I thought it might be fitting to follow my Avatar review with that of The Last Airbender. This review is probably going to be filled with spoilers, so for those of you that haven’t watched the movie or the series maybe it isn’t the best to read. If you don’t care, go right ahead.

For the few of you that might not know, The Last Airbender by M. Night Shyamalan is based off a three-season animated series named Avatar: The Last Airbender. The feature film for this series was announced around the same time as James Cameron and his team was securing the rights toward his Avatar, and I bet you can imagine the licensing confusion that insinuated when both producers grasped at the elusive “Avatar” name. As we all know, James Cameron got his way and secured the name while M. Night had to resort to the secondary name. Sadly, the confusing history behind the licensing must have leaked into the movie. A confusing script, abrupt storytelling elements and a considerable lack of acting talent plague this film, making it one of the worst films of 2010 so far.

That’s not to say that the source material is terrible at all, in fact I feel it’s quite the opposite. Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the greatest animated series’ I’ve laid my eyes on, with an almost overwhelming abundance of material to grasp. After a close friend of mine introduced me to an early episode, I was hooked. It’s a serious yet lighthearted tale which is enjoyable by all ages and I wholeheartedly recommend saving your money from seeing this movie and buying the seasons (aptly named “Books”). I’ve tried to write a synopsis for the way this world works, but I think a quote from Wikipedia can do the trick for me. I warn you though, if you haven’t watched the series or the movie don’t read too much further than this!

If you want to see it, click here.

If you’ve watched or paid attention to the show at all, you’ll know it has a ridiculous amount of content you must know. To understand the gravity of the protagonists situations, you need to know quite a bit about the history of this new world, how everything works, why things work, etc. The animated series got this down pat with episodic content and had plenty of time to describe all of the ways of this new world. The movie, not so much. In fact, besides a short description at the beginning of the movie, you are never told much about how the world works, how benders learn their power, or largely WHY the Avatar is so important. You’re merely told that the Avatar can bend all elements, disappeared, and are plunged into the story. 

Watching this movie made me angry in so many ways, it’s hard to comprehend how such a great series could lose all of its magic and awesomeness through its transition to film. Night throws audiences into this world with no prior knowledge of how things work, and expects them to know exactly why things are happening. The few attempts at describing whatever is happening are hollow and vague, leaving me with more questions than I came in with. I found that I was merely rolling with whatever was given to me on-screen instead of experiencing the journey these protagonists were embarking on. I can understand that you wanted to include everything from the first season into this movie Night, but including every scene from the first season without describing WHY is a terrible decision. You can’t even say you had no room for explanation, the movie was only 1:20 long. You could have extended the film buy at least a half hour and scenes could have been fleshed out quite a bit. This would have added SO much to the film, lets hope you do it for the sequels.

Due to every scene being crammed into such a tight timeframe the epic points in the film are terribly executed, and major scenes from the series are merely glazed over. The lack of detail in the story frustrated me to no end, and many great themes were not present at all. Why didn’t you show Zuko debating the morality of catching the Avatar? Why was it not difficult for him to decide between hunting Aang for his former honor against doing what was right? Why was the backstory of the former Avatar not explored, why didn’t you explore WHY the war started in the first place? Why don’t you describe the inherent vulnerability of the Avatar in his “Avatar-state”? Why were the Kiyoshi Warriors not present at ALL?! All of this is explicitly detailed in the animated series, and you had PLENTY of source material to work off of. It’s ridiculous. You decided to include all of what DIDN’T matter, and none of the description which actually DID matter.

Most of this lack of spirit is due to the terrible TERRIBLE acting, AUGH. You can just see the actors rushing their lines just to get through them, no suspense or pause is given to any of them. The whole story is rushed, actors rushing through their lines all over with no explanation as to why the protagonists are doing anything. Aang repeatedly just up and leaves with no explanation, decisions are made with no thought whatsoever. I’m not sure whether it’s due to a poorly written script or poor acting, but I’m going to assume it’s both. I heavily disliked Aang and Katara, they looked as though they’d burst into tears every time they looked at anything that moved. Their performances are the worst of the film. The only actors I enjoyed were Zuko and General Iroh. They played genuine roles and were very believable in the situations they were placed in, though Zuko could have been a little less angry in my opinion. I also disliked how Lord Ozai was presented; in the series he is an ominous, dark figure that has a perceived power above anyone, possibly even the Avatar.. while in the movie, he’s just a guy who makes orders and pushes people around. Finally, I was QUITE disappointed with how Appa and Momo were displayed; in the animated series, they had distinct personalities and made decisions. In fact, there is a whole episode dedicated to Appa and his journeys. The movie, however, showed them as living props and rarely showed them expressing or “living” as characters in the world they were in.

