The Last Airbender: A Case Study

so everybody hates the last airbender everybody knows it sucks so what's left to talk about well it's like an Escher drawing everything that's wrong about it is what makes it interesting I've never seen such a perfect storm of getting everything wrong in a film it doesn't even need a review just any ten seconds from the movie I did everything dad start to do I watched what side of the fin tracks are more indented that shows you which direction they're going I saw how long the drug's kids are that shows you how fast they're going yeah what I like about The Last Airbender as a case study and it is a case study is what happens when you take the rough elements of an idea and find two different outcomes I'll be honest I'm a fan of the show but I do believe good adaptations are possible and two mediums can suit a story but even great adaptations can have differences between creators he had this rather bizarre scene where I think Flitwick was conducting and there was this there were miniature people in an orchestra inside something and I just see this is my geekiness I said to him but why and I know it's intriguing to go through the mouth of whatever it was and you see these little people but why have they done it for you to film it that's just what it feels like most people including me we're upset because The Last Airbender was one of the worst adaptations I mean the movies bad enough on its own but if I make comparisons to the show it's because there's an inherent flaw and looking to the show can provide a better example so you want to adapt Avatar The Last Airbender not a bad idea it makes more sense than like The Cat in the Hat the show is successful there's plenty of world-building material and it was guaranteed to make money because of the Associated name but right from the start it seemed like everything was done wrong the creator's Brian Kenneth's Co and Michael DiMartino were mostly ignored in the process we gave like input that went nowhere yes sir so it's like we were involved but our involvement had no with effect also adaptations are common but not from an existing motion picture format the fundamental flaw is that the show already exists visually you can adapt books plays and comics but with a TV show there's no room for adjustment either it's wrong or it's a replica there's simply a difference between animation and live-action but I get the feeling that that's derogatory like Avatar needs a live-action movie to be taken seriously animation has a stigma I get it it's usually aimed at children because it can be bright and colorful but it can just as easily be dark and depressing [Music] don't worry it's just animation it has no real effect on people there's a recent trend of remaking classic animated films and live-action Disney is shelling out remakes left and right and anime is being recreated for the big screen but they're missing aesthetic animation looks a certain way and it makes you feel a certain way it has style and exaggeration if you study animation the point of it is communication simple lines lead to clarity this is why rotoscope animation is less successful even if it looks incredible animators can manipulate timing by adding or subtracting frames and this can lead to faster action scenes live action is just real life let's look at Beauty and the Beast Belle and the Beast are created in the same method lines on paper and then cell shape the style forces you to look at all of these characters through the same tinted lenses everything lines up consistently and it feels believable the live-action beast feels a little bit awkward but more importantly the characters like a certain chemistry because the creation of these characters involve different methods and you can see the same contrasts in 2d animation when 3d is added in though it's more cohesive in avatar the animation serves the incredible world-building bending looks fluid and natural action is heightened and graceful the comedy is exaggerated everything is blanketed and style when it comes to real life it can look flat I'd argue any adaptation from animation to live-action is just going to feel different but they made the movie anyway a studio hired a man to take an intellectual property he didn't understand away from two creative artists who made something beloved by millions and that was made before the third season was out so you've seen the first two episodes of season three are you excited for the rest of the season and the finale of Avatar really hope you didn't miss any important setups right now I like Shyamalan probably more than most people know for sure a lot of things you made up super interesting get in Jones just made him up and night is a great story guy he's the guy you go to when you need a wouldn't it be neat if idea I think Shyamalan is a better director than he is a writer J what health conscious fast food purveyor did you originally solicit to buy these chicken wings you've so lovingly reheated in a minor suicidal gesture hooters we can't just throw them out doctor except every line in the last airbender is bad and we can think about the pretty girls I sympathize with him he had to condense the entire first season of a TV show into a concise movie inevitably you had to depart from the strict storyline of the books the books are simply too long to make into very faithful films not everything can be included that's understandable the problem is the details he included are convoluted and unexplained there's such a bizarre way the movie dulls out information it's it's hard to say what it is and why it sucks partly it feels like information is out of order Oh Lewis to his home he told us how he left there in a storm what happened Katara narrates about um but doesn't ask his name until after that tell me your name and this is 18 minutes into the movie he should have said his name in this scene this is just the basics the avatar universe is big it needs careful explanation but not such an emphasis on world building that it loses the great characters or the humor every line is expositional they haven't been able to conquer big cities like bossing say force the Avatar would have to be an airbender are you an airbender boy or narrate my brother