The Last Airbender... Racist?

[Phantom Roxas]

Crab, I would highly recommend the series. It has it's fair share of filler, but it's probably one of the best shows Nickelodeon has released, and trust me, that actually is an accomplishment. Many of the characters actually have very distinct personalities, especially since Aang's is the exact opposite of how he was in the movie.

 

Zhao/Daily Show Guy's death was the dethroning moment of suck for me, since the main villain (Ozai doesn't count) gets killed anticlimactically by four random Waterbenders who don't even speak. Also, the interpretive dance is film-exclusive; the series usually depends on actual martial arts skills. Zuko remains emo, but he's not Sasuke/Dev Patel emo.

 

I don't know why, but I can't bring myself to hate this film. I can't think of a single good thing about it except for maybe Iroh, but that's it. I'm just going to say that while having no redeeming factors, it's an average film. If Nickelodeon was smart and accepted James Cameron's lawsuit that they would have won, this movie may have been better.

[GraveHorizon]

The plot seemed to run purely on everyone being idiots. Early on' date=' Zuko and The Uncle have in their hands the person they know is the most powerful being in their existence... so they tell him that they're kidnapping him and do nothing to restrain him. Obviously, he escapes. Then, near the end, Zuko goes out of his way to capture that very same most powerful being in existence, and does so while said being is not conscious... and again refuses to restrain him. Okay, he handcuffs his hands together, but does nothing to his legs, which leaves him free to run around and use his magical powers. What makes this even worse is that Zuko had previously seen his rival, that guy from the Daily Show, who we are supposed to think of more negatively than Zuko even though he is clearly far more competent, capture Aang and actually immobilize his four limbs properly, preventing him from moving and eliminating his magical powers, [b']which are all fueled by interpretive dance.[/b]

 

Speaking of which, perhaps the original cartoon is better, but the powers in the setting seem rather stupidly-designed, even if we ignore the fact that basing everything on interpretive dance looks idiotic. In the only scene involving Earthbenders, they're all hideously underpowered, since it takes about six of them to throw a single small rock at an enemy. Meanwhile, the Waterbending powers are apparently all fueled by the moon. What. What does the moon have to do with anything!? I'm told by someone who watched the series that it's because the moon controls the tides, and when I objected that that made no sense either, I was told that it made more sense in the cartoon - but even if it did, the tide thing was never even mentioned, so in the movie it was just something completely arbitrary and nonsensical.

 

I laughed at that.

 

The Waterbenders learned how to bend by mimicking the motion of the tides and combining that with the movements of Tai Chi. All the Bending styles in the show were based off real martial art styles. From Wikipedia:

 

"- Tai Chi focuses on alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization. This technique is the foundation of "Waterbending" in the series.

- Hung Gar was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes to present the solid nature of earth. This martial art is the basis of "Earthbending" in the series.

- Northern Shaolin Kung Fu uses strong arm and leg movements. This technique is the foundation of "Firebending" in the series.

- Ba Gua uses dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes. This technique uses centripetal force to generate power, and uses nearly constant circular movement to create angles between the combatants. This martial art is the basis of "Airbending" in the series."

 

Of course, someone who has seen the show might be able to tell if the movie makes use of any accurate moves (accurate to the show, at least). Is it true that the Firebenders only bent fire that was already there?

[CrabHelmet]

Crab' date=' I would highly recommend the series. It has it's fair share of filler, but it's probably one of the best shows Nickelodeon has released, and trust me, that actually is an accomplishment. Many of the characters actually have very distinct personalities, especially since Aang's is the exact opposite of how he was in the movie.

[/quote']

 

I only saw one episode of the show, but it was enough to turn me away from the series. It starts with Our Heroes entering a forbidden fortress under false pretenses for no reason other than that Aang feels like it, and as soon as they're in, Our Heroes decide to abuse the absurd chutes-and-ladders postal service system by using it as a slide, again just for fun. For no reason at all, a box of spears sticking forward slides down behind them, so naturally Our Heroes bounce all over the city, causing widespread property damage. Then the local king makes Aang complete some stupid trials for no reason by holding His Friends captive. The whole thing looked like utterly generic Nick trash.

 

"- Tai Chi focuses on alignment' date=' body structure, breath, and visualization. This technique is the foundation of "Waterbending" in the series.

[/quote']

 

Not in the movie; in the movie, it's fueled by emotions or something like that.

 

- Hung Gar was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes to present the solid nature of earth. This martial art is the basis of "Earthbending" in the series.

