I've noticed how everyone complains about the white washing of Aang, Katara & Sokka yet almost nobody complains about the "tan washing" of the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation people are based on Japanese/Koreans. Not Hindu Indians, Pakistanis & middle easterners.
I was 11 years old when this came out. I begged my dad to take me to see it in theaters, and it remains the only childhood movie i ever wanted to walk out of as a child
I was the opposite I knew it was gonna be bad. I blame my cousin at the time who wanted to watch it. My dad liked watching the series with us but I wanted to watch Toy Story 3 instead.
My poor mom, she knew all three of us (my brothers) loved this show growing up. When this movie came out, she was excited to go see it with all of us. After we saw the movie, we left like it was a funeral. My mom hated it too and she didn’t even watch the original show, she said she felt like she tortured us 😭 it’s ok mom
People often talk about how it took 5 Earth benders to bend that single pebble, and rightfully so because it's so awful. The REAL TRAVESTY is that Earth benders are somehow imprisoned by Fire benders who can only fire bend if they have fire. And they are in a camp completely surrounded by EARTH. HOW DID THEY THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA!??? They're literally drowninng in their own element. But I guess you could argue that they're so trash at Earth bending that they wouldn't have a chance. That's why it took 5 people for the pebble in the first place lmao. I'm not gonna blame them though.
The way bending was shown in the movie, I would rather have a sword. It takes so damn long, that I could just run up to them and run them through before they got the bending going. If firebending really was the reason why they were imprisoned, then a prison break would take 5 buckets of water and a bit of timing.
I am going to blame them, because they clearly show that one bender making an Earth wall to protect his son from frie benders. No what it is is Shyamalan's who thinking he can do a better job that the show's creators. That's why he intentionally altered the pronunciation of the names. Because HE felt that it "sounded more authentic and less Americanized". His words.
16:06 Jen had us in the first half of the sentence, then she finished talking. I was like "Oh No! nothing like that, this is very serious fighting going on as portrayed by Shymalan."
There are behind-the-scenes clips that show the kid playing Aang actually was like Aang a lot. He was playful and was running around being animated and stuff. The director was the one that sucked the life out of him in the actual movie.
The actor playing Katara (Nicola) was also a factor of nepotism, the producer father Nelson(?) was owed a favor and he wanted her specifically cast in it, her being a big fan. It's also why the Sokka had to be recast to look related to her, which in itself apparently caused a slight discontent as they realized the majority of the main characters at that point were Caucasian, so they overcompensated by hiring a dark-skinned actor for Zuko to 'balance' it; which then snowballed into having to change the race for the Fire Nation which did the opposite effect of making a gang of white heroes against the "evil" Firebenders who were now all Indian Lol Mismanagement doesn't even begin to describe it, also some stark disagreements between Shyamalan and Paramount where he reportedly phoned a lot in and went with a ghost writer. He actually did like the story quite a bit, but in classic Shyamalan fashion what little creative power he was afforded, he stressed hard.
@@zhaquiri Yeah, he wasn't a good actor, but a lot of that comes from the director and the script. He looks like he's suffering all the time because that's what they told him he should look.
@@Aloysius_OHare Unfortunately the whole of it is far more complicated than a single person being responsible, director is definitely not solely responsible, he had a part in it but there was a lot of factors that plagued this production.
@@Whazzupie honestly i think the biggest problem was that the original creators werent given any creative control over the production. the story itself is quite simple, but what made it special was the way that it was executed. certain stories require certain kinds of people in order to tell them properly, without that personality it all falls flat. any remake that doesnt value input from the original creator will always be nothing but a cheap imitation
It’s interesting to hear Holden highlight all the missing content from Book 1 as being necessary to form character relationships, considering how much they struggled through it.
I legitimately think that they went into Avatar expecting not to like it rather than being open-minded and it hurt their impression of book 1 initially.
@@solusmaximus2566 i don't think that's why. she said she leans more into live-action, but she's going into the movie with high expectations because it was M. Night Shyamalan. also, isn't hating something just because everyone hates it instead of going into it with your own, unbiased, opinion... biased?
Yknow, my deep theory is that it's not so much the critics that stopped the other movies from happening. It's Shyamalan, shooting himself in the foot by not including CRITICAL elements to the first book. The other two couldn't be salvaged without it. There wouldn't BE a story or stakes for book 2 and 3 if Aang had mastered the Avatar State the way he does it in the movie here.
@@Goomyx1492 Yeah, Jen especially seems to be in the "animation is for kids, live action makes it more adult automatically" camp. It caused her to not really care for the first half of the show, to the point where she forgets huge scenes like the main character discovering the corpse of his father figure and being hit with the reality that his people have been genocided and everyone he's ever known is dead.
