Do you remember the last time you watched a smart summer action flick? A movie that had you leaving the theaters knowing you actually saw something that was more than some studio tent pole release? Of course you do, we’ve been seeing this trend slowly come to power over the last few years. In 2009 we had the razor sharp masterpiece of District 9 and in 2008 the world was treated to The Dark Knight, a movie that elevated the comic sub genre to a level of film making movie scholars will be analyzing for decades. Well, the creator of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan, has decided to take another stab at the summer brain stimulus with Inception.
There has been a lot of talk circling Inception, some say it’s the most daring project in Sci-Fi since the Matrix, others think of it as an interesting yet flawed experiment, while others just scratch their heads as they try to wrap their feeble minds around the staggering narrative. Regardless of how you feel I can assure you that unless you really don’t know much about storytelling, you shouldn’t fall into the latter camp.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie IS complex, the story ostensibly revolves around three separate narratives that are stitched together within the framework of a five layer deep scene for well over 50 minutes. The rest of the time you are being told to believe in the procedural assembly line mechanics of constructing dreams and how the main characters navigate the core design principle of shared dream logic. However, the greatest praise I can bestow upon this film is its incredible skill in taking the labyrinthine plot and finding a way to hand it to the audience in the most logical way without seeming condescending.
It’s a rare thing to see a screen play this tightly composed. How Christopher Nolan even managed to communicate an idea like this is baffling to me. Yet here it is, presented on the big screen for all to see. Again, that’s not to say it’s necessarily an easy viewing; if you aren’t picking up on all the clues along the way you’re liable to get lost as you follow some other trail of bread crumbs into a dark and misty forest.
On the other hand its not like this movie has absolutely nothing to offer the critical thinker. To keep it an intellectual pursuit the film makers cleverly decided to make it one of those interpretive movies. While most of the story is opaque, there’s also a lot of it that is ambiguous, allowing people to create their own interpretations. Some call it lazy, others call it brilliant, and I call it fair. When exploring themes this compelling its best to leave something up to the viewer. Inception crafts an outrageous new world that you are invited to explore and write your own stories within, an idea that is sadly missing from many films today.
The cast is another aspect of Inception I found quite remarkable. Every member present gives there all and breaths a great deal of life into their character. Although not all are created equal in terms of importance one need only remind themselves that at its heart, inception is a heist movie. Sure some of the characters are relegated to being a 2-dimensional sidekick with a single defining role, but that is the case with most heist films. What makes each of them work is the contribution from the actor. The team that has been assembled here might as well be the Avengers or the JLA; it’s that epic.
The visuals are impressive although in many ways the movies weakest point. While interesting and fun to look at there are a lot of limitations imposed by the narrative. You won’t see any over the top surrealist dream-like images, but that’s because you’re not supposed to. By the very nature of the story the characters are to an extent controlling the dream world, preventing it from going off into some strange parody of reality. While this is a legitimate excuse and probably one that actually helps the movie from becoming too silly it still makes you wonder what could have been if they had perhaps invested even just a tiny bit more imagination into the dreamscapes.
Special recognition also goes out to Hanz Zimmer who composed the score. There’s a lot of praise to give to a man who seems to have traveled all the way to Valhalla and stolen a Viking’s ram horn to compose most of the sound track. While the plot is subtle, the music manages to stand in direct opposition by delivering a deep sound track that shakes the marrow of your bones. In a sense, it works to remove any sort of somber moments that may surface in a movie about dreams by reminding you of the underlying intensity of the film.
There isn’t a whole lot more that I can say about this movie without spoiling too much. Every moment holds a mystery and half the fun is just watching everything come together in one delicate movement. Regardless of whether or not this is the movie for you I can’t help but recommend it none the less. No, the movie isn’t going to appeal to every man, woman, and child out there but it’s something that maybe everyone should see. Christopher Nolan claimed to have been influenced by The Matrix, 2001 a Space Odyssey, Dark City, Blade Runner, and just about every other milestone of Science Fiction to have been released over the past 40 years or so. With Inception, it shows, and just like those movies this is going to become a pop culture phenomenon that shifts the entire paradigm for things to come.
Showing posts with label summer movie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer movie. Show all posts
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Damn You Disney Magics!
Two days ago I saw The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Originally I had planned on releasing a review on the following day but I gave myself a little bit of time to think it over and collect my thoughts. Why? This is a summer movie, not just any summer movie but a Disney family/action title released in the middle of July. These are the kind of movies that require special tools with a practiced hand to critique. Luckily for you I am more than qualified.
