Let me preface this little article with a disclaimer. I have watched all of Avatar: The Last Airbender from beginning to end. And I liked the cartoon series very much. It was an enjoyable past time that contained a perfect blend of character growth, humor, action, and compelling story lines.
When I first heard they were making this beloved cartoon series into a live action series I was understandably skeptical. If history taught me anything, a 50/50 chance of being good was only possible if the director was a good one. So when I heard that the director was M. Knight Shyamalan I was just deeply confused. My first thought was, “The twist ending horror guy?” I’d seen most his movies. The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water. He’s very hit or miss.
I then read the reviews. Which called it terrible. In fact Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal had this to say:
“M. Night Shyamalan’s big-screen live-action version of the popular Nickelodeon animated TV series constitutes a form of Chinese water torture in which tin-ear line-readings take the place of drips.”
Harsh words, but sadly not the harshest review I have seen. I had initially decided to not go see the movie. But fate conspired that I would get to see the movie after all, and in 3D.
My largest complaint is actually about the 3D. It was clearly and obviously added in at the last moment as a way to make extra money on tickets. Generally only the special effects themselves are rendered into 3D, leaving them feel like cheap tricks. Unfortunately time and time again 3D is being used as just that. A cheap trick to throw in that increases the cost of a ticket by five dollars for little effect. 3D can be done well, and when it is it is amazing to watch. This isn’t a case of that though.
But what of the movie itself?
The child actors were just that. Child actors who have lots of room to grow. Not always delivering lines as well as seasoned actors, but never making me wonder how they got the job.
The story was unfortunately not as good as the cartoon series. I don’t think this came from a lack of writing talent. I think this came from trying to shove an entire season of a show into one movie. Think of it this way. At twenty episodes at approximately twenty two minutes long, the first season ran about seven hours and thirty minutes. (Not counting commercial time) This movie attempted to cover the same story arc in one hour and forty minutes. See the problem? There were definitely things that could be cut out easily. Whole episodes did nothing to further the plot or reveal any new details. But some of the choices of what to cut out didn’t always make sense.
Why is Roku not being featured? Why is Aang talking with a dragon when dragons never talked in the cartoon? Why are the firebenders unable to bend without a separate source of fire when they could in the cartoon? Why are all the names being said differently? Why do the Earthbenders in jail (was that a jail? Someone watching with me didn’t even realize it was at first, and I barely did) just sit there and not use the earth all over to fight back and break out?
These left for confusing times both for people who have never seen the series and for those who have. They detracted from the movie, but didn’t ruin it. Some of the changes would only be visible to someone who has seen the series, such as the firebenders not being able to bend without fire already nearby.
The story still made it through though. The action scenes were mostly enjoyable. (Minor complaint, if Aang is going to take that many stances and moves to get up a gust of wind, then sooner or later an enemy is going to stop waiting and just kill him. See also: forming Voltron/Megazord)
Overall I have to say that The Last Airbender was not a great movie. It was decent to not very good. I wouldn’t put it on par with the worst movie I have ever seen (Vanilla Sky, I’m looking at you). I would actually put it on par with the first Harry Potter movie. A movie that had a lot of good story to live up to, a lot of story that had to be cut out often leading to decisions on why this was cut, this was added, and this was kept. And like Harry Potter, probably a movie that with time, sequels, and aging of actors, will probably have potential to grow to the level of good.
It’s a renter. Maybe a Red Box renter. But it’s not awful. And my theory is so many people say so solely because it’s just become the cool thing to hate right now.
Canterrain
July 20th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
You’re right in a way. As a film, it’s decent, even good. It had a story, it had action. It was an alright film. As a tribute to Avatar however, this is why people are flaming it as much as they are. The inconsistencies to the series. It was horrible, it was almost an insult in a lot of ways. People are calling it a bad movie because they expected it to be an almost mirror to the series, and it wasn’t, so they hate the film as a whole because it’s hard to hate having your own expectations hung, drawn and quartered.
The last airbender as a film was enjoyable, and I managed to watch it through to the end.
The last airbender as a part of the Avatar series was a disgrace, and I want the director shot.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:00 pm
I have to disagree. And it’s not at all because it is the “popular thing to do” (that would be dissing Twilight… but the popularity of a flawed story is just asking to be made fun of)
I saw both and honestly– the movie it just BAD. I love the cartoon. I can go on about it all day. But went in expecting it to be a movie–not the cartoon.