The passage of time in this movie is ridiculously inconsistent. In between scenes, you could have moved through minutes to days to weeks, and there is NO visual or verbal representation to follow this. It was aggravating to see them flying around on Appa, crossing the globe in what I thought was days and then realizing it was probably weeks. The inconsistencies continue to run amok in the script and within the actors performances, even with how they pronounce names. Aang is pronounced Aung, Saka is pronounced Soe-ka, among way too many other verbal inconsistencies. God damnit Shyamalan, they say these names right throughout the series enough, how did you get this wrong? It could have been to make them sound other-worldly, but to die-hard fans such as I it is just aggravating.

Luckily, the movie doesn’t LOOK terrible at all. The effects done by Industrial Light and Magic are nothing short of astounding, the water and fire being the definite show stoppers. The fire in this film is the most realistic computer-generated fire I’ve seen in a film to date. The water is just as impressive, but I still felt it could have been done slightly better. The way the water froze into ice made the graphic-nerd in me pee his pants. If I had one gripe, it would be that the “bending” effects should have happened during the martial arts they benders preformed, not directly after. The artistic direction was very well done, largely matching the animated series and adapting where it wouldn’t work. Aang’s tattoos were very well done, and the way Night portrayed the Fire Nation ships was great. I give a hand to the people who did work for this film at IL&M, as the film is very well put together visually.

Well, almost. If you have the opportunity, you can see this film in 3D using Real 3D and I’m pretty sure the IMAX as well. I’ll just say it, it’s not worth the money. Although it’s not as bad as Clash of the Titans (was there any 3D in this at all?), it’s just not worth it. The 3D is there, but it doesn’t add to the experience much at all especially for how much it costs over a regular ticket. The extra $3 or whatever is definitely not worth it in my eyes, save your money for a drink or something.

So in summary, I’d highly recommend against seeing this film if you’ll be spending money on it whether you’ve seen the series or not. It’s an inconsistent ride, filled with boring actors and a lack of inspiration. The visuals are great, but with the rushed story in tow it’s a hard recommendation to stomach just for the eye candy. If you have seen the series, it’ll be a test of patience and a great disappointment to die-hard fans expecting a faithful adaptation to one of the best animated series’ of all time. If you haven’t seen the series you’ll largely be lost. More importantly, you’ll be missing the original content which is MUCH better and MUCH more entertaining. Buy it instead.

I just have to say… I know it’s been a long time since I’ve contributed and I have no excuses whatsoever. After continuous razzing from my friends and colleagues I’ve decided to continue with this blog. I continually “mini-review” movies with my friends like it’s nobody’s business, so who knows, maybe some people will enjoy my wordgasms. I’ve decided I’m only going to review movies, as I see WAY too many due to working at the theatre and it would be a good creative output.. but enough of this, lets get started! 

To my few followers, sorry I’ve been MIA for so long. Also, don’t hesitate to spread the word if you like what you see!  

In many ways I feel bad that Avatar is going to be my first review of this site. It was originally slated to be my first reviews due to the fact that it was the first big movie release since I started the site and a lot of hype would be surrounding it. I don’t feel bad for being a hype whore, don’t get me wrong, I revel in it. What makes me feel bad about reviewing it is that it is utterly, overwhelmingly spectacular in almost every way, and as it’s my first review none of my other reviews will be as credible. Be ready for a read, this is a long one. If you’re lazy, scroll to the last paragraph for a summary.

Let me first tell you a story of how the night panned out ahead of me: finals are ending, projects are being rushed out the door to get the good old “Satisfactory” and stress levels are at an all time peak for the semester. I go to NAIT full time for 3D and Game Design and I work at a movie theatre part time, and tonight was one of those uneventful shifts at the theatre that happen oh so very often. I couldn’t nab tickets to the IMAX screening so I had to resort to the regular digital screen (oh boo hoo). After shift, I meet up with a good friend of mine and we decide to go grab a bite to eat. We don’t get to see each other much for some reason or another so I’m pretty pumped to catch up with her and mix it up a bit but before I know it I can feel the cold drag of sleep pulling me in and she admits she’s pretty tired too. We chat it up and we debate on going to the movie at all. After some more lounging in the BP’s and getting some awkward stares from waiters who want us to leave, we both pull through and decide to go to the movie and damn the Gods if we fall asleep. How bad could it be?

Once I put those glasses on and watched the screen unfold in front of me, I was gripped by the tight narrative of the introduction and its stranglehold kept me entranced throughout the rest of the movie. Believe me when I say that my jaw dropped the first time I laid my eyes on the world of Pandora. I was suddenly not just watching a movie, I was living an experience laid out in front of me by James Cameron. Everything in this film from the sound to the visuals to the narrative and dialogue captured me. I didn’t care about anyone around me, tests, projects, I didn’t care if the pretty girl beside me was even watching the film or sleeping, I was captured into this new world and I didn’t care about anything else. This must have been the experience James was talking about. Yet this wasn’t even in IMAX!