Here’s the thing about summer movies, most of them are just stupid; they are bare bones action films that fill seats and get people out of the blistering summer weather to escape for two hours while they leave their brain baking on the dashboard of their car. This isn’t always a bad thing; stupid big budget ‘splosion fests can be really engaging. I don’t always want to test the merits of my English degree when I go into movies or sit down with a mental notepad scribbling down the deep characterizations and arcs that are taking place on screen. Every now and then it’s fun just to see cool things happen on screen with a cast of likable enthusiastic heroes. This isn’t an excuse for stupidity however; in fact one of my biggest pet peeves happens to be when people automatically give a golden star to the pre-school macaroni paintings mass produced by the Michael Bay Legion of Doom School of film making.
Take last summer for example, we had several titles released which failed to entertain me because they were trying to either be something much greater than what they were or spread themselves thin by grabbing for an enormous market. Wolverine, Terminator, and Transformers are all great examples of summer movies that cannot skate by on the “They’re just meant to be fun” excuse. Sloppy convoluted narrative, pretentious writing, insensitive characters that are completely alien to each other and the audience, it’s all there. The counter balance to these films was the lost gem of the 2009 summer movie season, G.I. Joe, a movie which clearly understood what being a big budget action film is all about: silliness, fun, and a light hearted sense of exploration. After much deliberation I feel confident in saying that Sorcerer’s Apprentice falls into that pleasant field of entertainment as G.I. Joe.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a pretty typical family adventure movie involving magic. Young boy is destined to save the world, he eventually stumbles upon his boon by accident, receives some tutelage from a mentor, struggles with his personal life, and in the end rises to the challenge to overcome the pure manifestation of evil. For anyone that has read about the Heroes’ Journey or studied the 20th century idea of the hero with a thousand faces will immediately be familiar with the plot. Heck, even if you haven’t studied this stuff you’ll probably pick up on it as this sort of prose constitutes the very fabric of human literature and floats around in the ether above our heads like some zeitgeist.
No, there’s nothing special here, but there doesn’t need to be. Disney is just offering you the very foundation for a traditional adventure revolving around an up and coming champion and they don’t bother to fill in all the grey areas with sex, pointless action sequences, or forced humor. Everything is natural and recognizable just as it should be.
By now you’re probably thinking, “If this is by the books, what makes it even worth watching?” Well the answer is pretty easy, the talent. Disney is a company that has tons of money and if need be they can move the money in just the right way to get everything running smoothly. This Sorcerer's Apprentice is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, co-produced by the person that did Pirates of the Caribbean (no I have no idea what his/her name is), and directed by the same bloke who churned out the National Treasure movies, Jon Turtletaub. Let’s look at all of these people, none of them are high-minded auteurs but they are pretty good at making popcorn entertainment. So when you mash the three of them together and gingerly sprinkle in some special effects, a recognizable story, and fun characters you get exactly what you need/pay for.
So what exactly is the premise behind this completely unoriginal tale? We the audience follow a young man Dave, played by Jay Baruchel, a college aged nerd who loves science but is plagued by a haunting memory. When he was much younger he stumbled across an ancient sorcerer named Balthazar, played by Nicolas Cage, who informed him that Dave was the Prime Merlinian, essentially the Kwisatz Haderach, who would defeat the evil Morgan La Fay and bring balance to Earth once and for all. Thanks to a little intervention by the film’s villain, whose shoes are filled by the always brilliant Alfred Molina, the destiny is called off for about 10 years on account of rain and a Deus Ex Machine urn and the boy spends the better part of a decade seeking psychiatric help. Well the 10 years pass and Dave’s destiny catches up with him, he must now learn how to harness his powers before Alfred Molina’s Horvath character can unleash the powerful Morgan La Fay and bring about the end of the world.
Yes, its cheesy, yes it’s pretty trite, but damn is it entertaining. More importantly, the characters are a joy. Jay Baruchel plays the awkward Jewish nerd as always and while his range as an actor is beginning to wear itself thin he still fits nicely into this movie. His nervousness and social ineptitude are befitting for a magician since, let's face it, they are the scholarly book worms of the fantasy universe always getting strung up the castle flag pole by their pantaloons. To my knowledge this is the first film where Jay Baruchel has had to carry the weight of an entire project on his shoulders as the lead man, but luckily he is being supported by Nicolas Cade who gives a dynamite performance. Cage is playing a man who doesn’t really belong in our modern era and as such the role allows him to do what Nick cage does best, be really weird and funny. The chemistry between these two is the foundation for the movie and why it holds up so well. Taking an up and coming actor and having him play off the talents of someone who is in many ways making a career come back is fascinating to watch. although the true screen gem in this film is the very force opposing them, Alfred Molina. Thank goodness the producers over at Disney were able to point a gun at Alfred Molina after he finished up Prince of Persia, forcing him to go across the studio lot and start filming this. Alfred Molina as Horvath the Morganian antagonist is a delight to see on screen. His charisma is something that I always look forward to in films and he’s practically dancing across the screen here.