 

Not in the movie; in the movie' date=' they do the same stupid dances as everyone else. There's nothing firm-rooted, there are no powerful strikes, and there's certainly nothing solid.

 

Is it true that the Firebenders only bent fire that was already there?

 

For the most part. One single guy manages to conjure fire out of nowhere, and the last scene has the Fire Emperor Guy saying that in three years a magic comet will arrive that will give all Firebenders the ability to do that, which is normally reserved for only the strongest. The moon/tides/water thing is nonsensical enough; I have no clue how you get from comets to fire.

[Phantom Roxas]

Aang actually did have a reason to go there, since he had a friend there, and I think there was some point to the trials. Granted, the show suffers from the thing that it does take way too long to actually get good.

 

In the series, people could bend fire out of nowhere, which makes it more preposterous when one guy comments how Iroh does that in the movie, and the comet is just mentioned to amplify fire capabilities. Eventually the plot becomes defeating the Fire Lord during a solar eclipse, which is when Firebenders can't actually. The fact that it's the same thing as with the moon is pointed out.

[GraveHorizon]

Is it true that the Firebenders only bent fire that was already there?

 

For the most part. One single guy manages to conjure fire out of nowhere' date=' and the last scene has the Fire Emperor Guy saying that in three years a magic comet will arrive that will give all Firebenders the ability to do that, which is normally reserved for only the strongest. The moon/tides/water thing is nonsensical enough; I have no clue how you get from comets to fire.

[/quote']

 

While I can understand the need to change things in order to better fit a film version, I wish they had chosen to do it with less important things. Nerfing Firebending just goes right against the canon of the show. Shyamalan really dropped the ball fired the ball out of a cannon straight at the ground on this one. I no longer have any respect for him.

 

As for the comet, I read somewhere that it travels past the Earth, but in atmosphere, causing the gases and whatnot to ignite and fuel the Firebenders' power. Oh, and Firebenders get their normal power from the sun. So it's sun + flaming comet. Yeah.

 

Are you sure that he said the comet comes in three years in the movie? Because the whole show took place in just 6 months.

[CrabHelmet]

Aang actually did have a reason to go there' date=' since he had a friend there,

[/quote']

 

Indeed, he had a friend there. Specifically, he had a friend there A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

 

and I think there was some point to the trials.

 

It was some generic moral about thinking outside the box and friendship or something.

 

Eventually the plot becomes defeating the Fire Lord during a solar eclipse' date=' which is when Firebenders can't actually.

[/quote']

 

Wow, a final boss with no actual powers versus the most powerful being in the world. Sounds like a tough battle. >_>

[Taichi Masaki]

Are you sure that he said the comet comes in three years in the movie? Because the whole show took place in just 6 months.

 

Yes, it was changed to three years because the actors aren't really going to look like they were when the third movie comes out.

[Phantom Roxas]

Wow' date=' a final boss with no actual powers versus the most powerful being in the world. Sounds like a tough battle. >_>

[/quote']

 

The eclipse fails big time, so the final battle actually takes place during the comet, making it an equal match for a while before the curb-stomping begins.

[GraveHorizon]

Wow' date=' a final boss with no actual powers versus the most powerful being in the world. Sounds like a tough battle. >_>

[/quote']

 

The eclipse fails big time, so the final battle actually takes place during the comet, making it an equal match for a while before the curb-stomping begins.

 

And what an epic curb-stomping it was! Though some aren't satisfied with the final method of victory... Wonder how they'll rewrite that for the movie? (Assuming it happens.)

[Dr. Cakey]

God' date=' now I'm not remembering everything as well as I should be...ugh. Well, let's begin with Avatar State, since that is the most heavily flawed from a design standpoint. It seems to have been designed while someone was reading a self-help book on how to design special abilities. The fact is that the Avatar State is the most powerful existence in the world, so oh crap it needs a drawback. Hm...let's stop the cycle of reincarnation if you die in Avatar State! Great...how do you plan on dying in the Avatar State anyway? Outside of certain contrived endings to certain seasons that are neither 1 or 3. And what kind of drawback is that, really? It's like saying, "if you die in Avatar State, all the money in the world will be set on fire." Oh, really? But...I'm still dead. This was probably them trying to dodge "oooh it consumes your life-force oooh", but it just comes out as stupid.[/quote']

 

Meh, it's about as badly designed as Super Saiyan level w/e or Naruto's nine tailed fox. I'm not trying to make an excuse, but well... the guy's the avatar and apparently being able to bend all four elements wasn't particularly considered good enough. It does sort of make sense, in that the Avatar is endlessly reincarnated and when they enter the Avatar State they're given all the combined strength of every previous Avatar. Still doesn't excuse terrible writing though but... willing suspension of disbelief?

