Warning: This is a rant. Any opinions you have here will be null and void, whether you agree with me or not. This post is just to get all the frustration out. You don't need to read this if you choose not to, you're not obliged and frankly... I really don't care. I just want to focus on the rant. >P
So, yesterday, the b/f and I decided to go see The Last Airbender (otherwise known as the movie for Avatar: The Last Airbender) by M. Night Shyamalan. This is going to be somewhat of a list of complaints from me, a rather large fan of the TV series.
The first thing that struck me was that Katara and Sokka were WHITE. Jeezes, I think they should've cast some more Philipino-colored people for the Southern Water Tribe. I mean, has Shyamalan SEEN the show? And, why was the Fire Nation compromised of INDIANS?! That just seemed so racist! D< I mean, c'mon! Prince Zuko in the show is FREAKIN' PALE, DUDE! It made it hard to see his awesome burn on his face, y'know? The only hint I got for the burn was that he had some hair on the side shaved off, or something. )B;
On top of that, the guy RUINED Uncle Iroh! WHAT THE FUCK, MAN? Iroh is short, round, and hilariously wise! Not tall, gangly, and quiet! And, what the hell was up with Momo's ears? THEY'RE WHITE too, not brown! I'll let go the fact that Aang's eyes were the wrong color (Daniel Radcliffe didn't have green eyes like the REAL Harry Potter either) and that skin colors were turned on their heads, but don't mess with something that CAN be controlled by simple CG! Besides, howcome Momo was only ever seen flitting around? He's a Lemur-Bat! They're supposed to be mischevious and silly in a cute way! Not little birds! DX
The biggest problem was the pronunciation of names. Aang -> Ahng, Sokka -> Soh-ka, Iroh -> Ee-roh... dude... they're CHINESE based names! NOT Japanese! GET IT RIGHT! If there's one thing that was drilled into my head in Geography and History class in high school, it's that JAPAN IS NOT CHINA, AND CHINA IS NOT JAPAN! They do NOT have the same history, language, culture, ANYTHING. I'm sure that, at one time, one originated from the other, but they're separate cultures, just like how America is separate from Britain and Ireland and Mexico and so on. Also, they kept mispronouncing 'Avatar'. I spent a majority of the movie twitching in my seat! (Couldn't even pronounce 'Agni Ki' properly...)
A tip to Shyamalan: Keep things parallel with the original series. Changing things takes away from the originality and makes the audience focus on the difference instead of the movie.
Another thing: the bending.
What. The hell? Since WHEN do ALL benders need a source to bend? WATCH THE DAMN SHOW! Fire can be created from Chi, seemingly from nowhere. It doesn't need a lit campfire to be produced and used. I understand Katara carrying water around in her little gourd, but Zuko never had to light the grass on fire to have a chance to fight her!
Also, get your facts straight. Sozin's comet is supposed to come in ONE year, not THREE! And, Sozin's comet doesn't mean Fire Benders can fight without a bending source, it means they are STRONGER fighters.
Also, what the hell happened to Princess Yue's father? In the show, he's still alive and ruling. She's just the princess, not the ruler. At least he got hers and Sokka's (I mean, Soh-ka's) relationship right. Though, he completely ruined General Xiao's story.
Okay, here's a few things I HATE.
The moon god was supposed to act through Aang and take the form of a GIANT Koi fish made of water. This spirit NEVER appears! WHAT?! I loved the giant Koi! It was, like, the most epic part of the end of that arc! And, he completely cut it out!
On top of that, Zuko and General Xiao were supposed to have an awesome battle on the bridge in the Northern Water Tribe. In the end on the TV show, Xiao reveals that Zuko is the Blue Spirit (which, Shyamalan ALSO ruined) but dies before he can tell anyone else. The giant Koi fish drags him through the bridge and Zuko, for a moment, reaches his hand out to the General hoping to save his life. But, Xiao refuses to be saved by "someone like Prince Zuko" and perishes.
In the movie, this didn't happen! The Koi spirit never makes an appearance and, instead, Iroh steps in and takes Zuko away while four random water benders appear and finish Xiao off.
I remember sitting in the theatre and pointing at the screen, yelling, "WHAT?!"
I'm not kidding. The kids in front of me and a few people ahead turned around to look at me. Meanwhile, the boyfriend is agreeing with me that everything was RUINED.
I mean it, if you have seen the show and love it at all, don't waste your time and money seeing the movie. It's one big disappointment after another.
Honestly, I now know what a teacher feels when a student writes a report on a movie about a book, rather than reading the book and writing a real report.
It feels like Shyamalan bought the rights and didn't do a lick of research other than reading a poorly put-together Wikipedia page on the first chapter of A:TLA. Did he even consult the creators or staff of the series? Evidence is telling me no, he did not. If someone was going to make a movie of a series I did, I'd make sure he could at least pronounce the names right.
The only thing he really got right was that the actors at least KIND OF sounded like the characters and the CG effects were pretty good. Other than that... eh, I feel like I got on a roller-coaster I thought would be awesome fun, but then it only went around in a little circle.
A year ago, when I discovered that someone was making a movie for Avatar: The Last Airbender, I got all excited. I love seeing shows I adore getting made into huge motion pictures... as long as they aren't cut up, chewed on, and spit back out.
I swear to god, if he does the next chapter and pronounces Toph's names as "Toe-ff" or "Tofu" I dunno what the hell I'll do... I'll write a biography of Shyamalan or something and start pronouncing his name as "Nit Shaman".
Feel free to add rants in the comments... I don't think I got everything I wanted to get out all here.
~Yosei~
