When I first heard that nickelodeon was going to release a movie based on the Avatar series, I was beyond excited and thought, what could go wrong? However, when I found out that M. Night Shyamalan was writing and directing this movie by himself, I became skeptical due to his inconsistency with past movies he has directed. As it turns out, I was right, because this film is appalling and truly an insult to the original cartoon.
It is clear that Shyamalan wanted to make changes to the movie because his directing style usually involves twists and turns. However, the changes made in this movie were downright unnecessary and took away from the movie's overall connection to the series. First off, they pronounce many of the characters' names wrong in the movie, which just felt unnatural and pointless. This is only the least of the many problems with this film, however. Another huge problem was the acting and writing. It seems as if Shyamalan took the worst actors he could find, directed them to deliver their lines in the cringiest way possible, and gave them lines that a 5 year old could have written. Sokka being the prime example, as he was gloomy and bland, delivering no clever lines, as opposed to sarcastically charming in the show.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this film is that there is no depth and emotion, which was what made the show so great in the first place. Throughout the entire movie, there are instances that set up what could be an emotional scene, like when Princess Yue sacrifices her life to save the moon spirit, or when Aang visits the air temple and sees all his past relatives. However, these moments just result in more explaining of the story with no charm or emotion to be found.
Finally, the special effects were atrocious. For a high budget movie involving bending of the elements of Earth, it should be guaranteed that it has top tier special effects. But that is not the case. The special effects are very lazily done to the point where the water doesn't even look remotely real. The worst part however, is the Earth bending. The cartoon showcased how powerful Earth benders can be, moving large quantities of rock in an epic fashion. However, there is a scene in the movie where 6 Earth benders attack by throwing one, yes ONE rock.
This movie is a huge disappointment and it's a shame that this is the last that fans of the series received when a season 4 could've been made.
It is clear that Shyamalan wanted to make changes to the movie because his directing style usually involves twists and turns. However, the changes made in this movie were downright unnecessary and took away from the movie's overall connection to the series. First off, they pronounce many of the characters' names wrong in the movie, which just felt unnatural and pointless. This is only the least of the many problems with this film, however. Another huge problem was the acting and writing. It seems as if Shyamalan took the worst actors he could find, directed them to deliver their lines in the cringiest way possible, and gave them lines that a 5 year old could have written. Sokka being the prime example, as he was gloomy and bland, delivering no clever lines, as opposed to sarcastically charming in the show.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this film is that there is no depth and emotion, which was what made the show so great in the first place. Throughout the entire movie, there are instances that set up what could be an emotional scene, like when Princess Yue sacrifices her life to save the moon spirit, or when Aang visits the air temple and sees all his past relatives. However, these moments just result in more explaining of the story with no charm or emotion to be found.
Finally, the special effects were atrocious. For a high budget movie involving bending of the elements of Earth, it should be guaranteed that it has top tier special effects. But that is not the case. The special effects are very lazily done to the point where the water doesn't even look remotely real. The worst part however, is the Earth bending. The cartoon showcased how powerful Earth benders can be, moving large quantities of rock in an epic fashion. However, there is a scene in the movie where 6 Earth benders attack by throwing one, yes ONE rock.
This movie is a huge disappointment and it's a shame that this is the last that fans of the series received when a season 4 could've been made.