What was the most recent movie I've watched? (Part 2)

[NJReds]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Saw "The Last Airbender" last night.

In a word: Trainwreck.

This movie is "Dune" for a new generation. It's a giant mess that, in what I can only assume is a compulsion to be absolutely faithful to it's source material, ends up glossing over any interesting ideas, leaving whole aspects of the "universe" it exists in unexplained, and creates characters that wold generously be described as shallow and 2D. The acting ranges from hammy to awful, the plot follows no discernable logic, and there is nothing by way of character development.

I'd stay far away.

My daughter loves the Nick cartoon version, and wants to see this. I've read the reviews and I'm dreading it. I'll avoid the 3D, but I've been doing that when possible for most films. It's not necessary.

I've seen it compared to The Last Compass and Eragon. Two movies that were supposed to be part of the series, destroyed the source material and did so poorly that plans for sequels were cancelled.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by NJReds

I've seen it compared to The Last Compass and Eragon. Two movies that were supposed to be part of the series, destroyed the source material and did so poorly that plans for sequels were cancelled.

The Golden Compass is a pretty good comp -- but this movie makes that look like "Citizen Kane" by comparison. At least Golden Compass had some decent actors involved in the project and script that wasn't completely cringe-worthy (I don't think there's any scene of dialogue in "Airbender" that lasts longer than 90 seconds -- which is really good, because whenever people are talking it sounds like they're just announcing plot points).

I've heard the source material for "Airbender" is really good, though. I was too old by about 7 or so years to have caught this when it was first on, but virtually everyone I know (mostly younger friends and friends of my younger sister) loves it and was really excited for this movie. I was planning on giving the show a watch at some point on Netflix-instant just to see what it's all about, but I'm significantly less enthused about that prospect than I was before the movie.

I guess the bottom line is that tween-fiction is tough to do right. For every "Harry Potter" that does things right, there's about a dozen that bomb.

[NJReds]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

I've heard the source material for "Airbender" is really good, though. I was too old by about 7 or so years to have caught this when it was first on, but virtually everyone I know (mostly younger friends and friends of my younger sister) loves it and was really excited for this movie. I was planning on giving the show a watch at some point on Netflix-instant just to see what it's all about, but I'm significantly less enthused about that prospect than I was before the movie.

My daughter was too young for Avatar on Nick when it first came out. She just got into it recently, and I've watched it with her. I have to say that it's a creative, well-thought out story with interesting characters. I was surprised, and I actually enjoy watching it with her. I was surprised to learn that it was created by an Italian-American, because the style and substance is very Asian ... mix of Chinese, Japanese and other influences throughout the story.

We watched Golden Compass, too. Wow, that was bad. But I had not read the source material and had no idea what was going on. That movie was all over the place and may be the worst movie I've ever sat through.

Harry Potter and Narnia seemed to get the right balance between source material and movie.

[savafan]

I couldn't sit through The Golden Compass, so you guys are better men than I...

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by savafan

I couldn't sit through The Golden Compass, so you guys are better men than I...

Amazing book, but there was no way it was ever going to translate well to a movie. And I find the idea of it being a "series" to be almost laughable, considering one of the main plot points of the final two books is a character raising an army to invade heaven and destroy the creator (God). No studio would touch that with a 15' pole as a kid's movie.

[NJReds]

Okay ... saw Last Airbender with my daughter tonight. Perhaps going in with extremely low expectations saved it. Having watched the cartoon with her definitely helped. I can see why critics who weren't familiar with the story hated the movie. However, this was not as awful as Golden Compass.

I think the problem taking this to the big screen was that there was 10 hours of cartoon material that they squeezed into a 100 minute movie. It was meant for young kids (roughly 8-12) so they couldn't give it the "Lord of the Rings" treatment and make it a 3 hour movie. Hardcore cartoon fans will hate all that was left out. Those who didn't watch it will be confused. It cuts from scene to scene so fast that actors don't get to act much because their reading one line at a time.

My daughter liked it. I didn't hate it, but I understand why many critics did and many people that go see it will dislike it. I'd watch it 100 times in a row, though, before watching Golden Compass one more time.

[Yachtzee]

Just saw "The Last Airbender" yesterday. My first thought was, (inside joke alert) "Oh man, the Ember Island Players? They butchered 'Love Amongst the Dragons' every year."

I thought the special effects were good, but the acting and writing were pretty bad. I've watched the every episode original show in repeats with my boys about 5 times. The whole family loves the Nicktoons version so we were excited about this. The boys loved it, but they're 7 and almost 4. My wife liked it better than me. Our biggest complaint, why did M. Night Shyamylan change the the pronunciation of everyone's names. You know the biggest audience for the movie is going to be fans of the show and you've seen the show yourself, so why do something as off-putting as making everyone's name sound odd by pronouncing them funny. Second, the casting of the main character was bad on an "Anakin in 'The Phantom Menace'" level. If you're going to cast a kid, at least get one with some acting chops. This poor kid was a martial arts champ, not an actor. He was in way over his head. Third, the characters spend too much time explaining the mythology of the movie's world and not enough time interacting with each other on a personal level. They could have explained things better with a prologue at the beginning of the film. I was also sad that Suki ended up on the cutting room floor.

I think the worst thing about this movie is that they made such a hash of it that there probably won't be a Book 2 or Book 3, which means we'll never get to see some of the more interesting characters from the show, Toph and Azula.

[MWM]

Took my 7 year old son who is in karate to see the new Karate Kid movie. I really enjoyed it.... much better than the first (except for Elizabeth Shue not being in it). Jackie Chan did a good job, but you just can't replace Mr. Myagi, about the only thing I like about the original.

[Will M]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Amazing book, but there was no way it was ever going to translate well to a movie. And I find the idea of it being a "series" to be almost laughable, considering one of the main plot points of the final two books is a character raising an army to invade heaven and destroy the creator (God). No studio would touch that with a 15' pole as a kid's movie.

I liked the Golden Compass movie. i have read that Pullman is pretty militant atheist but i would never have gleamed this from the movie. i have heard that the 2nd & 3rd books are pretty extreme as you have alluded to above.

For some reason I thought Avatar was anime. maybe its the character designs. this sounds like a flick to see for free on TV sometime.

maybe i am getting old but it sure seems like American movies are 97% garbage these days. between actors who can't act, bad cgi, all action no plot and no characters, remakes, sequels,etc its hard to find a movie where I say "wow. that was really good". this seems especially noticable in my two favorite genres: horror & fantasy.

[1990REDS]

I saw From Paris with Love with John Travolta. I enjoyed it and its definatly a guy movie with lots of action and a little humor mixed in. Kinda reminded me of the movies that Arnold Schwarzenegger would star in back in the day. Completely aimed at guys and not even caring if any women watch it.

[kbrake]

Saw Toy Story in 3D and thought it was great.

Just watched 'Green Zone' and while I could understand how it is not for everyone I really enjoyed it.

[aubashbrother]

I Love You Beth Cooper and The new Twighlight

[Caveat Emperor]

Saw "Toy Story 3" tonight -- Wow. Great flick.

[savafan]

"Suicide Girls Must Die"

It could have been so much more

[Chip R]

Saw The Last Airbender last night. Most of the cast was pretty meh except for the general. The special effects were good and they are setting up a sequel or two. One wonders if Shamylan will be directing them though.