and I often go hunting for food but unfortunately my brother is in the bed The Last Airbender fast forwards through natural character interactions my brother and the princess became friends right away but expects us to care about the consequences we're not watching the movie to get the sparknotes we want to watch what's happening the show uses flashbacks to enhance the narrative visually screenwriting 101 show don't tell if you get so wrapped up and how this works and that works but you skip over basic emotions like love then what's the point the exposition is also disposable the opening title sequence doesn't even say that the fire nation invaded everyone the film lacks genuine setups and payoffs which shouldn't exist from a seasoned screenwriter let's look at Harry Potter they take the time to show scenes and classrooms book fans will know that there are a lot of classroom scenes but the writer narrowed them down to a select few but each of these has a point they use that spell later when they fight the troll a werewolf has no choice with each full moon when he transforms he no longer remembers who he is he can his best friend who crosses paths turns out there's a werewolf at the end of the movie and this scene sets up a premonition that eventually comes true setups and payoffs when do they ever deal with Sokka and Katara's a near parents besides a future movie why does y'all keep yammering on about the library you know I conducted a raid on the great library which most said didn't even exist i rated the great library earlier this year this is a scroll from the great library doesn't it make more sense for Avatar Roku to give wisdom to Aang as a part of his past life rather than a dragon for no reason and if you think that's too much to fit into a movie then don't limit yourself to an hour and 35 minutes they reach the final location of the movie after less than an hour just breathe the studio did cut out scenes so that it could be converted to 3d faster but I've seen the deleted scenes to conquer the door that would have tried city they would be too powerful and they don't help now it's time to cast the movie and to watch it be dragged through the mud and and the whole racial side of things was just so disheartening it begs the question what race our anime characters the thing about anime is that yeah it's an art form that includes culturally ambiguous features and it is it's meant to see yourself in it that's the art form and so all cultures see themselves in those faces visually some may argue they're white because of the big eyes a guy in the fair-skinned but the real answer is in culture and context in Asian countries anime characters aren't perceived as white and trust me Japanese creators distinguish between Eastern characters and Western characters even in fantasy worlds because we can't divorce our world from fantasy Miyazaki does this in Howl's Moving Castle the influencing culture is quite different look at the English signs the European architecture and think about the names her name is Sophie versus Chihiro or ashitaka the same can be said of Full Metal Alchemist the main setting takes place in the fictional and mistress and the main characters are Edward and Alphonse Elric the neighbouring country is Sheen with characters named Ling LAN fun and food that says volumes so with characters like Aang Katara and Zuko and cultures that are influenced from our own world Japanese Chinese Inuit and Tibetan not only is it insensitive to caste white people as the heroes and Indians or Middle Eastern people as the villains but it shows a complete ignorance about the project it's embarrassing to have our leaves look like this when the extras look completely authentic I don't think the casting for The Full Metal Alchemist movie is true to the character either but it's a Japanese film for a Japanese audience America is hard it's a melting pot of different races and representing everyone is a but unfortunately white is the race they used to appeal to everyone and you can come up with any excuse to cast a white lead motoko kusanagi she's an Android she can be any race gokusen he's an alien he can be any race light yagami it's NASA and America so he can be any race except any race continues to be white and Hollywood will use any loophole to stay in this bland risk-free pattern as long as it makes money okay finding great child actors is difficult but it's been done before especially by M night Shyamalan I find it hard to believe that out of all the young actors in the world that they chose someone with no acting experience there's no one on the planet that's more like on these are not coincidences which doesn't mean that they can't find unknowns but they chose Noah ringer based solely on his Taekwondo skills that the movie industry has an entire department devoted to making actors look like they're performing impossible actions on screen it's called the stunt Department I feel like it's very obvious but actors have to be able to act and yes even kids can get stunt doubles you can use women petite bodies and kids Naya Murphy perform the stunts for Laura and Logan but you still need an actress to speak with emotion and most importantly not make you cringe through the whole film or you can go the Keanu Reeves route who's a decent actor but can be trained to look like an action star he spent years perfecting the mousse for the matrix and look what he can do is John wick no a ringer can spin a staff and that's it he looks like Aang he sounds like egg but he's not a convincing actor I didn't bow back one mistake by novice actors is the tendency to over enunciate either with their voice or their gestures the worst of this is Nicola Peltz playing Katara he's a responsibility we should fight she just looks so stupid I don't know I have nothing clever to say about her acting other than it's bad and she looks embarrassing and she looks like she's on the verge of tears at all times well that's just silly genius if Shyamalan made this movie because his daughter wanted to be Katara for Halloween for Halloween she wanted to be Katara why wouldn't he cast an Indian actress how masochistic do you have to be those girls look like Katara at least he looks like Sokka but Jackson Rathbone