All the supporting cast is regrettably forgettable, but I honestly couldn’t care less. In certain movies a decent supporting cast can do wonders but here its all just bland and unnecessary.
In terms of direction and visual flare the movie is effective. There were only a few spots that seemed a bit rushed or visually jarring but most of it is quickly forgotten once you get wrapped up in the amazing action sequences. In fact the only part of the movie that had me wanting to leave the theater was the very beginning. The opening three minute sequence is poorly done as it tries to organize the back story into a condensed filing cabinet when I feel like that kind of exposition should have been woven into the rest of the film in small doses. So if you are the type to judge a book by its cover be warned that you may have to struggle with that gut instinct to leave your chair fairly early on, but I can assure you that it picks up quickly. Before you know it you’ll be laughing at the simple yet effective comedy and being wowed by the over the top action sequences which truly are a lot of fun.
The biggest complaint that I have been hearing about this film stems from its source material. When I went into this I just assumed it was based on some popular children’s fantasy series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or any of the other countless books getting adapted into screenplays these days (can you blame me?). As it turns out this movie is based on a very old Disney property. In fact I didn’t even realize it until much later, although there is a scene in this film which is a dead giveaway which had many critics rolling their eyes in disgust. Here’s the thing: the movie is so far removed from the source material that there is almost no connection whatsoever, so when the film makers finally decided to tear down that brick wall and throw the reference right into my face I saw it only as an homage and still could not fabricate any sort of demonstrable connection between the two intellectual entities. To me this is a brand new product with a brand new universe and I’d like to see more of it.
One other thing I’d like to mention is the product placement; after all, what Disney summer movie would be complete without it! Yes, there are a lot of ads, and while it is intrusive it never really has any lasting effect. When I hear the songs in this film that swell up and completely dominate scenes I recognize that these are probably fresh tunes playing on radio Disney currently, but by the time I leave the theater I had already forgotten them. Sure their presence is annoying but they become so superficial that they literally blend into the background much like the rampant advertisements that appear in major metropolitan billboards and electronic displays. Hell, I’ll even admit that there was one ad in this movie that got a pretty good laugh out of me, it’s for Magic the Gathering, something that I personally don’t care for but god damn was it funny within the context of the scene.
So yeah, Sorcerer’s Apprentice is by the books, it’s corporate, but it’s a lot of fun too. This isn’t going to be your favorite film of the summer, not by a long shot but it’s not a complete throw away either. I’m not going to tell you that this is something you have to see in theaters, because it’s not, but it is something you definitely want to pick up once it hits video or television. What can I say? The Mouse has gotten me again with its charm. Keep up the good work Nick Cage, keep it up.
Here’s the thing about summer movies, most of them are just stupid; they are bare bones action films that fill seats and get people out of the blistering summer weather to escape for two hours while they leave their brain baking on the dashboard of their car. This isn’t always a bad thing; stupid big budget ‘splosion fests can be really engaging. I don’t always want to test the merits of my English degree when I go into movies or sit down with a mental notepad scribbling down the deep characterizations and arcs that are taking place on screen. Every now and then it’s fun just to see cool things happen on screen with a cast of likable enthusiastic heroes. This isn’t an excuse for stupidity however; in fact one of my biggest pet peeves happens to be when people automatically give a golden star to the pre-school macaroni paintings mass produced by the Michael Bay Legion of Doom School of film making.
Take last summer for example, we had several titles released which failed to entertain me because they were trying to either be something much greater than what they were or spread themselves thin by grabbing for an enormous market. Wolverine, Terminator, and Transformers are all great examples of summer movies that cannot skate by on the “They’re just meant to be fun” excuse. Sloppy convoluted narrative, pretentious writing, insensitive characters that are completely alien to each other and the audience, it’s all there. The counter balance to these films was the lost gem of the 2009 summer movie season, G.I. Joe, a movie which clearly understood what being a big budget action film is all about: silliness, fun, and a light hearted sense of exploration. After much deliberation I feel confident in saying that Sorcerer’s Apprentice falls into that pleasant field of entertainment as G.I. Joe.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a pretty typical family adventure movie involving magic. Young boy is destined to save the world, he eventually stumbles upon his boon by accident, receives some tutelage from a mentor, struggles with his personal life, and in the end rises to the challenge to overcome the pure manifestation of evil. For anyone that has read about the Heroes’ Journey or studied the 20th century idea of the hero with a thousand faces will immediately be familiar with the plot. Heck, even if you haven’t studied this stuff you’ll probably pick up on it as this sort of prose constitutes the very fabric of human literature and floats around in the ether above our heads like some zeitgeist.
