Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Last Airbender; the Last make-or-break for Shyamalan?




Not to worry, I am still working on the Avatar review, but just wanted to go a little off topic to a movie coming up that I (and quite a few others) have concerns about.

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of the "other" Avatar animation series (aka Avatar: The Last Airbender). And I'm certain I'm not the only fan of the series currently posting on here too...(hint-hint). I even have all 3 seasons on DVD, So when I heard they were going to do a live version of this series, I was surprised and quite excited. That is until I found out that none other than M. Night Shyamalan is producing and directing this film..(and I also know that I'm not the only poster that has strong opinions on this filmmaker too *hint-hint*) 



For me, I'm really not sure if Shyamalan was the best choice for this particular film. Don't get me wrong, I love his earlier films, The Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable. Signs too was pretty good, though the ending was a little iffish. But ever since The Village, I felt that he has declined a bit in his work..or at the very least his epilogue plot twists were becoming at tad too predicable. And from what I hear from the film, Lady in the Water (which I never did see) he was in full attack mode with critics with his films in his own way. Perhaps I should check that one out just to see it for myself.


At any rate, he about to release The Last Airbender later on next month. And I am under the impression that this film will be a make or break for him. Why do I say this? Well think about it. This film is the only one I think where he is not part of the original script. This film (I think) is loosely based on the first season of Avatar Book 1. Water. So fans of the series have a pretty good idea what should happen in the film. Yes of course there will be differences between the animation and the live film, but with Shyamalan's involvement, I for one am very worried on how much changes will happen. In any case, the storyline is established. If the movie strays off too much, or there are too many changes compared to what the fans know, or worse confuse those that are not familiar to the series, then this might prove that Shyamalan is not a good film director/producer. I know that sounds bad, but I can't help the strange feelings I get that this film with allot of fan base and expectation, could flop big time, and if so, could be disastrous for Shyamalan.

Perhaps I'm being a tad too doom and gloom about this. In any case I will see this film and judge for myself. Ultimately that's all we can do when its out. Anything for now is just all opinionated at best.

So tell me what do you all think about this?

Oh one more thing a friend of mine mentioned, look carefully at the promo poster, once again Shyamalan has to have his name (in one form or another) big and bold in the movie title. Yet this is one film he cannot take 100% credit for, since its based off a existing series. Hope that's not a bad sign...

******Update******

Got around to seeing the film....and yeah..pretty bad. Even worse if your a fan of the original aminated series. the pronouncation of Aang, and a few of the other charaters...that alone really got me irratated with this film....plus alot of good content they might have brought up, didnt. And no not because of time constrant ethier, since there were also a few other parts they really didn't need to dwell on. Overall I'm afraid, its another fail for Shyamalan...:(

7 comments:

  1. I'm pretty much done with Shama..Shama...not-gonna-work-here-anymore-anyway (sorry, couldn't resist the Office Space joke)...I'm pretty much done with Mr. Shyamalan. I didn't mind The Sixth Sense, rather enjoyed Unbreakable, but after that it was just painful.

    I might fully agree with you that this is make-or-break for him, as most people might still be willing to take a chance on him. It's not make-or-break for me though, because I'm done, it broke long ago, and I have no confidence he can fix it.

    I appreciate your willingness to spend your hard-earned money and valuable time on his material - for me, he's just too much of a risk for too little reward.

    For the investment of time and money you're going to make seeing it, I hope you might be able to come back and tell me I'm wrong and that you really enjoyed it.

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  2. Heh, yeah guess we'll just have to wait and see..and trust me, alot of fans already have alot of issues with the film already even before its out. Like the fact that there is not one actor in this film of Asian or Inuit herritage in this film, yet clearly there should be considering what each kingdom/tribe in the Avatar world is based on in the animation.

    Come to think of it, that same arugument was also brought up in that new Prince of Persia moive how all the character playing people from a Persian race are all played by english and american white actors....hmmm....

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  3. Just a quick update, I saw in today's Toronto Star, they gave the movie a 1.5 stars out of 4....Thats not good..:(

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  4. Read your quick update. It's a shame.

    Previously, I said I was done with him. Well, perhaps, if I actually saw this movie, with no background about the Airbender story, I might like it.

    When his next movie comes out (assuming he's not yet read to retire), of course I'll take each movie as it comes. If it looks interesting, sure I'll see it. I'm not sure it's fair to dismiss him wholesale.

    However, with each failure, it becomes increasingly difficult to have any sense of expectation that it will be worth the time.

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  5. Apparently, the appearance of Shyamalan's name after the trailer for his upcoming movie "Devil" brought laughter and jeers instead of cheers. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2010/07/20/2010-07-20_m_night_shyamalans_devil_trailer_gets_big_laughs_at_inception_screenings.html

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  6. I did see Devil. Suprisingly is wasnt that bad..alot better than some of his recent films, though not as good as his first 2. Some parts were somewhat creepy, but at the same time predicable...up to a point.

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    Replies
    1. I followed your advise and saw Devil myself...it wasn't perfect in every respect...but I liked it. A lot - http://drdmoviemusings.blogspot.ca/search/label/Devil

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What do you think?!