is an atrocious actor okay so what what if we found you teachers teachers to teach you bending which element would you have to learn first besides eternally sounding like he's juggling water a young man with a kind of a warrior's heart he just pouch through the whole movie like Anakin Skywalker Sokka is a funny comic relief character when the leads have to deal with drama we need a light-hearted sidekick to relieve the tension the show perfected this even giving him insecurities I mean they tried this is the most disappointing aspect of casting considering it is going to be Jesse McCartney it could have been worse death Patel is a good actor he's just not a good Zuko the heroes are allowed to be these naive little twits but Zuko is a rich complicated character that had to be nailed with precision first I assume casting Dev Patel set the precedent of the Fire Nation being Indian or Middle Eastern the Fire Nation emulates the ancient Japanese and this is represented visually through the topknots the clothing the architecture and thematically through Japan's history of industrialization while retaining traditional culture the symbol of the Sun is like the symbol of fire none of this is South Asian and this is important because of Zuko's obsession with honor and shame honor and Bushido are so ingrained in their culture that applying it to a completely separate culture is misguided what depe tell lacks is intimidation and hostility I am Prince Zuko son of Fire Lord Ozai and heir to the throne he portrays depression but even that feels ham-handed Zuko is a firestorm waiting to happen I need to capture the avatar with vulnerability and humanity underneath we're also missing two of the biggest visual representations of the character the topknot and the scar I mentioned the topknot as a misplacement of culture but his hair narrative Lee shows his evolution as a character he starts with a topknot because he's obsessed with honor and when he cuts it it's to leave that behind deniz hair grows and changes to suit his mood throughout the series it's a perfect visual gesture without saying anything and technically yes he has a scar but it's so barely visible it's insulting you could define Zuko by his scar this is pathetic honestly it doesn't drive this character it doesn't suggest his past it should engulf his face by not doing that you've diminished all of Zuko's character motivations and as a redemption our debt patel should have played Sokka because it's a great comedic actor [Applause] hello mrs. Ternan you know I always had a European sensibility to my movie so they the the pacing is always a little bit off for them you know and it feels a little stilted and they need more they need more electricity and all that stuff and I'm like this is the way I I think of things cuz you know Hitchcock and course are and standing Kubrick these are like the my teachers if you look back at Shyamalan earlier work actually see what he's talking about he likes long takes moody lighting different types of angles and Hitchcock influences but it was natural till the story he was telling I hate to break it to you Godard but The Last Airbender is not French new-wave there are no 10-minute conversations about whatever anywhere in this film [Music] it didn't wash despite you guys over here I'd be hard-pressed to find one minute conversations the idea that Shyamalan made an unconventional action film with European sensibilities is delusional in fact every department that worked on this movie made amazing work before what was the perfect storm that killed these professionals take the cinematography for instance one of the reasons the last airbender so unintentionally funny is its flatness the visuals in the animated show are comparable to the greatest films of all time the Fire Lord is menacing this is a chance to do something beyond fantasy something with atmosphere they told me they do that gun totally insane but in the film he's just there without a hint of ferocity there's no mood no interesting lighting not even an imposing score jail is the same way a volatile general reduced to a schmuck let's offer him lunch these are the bad guys and you don't get the sense that this powerful nation invaded everyone and wages war with the world the big change from the show prevents firebenders from producing their own fire Shyamalan said he wanted to level the playing field because every other vendor had to have their element available otherwise it was unfair that is the point there's a reason the fire nation invaded everyone it's thematic - fire consumes the water tribe didn't invade the world the Fire Nation did leveling the playing field I mean it levels the playing field other than looking lame in comparison to the show it's a detriment to the movie they don't feel like they could engulf a room and fire at any second they definitely can't shoot lightning there's just nothing creative with the elements I'm astonished they didn't you see fuku suit to get the moves exactly like the ones they used in the show it's a very strong dynamic style that uses a powerful hand and leg movements action reaction when the martial arts are met with a delayed element it takes all of the energy out of an action sequence pretty odd that a movie that was unconcerned with characters didn't even give us good action the breath becomes energy in the body the energy extends past your limbs and becomes right get it right this time for me what really ruins the film is the skewed sense of timing editing is hard bad editing can make or break a performance everyone likes a long take right Shyamalan does except when you're capturing everything wrong and you can't edit around it see this is the detriment of a long take if you just point your camera at a subpar actor without clear camera movement you're left with a badly timed shot we move from town to town in the earth Kingdom we try to stay out of sight but so could became concerned we were being followed but even the shot reversed shots are smashed together why are you doing this who are you I've taken a few examples of jarring cuts and edited them to feel more natural what's your name how did you get here how did you get in the ice he's exhausted sowhat's off about the scene katara