No, there’s nothing special here, but there doesn’t need to be. Disney is just offering you the very foundation for a traditional adventure revolving around an up and coming champion and they don’t bother to fill in all the grey areas with sex, pointless action sequences, or forced humor. Everything is natural and recognizable just as it should be.
By now you’re probably thinking, “If this is by the books, what makes it even worth watching?” Well the answer is pretty easy, the talent. Disney is a company that has tons of money and if need be they can move the money in just the right way to get everything running smoothly. This Sorcerer's Apprentice is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, co-produced by the person that did Pirates of the Caribbean (no I have no idea what his/her name is), and directed by the same bloke who churned out the National Treasure movies, Jon Turtletaub. Let’s look at all of these people, none of them are high-minded auteurs but they are pretty good at making popcorn entertainment. So when you mash the three of them together and gingerly sprinkle in some special effects, a recognizable story, and fun characters you get exactly what you need/pay for.
So what exactly is the premise behind this completely unoriginal tale? We the audience follow a young man Dave, played by Jay Baruchel, a college aged nerd who loves science but is plagued by a haunting memory. When he was much younger he stumbled across an ancient sorcerer named Balthazar, played by Nicolas Cage, who informed him that Dave was the Prime Merlinian, essentially the Kwisatz Haderach, who would defeat the evil Morgan La Fay and bring balance to Earth once and for all. Thanks to a little intervention by the film’s villain, whose shoes are filled by the always brilliant Alfred Molina, the destiny is called off for about 10 years on account of rain and a Deus Ex Machine urn and the boy spends the better part of a decade seeking psychiatric help. Well the 10 years pass and Dave’s destiny catches up with him, he must now learn how to harness his powers before Alfred Molina’s Horvath character can unleash the powerful Morgan La Fay and bring about the end of the world.
Yes, its cheesy, yes it’s pretty trite, but damn is it entertaining. More importantly, the characters are a joy. Jay Baruchel plays the awkward Jewish nerd as always and while his range as an actor is beginning to wear itself thin he still fits nicely into this movie. His nervousness and social ineptitude are befitting for a magician since, let's face it, they are the scholarly book worms of the fantasy universe always getting strung up the castle flag pole by their pantaloons. To my knowledge this is the first film where Jay Baruchel has had to carry the weight of an entire project on his shoulders as the lead man, but luckily he is being supported by Nicolas Cade who gives a dynamite performance. Cage is playing a man who doesn’t really belong in our modern era and as such the role allows him to do what Nick cage does best, be really weird and funny. The chemistry between these two is the foundation for the movie and why it holds up so well. Taking an up and coming actor and having him play off the talents of someone who is in many ways making a career come back is fascinating to watch. although the true screen gem in this film is the very force opposing them, Alfred Molina. Thank goodness the producers over at Disney were able to point a gun at Alfred Molina after he finished up Prince of Persia, forcing him to go across the studio lot and start filming this. Alfred Molina as Horvath the Morganian antagonist is a delight to see on screen. His charisma is something that I always look forward to in films and he’s practically dancing across the screen here.
All the supporting cast is regrettably forgettable, but I honestly couldn’t care less. In certain movies a decent supporting cast can do wonders but here its all just bland and unnecessary.
In terms of direction and visual flare the movie is effective. There were only a few spots that seemed a bit rushed or visually jarring but most of it is quickly forgotten once you get wrapped up in the amazing action sequences. In fact the only part of the movie that had me wanting to leave the theater was the very beginning. The opening three minute sequence is poorly done as it tries to organize the back story into a condensed filing cabinet when I feel like that kind of exposition should have been woven into the rest of the film in small doses. So if you are the type to judge a book by its cover be warned that you may have to struggle with that gut instinct to leave your chair fairly early on, but I can assure you that it picks up quickly. Before you know it you’ll be laughing at the simple yet effective comedy and being wowed by the over the top action sequences which truly are a lot of fun.
The biggest complaint that I have been hearing about this film stems from its source material. When I went into this I just assumed it was based on some popular children’s fantasy series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or any of the other countless books getting adapted into screenplays these days (can you blame me?). As it turns out this movie is based on a very old Disney property. In fact I didn’t even realize it until much later, although there is a scene in this film which is a dead giveaway which had many critics rolling their eyes in disgust. Here’s the thing: the movie is so far removed from the source material that there is almost no connection whatsoever, so when the film makers finally decided to tear down that brick wall and throw the reference right into my face I saw it only as an homage and still could not fabricate any sort of demonstrable connection between the two intellectual entities. To me this is a brand new product with a brand new universe and I’d like to see more of it.