Everyone knows that things have to be cut, but as long as the spirit of the show remains–that’s all that counts. Sadly I can’t say that the movie did this.
The movie had NO spirit.
It’s a BAD film.
And I don’t know if I have seen a worse one. (maybe a non-disney cartoon when I was 5… I mean–the stuff on Scifi channel is at least INTERESTING.) The Last Airbender fails at all forms of story telling.
The set and costume designers are the only people that deserve any praise. It LOOKED nice, but as a movie– the dialogue was awkward, the pacing was abysmal, the story–mixed up, there was absolutely 0 character development, and emotion? What’s that?
When we DID learn something it was told to us. The first rule of movies is SHOW not tell!!
Honestly we didn’t know the characters at all by the end of the movie. I had no emotional connections to the heros or villains (which we got to know a little more…) I didn’t care who won the war at the end. It’s not that I didn’t like the heros–I didn’t KNOW the heros.
Dragonball Evolution (as a movie not as it relates to the cartoon) is a least a decent FILM (in editing, pacing, meeting characters, emotion, dialogue, plot? eh… there was a pretty big plot hole, but you have to give it credit in comparison to some 70′s pieces of crap.) I cannot say any of this about The Last Airbender. And I really hope M. Night Shyamalan he does not continue to make the rest of the films.
This is my critique of the movie AS a movie.
I won’t even get into how it I felt it was also poorly adapted. haha! This is just my view on the movie as it stands alone.
July 21st, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I just found the Title it didnt suck THAT BAD hilarious, I havent seen the film, yet, but I am now finding myself in a weird state of morbid curiosity of JUST HOW BAD WAS IT, everyone I have run into that has watched it has told me, run for your life and dont look back, OK pardon the cliche, but its true, everyone has told me its not even worth a rent, but if youre able to get a “creatively aqcuired copy” online watch it and then let the file burn. So now I am still wondering just how bad this movie could be, I think I am still going to watch it, but I will probably hold onto my money and just rent it at a later date, Good News though, Sorcerors Apprentice was actually pretty good. I was very surpised with Nick Cage and the actors involved, all in all i think the effects and the story was at least interesting and entertaining, so even tho bad movies will always be released…at least there are still some good ones being released as well
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
I hated Airbender: The 3D Movie almost as much as I hated Transformers: ROTF. In fact, the only movie of M. Knight Shyamalan’s that I liked was Sixth Sense. As far as I’m concerned, he butchered Airbender, then tossed in some 3D effects to cover up the mess!
I walked out before the end. Hated it. The kids did the best they could and I’m not faulting them, but I’ve now solemnly vowed on my grandparents graves to NEVER watch another M. Knight Shyamalan movie. Airbender: The 3D Movie was the last straw.
July 28th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
First off, I haven’t seen the cartoon series of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am planning to watch it, as it seems interesting, but had not when I saw the movie. This is the perspective of someone completely divorced from a fan’s expectations.
I enjoyed the movie. I had a GREAT time!
BUT! I enjoyed it partly because I like cheesy movies, and DAMN, this was cheesy. It did look like it was based on a very interesting story with some alluring concepts behind it; the special effects/visuals and action scenes were fantastic (although I agree that the 3D was both unnecessary and distracting); and the character concepts were good. These are all, I’m sure, due to either the SFX department or to the strength of the original story.
I don’t blame the child actors for their inability to… act convincingly, because that IS something a person learns how to do as they mature (I do think, though, that they could have given the girl a couple of hints like, “You don’t have to stop everything and stand there when you say your lines. You can continue to move in a natural manner.” But she did her best.), and I think the Aang kid was actually okay, considering he had never acted before this movie. Also, he had mad fighting skillZ that made up for the rest of it. I think the adult actors did the best they could with what was available – but let’s face it: What was available was THE WORST SCRIPT EVAR.