24:53 Fun fact! Azula actually shows up twice in Book 1 of ATLA. When Ozai sends her after Iroh and Zuko in the season finale, thats actually her 2nd appearance. Her first is while Iroh is telling the story of Zuko's agni kai with Ozai to the men of the ship. In the flashback, while Zuko is being burned and Iroh is looking away, Azula is in the same frame, smiling.
the worst part about them casting aang's actor is that if you actually see him outside the movie he seems like a perfect fit for aang's character. he was just directed very poorly and told to be serious all the time instead of playing the character how he should have been.
I'll be honest. I usually watch full length, but then I thought "why should I put myself through this pain?" Watched it when it came out in 2010 and a couple of times since just to make sure I wasn't just being a picky 14-year-old... I wasn't. Glad you finally watched it though, as it's a rite of passage for all Avatar fans. Can't wait to see your thoughts on Legend of Korra!
it is not a write of passage. i am a fan of the cartoon and i watched the cartoon when it originally aired when i was a child. i never saw this movie. i always avoided this movie after hearing the innitial reactions. to this day, i refuse to watch it. i even have to convince myself to watch reactions of it. for the longest time i also refused to watch reactions of it just because i didn't want images of it in my mind.
I could never get past the Earthbender prison scene in this film. Since they were imprisoned in a prison made of Earth. Just, how can this movie have been made and managed to F it up so much.
My top 5 favorite moments from this movie of comedy gold. 5: The earthbenders being held in a prison made entirely of earth. 4: The water tribe battlecry of one continuous high note. 3: That one water tribe guy that, right after getting his power back, tackles a fire tribe warrior like a football player. 2: The 4 goons that arrive, dodge a fire blast like a boss, kill the bad guy, refuse to elaborate, and leave. 1: The earthbenders doing a full dance routine to move a 10 pound rock. Watching this movie with another avatar friend is an amazing and painful experience and I love it
Not only is Netflix making a live action series but the creaters of Avatar created Avatar Studios and they're making 3 animated movies and a new animated series that takes place after Legend of Korra! 🙌🏽🙌🏽
One of my favorite parts! Earth Benders *does all kinds crazy martial arts moves* M' Night: Now let's have 1 rock float across the screen while they do that... 😂😂😂
Except the original creators of the ATLA series left the live action netflix adaptation because of "creative differences" so it's probably not going to be very good or faithful
@@TheRibottoStudios Yes, thank you! No one has any idea what a couple of hacks Mike and Bryan are. They’ve done to Avatar what D&D did to Game of Thrones.
32:38 Jen.. We do. There's an entire episode dedicated to Aang going to the Air Temple to see his people and finding his mentor dead. It's the first time he enters the Avatar State.
I think the reason you didn’t get a sense of danger from the Avatar State was because if you watch the scenes again you’ll notice the wind doesn’t effect the environment. When Katara get close to Ang her hair isn’t whipping around. The CG was working in a vacuum because the environment didn’t help sell them.
The two good Things I can say bout this Movie: The Set Design+ Effects are pretty good Zukos Actor actually sat down with Dante Basco(who voiced him in the Show) to portray the Character better and he is the most spot on of the Cast. What makes me the saddest tho is that Aangs Actor actually has his Energy and Spirit in real Life but they made him such a Stoic Monk… so much Potential…wasted
casting accuratly for children that are very eccentric like the avatar cast is nigh impossible. but its clear that shamylan had 0 buisness being in charge of this movie. whoever cast 90% of this movie should never work again. the choice for Iroh especially hurt to look at especially when that guy is way more intimidating then the general or the fire lord. like should have made the iroh actor literally anyone else in the movie.
@@CrazeeAdam its not iroks actors fault that he shouldnt have been cast as iroh. he could have been great as the fire lord or the general or something. he just shouldnt have been iroh. but thats not his fault. what is he supposed to do? say no to what was looking like a giant 3 plus movie deal?
I'd really recommend Arcane as an animated show for u guys to check out, there's only 9 episodes and it's one of the best I've seen, it's a league of legends adaptation aswell so I thought it would be terrible but it was genuinely amazing
Right before this movie came out, I remember watching an interview with m night. And he was saying that his kid was a huge fan and made him be a part of the movie. And m night said that he wanted to honor the Chinese heritage and pronounce a couple names differently. And I was kinda worried. Then he complained that firebenders were the only bender that could make their own fire. And that's when my hopes dropped. We went to see it. it's the only movie I've ever gone too and trash talked the entire walk back to my parents car and during the whole ride home.