One other thing I’d like to mention is the product placement; after all, what Disney summer movie would be complete without it! Yes, there are a lot of ads, and while it is intrusive it never really has any lasting effect. When I hear the songs in this film that swell up and completely dominate scenes I recognize that these are probably fresh tunes playing on radio Disney currently, but by the time I leave the theater I had already forgotten them. Sure their presence is annoying but they become so superficial that they literally blend into the background much like the rampant advertisements that appear in major metropolitan billboards and electronic displays. Hell, I’ll even admit that there was one ad in this movie that got a pretty good laugh out of me, it’s for Magic the Gathering, something that I personally don’t care for but god damn was it funny within the context of the scene.
So yeah, Sorcerer’s Apprentice is by the books, it’s corporate, but it’s a lot of fun too. This isn’t going to be your favorite film of the summer, not by a long shot but it’s not a complete throw away either. I’m not going to tell you that this is something you have to see in theaters, because it’s not, but it is something you definitely want to pick up once it hits video or television. What can I say? The Mouse has gotten me again with its charm. Keep up the good work Nick Cage, keep it up.
Friday, July 2, 2010
The Last Airbender. God, Let's Hope So.
As much as it pains me to admit, I think we owe a lot to the ever increasing popularity of anime. For better or worse the rise of anime within American pop culture has lead to another cartoon renaissance where production companies are bravely going into directions that they feared well over a decade ago. This is commendable because when you remove any preconceived bias and go analyze a cartoon down to its most basic structural points it becomes apparent that there are several hidden paths of creativity that animation can trek which live action cannot; more specifically, the suspension of disbelief.
Cartoons can get away with a lot, even the most off the wall zany ideas are considered “free reign”. You want giant robots? Sure thing! How about characters which behave in completely unrealistic ways? You got it! Want to play with perspective and warp the environment to stretch and mold it to our personal taste? Why the hell not! Sure, in the modern era of CGI film things like skewed environments and giant robots are possible, but when you juxtapose them against real people and actual set pieces it becomes as uncomfortably noticeable as a naked man’s erect penis at a playground. There is some territory within the art of visual storytelling that only cartoons can go while live action plays nicely at its own desk, you hear me M Night Shamalan?
So yeah – let’s talk about that Avat… that Last Airbender movie.
The Last Airbender marks M Night Shamalan’s return to directing children’s movies. Since he views himself as some untouchable demi-god transcending above the rest of us mortals (watch Lady in the Water if you doubt me), Shamalamy decided to hit the ground running and tackle the big budget live action movie adaptation of the critically acclaimed and highly successful Avatar: The Last Airbender series which ran on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008. The movie follows the quest of a young boy named Aang, the last of a group of eastern mystics who can manipulate the element of air, or as the colloquialism within the series goes, they bend it like that tennis player. Aang also happens to be the reincarnation of the avatar, a powerful human who can manipulate all the elements of life: fire, water, earth, and of course air. Given his unique gift he is of course destined to save humanity from its Mobius loop of stupidity. Yay. Truth be told you are probably familiar with this story even if you have never been exposed to the animated television from which this is derived, and by derived I mean in the same sense that diarrhea is the second version of that delicious Mexican food you had last night.
The story of Last Airbender was never anything special, go on admit it, when you deconstruct the whole thing down to its most basic elements (har har) you can’t help but notice that it’s a rehash of many popular Asian and Indian cultural stories and fables. This shouldn’t be seen as a misstep though since it was clearly homage. The creators had a great love for these ancient stories and were cross eyed with glee over the culture and traditions of these ancient societies. That very love and admiration for the source material shined through with each animation cell and as a result the audience was invited to explore and enjoy this world as well. This isn’t the case with the live action version. While extremely faithful to the plot of the first season, there is no passion or respect for the mythos. Whoever penned the screenplay should probably be dipped in honey and lowered into a pit of primeval dire anteaters by his/her nipples with a bee jar stuck up their ass because what we have here is a shallow experience that removes all the excitement from the original and opts for the abridged text book edition, now with tinier font!
One gets the feeling of being rushed while trying to get a hold of all the various story details and locations, like the film makers were actually embarrassed to have released this and were trying to usher people out into a meat grinder in the theater lobby to prevent word of mouth from spreading. Edits are terribly sloppy and pasted together in a confusing array of scatter shots that take the viewer from one locale and plot point to the next. In fact, this is probably one of the most horrific edit jobs I have seen in a while; there are moments where actual scenes appear to be missing as characters reference dialogue and actions that never took place. A tad bit jarring.
