In a
mythical land the eponymous last air bender fights the genocidal fire nation.
Maybe you
don’t know it but this movie is very much maligned. It collected five raspberry
awards (The anti Oscars), including the big ones, worst picture and worst
director, was subjected to much ridicule and generated an internet hate campaign
for its casting.
Considering
all of that it’s surprising how “Avatar: the last airbender” actually is not
that bad. It’s not a good movie in any shape or form but it’s actually
watchable.
The casting
diatribe started because the casting calls for the movie somehow went online,
showing the world that the filmmakers wanted just white people for an opera
that the fans felt was mostly about oriental culture. Avatar is the movie
adaptation of an American animated series that has one of the most rapid fan
bases you can ever imagine.
In my
opinion that casting call was certainly an error but I think it’s pointless to
get so riled up about this particular movie. Hollywood still has problem with
the so called “minorities”, a lot of very talented people are stuck doing the
same role again and again because they don’t have the right kind of look. I
agree that it’s a shame and that the system should change but this is a
systemic problem, not an “Avatar the last airbender” problem.
Having said
that the movie is still oddly unengaging. I never saw the original series so I
can’t judge how good an adaptation this is but taken as a standalone product
this is standard kid fantasy fare. Done with style, with some good CGI effects
and nice backgrounds, but plot wise I never felt any sense of urgency or any
connection with these people. I felt like I’ve been watching an half hour
morning cartoon without any fun elements or cheesy lines.
To sum it
up this is still a bad movie, only die hard fantasy fans (like me) should see
it.
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