[steinmansbrain]

"The incomprehensible plot which jumps around from location to location without any logic or reason? The insipid, shallow characters? The amateurish acting? The clumsy, badly choreographed and edited action sequences? The crummy CGI effects? Or the awful, groan-worthy dialogue that?s at least 75% pure exposition? And in spite of that, you still can?t figure out what?s going on or who is who"

Yeah it certainly doesn't sound like a classic . 75% pure exposition though like well it's hard to avoid that really in this I feel.

But yeah I don't understand how films are structured. I've heard night talking about developing character and developing plot - are those things like supposed to run parallel in any given movie and it's like a balancing act to develop them both equally? Are those the only 2 things to consider in the writing?

Like has Night given too much attention to the back story and hasn't progressed like the 'present' time in the film enough?

I'm always interested in why some films just don't do it for me and some do. Like Watchmen. I just wasn't interested. I think it kinda had like a story I should have cared about but I just didn't 'get' it you know. Wonder if that had to do with the backstory/expostion/character narrative development thing.

or you know if I just couldn't follow the plot cos I'm a bit thick. Hellboy as well like everyone liked hellboy. I just stopped watching it. Just didn't want to watch any more.

[moonrise]

i must agree that the movie wasn't the best and i still need to see it again to confirm a few things but, don't you think that our expectations as fans where too high???
before the movie, i tried not get too excited only to get my hopes dashed but nevertheless, i think i was expecting WAY too much (even if it didn't feel like that at the time)
being overexpectant cannot have helped with general emotions to this movie...

[Rulm]

i must agree that the movie wasn't the best and i still need to see it again to confirm a few things but, don't you think that our expectations as fans where too high???
before the movie, i tried not get too excited only to get my hopes dashed but nevertheless, i think i was expecting WAY too much (even if it didn't feel like that at the time)
being overexpectant cannot have helped with general emotions to this movie...

No way, lol. It's just a bad movie. Not only do most fans hate it, just about everyone seems to hate it. There are a few who seem to genuinely like it (  ), but for the most part, it's unanimously hated.

[Sri HK]

A new review. Also, touches on the Shyamalan hate going around:

http://www.thefilmtalk.com/2010/07/09/film-podcast-last-airbender-killer-inside-me-review/

 

This is a great review.

 

[Imalshen]

Saw it again last night, without the hooligans. Not only was I able to pay more attention to the film but I discovered it's actually a lot better the second time around. That's a Night trait-the more you watch the more you like.

Anyway, I'm working on my detailed review of it and I'll post it soon. I might just blog it and link to it in here instead of opening up another "Personal opinion" thread.

I'll try to have it up before I leave for the UK on Tuesday!

[Sri HK]

^^ Cool. 

[Erik]

I couldn't wait another month before I can get a chance to see this, so I just watched a (bit crappy quality) stream. First of all, the reactions to this movie;
Bad, worse, M. Night should stop making movies, bla bla bla. We all know the story about how his last 3 movies (The Village, Lady In The Water and The Happening) were bad and this one would make four in a row. With this in mind, I started to watch. My high expectations were gone, I feared the worst, but did not get the worst.

I thought this movie was quite good actually. There is only one point that was really bad, and that is the story telling. It goes too fast. The movie is a little over one and a half hour, which is just too short to tell this story. I got the feeling that we were rushed way too quickly through the story. I believe that if M. Night would have taken time and maybe made this movie two full hours, this could have been a movie worth seeing.

I will watch this again on the big screen when it hits the theatres here. My rating for now; 7/10.

[mnightfan4lyfe]

I agree Erik. 103 minutes is too short. I think an extra 15 or 20 minutes used properly to develop the central characters and story a little more would've made it stronger. Still, I enjoyed the movie and think the critics were WAY too harsh.

[avatarluv13]

the movie was too short. but it also was too long  if it was longer, it might have been better, he could added more, showed more detail in the gaangs journey to the North Pole and what really happen when they got there... but for how terrible it was, it was waaay too long 

[mnightfan4lyfe]

I saw it again today and loved it. Probably more than the first time I saw it. The only issues I noticed were a few occasions where the lines were too 'on the nose' and I would have liked to have known more about Katara and Sokka, but that's just being picky. Loved the scenery, the acting, the music, the story and all the little details I missed the first time. Yes, I'm hoping for a sequel

[Imalshen]

Even if I had despised the movie, I would want a sequel because I HATE it when they leave a series hanging. I mean, like Eragon? That movie was a complete butchery of the books, but it's still incomplete on its own. Not to mention Paolini has not finished the series yet either...I wonder when that last book will ever come out.

Yeah, all I know is if anyone wanted to adapt a series of mine 1. They would have to wait until the series is complete and 2. I would be there with them every step of the scriptwriting process. No way in hell I'm handing over my life's work to some dunderhead who doesn't know the story.

 And I want Shyamalan to direct!

[moonrise]

yes, the critics were too harsh but i don't think the movie was a complete failure - sure it had weak factors but many components were quite good

anyway, enough restating the facts - did you know about the new spinoff miniseries that will follow Avatar: the legend of aang called Avatar: the legend of korra
i'm glad that the avatar world will live on despite the many negative reviews we've been getting

[Imalshen]

Yeah I've heard about it. Sounds pretty cool, but I'm always wary of spinoffs. I'm going to follow production very closely so I don't have any "WTF?" moments when it comes out. lol