The movie also seems caught in the middle of a love triangle between the fans and the newbs as it desperately tries to please both parties. Narrative from one of the lead characters is used to explain things, but it becomes intrusive. Problem is if you’ve never seen the show all of this exposition ends up being vacuous. When love between two characters has the strength and thickness of a wet public restroom toilet paper square metaphorically personified in the act of them making googly eyes at one another, adding narration to explain their love is like having the story shot directly into your face with a blunderbuss. And if gunshots to the face weren’t enough the people behind this mess also decided to throw in some good ol’ montages and flashbacks for good measure! Not until very late in the film does the direction show any strong foot holding, and by then it becomes nothing more than a poor man’s Lord of the Rings paint-by-numbers exercise. This all leads to a caddy wompus cluster bomb of confusion that doesn’t give anyone the opportunity to connect with the characters or their struggles.
Do me a favor and sit down to watch one of the episodes of the cartoon series. Pretty charming characters, am I right? Well, did you happen to notice that not a single one of them is a realistic portrayal of an actual human being (with the exception of several bad guys like Zuko)? You might claim to know someone similar to them, but in actuality they operate completely outside the context of normal human behavior. That’s because they are parodies of human characteristics, they are an exaggeration of who we are. This is one of those strengths of animation I was talking about. Part of the reason the cartoon was such a treat was because the characters removed the audience from that man behind the curtain operating the large green headed plot. These characters were the foundation of the show that sparked your curiosity, their presence and conviction made you want to learn more about their world and its problems, and the characters were more than happy to show you. With the movie they are just going through the motions. Their rigid golem-like behavior makes you unsympathetic and unwilling to hop along their rickety rollercoaster with large segments of its track missing. This is a serious problem.
Most of the actors here seem competent, although I’m not actually sure. Maybe It’s because it was midnight when I saw it, and maybe it was because I was drunk, or maybe it was that strange vaporous substance coming off the three hookers I had brought with me, but I wasn’t able to peg down any real winners or losers here. I mean I want to say they were all bad, but I don’t think any of them were given anything to work with and I somehow doubt Shamalan gave them direction. Maybe watching a few episodes of the cartoon may have helped, but again I don’t think that sort of behavior would work well in a live action movie. This movie needed the assistance of a character director, someone who could have retooled the heroes and villains to make them functional and enjoyable within a live action framework rather than functionally retarded or rather just plain retarded for that matter. I think the kid who played Zuko was passable, but his performance was assisted by the angst filled and tormented role demanded by his character. Within a movie of melodrama, the one brooding character from the cartoon translates well.
At this time I would like to take a step into the deep end of the pool where the adults and big kids play so that I can make a very unpopular comment. In order to save this movie a person with a huge swinging pair needed to be propositioned to rework this mess and axe all the unnecessary things no matter how much the frothing fanboys wanted it (those dirty whores). This pains me, but Sokka should have been removed. No seriously, why was this character in the movie? I understand that he is a fan favorite, hell he was one of my favorite characters from the story as well but let’s not forget that his primary role was comic relief. Here he does nothing, and his presence becomes even more eerie and uncomfortable towards the end when they introduce the moon girl. She has no purpose in the movie and the relationship that forms between them is rushed and artificial. Couldn’t they have accomplished the same goals without those two characters and their respective subplot? The answer is yes! Sure it would have been sad to see Sokka gone, but do you think the movie would have been better had Boomie been in it? Yeah didn’t think so and yeah, I realize if you haven’t seen the show then this whole paragraph is probably a mystery. My apologies, I promise to try and stop comparing this to the cartoon.
Visually the movie doesn’t offend. The effects of the fire and water are decent although the fight scenes left something to be desired. I’m thinking that this slow motion nonsense needs to stop before I can get a good night’s sleep. The costume and make-up department must have had a blast with this film and it shows. All of the clothing and uniforms adorned by the characters are nicely updated translations from the original designs and the attention to detail is phenomenal.
The set pieces were epic and grand as they should be, but a little stock. I’m sure I saw that snow kingdom somewhere in the background of The Golden Compass. Come to think of it I believe they stole the animal effects department from that movie as well. The large Floating bison Appa has numerous on screen cameos throughout the film for the fans to soil their Clone Wars Undies, but he’s easily the worst effect in the movie. The skin looks like it was dipped in a grease fryer at KFC and the fur dithers like a sack of hair clippings thrown into a wind tunnel. Not entirely sure why CGI animators think fur moves that way, but what do I know?
