak pincer movement with fireballs. However, they try to make up for it by combining part of the resolution of the original fight (Zuko being encased in ice) and some of the Zuko/Aang one on one from "Bato of the Water Tribe". Not the best, but not bad, not bad. Also, Zuko never took Aang out of the Water Tribe, instead trying to wait out the battle to sneak off during the confusion. It made sense, so I give points for that.
In what I can only foresee as Nickelodeon interference (because I don't think even Shyamalan is that stupid (maybe)), Aang did not wipe out the Fire Nation attack force by going Avatar-state/Ocean-spirit on them. Instead...*sigh* he (in simple Avatar state, in control no less) raises part of the ocean above the fleet, merely as a threat, and waits until they retreat to let down. Oh, it's said throughout the movie that the Avatar is not meant to hurt people *coughbullshitcough* or have a family (the family thing is why he ran away in the first place (??)) so through that (stupid) logic, he can't kill anyone in his quest to save the world. Not "chooses not the kill", or "has to deal with the consequences of his acts", nope, they just write out any real drama.
Zhao, strangely, does die, is killed right on screen in fact. But there is no poetic justice as there was in the show. No, a cartoon series had more poignant and real emotion that live-action movie that was trying to take itself seriously. Okay, pretty much lost, retreating, whatever, here we go; we get a very weak-sauce version of the Agni-Kai (also horribly pronounced) from the series. In fact all we get is the very last part, where Zhao tries to strike at Zuko as his back is turned. Iroh saves him, they walk away, and then this happens; four water-benders walk up. What were they doing before, I dunno. Why did they all walk up at once for one, in their eyes, soldier, I dunno. But instead of the Ocean-Spirit, taking revenge on Zhao for killing his partner, these four surround and encase Zhao in a sphere of water. Throw him out into the ocean? No. Let the sphere drop over the ledge of the raised bridge they were on? No. They let him drown right there and then drop the whole load on the ground. Dead, right there. Then they turn and run back to the battle below.
This isn't Eragon by any means. That was bad origins and rushed production that managed to to out bad the book, ironically bringing to light all the plagiarism issues given to the book. And there's no comparison, even at it's worst Airbender is better at all points against Eragon.
Maybe it's because I'm a fan of the show, and know how things "should" be. I made many allowances, it being a live-action film, as well as having a only a limited amount of time to tell a story, and understand that adaptations cannot be like the source material. It's not that I didn't want it to be good, too many factors wouldn't allow me to see much of a light at the end of that tunnel.
But just too much was changed where it didn't need to be. Or should have been, where the changes actively weakened the story and characters.
I hope this movie makes money, I want there to be a sequel. I don't want Shyamalan at the helm, and hope that just because this first film made money that they decide he can continue onward. I really hope Nickelodeon, or DiMartino and Konietzko even, hear what fans are saying and realize no one really wants him to have any further involvement. Follow in Bryan Singer's footsteps and listen to the people who also want this to be a good and successful series of movies just as much as you.
I don't care too much about spoilers, if you're a fan you've seen the series anyway. If not...Rosebud was his sled.
I went in with hopes as low as possible. I had no false pretenses about what I was about to see, so going in I tried to prepare myself. These expectations...were met, actually. It was horrible, truly, but did not go above my imposed level of mediocrity.
Good things; surprisingly well done sets, costumes, and effects. I honestly thought that they brought the Avatar world to life quite well. The costumes were not cheaply made, and went beyond what the cartoon showed for believability (mainly in the small ornate details, materials used, and the way they were used together). Aang's tattoo was a nice addition, because it gave more credence to the spiritual aspect of it. The sets I loved. The Northern Water Tribe looked just like the show, only, you know, real and detail rich. The world itself didn't look like a Lord of the Rings ripoff, which is always a nice change of pace for movie journeys.
And the bending...wow. That was one part they well invested their money in, because fire looked like fire, ice and water looked, well at this point I'm just going to repeat myself. If for little else, I did believe.
But if the effects were where the money went, they should've cut back on those and looked more into their actors.