I feel that other movies used 3D as a gimmick instead of an actual storytelling device, but Avatar has turned a strong cynic like me into a true believer of the technology. James Cameron has truly shaped 3D into a storytelling device, utilizing it for its strengths (changing focal lengths, crisper overall picture, dimensionality) and acknowledging its weaknesses (breaking the fourth wall, dimmer screen, breaking the fourth wall again). I feel in my gut that if 3D was not a part of this film it would not be the incredible film that I see it as. The dimensionality in scenes had me so involved that I was getting excited when people on screen were ecstatic, sad when they cried, angry when they were wronged. Kudos to you, James Cameron, for creating this world. Kudos. It’s a damn shame that the household 3D technology is trailing behind theatre 3D.

Part of this overall experience I’m talking about is how involved in the movie you are, and part of this is feeling you are part of a fully realized world. James has definitely come up with quite the world and the visuals are, to put it lightly, jaw-fucking-dropping, stunning in every way. The amount of information that was put on screen wasn’t overwhelming, yet I felt that this movie had so much for me to discover in the world of Pandora that I will definitely be seeing this film many times over. I was in awe at the amount of detail was put into this film characteristically, conceptually and emotionally.  The Na’vi people are more believable as people than human beings, the amount of raw emotion behind the primitive species is amazing and most of this is due to the animation behind them. Every environment made my jaw drop, literally every one of them. The visual team behind this film definitely had their work cut out for them and I feel that they pulled off Pandora with a gigantic, sparkling A+. James Cameron has envisioned this film through and through and you can tell that he has in every aspect.  Amazing work.

Sound was also an amazing part of the movie, though I won’t be going into detail. Tribe calls, the Na’vi language, machines, they all sound exactly how you would imagine them to and that is the beauty of it all. You’re not caught off-guard by a sound going “what the fuck was that” to your partner beside you, it’s all a part of being captured in the experience.

Storyline wise, I feel this movie may have been a bit cliche. For the most part, the tightly woven narrative and the realistic fashion of storytelling prevalent throughout the film from both the humans and Na’vi are enough to keep my stranglehold in the world. There were a few points in the movie where I knew exactly what was going to happen, and the forbidden-love theme was a bit of an eyeroller. I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t at least moved by these scenes but you’ve been warned that they are predictable. The rest of the film’s dialogue and story are quite amazing really, and though I feel only one person in the whole film was penned unrealistically (I’m looking at you, Sarge) I have to remember I’m dealing with giant blue aliens in a world where floating mountains. At least James tried a different approach to the classic tale instead of shoving it down our throats.

I have to remember if I’m missing anything…. no? Story, visuals and sound, 3D… Summary? Deal.

SOOO in summary, if you are looking for an eye-popping, absolutely stunning visual experience, what the hell are you still doing sitting here? This film is the epitome of movie experiences of this year, and for me it has definitely been the best film experience I’ve had in the last two years and that’s saying something. The world that James Cameron has envisioned is fully realized without a trace of anything being left behind, and the experience happening in front of the 3D glasses is absolutely astounding. I will see it again, and again, and again just to step into the beautiful world of Pandora, the story and narrative are a necessary bonus. If you owe yourself one thing and one thing only this holiday, it is to see this movie in 3D on the big screen before it slips into the bowels of home theatre where it’ll be suffocated of it’s dimensional beauty forever. Well, until TV manufacturers can push an affordable 3d solution our way.

Feel free to tell me what you think!

Yes, today is the day (or should I say night) for Avatar, the supposedly larger-than-life film by James Cameron. I’m pretty excited to go see this tonight, I have a feeling my comrade is going to fall asleep as soon as she hits the theatre seat however. I’ll be reviewing this movie as spoiler-free as I can tomorrow, so keep in touch if you’re following!

For those who haven’t been following, Avatar is James Cameron’s new blockbuster, which has been in development for the last four or five years. It’s rumored to have enveloped 300 to 500 million dollars in budgetary expenses. James has said it is the first film to use stereoscopic 3D as a mature medium to tell a story as opposed to a gimmick to garner ticket sales, and though I’ve been weary of 3D since it’s inception it does look to be quite impressive. I won’t go over story or details, as other sites have already drilled all prerelease details into the ground, and I also don’t like being wrong when I jot down previews. Look for my review tomorrow, it should be a gooder!

Welcome to the humble beginnings of Dee.P Reviews. I’m Dylan Plowman, and if you haven’t guessed I started this blog to start reviewing absolutely anything that I feel needs to be written about. Will I be biased? Maybe. Rude? More than likely. Completely honest? 100% of the time, and that’s where I hope this blog will shine. My reviews will hopefully cater to the entertainment industry as a whole, ranging from cell phones to games to movies, even to kitchen appliances. Take it as a gadget blog, but with a lot less professionalism and a whole lot more “what the hell is this guy even writing” coupled with many tangents about my past experiences with getting my fingers trapped in blenders and the like. Don’t act surprised, I stopped about halfway through this.

Reviews to come! Who knows of what, Avatar comes out on Thursday so that will probably be the first.