So quick summation of the movie's plot: The world is based of four elements and four nations(Fire, Earth, Water Air) and if you are a bender you can manipulate that element. There is this kid, named Ang(pronounced in this movie as Ong like in Ong Bak) and there is this prophecy about how this kid is the one kid in all of the nations that will balance the elements and use all four at once. So the kid freaks and runs away. He gets frozen in a block of ice and a hundred years pass. Captain America style, he is woken up from the ice by a Water Bender and her brother. The three then have to go on a quest to protect the world and stuff. And of course Ang never learned how to use the other elements so he now needs to do that so he can become the Avatar(the one who can bend all of the elements). This is actually a pretty good premise and is mired by its poor execution here. And as a note, I've never seen the show.
Main review:
Underwhelming. That is how I describe this movie. It is slow and every action sequence is dull. There is never any tension in this movie and I am never once under the belief that ANY character is in danger, be them friend or foe. Part of this makes sense. We have a team of goody-goodys fighting an evil empire. The goody-goodys should ever put their enemies in peril, just stop them. But the villains are never threatening. Other than something that happened in the past(that hundred year period) and even that could be chocked up to the previous Lord since he is obviously not 100+ years old. There is one time a character dies and it is a sacrifice but it isn't to hurt the bad guys or even protect the good guys. I won't spoil what it is, but its treated like a plot device and not an emotional moment. Worse is that the thing is used to stop isn't fully explored and instead just happens and then is gone. The one really cool moment and they breeze over it. And even worse is that this sacrifice isn't earned. There's no pathos to it, I never cared nor do I now care. There isn't a moment of mourning and the movie fails hard because of this. It is a result of characters that are wooden and flat.
I don't ever once in this movie believe the characters. I am always aware these are people being written because nothing they say sounds real. It sounds forced like they have to say this to get the plot to go where it needs to. And in some respects(so I'm told) the story is true to its origin(just condensed) but in many ways including numerous characters they've made huge changes. None of the characters show growth. They are, for the most part, exactly the same as they were when we first meet them. They don't learn lessons, they don't experience emotion or real hardships, things just happen and they are uninteresting when they do. These are characters that are one dimensional. And I am being generous with that description because with that because there is little to no development for these characters. They sort of have back stories, but the movie is in such a hurry to keep under its 95 minute run time that nothing can sit and happen. This was a quest movie. It needed to be two to three hours long. They needed to spend more time on action and needed to explain things and show more impact in the universe so that when a character bends and I am supposed to think this is really cool(so as to take the place of any actual action) I can buy into this lie that it is action and not just people staring.
Ultimately I wanted to go home and take a nap. And I fell asleep for about five minutes before my companion who was a fan of the show (but not this movie) woke me up because I was snoring. I kept hoping this film would pick up the pace and let the journey happen but it never did. It skipped over some obviously meaty portions. The movie is disjointed jumping from one episode to the next without showing the emotional impact of the adventure or letting it be obvious the wear the journey was having. I really wanted to care about the main character but the movie refused to let me, it felt like it was holding secrets back so that they could use them in the next movies but it is too much work and I don't care about him. None of the characters are treated well. The brother has a romance subplot for about ten minutes but it ends before you can embrace it. And that's his only subplot or character moment. The one main character who can't bend gets no development, shows no resentment for being so left out, no emotions at all. The movie falls apart because the only character with any back story and emotion is Prince (Danny) Zucko. Danny was exiled and now has to find the avatar to be able to be unexiled. Cool. They even have a flashback that explains his scaring and his exiling. This is awesome. The kid playing him over acts and chews scenery sometimes, but he is still the most developed character in the movie. There is a section in the middle after Ang is captured one of the times, and his actions seem to counteract his goals which is a pitfall of the movie because they never show the emotion for this to be believable. Lastly the girls in this movie are left under the heels of the men and this movie clearly doesn't know what to do with them other than bat eyelashes and run away. Its tasteless and despicable. Then there are the villians. They are all obviously mustache twirling I want to rule the world types and they are pretty stock and flat. There isn't reasoning behind their goals. There is never anything original about this movie except until we get the end and there is this really menecing little girl which was a nice moment, but an ending does not make a bad movie anything else. It is a clearly M Night type of ending. Even in Avatar. Logic and order do not exist in this world. Only pain and misery for the audience who have to sit through it so bored.
The effects in this movie are boring and uninspired. The water and fire often do look real but because of the manipulation going on it is obvious that they are CGI. They do their best, but it isn't enough to make me believe. This would be Avatar is not James Cameron's Avatar's special effects. The worst bit is the 3-D is dull and devoid of life. In fact, in quite a few scenes I took the glasses off because they didn't do anything. The film wanted to something more but the effects don't serve a purpose when it comes to the 3-D. And lastly M. Night's role in this movie. He directed, written and produced. And he tells you this twice. At the end His name is the one there. it is to remind you who to blame. He wrote this. The dialogue his stilted dialogue. In previous movies he could mask bad dialogue with great actors. And even then it came out strange, but better than nothing. His directing isn't terrible, but his structuring is. This movie doesn't even have The Happening's level of absurdity where I could rationalize it as intentional B-movie status. This film is just poor.
Overall this film is pretty underwhelming experience. I couldn't recommend it to anyone. That said it isn't a total failure. Certain characters like The Prince and his Uncle who is more of a father to him than his father are both interesting. some of the effects are cool and enjoyable. some of the pacing is just right. But in the context of the hour and a half length everything feels like filler. And again, the outline of the plot was strong. The film feels rushed and like it is a failed translation from one medium to another. and I kept thing "Man, this would make a great TV show."
Overall grade: D-
No comments:
Post a Comment