minstrel wrote:Lord Voldemoo wrote:uh oh!
i kinda liked it
Then give us a full review! We need to know where all the critics went wrong. Or, at least, how MNS cleverly constructed his film to appeal to the bovine demographic.
Lord Voldemoo wrote:minstrel wrote:Lord Voldemoo wrote:uh oh!
i kinda liked it
Then give us a full review! We need to know where all the critics went wrong. Or, at least, how MNS cleverly constructed his film to appeal to the bovine demographic.
Yeah, sorry about that, I was pretty sleepy last night when I got home, but I'll elaborate. But it's not going to be much solace for those still inexplicably holding out hope for the film.
First, let me say that it's tough to disagree with anything Robo or Macready has said. Their points on the direction, writing, editing, etc were all pretty dead on. For someone who seemingly enjoys the concept of destiny so much, M. Night doesn't seem to have a clue as to what his is supposed to be (more on that in a sec).
Secondly let me say this: I'm not really an M. Night hater. I loved the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. I really liked Signs. I even kinda liked The Happening (gasp!) in parts. Just so you guys have a frame of reference.I think he has a good mind, but he's not applying it correctly (see more below)
People have elaborated on the short comings. And they are all correct. The acting is pretty weak. This is owing, I think, more to M. Night's direction than the actors. It's like M. Night went to the George Lucas school of wooden acting. I've noticed this in all of his films, from Sixth Sense on up...it's just that sometimes the story overwhelms the inability to direct actors. And like Lucas, the bells and whistles of the film haven't been sufficient to overcome this weakness for some time (and don't here). The editing is incredibly rushed. The characters bounce from one geographic region of the world to another in moments. There is no journey. I get that you don't want to show 2 hours of them flying on the big mystical dog/beaver/whatever creature but you can still convey a sense of time passing that isn't apparent here. It's just set piece to set piece to set piece. It felt a bit like Fellowship of the Ring to me in that regard (and this is the last time I'll compare this movie to LOTR, trust me, and I LOVE LOTR, but in the theatrical cut of Fellowship it felt extremely rushed to me). I get Robo's comment about it feeling like a cliff's notes version of the story. There's tons of exposition, but it's of the truly explanatory variety, not anything that would cause the audience to connect with and understand the CHARACTERS.
And yet, I found my movie-watching experience enjoyable. Why? Well I was thinking about it a bit this morning. I think I really kinda fell in love with the story. Not the writing, mind you, but the story. The overall premise, arc and concepts. It's not completely original, but it's a nice combination of the comfortably familiar hero arc in a new universe.
Which brings us to the key point: I never watched the show. If there are comics, I've never read them. I knew NOTHING about this going in. So I had nothing to compare this adaptation to within the same universe. But I really dug the ideas, if not the execution. So I'm going to now check out the show, and learn more about this world. So, if for no other reason, I'm thankful to the film for that. I wanted to make this point to those of you in the same boat that I am. So you don't necessarily have to go through an hour and 45 minutes of M. Night mediocrity to figure it out like I did. If you want to check out the film and be a little pissed off, be my guest, but my advice would be to maybe check out the show instead, if you are like me and don't mind animation.
So film and execution = blah. Story = cool!
Last point regarding M. Night's destiny. There is no question to me at this point that M. Night is this generation's George Lucas. All of the comparisons are correct. They have largely the same strengths, largely the same weaknesses. They both are excellent "BIG IDEA" guys who recognize the greatness of others and are able to conceptualize those great themes in a different context. Lucas and M. Night need to start a studio together. As heads of the studio, all they would do is say "here is a neat idea and a 5 page treatment as to how to possibly apply it to the big screen...here's 150 million...go." They would then STAY COMPLETELY THE FUCK OUT OF THE SCRIPT WRITING AND FILMING PROCESS. If they got some talent working for them, there is no question in my mind it would be the greatest studio in the history of the universe.
Unfortunately it will never happen, because they both have egos the size of a mack truck.
bastard_robo wrote:If you loved the story, it's %100 times better in every way in teh first season of the ainmated series. I highly recommend Netflixing it
Lord Voldemoo wrote: So I'm going to now check out the show, and learn more about this world. So, if for no other reason, I'm thankful to the film for that. I wanted to make this point to those of you in the same boat that I am. So you don't necessarily have to go through an hour and 45 minutes of M. Night mediocrity to figure it out like I did. If you want to check out the film and be a little pissed off, be my guest, but my advice would be to maybe check out the show instead, if you are like me and don't mind animation.
bastard_robo wrote:If you loved the story, it's %100 times better in every way in teh first season of the ainmated series. I highly recommend Netflixing it
The story takes place in the future, after Man has devastated the planet and survives in the form of beings with magical powers allowing them to influence earth, water and fire.
Al Shut wrote:Probably he wanted to watch Nausicaa instead really bad.
bastard_robo wrote:Calling something like this the WORT\EST MOVIE OF ALL TIME is a stretch, there are FAR, FAR worse films out there than the Last Airbender. Most disappointing movie though, yeah, probably.. the possibility of what could of been to what we got is astronomical.
King Of Nowhere wrote:Hmm...
Ribbons wrote:"Hmm..." what? What is it!
Al Shut wrote:Ribbons wrote:"Hmm..." what? What is it!
Cracks me up a bit that nobody bothered to ask for nearly two years.
Al Shut wrote:Ribbons wrote:"Hmm..." what? What is it!
Cracks me up a bit that nobody bothered to ask for nearly two years.
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