As Kyastar pointed out, in a good movie, exposition is shown not told. As far as I could tell, the entire script of *this* movie consisted of people a) stating the obvious in loud, concerned voices (e.g., “As I have stated fifteen times in the past hour, my dad will be mad if we don’t catch that boy!” “Hey! He’s running away!” etc.), b) telling each other what the plot was in contrived ways (“Come here, random child, and tell me my own backstory, while I interrupt you over small details!”), or c) saying things they shouldn’t be telling the person they were speaking with (“Hello, enemy person! Here is my full name! I am very important to the people you are trying to destroy, and there is only one of me, and I’m not that strong!”). There was not one memorable line in the whole thing, because Shyamalan apparently took the most commonly used phrases from all other action movies ever, then plugged them in as semi-appropriate. Nobody said anything hideous, but that’s because it would have taken imagination on the scriptwriter’s part. I know he was dealing with a lot of practical issues here, but no matter how many balls you’re trying to juggle, if you drop them all on the floor, it’s still a failure. The hyper-melodramatic soundtrack didn’t help either.
I understand the difficulties in condensing a long, serial plot into feature-movie length. This may have been part of the issue, but it was an issue because it was done BADLY, at least from an outsider’s point of view. Even though everyone was constantly telling you what the plot was, it still didn’t make a ton of sense on a personal level, partly because the script leaves no room for character development or an understanding of anyone’s motivations (“Let’s risk our lives for this kid we’ve just met! Because we should!”; “We’ll take over the world! Because we’re the Fire Nation, and that’s an evil-sounding name!”). I have no idea why anyone did anything that they did in the whole movie.
That said, I think the actors were having fun with it anyway, and that comes through. You could tell Aasif Mandvi was enjoying himself a lot, and the man who played Uncle Iroh actually managed to bring some sense of dignity to the script when he talked. In fact, I even got emotionally involved in one scene, which came as a total surprise. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself the rest of the time, which is no bad thing either.
September 6th, 2010 at 11:17 am
I am a fan of the cartoon, but I went with low expectations. I don’t quite understand the abject hate that people have for it, but I it wasn’t very good either. I’d say a bit worse than I expected, only because the characters were not likable (in my opinion). Surprisingly, I actually didn’t mind the way they cut the season–it didn’t make complete sense, but overall, I think it got the general idea across. Usually, if I don’t like a book/cartoon made movie it’s because they ripped the plot apart. What really bummed me out was that the genuine wackiness, and comic relief of the series wasn’t brought into the movie–something which I blame M. Knight for. I think he was the wrong choice for Airbender. There was humor, but it was very nearly satire, like Aang flouncing into the Earth compound jail: “Earthbenders! Why are you acting this way? You are a powerful and amazing people! There is earth right beneath your feet. The ground…” or when the waterbender general howled/sang “aruuuhhhhhooouhh” before battle. That was a look at the person next to you and ask “Is this really happening?” surreal moment. My absolute favorite was the earthbenders doing a bunch of complicated moves, finishing, and having one small boulder fly slowly by, I almost shot soda out my nose laughing. But the real humor just wasn’t there. I like to laugh, it’s why most of the time I watch shows like Avatar, and not movies like “The Sixth Sense”. I can enjoy something serious, but that’s not why I went to see Airbender for. Avatar the cartoon, has some really interesting and serious themes, all the time wrapped in good humor and a bit of slapstick. I hope they do a second one, but find a different director for it.
September 18th, 2010 at 5:09 am
I refer you to my Critique of Critics article on my blog.
October 12th, 2010 at 10:49 am
The true test is this: Was it Better or Worse than Eragon? If ever Eragon edges in with some aspect of the film over the one you are discussing… it’s a bad movie.
November 5th, 2010 at 4:21 pm
I agree with the original post in all but one aspect. I do not give the child actors a pass. I don’t blame them at all. Some kids flatly cannot act. Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker is the most notable. Every scene with him in it was bad. The actors in the Last Airbender were good in several scenes, but gratingly bad in others. That is 100% the director’s fault. PARTICULARLY with child actors it is the director’s job to DIRECT. It’s not like they were four year olds who are going to cry because they had to do it again. Shamalamadingdong has skated on some talented actor’s skills in past movies. We now have a body of work that shows he really can’t direct normal actors.