Last Airbender somehow managed to give the fans everything they wanted in exchange for the soul of the project. The story is all over the place, the characters are husks, and there is nothing for the audience to bond with. You know what? Forget what I said earlier about divorcing this from the cartoon. The film makers didn’t care enough to make up their mind for who this movie was for, so I refuse to keep my promises. If you’re a fan you’ll be disappointed, if you just want to see a movie you’ll be confused, and if you are a movie buff then you’ll be frustrated with the sub sophomoric cinematography. Maybe there’s a good movie hidden within an intense editor’s cut but I highly doubt it. The lost scenes to this movie are probably kicking it with the arc of the covenant by now. If I happen to see any of the people that made this movie I will demonstrate my own bending of the four elements by throwing dirt in their eyes, subjecting them to prolonged water boarding, lighting them on fire, and farting on their face. You have been warned Mr. Shamalan.
Cartoons can get away with a lot, even the most off the wall zany ideas are considered “free reign”. You want giant robots? Sure thing! How about characters which behave in completely unrealistic ways? You got it! Want to play with perspective and warp the environment to stretch and mold it to our personal taste? Why the hell not! Sure, in the modern era of CGI film things like skewed environments and giant robots are possible, but when you juxtapose them against real people and actual set pieces it becomes as uncomfortably noticeable as a naked man’s erect penis at a playground. There is some territory within the art of visual storytelling that only cartoons can go while live action plays nicely at its own desk, you hear me M Night Shamalan?
So yeah – let’s talk about that Avat… that Last Airbender movie.
The Last Airbender marks M Night Shamalan’s return to directing children’s movies. Since he views himself as some untouchable demi-god transcending above the rest of us mortals (watch Lady in the Water if you doubt me), Shamalamy decided to hit the ground running and tackle the big budget live action movie adaptation of the critically acclaimed and highly successful Avatar: The Last Airbender series which ran on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008. The movie follows the quest of a young boy named Aang, the last of a group of eastern mystics who can manipulate the element of air, or as the colloquialism within the series goes, they bend it like that tennis player. Aang also happens to be the reincarnation of the avatar, a powerful human who can manipulate all the elements of life: fire, water, earth, and of course air. Given his unique gift he is of course destined to save humanity from its Mobius loop of stupidity. Yay. Truth be told you are probably familiar with this story even if you have never been exposed to the animated television from which this is derived, and by derived I mean in the same sense that diarrhea is the second version of that delicious Mexican food you had last night.
The story of Last Airbender was never anything special, go on admit it, when you deconstruct the whole thing down to its most basic elements (har har) you can’t help but notice that it’s a rehash of many popular Asian and Indian cultural stories and fables. This shouldn’t be seen as a misstep though since it was clearly homage. The creators had a great love for these ancient stories and were cross eyed with glee over the culture and traditions of these ancient societies. That very love and admiration for the source material shined through with each animation cell and as a result the audience was invited to explore and enjoy this world as well. This isn’t the case with the live action version. While extremely faithful to the plot of the first season, there is no passion or respect for the mythos. Whoever penned the screenplay should probably be dipped in honey and lowered into a pit of primeval dire anteaters by his/her nipples with a bee jar stuck up their ass because what we have here is a shallow experience that removes all the excitement from the original and opts for the abridged text book edition, now with tinier font!
One gets the feeling of being rushed while trying to get a hold of all the various story details and locations, like the film makers were actually embarrassed to have released this and were trying to usher people out into a meat grinder in the theater lobby to prevent word of mouth from spreading. Edits are terribly sloppy and pasted together in a confusing array of scatter shots that take the viewer from one locale and plot point to the next. In fact, this is probably one of the most horrific edit jobs I have seen in a while; there are moments where actual scenes appear to be missing as characters reference dialogue and actions that never took place. A tad bit jarring.
The movie also seems caught in the middle of a love triangle between the fans and the newbs as it desperately tries to please both parties. Narrative from one of the lead characters is used to explain things, but it becomes intrusive. Problem is if you’ve never seen the show all of this exposition ends up being vacuous. When love between two characters has the strength and thickness of a wet public restroom toilet paper square metaphorically personified in the act of them making googly eyes at one another, adding narration to explain their love is like having the story shot directly into your face with a blunderbuss. And if gunshots to the face weren’t enough the people behind this mess also decided to throw in some good ol’ montages and flashbacks for good measure! Not until very late in the film does the direction show any strong foot holding, and by then it becomes nothing more than a poor man’s Lord of the Rings paint-by-numbers exercise. This all leads to a caddy wompus cluster bomb of confusion that doesn’t give anyone the opportunity to connect with the characters or their struggles.