 

And then the Avatar State can only be used at certain vague times of emotional stress or physical danger. When ELSE would you use it? And does fighting the Firelord not qualify as physical danger and/or emotional stress?

 

His chakra was locked or w/e... <_<

 

Meh, it made for a much more interesting battle knowing he couldn't just easily hit the Avatar State and end it after the first episode. Though your argument keeps getting flipped. First it's Aang's checklist: "fly ON, no damage ON, infinite MP ON, autokill ON." implying it got boring knowing he'd just hit the Avatar State when he got into any real danger and there was little tension, but when they 'fixed' that for Season 3 the problem is that he didn't do the 'checklist' and win immediately? You can't have it both ways.

 

If he had emerged from his contrived icy tomb [...] and immediately flown a very long time he could have fought the Firelord and won.

 

Err... so you understand that the Avatar State only works when he's in mortal danger and under stress, right? What stress or mortal danger was he in when he met Katara and Sokka? What emotional stress was he under when he was surrounding by the girls on Kyoshi Island? As for flying to the Firelord, there were countless war ships patrolling the seas near the Fire Nation (recalling Winter Solstice: Avatar Roku) and I assume Ozai would have guards and Azula by his side to defend him.

 

(don't get me started on that, either the scientific bit or why exactly the Avatar State thought freezing him in ice made sense)

 

You honestly want to apply scientific reasoning to a show where characters fling fire and water at each other and dragons, large flying bisons, and spirits from parallel worlds are considered "normal"?

 

As for the Avatar State freezing him, it did no such thing. It kept him alive while he froze himself.

 

Aang gets more powerful as the show goes on, but the Avatar State doesn't.

 

So, the Avatar State starts out as too powerful or w/e, but then the complaint is it doesn't get more powerful? But beyond that, it's stated the Avatar State is the combined power of all the other past lives. Logically, the State couldn't get more powerful unless Aang died, and it would be the next Avatar who was more powerful then he was.

 

 

You're gonna need to have to site some examples for the next section. I can agree to an extent, certain episodes were more melodramatic then they needed to be, Ember Island Players not being one of them, but I wouldn't say that was the way it worked for a majority of the series.

 

About as badly designed as Super Saiyan or the Nine-Tailed Fox? More or less. Naruto does it better because I say so and do not have to apply reason to my arguments because I'm awesome.

 

I'm not explaining myself properly. The Avatar State begins as a contrived God Mode - Aang loses it for a contrived reason, regains it for a contrived reason, then loses it even more for a contrived reason, then finally regains it completely for the most contrived reason yet. It's like some sort of glorious contrivity loop of death. Assuming, of course, that contrivity is a word.

 

And his fight with Ozai really was pretty bland. It seems like they're even for a good five minutes, then Aang decides that's much too interesting and quickly begins losing. Being about to die, he is coincidentally struck on the back exactly on his locked chakra point, which apparently is how you go about fixing these things. I always thought it involved intense meditation, but what do I know. From there, the fight became incongruously similar to Mustang vs. Envy, with Ozai just fleeing in terror at the cheat codes that have been unlocked. Aang then does other stuff I won't bother to weigh the relative pros and cons of.

 

My point about the Aang becoming more powerful and the Avatar State not is that the Avatar State is already capable of manipulating all four elements (and more importantly, glowing). Naruto gets much stronger as the series progresses, but Aang has a constant awesome that can inevitably be fallen back on. I'm not explain this right...can we just accept that I'm right? No? Okay...

[Phantom Roxas]

[DeathSDelano]

This movie will fail imo. I loved the show!!!

 

I want an Avatar cartoon movie instead. It's strange though about the 'kind' of people who is starring.

 

agreed i seen this today

 

my complaints

[spoiler=contains spoilers]

A)Why CANT THEY PRONOUNCE THE NAMES RIGHT. They did not say Sokka or Irou right and they even butched Aang's name <.< come on watch the 1st ep can you know how to say their name CORRECTLY.

B)they completely ruined the story line. How?

-The earth benders were suppose to be on a Metal rig not on land <.<

-Kyoshi they pretty much skipped it but they could have at least made the Sea dragon show up.

-The Fire nation wheres Red.

