Critics vomit on The Last Airbender

B

bierce

1,000+ Posts
When I heard Shyamalan was to direct the movie version of Avatar: The Last Airbender, I became afraid. I didn't think it would be received this badly, though.

Just brutal comments.

"I can see why Shyamalan was attracted to this material, but the results are clunky even by his recent standards."

"I believe M. Night can ruin the world."

"Not since Kyle MacLachlan's whispered voice-overs about the worm and the spice and the worm IS the spice in Dune has a fantasy franchise tripped all over itself trying, simply, to please a fan base while creating a new one."

"The long-winded explanations and clumsy performances are made worse by graceless effects and a last-minute 3-D conversion that wrecks whatever visual grace or beauty might have been there."

"The Last Airbender is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. "

The Link

Ouch. My son is visiting his mother right now, so I can save myself the pain. I loved the animated series, even though the end was a bit abrupt for my taste. I heard the screenwriter's strike had some effect on that.

Maybe I'll break down, maybe I'll wait to see it in the dollar theater in a few months. Maybe I'll let my son tell me if it's worth the trip to the theater.
 
I have seen some of his work and it is pretty good I though. The Last Airbender is a tough movie to make. It is along the lines of impress and apease a audience who knows what is going on, while at the same time introducing it to those who don't, aka the majority of movie goers. Add to that that to blame the director for the last minute conversion to 3-D is dumb. Everyone has to know that is a production studio decision based on how 'hot' the concept of 3D is right now. I don't know if I will see the movie or not, but it surely can't be that bad. I mean if it has a plot, and a 3rd grader wrote the script it can only be better than Avatar.
 
Yeah, "The Happening" was absolutely terrible. Most of the action sequences in the movie consisted of a breeze blowing - I'm not kidding. I think it very well may be the stupidest **** I've ever watched, just edging out that dumbass movie with Rowdy Roddy Piper in it that centered around a massive, surreptitious alien takeover of society that only those with special sunglasses could see.
 
just edging out that dumbass movie with Rowdy Roddy Piper in it that centered around a massive, surreptitious alien takeover of society that only those with special sunglasses could see.
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I think the movie was "they live" and it was awesomely bad.
 
M. Night had one astonishing story, and he told it extremely well.

The rest of his career gives one the impression that he may very well have completely shot his entire creative wad on one single film.
 
Before anyone else dumps on Puddle/Crusier, I will explain that the original thread title read "Critics say Shyamalan ruined Avatar," and the first comment in the text read "with The Last Airbender." I couldn't fit "Avatar: The Last Airbender" into the thread title. After Puddle/Cruiser's post, I changed the thread title and removed the opening comment.
 
any movie where a fight breaks out for 15 minutes b/c rowdy piper wants his friend to put some sunglasses on....sits well with me
 
Touche, Natron.

Maybe I have been a bit hasty in my judgment. That was one hell of a scrap. They were cracking each other with two by fours for half the fight.

The other thing I really liked about "They Live" was the premise that bourgeois alien elitists would recruit and pay off street bums to sell out to their cause. Because everyone knows that in order to grab hold of the levers of power and influence in a modern, post-industrial society you absolutely have to get the street bums in the fold. Another awesome plot element is that said elitist aliens would predicate their whole takeover scheme on a single satellite dish operating out of an L.A. TV station.

The more I reflect on it, the more I like the movie. Seriously.
eek.gif
 
Shyamalan aside, did anyone actually see The Last Airbender?

I watched the series, and I loved it. I was looking forward to the film, despite the director, and I was disappointed in the reviews.
 
I saw it today and enjoyed it. It wasn't fabulous acting, and it wasn't really believable. So? I don't go to movies to see the world, usually. I go to movies to be entertained. I shelve my disbelief at the door and try to see what's enteresting. The effects were interesting. I enjoyed the different colored costumes for different elements. I thought the snow landscapes were pretty and the tai chi choreagraphy was pretty. That was enough for me to be entertained, but I'm easy.
 
i watch the cartton with my kids. Took them to see the movie and I liked it. I dont need academy award acting to make the experience, I enjoyed the story which followed pretty well.
 
Sixth Sense was the only decent work he ever did, imho. How that movie turned out considering his later work, is a mystery.
 
Signs was pretty good, and I agree that Unbreakable was/is his best film. It was really really good and had me going, but it was very well done as well.
 
Saw the Last Airbender. I love the series and the movie was ok but ...

The acting and script are bad. I can forgive the acting. For the most part they are kids and did not have much to work with.

They blitzed through a lot of events so character development is nil..

It's ok for a redbox rental.
 
I took my girlfriend and her daughter to see Toy Story 3 tonight and did that totally illegal thing of nipping into a different room to sneak a peek at The Last Airbender. In just 30 seconds I saw a combination of stunning scenery, almost flat 3D, and characters solemnly gawking at each other while one of them narrated things that would have transpired on screen, had only the director bothered to film them being acted. Is that what the rest of the movie is like?
 
A friend of mine saw it last night with his kids. He thought it was okay - not great, not horrible. His biggest gripe was that it tried to cover too much and would have been better if it was split into two movies.
 
Someone on hornfans once put forth the theory that every single M. Night movie will be worse the previous one. I think that has held true so far.
 
My son didn't see it while visiting his mother, so we went to see it Friday after I brought him home.

Boring. I started falling asleep midway through it. Nearly all the life, fun, and excitement of the series was gone.
 
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