interrogate sang with a series of questions and ultimately decides that he's too tired to answer but she doesn't give him a chance now watch the scene with just a little more breathing room what's your name how did you get here how did you gotten the ice he's exhausted we need to get him back to the village next scene thanks for bringing Harper to me the Fire Nation is up to something I have to go back now we'll come with you I could take you back to the village we're going with you so let's see the rillette it thanks for being offered to me [Music] the Fire Nation is up to something I have to go back we're going with you [Music] and lastly Zuko gives Aang a dangerous ultimatum I'm taking you to my ship if you don't come I'll burn down this village I'll go with you don't hurt anyone this is a pivotal point where the hero is captured even though we don't know anything about him yet this is where our protagonist and antagonist meet and Aang shows his good nature by sacrificing himself to save others but he makes that decision in a split second and the audience can't feel the tension or the pressure of that decision and at it at the end for no reason so instead let's not indicate a threat and dialogue but let's actually show it taking it to a if you don't come are down this road I'll go is he [Music] much better right ultimately I feel like him night shyamalan didn't understand what he was making in an attempt to make a children friendly martial arts film he was completely out of his element huh that doesn't make him a bad person and I think he gets a lot of blame because he wrote directed and produced it but so many departments work on a movie and oddly enough all of them dropped the ball still it's hard not to feel frustrated at Shyamalan for making unnecessary changes there's a reason they made the last airbender and not a wholly original kung fu film it was banking off of the show's popularity why make it if you don't care but beyond that he didn't understand the world entirely either I can't the Avatar have a family I asked that they said that's a sacrifice the avatar always has to make that's just not true Avatar Roku was married and Aang made his own family each of these creatures is a spirit they have watched over us since the beginning they have guided us only the Avatar can go speak to them nope that's all for your sake my son doesn't find this person first and he turns out to be the avatar he would return as a hero on for all purposes be your superior shyamalan seems to have taken the fire Lords deal literally Ozai never intended to embrace his son or restore his honor because his plan was to punish him through cruelty neglect and callousness why would he banish you if he didn't care maybe it's a way of manipulating Zhao to work harder but the line is read with such sincerity that it doesn't come across that way so it further reveals a misinterpretation about the abusive relationship between Zuko and his father how can you possibly justify a duel with a child it was to teach you respect it was cruel and it was wrong then you've learned nothing no I've learned everything as the Avatar you are not meant to hurt others this is also a comprehensible blunder one because it contradicts the show when many episodes in fact a quite substantial arc deals with a debating whether to kill the Fire Lord or not I've always tried to solve my problems by being quick or clever and I've only had to use violence for necessary defense and I've certainly never used it to take a life and previous avatars have different opinions on that this is so well handled in nuance within a kid's show to discuss where they're saving many lives is worth taking one and ultimately the show moves beyond that by finding a better solution which is to take someone's power away in this case literally and The Last Airbender Aang received this vague information without earning it or learning it for himself it also doesn't make any sense within context the dragon says what was an confused about if you want to defeat the Fire Nation then fight them all so don't pretend your massive tsunami didn't kill anyone but if you really listen to the wishy-washy advice dished out through the movie water teaches us acceptance the power of water would probably imply surrender and that's kind of the point isn't it The Last Airbender takes pieces of the show and shuffles them around to fit a movie late format while abandoning the original context or failing to provide his own context many of these misconceptions are corrected in the Legend of Korra which feels like a healthy recovery after a trauma Bryan can its CO and Michael DiMartino reclaimed the world of avatar but yeah it definitely I think that experience gave us a little extra like motivation to do right for ourselves and just say like you know what this we gotta we're gonna do this right and despite a bad movie nothing changes it's their creation they made something unique that spans over seven seasons with a world full of detail characters full of life and realism extraordinary animation and artwork and a beautiful score so are there any positives to The Last Airbender well the story at least has a clear protagonist who has an arc I like this shot and I like this shot and that's about it and let's be honest this movie is fun to hate it's never boring because there's always something awful to keep you interested and we're all rubbernecking to the finish line we enjoy hating it at least I do The Last Airbender will endure as this terrible awkward artifact that I love to hate [Music]

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Views: 2,213,772

Rating: 4.7749286 out of 5

Keywords: the last airbender, m night shyamalan, bryan konietzko, michael dimartino, avatar, avatar the last airbender, the legend of korra, korra, interview, review, film, cinema, analysis, noah ringer, dev patel, jackson rathbone, nicola peltz, adaptation, acting, editing, visual essay, jeremy zuckerman, race, scene, animation, stunts, aang, zuko, katara, sokka, iroh, writing, breakdown, retrospective, video essay, explained, comparison, bending, rock, fight, earth, water, fire, air

Id: QnuuowI3onk

Length: 27min 20sec (1640 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 29 2017