Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Movie Review: The Last Airbender

I first heard about the television series Avatar: The Last Airbender from an undergraduate in my lab who had immigrated to the U.S. from India.[1] Later I learned that my little brother, Nathan, also liked the series. When I saw the teaser trailer for the movie I thought it looked pretty good. But I never got around to seeing it at the theater. I've been waiting to watch the television series until I watch the movie since (I'm told) it will be less disappointing that way. Now that I've seen it, I guess I can put the television show in my instant queue on Netflix.[2]

My verdict: I didn't think it was that bad. Based on a lot of the reviews I've seen, the major complaint was the really bad conversion to 3D. It ruined the movie. Sure the acting wasn't stellar and there wasn't much character development because they were trying to cover so much plot. But I don't think it deserved the Golden Raspberry Award for worst film of 2010.[3] I understand Nathan's (and other fans') disappointment in the movie since movies are rarely as good as their source material.[4] Nevertheless, I wouldn't mind seeing M. Night Shyamalan make the sequels he has planned.


Notes:

[1] His name was Divyesh Choudhri. I've mentioned him before (he introduced me to Snyder's cheddar cheese-flavored Pretzel Pieces).

[2] Although I'm behind in most of the shows I'm currently watching, so I probably won't squeeze it in for a while.

[3] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/31st Golden Raspberry Awards.

[4] One surprising exception is Legend of the Seeker, which is based on The Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkind. It far surpasses its source material.

1 comment:

  1. Mike's main complaint was that Aang in the movie was too serious. In the TV series he's much more lighthearted.

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