[Trailer] Last Airbender: what's the appeal?

[roguerouge]

Look, I don't even know what Last Airbender is, only that several friends had a long conversation about it while I ignored them to watch the Super Bowl. But these ads really blow.

As far as I can tell by the recent ads, this is an action movie featuring a child in the main role, with no memorable villain or world, and no love interest. In addition, it seems to be a Mary Sue Chosen One narrative. Worst yet, their footage is so bad, they've resorted to flashing nouns like "Evil" and "Good" at the screen, which is always a bad sign.

My friends at the Super Bowl seemed to really respect the source material, but the ads don't convey that.

Fans of Airbender: is this a good work advertised badly, or is this Howard the Duck?

 

[Mark]

Last Airbender: what's the appeal?

I'll be seeing it on the big screen (opening weekend/morning/matinee) strictly because of the effects. I know nothing about, nor will I investigate, the source material. I have no interest nor care if there is a story. I saw a trailer when I went to see Ironman 2 that has convinced me it will be a spectacle that I will want to have seen on a big screen. If there is a 3D IMAX version, and I like the five dollar (morning/matinee) version enough, I might go and see it on that level as well. Again, this is strictly for the effects.

 

[fba827]

Regarding the original cartoon: I avoided it like the plague -- I didn't like the animation style and just seemed so over the top. However, I ended up seeing one episode at a cousin's place when he was watching and, frankly, I was hooked and had to watch the whole series. I enjoyed the story as a whole that much - it was a well developed world and mythology/history.

Regarding the movie: I am guessing they'll do season 1 from the show. so it won't be the whole story, hence, no idea how much it will end up being chopped/etc. I am guessing the focus for the movie will be more on special effects than anything else, and no idea about the acting...

 

[Darth Shoju]

Look, I don't even know what Last Airbender is, only that several friends had a long conversation about it while I ignored them to watch the Super Bowl. But these ads really blow.

As far as I can tell by the recent ads, this is an action movie featuring a child in the main role, with no memorable villain or world, and no love interest. In addition, it seems to be a Mary Sue Chosen One narrative. Worst yet, their footage is so bad, they've resorted to flashing nouns like "Evil" and "Good" at the screen, which is always a bad sign.

My friends at the Super Bowl seemed to really respect the source material, but the ads don't convey that.

Fans of Airbender: is this a good work advertised badly, or is this Howard the Duck?

The original cartoon was excellent IMO, and not just "good for a kid's show". The story, the characters, the world, the animation -- all were top shelf.

However, based on your post I'm not sure if you should bother with either the TV show or the movie. Frankly they don't seem like something you'd be interested in.

 

[IronWolf]

Fans of Airbender: is this a good work advertised badly, or is this Howard the Duck?

The animated series is excellent. Well worth watching.

A fair amount of the movie excitement is likely by the fans of the cartoon. Whether the movie lives up to expectations or not remains to be seen. it could be really good - or just a poorly made film that fails to capture what the animated cartoon had.

 

[Herschel]

I thought the animation was garbage from what I saw so I never got in to the cartoon. The movie might be cool though.

 

[CrimsonReaver]

As a 30-something anime fan (or I should say anime snob, since I'm extremely picky about what I like), I initially dismissed Avatar: The Last Airbender as a crappy kids' cartoon, probably on par with Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, without ever really watching an episode. It wasn't until I gave the show a chance - stopping to watch a random episode because I heard Mako's distinctive voice and it made me curious - that I was surprised by how genuinely engaging it was. They crafted a really interesting world and mythology (which, as a gamer, is absolutely going to hook me) with characters that were surprisingly endearing. And when you can get me to like child/young adult heroes, that's huge. I was also really surprised to find myself laughing at some of the humor, which is another rarity in anime or cartoons that seem geared more toward a younger crowd. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. So, yeah, the source material comes highly recommended (even though the animation itself isn't anything special).

As for the movie... There's a ton of potential there but, sadly, I don't have faith in Shyamalan to not screw it up. And, again, I really hate kids, so if they didn't get some really talented youngsters who are able to perfectly match the sort of quirky charm, crisp chemistry, and emotional depth captured by the voice actors of the cartoon, it's going to be insufferable. Some of the effects they show in the trailer look cool, but it'll likely turn into CGI-overload when you consider all the effects they're going to have to do - and they probably won't opt to do any of them with practical effects.

As someone who really liked the cartoon, I can't say I'm all that excited for the movie and I kinda wish they'd left it alone.

 

[SKyOdin]

I am a huge fan of the original cartoon. Just about everyone in my main college D&D group was into it. It knew both how to be funny and light hearted enough to appeal to kids, but also how to be cool, action-packed, and intelligent enough to appeal to teens and young adults.

I for one am probably not going to watch the movie. Based on the trailers, it looks like a straight adaptation of events from Book 1: Water (the first season). Since there is likely to be nothing new, and there are likely going to be things my inner nit-picker will get upset about, I am not very enthused. The fact that the trailers listed M. Night Shyamalan as the writer but didn't mention anything about the movie being based scene for scene on a popular cartoon was a little off-putting as well. At least some credit to the original creators seems to be in order.

 

[Pbartender]

...with no memorable villain or world, and no love interest...

I wouldn't be so certain about these.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Fans of Airbender: is this a good work advertised badly, or is this Howard the Duck?

We'll find out.

I was totally won over to the animated series, catching a piece of an episode here and there. The very first thing that struck me was that the "bending" was honest to goodness real kung fu styles. I was blown away that what I thought of as a throw away kids animation show bothered to use real world kung fu, and it was pretty darn consistent through everything.

Then I noticed the top notch story, character chemistry, and world building.

Watched it all with my son to the conclusion, but I went out and bought the seasons on DVD for myself.

I'll defend the Avatar TV series to the end. But I'm reserving judgement towards the Last Airbender movie.