CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

I now own the first two volumes of the Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon series. I'm planning on doing a series of blog posts about them, and I had a thought: is the movie really that bad? I've heard from most fans of the show that the movie should be avoided at all costs, and a lot of hatred was directed at M. Night Shymalan. It's not that I think he doesn't deserve some scorn (I HATED The Village), but I'm kinda wondering if I'd be wasting my time.

Yes, the movie is as bad as its reputation has made it out to be. However, it is rather more enjoyable if you watch it with a friend or two who have also seen the series and understands the madness to which you will be witnesses. (Or even if they haven't - when I saw it with my sister, long after it had washed out of theaters, neither of us had seen the show and we still thought it was a total laugh riot.)

Yes, it was a terrible mess. I mean, there's bad adaptations and then there are BAD adaptations.

But I do have to agree with Davidizer about it being great to make fun of.

The movie only covers the material in the first season, so you're safe watching it at any time.

Yes, very bad....VERY VERY BAD! Let me put it to you this way; the whole film feels like it is based on merely the description of the series, and you can pull whatever you want out of just a synopsis XD

Yes. It was awful. I'm sorry, but it was awful. And I have reasons!
1. The actors were. . .Yeah. They were awful. I don't know where they found them, but the acting for this movie was just sad.
2. The characters were bad. Mr. Shyman didn't research this show at all before making this movie. I honestly don't know why he did it at all, but that's beside the point. A lot of the names were pronounced wrong, most of their personalities and attitudes were wrong (i.e. Iroh encouraging Zuko to hunt down the Avatar, while Zuko is having doubts about it).
3. The bending choreography was sloppy and sad. The graphics were...okay, I guess.
4. The story was off. Like, in so many places. All of a sudden fire benders can't create their own source? Maybe that makes more sense, since water benders can't create water; but that's beside the point. It wasn't N's job to tweak the storyline to make it fit his logic. And there are at least 62 other places where the storyline is totally off.
5. There are major holes everywhere. Holes large enough to fit a small whale in. Basically, you have to have watched the show for it to make any sense, but then it still doesn't make sense because it doesn't match up to the show.
6. I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I'm sure it'll come to me tonight while I'm trying to fall asleep.

I suppose you can watch it if you want. But yes, it was that bad; yes, you will be wasting your time; no, it is not salvagable.

Although, David makes a good point. It's definitely good for a laugh.

Which is worse, the avatar last airbbender movie or the dragonball live action?

I can't answer the question fairly since I never watched Dragonball, but just in terms of being tolerably entertaining, I'd say Dragonball was better. But then, I watched it on a lengthy plane ride and have forgotten just about everything about it except for the lead dude's crazy hair.

As for Avatar... I had the misfortune of watching it in theaters. I was writhing in my seat the whole time. My mother enjoyed it mostly because she says I suffered in the most hilarious way.
The hilarious characters are bland. The bland characters are blander. The roles are UNBELIEVABLY miscast. The plots are ripped into pieces in ways you never imagined they could be. Most of the lines are downright cringeworthy. The one that most readily comes to mind is "We have to show them that we believe our beliefs as much as they believe theirs!"



It will hurt your brain. It will hurt your heart. It will hurt your very SOUL.

If you must watch it, purchase the Rifftrax along with it.

Don't watch it expecting it to be like the show.