Do me a favor and sit down to watch one of the episodes of the cartoon series. Pretty charming characters, am I right? Well, did you happen to notice that not a single one of them is a realistic portrayal of an actual human being (with the exception of several bad guys like Zuko)? You might claim to know someone similar to them, but in actuality they operate completely outside the context of normal human behavior. That’s because they are parodies of human characteristics, they are an exaggeration of who we are. This is one of those strengths of animation I was talking about. Part of the reason the cartoon was such a treat was because the characters removed the audience from that man behind the curtain operating the large green headed plot. These characters were the foundation of the show that sparked your curiosity, their presence and conviction made you want to learn more about their world and its problems, and the characters were more than happy to show you. With the movie they are just going through the motions. Their rigid golem-like behavior makes you unsympathetic and unwilling to hop along their rickety rollercoaster with large segments of its track missing. This is a serious problem.
Most of the actors here seem competent, although I’m not actually sure. Maybe It’s because it was midnight when I saw it, and maybe it was because I was drunk, or maybe it was that strange vaporous substance coming off the three hookers I had brought with me, but I wasn’t able to peg down any real winners or losers here. I mean I want to say they were all bad, but I don’t think any of them were given anything to work with and I somehow doubt Shamalan gave them direction. Maybe watching a few episodes of the cartoon may have helped, but again I don’t think that sort of behavior would work well in a live action movie. This movie needed the assistance of a character director, someone who could have retooled the heroes and villains to make them functional and enjoyable within a live action framework rather than functionally retarded or rather just plain retarded for that matter. I think the kid who played Zuko was passable, but his performance was assisted by the angst filled and tormented role demanded by his character. Within a movie of melodrama, the one brooding character from the cartoon translates well.
At this time I would like to take a step into the deep end of the pool where the adults and big kids play so that I can make a very unpopular comment. In order to save this movie a person with a huge swinging pair needed to be propositioned to rework this mess and axe all the unnecessary things no matter how much the frothing fanboys wanted it (those dirty whores). This pains me, but Sokka should have been removed. No seriously, why was this character in the movie? I understand that he is a fan favorite, hell he was one of my favorite characters from the story as well but let’s not forget that his primary role was comic relief. Here he does nothing, and his presence becomes even more eerie and uncomfortable towards the end when they introduce the moon girl. She has no purpose in the movie and the relationship that forms between them is rushed and artificial. Couldn’t they have accomplished the same goals without those two characters and their respective subplot? The answer is yes! Sure it would have been sad to see Sokka gone, but do you think the movie would have been better had Boomie been in it? Yeah didn’t think so and yeah, I realize if you haven’t seen the show then this whole paragraph is probably a mystery. My apologies, I promise to try and stop comparing this to the cartoon.
Visually the movie doesn’t offend. The effects of the fire and water are decent although the fight scenes left something to be desired. I’m thinking that this slow motion nonsense needs to stop before I can get a good night’s sleep. The costume and make-up department must have had a blast with this film and it shows. All of the clothing and uniforms adorned by the characters are nicely updated translations from the original designs and the attention to detail is phenomenal.
The set pieces were epic and grand as they should be, but a little stock. I’m sure I saw that snow kingdom somewhere in the background of The Golden Compass. Come to think of it I believe they stole the animal effects department from that movie as well. The large Floating bison Appa has numerous on screen cameos throughout the film for the fans to soil their Clone Wars Undies, but he’s easily the worst effect in the movie. The skin looks like it was dipped in a grease fryer at KFC and the fur dithers like a sack of hair clippings thrown into a wind tunnel. Not entirely sure why CGI animators think fur moves that way, but what do I know?
Last Airbender somehow managed to give the fans everything they wanted in exchange for the soul of the project. The story is all over the place, the characters are husks, and there is nothing for the audience to bond with. You know what? Forget what I said earlier about divorcing this from the cartoon. The film makers didn’t care enough to make up their mind for who this movie was for, so I refuse to keep my promises. If you’re a fan you’ll be disappointed, if you just want to see a movie you’ll be confused, and if you are a movie buff then you’ll be frustrated with the sub sophomoric cinematography. Maybe there’s a good movie hidden within an intense editor’s cut but I highly doubt it. The lost scenes to this movie are probably kicking it with the arc of the covenant by now. If I happen to see any of the people that made this movie I will demonstrate my own bending of the four elements by throwing dirt in their eyes, subjecting them to prolonged water boarding, lighting them on fire, and farting on their face. You have been warned Mr. Shamalan.
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