Bad things; Aang, Katara, and Shyamalan. Aang might've been okay, but was never given anything to work with. Or direction, there was so much that could've been better, even with the same dialog, but just came out flat.
Katara...no. Just no. How she was ever hired I have no idea. In no way was she believable, ever. Her voice overs were flat, her acting was barely at elementary school play level, and just...no. Her starting and ending point in emoting is always just about to cry, and she never leaves it. And Shyamalan loves her, because too often the camera cuts to her for emotion shots when she's not even the focal point.
Shyamalan. Directed. Produced. Wrote. If he had to be involved, I can't say word one on the first two, though I'd be happy with him not involved period. But written by him, that's just where the whole thing went down the drain. Series creators DiMartino and Konietzko should have been the writers, end of story. Why Shyamalan- okay, here's what went wrong.
M. Night is a man of limited camera angles. Behind and over the shoulder, landscape, and facial shot. Not much in between. So the action scenes, while very nice, were still very constrained.
Names. I understand Shyamalan is Indian. That probably had a lot to do with how prominent Indians played in casting (strangely the villains, hmm). But this is a pre-established world, with thousands of fans, why the hell was he allowed to change how the characters names were pronounced? Aang became "Ong", Iroh became "E-roh", Sooka turned to "Sue-ka", it took me right out.
And the writing, again, is where it all went wrong. The dialog was so contrived, making grown adults sound like it was their first script reading. I don't think he allowed any editing to his script, because the movie repeats itself again, and again, and tells us things that either we don't get to see, just saw, or is happening right then. Zhao is obsessed with the library, almost every time he appears on screen he as quickly as possible brings it up. There are also many various points were either the story was just ignored or fuzzed. Such a big deal was made of the moon turning red, that that was the big deal in the finale, not the fact that in the actual show the moon fucking disappears. It turned red when the spirit was captured, and vanished upon death, not this turns red upon death and that's it. There's also a bit about earthbenders being held along the side of a cliff, but I can give that a pass on being so disheartened and/or having their family threatened.
Middle ground; casting, bending mythology, various elements. Most of the casting wasn't horrible, Sooka's actor I wouldn't have had a problem with too much if he had been allowed to actually play Sooka, and not be so serious. The racial casting will always be a thorn in fans side, and to some degree it's true. Aang alone is maybe the only one who could have been played by a Caucasian, he being the only one of his kind. But Katara and Sooka, surrounded by Inuit people, are white as daylight. Gran-Gran too, but only to try to make their different coloring believable. Yue, I thought, was a good casting choice and looked very close to her cartoon counterpart, probably the closest of anyone.
The Fire Nation is entirely Indian. Weird. Maybe it was to take them away from the obvious Japanese influence the cartoon had, but still, it was just...odd. And as bad as this may sound, hair and makeup didn't do enough to the main players, because Zhao, Ozai (yes, Ozai appears early and multiple times, fully revealed), and any close soldier without a helmet looked way to similar. No topknots, Zhao didn't have his huge chops, just short and slightly curly hair; he was also played by Aasif Mandvi, of the Daily Show. Only Zuko and Iroh had anything different, spiky and dreadlocks respectively.
Speaking of those two, they were the best casting choices ever and saved the film. I don't care if Patel was a late entry to stave off racial criticism, he was Zuko. While Yue was closest in looks, he was as dead-on as possible with the character as a whole. His voice was so close that I couldn't tell after a few minutes, he had the drive and passion, and made the dialog he was given actually work. Iroh, also known as Shawn Toub, was also good. He was never given enough of his "life, love, and tea" personality (he only mentioned tea once, almost like an afterthought), but still portrayed a strong connection and loyalty to Zuko.
What changes that were made to the way and why of bending I didn't have too much problem with. That the Fire Nation, in the series, never needed a source of their element to bend did seem strange, but it never bothered me, so making them need it wasn't horrible. But then I remember that this fact was always what made the Fire Nation so dangerous in the first place. A big annoyance was how much movement was involved in bending. I realize that the budget could only be so big, but it became too much to see them go through five or more forms just to perform a very basic bending move (such as "fireball" or "wind"). And then not even be consistent later on.
