M. Night Shyamalan has fallen out of favor with the general public as of late. Perhaps this may turn things around for him with his adaptation of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Dropping Avatar [thank you James Cameron] it will be titled The Last Airbender and MNS is only responsible for the screenplay this time around; the story and characters were developed by two other guys, Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, who worked on the animated show the film is based on. His DOP is Andrew Lesnie who worked with Peter Jackson on all three LOTR and King Kong films. I'm more or less trying to shift around the blame here because I think Shyamalan still deserves a chance to make another good movie again. The film has its detractors already so there is no need right now to heap it on the guy before next summer. MNS does claim to be as much a fan of the show as his kids are.
The story follows the adventures of Aang, a ten year old successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations. Darn you fire!!!
And a teaser simply gives us an idea of production values and scale and both look fine in this matter.
I've really enjoyed watching this cartoon with my 12 y/o son. That being said, even he has serious doubts about anyone being able to pull this off w/o rewriting the story. I envision something like Ranklin/Bass's 'The Return of the King.'
I think Shyamalan needs to change the cast in order for him to make a good movie. There are plenty of Asian Americans who are great actors. There is no reason for Anyone participating in making this movie to think that a white actor would be a good choice for Zokka, Katana and the many ASIAN characters. Also... what went through their minds when they casted Aasif Mandvi as Commander ZHAO... He's a little too Eastern Asian... don't you think.
I don't know if they made the right choice in appointing Shyamalan as director. I love the man, but I feel he's not the man for the job. This movie shouldn't have even been thought of. I mean, they should really think about if the movie is going to actually bring in the money they're wasting producing it. I think this movie is going to be a waste of a few billion dollars. But let's see.... there might be a miracle... like what happened to Akira and what's happening to Oldboy.
nothing in this trailer suggests that the movie will be any good. more on the contrary. the reveal of his face is like: wow, shias younger brother is playing some asian dude that can make bad CGI air effects with his hands. the pullback of the camera out of the temple just takes forever......
yawn. normally every movie featuring martial arts empowered monks makes me happy.
So what's M's big surprise at the end of this movie? Is it that it secretly is the first part of a trilogy and doesn't actually have an ending? Or maybe this is actually the planet where the water-hating aliens from Signs came from?
I am in the boat for could've been cast better as well,back in the day Tze Miu would've been perfect for this!
from the sound of these comments, it seems you guys already have preconceptions about M. Night handling this film. come on, now, let it go.
this teaser actually looks pretty good. and with M. Night, there's always going to be pure emotional moments. consider the movie ticket sold.
funny how people quickly forget the really good movies M. Night made, just because they didn't like The Happening or thought it was stupid. scary crowd.
Here's what I'm telling all the haters out there. First watch the real show. It's shocking to hear how many people cry out "racism" but have never watched this (very white) show. It's a great show, so een if you don't like the movie you can enjoy the show.
Secondly, wait for the trailer. This is just the teaser, for all we know this scene won't even happen in the final cut. So let's just sit back and wait for the real trailer to come out.
After all that you can make any kind of crazy comments you want.
White people, shmite people... it's downright graceful in its execution and there's no ADD spaz-o-vision to be seen. Count the cuts in that trailer; I cannot complain.
Am I really the only person in the world who thinks that M. Night is a brilliant filmmaker who has yet to make a film that was anything less than artistic, original and captivating? I even love his first two (often not mentioned) pieces: Praying With Anger and Wide Awake. However, his films are difficult to market since they often don't follow the general expectations of the genres he has moved within - for this reason some people have probably felt let down by his works. When viewed objectively though it's hard to dismiss the fact that his voice is uniquely personal and uncompromising. I firmly believe that with the passing of time his films will be viewed with admiring eyes.
I won't deny that M. Night has made some good movies. But they weren't great. It doesn't change the fact that he's directing this movie which seems like a catastrophe. Also, sure the show is "white". But, the "white" makers of the show, though it has some Asian influence, made some characters obviously of Asian descent if not pure Asian. Why in their right minds will they think that a white actor can pass for some of these characters? Yes, the teaser shows almost nothing. But it shows enough of CRAP for those who can spot it. Even if they chose another director, I still feel that this movie is a sad waste of money.
If they can pull it off, good for them. But I feel it's going to be CHEESY. Bad CGI, bad cast, possibly bad acting (haven't recognized anyone in the cast as of yet), and maybe bad directing. No one really knows for sure what's going to happen to this movie. But... there's a big chance that it's going to suck...
I feel disrespected by the tone of the narrator's voice, but it *looks* OK.
"funny how people quickly forget the really good movies M. Night made"
It's hard to forget something that never happen.
I might be able to forgive Lady in the Water but there is no way I will forgive The Happening. A cinematic turd of epic proportions and one of the worst-cast movies in recent memory. The only good acting in that movie was done by the grass and trees.
This is the first part of a trilogy and they will film the next two back to back. And that kid was apparently cast after the producers had cast the role with someone else and saw this kid's audition reel. So this kid has at least got the moves down but can he act.
Looks like junk, but even if it didn't, I'd skip it given M. Night - the guy has worn out his credibility (the lady in the swimming pool was one of the worst movies ever made). Also, I know some of you liked whatever tv show spawned thing, but it looks cliche and air bending sounds like farting, so I think the studios should have thought about awhile before putting a budget down for this. Time for M. Night to take a few years off...or perhaps just retire.
I can't help but feeling that getting Shyamalan to do Airbender is like getting Lynch to do Dune... I love Lynch's work, but not even he likes Dune...
Well, I love Dune!
I also had a blast watching the Avatar series with my 5-year-old son, getting into arguments with the wife because I wanted to see the finale and flat-out refused to change the channels. Heh...
The people in the series aren't Asian but there's a very heavy influence there. I would have loved it if the movie only featured native Alaskan, Hawaiian or American people, that would have certainly made for a unique look and would actually have fitted the one featured in the series.
In a way I'm sort of sorry MNS isn't directing this too. I think his scripts often have clunky lines in the dialogue but most of the time he gets away with it because the actors still manage to make something of it under his direction.
And I've never seen him tackle something this epic. If "Dune" would be the worst that could happen, hey, sign me up!
:cheese:
I have followed this movie and seen the cartoon and I must say that everything is looksgood just like the cartoon with the cast fits well with the original cartoon and a most say the trailer was awesome, I have great confidence in this movie but, but I did not trust in dragon ball.
So am going to see this movie in the cinema and I can not wait.
I did not trust Dragon Ball, so I am assuming you did not see it. Well, isn't Airbender in the same (crappy) boat as Dragon Ball?
Ard,
M Night not directing this???
Mack, quoting you: "and MNS is only responsible for the screenplay this time around".
My mistake: while I now realise you meant to say that he didn't INVENT the characters, I thought you meant that he didn't DIRECT this movie.
Good to hear that he is the director though!
Whatever the man's faults, he has a talent for getting good performances out of his actors, be they children or not (and no, I haven't seen "The Happening" yet so maybe I missed something...).
I should have clarified, yes. Screenplay. Producing. Directing. Still very much a MNS film. Only slightly less.
I just found out.. Dev Patel as Zuko... haha, cool. he looks good in the pictures.
Hopefully it will be better than that film of his that takes place in Philadelphia, centering on a man who experiences a loss of faith, and then climaxes with a twist ending that doesn't make sense or hold up to outside logic.
Guess which film I'm talking about?
holy cripes, I thought I was the only one that LOVED Dune! Moooorrrrrrrdib!!!!!!