January 17th, 2011 at 10:52 am
Don’t normally comment, but just wanted to put in my two bits on this. I agree that to an outsider, this movie wouldn’t inspire the abject hatred the fans of the series have for it. In fact, the person I went to see the movie with (who had barely even heard of the series) was actually interested in the movie (at least its themes and motif), though didn’t think it particularly epic. But I think the hatred (at least from my perspective) is a result of the feeling that the studio completely ignored the loyal fanbase this series has developed. Even if the movie wasn’t astoundingly great to fans, I think we would have been satisfied if the movie kept the spirit of the series, like Kyastar said earlier. However, the makers of this movie seemed more concerned with trying to appeal to a broader audience, and the director and scriptwriters seemed more concerned with turning it into their own creation, rather than something loyal to the series. Granted, it is hard to cram a lot of storyline into the time constraints of a movie, but again catering to a broader audience than fans, the creators made the movie an hour and 40 minutes only (whereas true fans would have lengthened it, if that is what was needed to actually develop the story, like Peter Jackson did for LOTR). I also did not like the child actors, but I don’t believe that was entirely their fault. Inexperience can be greatly compensated for by a good director and a great script, neither of which seemed to be present. I’m not sure why Shyamalan took on this movie, I’ve even heard that he had not even seen the series before he agreed to direct the movie. I don’t think he ever really understood the appeal of the series, which shows in the poor choices he made in terms of attempts to develop the plot. Director and cast aside, the scriptwriters could have done a great deal with all the inspiration they could have gleaned from the series, but it doesn not seem like they bothered to do so. On top of very poor dialogue, there were cultural undertones in the series that were completely ignored. Other elements were also lacking. The movie had no soundtrack worth speaking of. The action scenes (while visually attractive) took over the movie, eating up valuable time that could have been used to develop the characters. And yes, every character felt the need to tell us what they were doing and why instead of actually showing us. Sorry for the overly-long rant, but to sum it up, I think the obvious flaws in quality of the movie made it feel like the studio ignored and betrayed the fanbase, rather hoping to attract in a broader audience with cheap (in quality, not monetarily) special effects and pre-release hype. Instead, the majority of people who dragged friends to the movie were true fans of the series and sorely disappointed, and their friends who didn’t know the series were not attracted enough to the movie to make it worth the money spent. And in this day and age when movies are especially expensive to see, especially 3D movies, I certainly wish I had spent my money elsewhere. For example, buying a DVD set of the series
January 17th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
I like the cartoon series too much to watch the movie at this point. I’ve seen what happens when you castrate a storyline to shove it into a smaller time-period. (I’m looking at you ‘Eragon’.) And I just can’t watch that happen to Avatar: The Last Airbender.
April 1st, 2011 at 10:19 pm
i loved the cartoon series. sokka comes off as more serious and his love of meat isn’t conveyed! katara seems stuck up, and aang is just silent, not a whole lot of emotion.
August 6th, 2011 at 10:41 pm
I second the motion.
… that’s really all i had to say. I think you put it quite nicely, especially in your closing comment “…many people say so solely because it’s just become the cool thing to hate right now.”
October 10th, 2011 at 5:29 am
I know I’m coming late into the game… But I had to add my two cents because I am an avid movie hater. It ruined me. It’s not that Sokka didn’t say one good joke even though the character he was based off of was THE comic relief, it’s not that the inuits were white instead of beautifully dark, it’s not that the whole plot of the movie was completely murdered and the “spiritual” side of the Avatar was completely lost as was the rich and wonderful background and detailed history of these peoples and their “savior”. It’s not that the reincarnations and the spiritual guide for the avatar was dropped off a cliff and then set on fire. No. It’s not even the fact that each characters name was pronounced wrong (seriously, it’s A-ng. A, not ah, A! And sock-a, not SOAK-a WTF?! Did they not watch the cartoon EVER?!)
No, my biggest disappointment was that the depth to the characters was lost. The bonding, the meat, the part of the story that makes you bond and root for the people you’re watching/reading about. Gone. Poof. The movie doesn’t show the struggle Aang has with being the airbender, it doesn’t show the groups triumphs and difficulties that bring them closer together and bring a purpose and moral and POINT to the story. I don’t hate this movie because it is cool to hate, I detest this movie because it was brutally hacked to pieces, then slapped with a familiar title and some character names to bring in more revenue. That’s my late two cents.