One thing I thought was smart, and bought themselves a lot of time, is changing the time line from 3 months in the show to 3 years until Sozen's Comet arrives. It outdoes the show in that regard, but more importantly it buys them an out for when the actors age and grow. Smart move.
The writing, I've said, tanked the movie, but really deviated in the final act. As mentioned, I care not for spoilers, either you've seen the series or you saw the movie. If you don't plan on seeing the movie, you can't keep yourself hidden from it until the DVD rental.
First, the Zuko vs Katara battle was weak. They recreated the first few moves directly from the show, but then backed off and ended it much too quickly. Katara wasn't a badass, she got taken out by weak pincer movement with fireballs. However, they try to make up for it by combining part of the resolution of the original fight (Zuko being encased in ice) and some of the Zuko/Aang one on one from "Bato of the Water Tribe". Not the best, but not bad, not bad. Also, Zuko never took Aang out of the Water Tribe, instead trying to wait out the battle to sneak off during the confusion. It made sense, so I give points for that.
In what I can only foresee as Nickelodeon interference (because I don't think even Shyamalan is that stupid (maybe)), Aang did not wipe out the Fire Nation attack force by going Avatar-state/Ocean-spirit on them. Instead...*sigh* he (in simple Avatar state, in control no less) raises part of the ocean above the fleet, merely as a threat, and waits until they retreat to let down. Oh, it's said throughout the movie that the Avatar is not meant to hurt people *coughbullshitcough* or have a family (the family thing is why he ran away in the first place (??)) so through that (stupid) logic, he can't kill anyone in his quest to save the world. Not "chooses not the kill", or "has to deal with the consequences of his acts", nope, they just write out any real drama.
Zhao, strangely, does die, is killed right on screen in fact. But there is no poetic justice as there was in the show. No, a cartoon series had more poignant and real emotion that live-action movie that was trying to take itself seriously. Okay, pretty much lost, retreating, whatever, here we go; we get a very weak-sauce version of the Agni-Kai (also horribly pronounced) from the series. In fact all we get is the very last part, where Zhao tries to strike at Zuko as his back is turned. Iroh saves him, they walk away, and then this happens; four water-benders walk up. What were they doing before, I dunno. Why did they all walk up at once for one, in their eyes, soldier, I dunno. But instead of the Ocean-Spirit, taking revenge on Zhao for killing his partner, these four surround and encase Zhao in a sphere of water. Throw him out into the ocean? No. Let the sphere drop over the ledge of the raised bridge they were on? No. They let him drown right there and then drop the whole load on the ground. Dead, right there. Then they turn and run back to the battle below.
This isn't Eragon by any means. That was bad origins and rushed production that managed to to out bad the book, ironically bringing to light all the plagiarism issues given to the book. And there's no comparison, even at it's worst Airbender is better at all points against Eragon.
Maybe it's because I'm a fan of the show, and know how things "should" be. I made many allowances, it being a live-action film, as well as having a only a limited amount of time to tell a story, and understand that adaptations cannot be like the source material. It's not that I didn't want it to be good, too many factors wouldn't allow me to see much of a light at the end of that tunnel.
But just too much was changed where it didn't need to be. Or should have been, where the changes actively weakened the story and characters.
I hope this movie makes money, I want there to be a sequel. I don't want Shyamalan at the helm, and hope that just because this first film made money that they decide he can continue onward. I really hope Nickelodeon, or DiMartino and Konietzko even, hear what fans are saying and realize no one really wants him to have any further involvement. Follow in Bryan Singer's footsteps and listen to the people who also want this to be a good and successful series of movies just as much as you.
no subject
I was actually surprised at how savage many of the reviews were for The Last Airbender; critics must still be irritated over Lady in the Water. :D
no subject
All the bad marks in any review are well earned. There are ways to condense hours of material so it flows, and really the story that was actually there would have made a decent film, but the writing and pacing and the actors...nothing came together enough in the cinematography.