-The Fire lord did not show up pretty until at the END of book 1(which was this movie

-The Moon spirit was burned not stabbed <.<

-Aang and the Ocean Spirit DID NOT DO THE EPIC WATER MONSTER OF DOOM(i was waiting to see this part at the end of the movie but no they kill it but making him just summon some giant wave that does nothing

-i have so many other things to complain about its not funny of this so 'll stop here

 

 

 

Characters: Personalities were meh did not make up with the anime character. Another disappointment WHY DID AANG NOT USE HIS AIR SCOOTER seriously he does it every ep <.<

[Phantom Roxas]

Not to mention that when movie!Zhao kills the Moon Spirit, he's clearly hesitant, and when movie!Ozai is talking to movie!Azula, movie!Azula has an extremely obvious twitch to her evil smile.

[DeathSDelano]

i think that who ever did the script did not watch the series very well <.< i mean seriously what is wrong with the EPIC OCEAN SPIRIT MONSTER that destroys the fire nation's attack on the north water tribe and plus the fact that the ocean spirit + aang were suppose to kill Zhao not some random Waterbenders that come out of nowhere. That was something that ruined the ending of the already not great movie because they took out probably one of the best parts of Book 1

[YuugiCM]

I know man how hard is it to find people that look exactly like cartoon characters

[CrabHelmet]

I know man how hard is it to find people that look exactly like cartoon characters

 

There's a difference between finding people who look exactly like cartoon characters and finding people who are at least of the same race as the characters they're supposed to be portraying. The latter is extremely easy.

[YuugiCM]

I know man how hard is it to find people that look exactly like cartoon characters

 

There's a difference between finding people who look exactly like cartoon characters and finding people who are at least of the same race as the characters they're supposed to be portraying. The latter is extremely easy.

 

If the acting is good enough I don't even see race or physical appearance for that matter, but that isn't the case with the last airbender

[Phantom Roxas]

I know man how hard is it to find people that look exactly like cartoon characters

 

There's a difference between finding people who look exactly like cartoon characters and finding people who are at least of the same race as the characters they're supposed to be portraying. The latter is actually possible.

 

Fixed.

[YuugiCM]

I know man how hard is it to find people that look exactly like cartoon characters

 

There's a difference between finding people who look exactly like cartoon characters and finding people who are at least of the same race as the characters they're supposed to be portraying. The latter is actually possible.

 

Fixed.

why?

[CrabHelmet]

If the acting is good enough I don't even see race or physical appearance for that matter' date=' but that isn't the case with the last airbender

[/quote']

 

The "good enough" mark is rather too high. Even the "half-decent" mark was too high for these people.

 

I know man how hard is it to find people that look exactly like cartoon characters

 

There's a difference between finding people who look exactly like cartoon characters and finding people who are at least of the same race as the characters they're supposed to be portraying. The latter is actually possible.

 

Fixed.

 

It's possible to find extremely good matches in some cases. Monster has a character virtually identical to Wilford Brimley.

[Grunt Issun]

right right, because you can actually find people from the water tribe, fire nation, earth kingdom, and air nomads, THAT MAKES SENSE!

[CrabHelmet]

right right' date=' because you can actually find people from the water tribe, fire nation, earth kingdom, and air nomads, THAT MAKES SENSE!

[/quote']

 

Considering that they're all Asian and that Asians exist in real lif- look, have you even seen the skin colour of those two waterbenders who never did anything in the movie but were probably main characters in the show? They're dark-skinned. The actors were pale white. That's just not even trying.

[HitoKage]

i think that who ever did the script did not watch the series very well

 

M. Night Shyamalan, directed it, produced it ( with others), and wrote the screenplay.

[Joey Miles]

ok heres my complants warning spoilers!

 

 

1.fire benders could not actually shoot fire they had to have one all ready started.....wtf every fire bender in the fire nation could shoot fire!

2.serisuly for missing the GIANT FING WATER MONSTER they lose big point i mean the title wave didnt even crush the ships it just went up and then back down...

3.ok i sware is it that hard to say aang's name right

4.wtf isnt the fire nation supposed to where red and black the water nation blue and white the nomands yellow and orange and the earth brown and green?

5.katara and souka were on a conno when the found aang not walking and why didnt aang sneeze and fly 20feet in the air.

 

i can keep going with this but im not gonna cause im sure you guys have the same or more complants

[Grunt Issun]

I know what you mean crab, but Avatar was made in america, but they did screw up on the fire nation, and the ending, and the names, and the blue spirit, and the fire nation style, and the earthbender prison, and all that other stuff