Yall are probably the most forgiving of this movie in comparison to other reactions channels. I'm right there with you Holden, I can enjoy a movie and a book as two separate things. If I had no affiliation to the source material, would I still enjoy it? this was a movie that failed in that regard for me as well. Everything from the flat performances, how they mispronounce names and words. The weird marital arts to bending (Dancing, as Jen described it) Lack of seeing the relationships between characters. We were constantly being told the characters were bonding but we never actually saw it. There's even super awkward pauses in between the lines. You don't need to wait 4 or 5 seconds in between every line of dialogue lol. Jen may have liked Appa in this live action but to me he was just creepy. The weird creepy Appa feet in this movie still haunts my dreams hahaha. I am looking forward to the Netflix live action adaptation! There is an Asian cast who seem to be very passionate about doing the show correctly so it does look very promising!! The major thing that makes me nervous of the Netflix live action show is that they had originally announced that the creators of the animated show were going to be working on the Netflix show and that they would have control of how the show was going to be made. It was announced awhile back that the creators then voluntarily left the production of the show, more than likely because of creative differences. I believe their words were "Whether you like what you see or you don't, just know what you see is not what we wanted to make" So that definitely makes me nervous. BUT hopefully they do the live action show justice. It's been in production for a very long time so hopefully that's a good sign that they're not rushing this for a quick cash grab. We shall see.
Idk, I feel like the problem with that line of thinking is that it IS still an adaptation, it doesn't matter what you would think if you had seen the source material or not because you have and that's the whole point. But truly, a bad movie is a BAD fucking movie regardless and that's what live actian avotor is
@@kevinzhang6623 nah it's cus the other reacted can appreciate the fact that it was a childrens show unlike them they just don't bother with that part what so ever there expecting it to be 50 shades of gray and games of thrones
@@DJP-cy9qq yea fair point. They kinda dont seem into childrens animated stuff at all but keep getting forced into it by viewers that get annoyed when they don't react the way they did when they watched it as kids.
@@freebird6591 well yah cus they don't look at it as a childrens show there looking at it as idk what they where expecting but other reacted actually look at it as how it is n enjoys it as how it's meant to be enjoyed
It's also the fact that the actual effect of their bending has so minimal results compared to the over exaggerated movements they do. AND that is takes several seconds to actually happen. Like in the time between a benders motions and its effect, you can just walk up the them kill them with a sword.
Mom took me to see it after we watched the series as I grew up. Instant regret. Even under 8 years old I was severely disappointed. You can never erase this stain as a child.😭
One of the few things that I actually liked about this was the redesign of aang's master tattoos, it's a really bad movie but it does have some little things that can be appreciated.
I also like that Yue's hair stops being white after she dies, it symbolized her connection to the Moon spirit and this connection was lost after she ressurected the spirit.
Watching this movie made me realize how appreciative I am that Netflix are actually taking their time with the live action show. Lots of time with the acting, writing, and editing. As long as it’s a great adaptation that honors the original show.
The main problem with this movie for me is it’s constant exposition. It’s needs to show and not tell. And even then when it does show, it’s so fast paced. This could have been one really long epic movie about book 1. But instead they didn’t take their time to make it good, they just wanted to rush the story as quick as possible. And they missed some really big things from the show to top it off.
@@mrgotitfordalow Read my comment again. I said it’s the main problem FOR ME. Meaning it’s what I personally find to be the worst thing about the movie.
The sad part is that I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic about this comment, because the actress does well in the role but has so fucking little to do in even less time. I'm glad the creators of the show actually recognized it and brought her back for Legend of Korra. She was great as Asami.
I watched this when it first released in theaters as a kid. And typically as a kid you think everything is good and you enjoy it for what it is. This was the first movie I walked out of saying "that was really, really bad."
It kinda puts a button on how much personality both Aang and Sokka have and how much they both individually bring to the dynamic. I think the series gets better if you watch it more than once. I think what Jen was reacting to with the choreo was the effects lagging behind the martial arts and not being as dynamic. And also season 3 of Korra makes the case for airbending as coolest bending.
For most shots the actors' motions basically had nothing to do with the elemental effects, it's like Jen said, they did a dance and then an almost unrelated thing happened in the general direction where they had gestured ten seconds earlier. Whereas in the show the bending flows from their motions.
Honestly Korra fans are so annoying. If they want to watch it they will. If they don’t feel like putting time into a series that is absolutely no where near as good as the original series (with exception to the animation) then they don’t have to.
@@emilychristine7059 I mean it is pretty near as good, mostly suffered from having to finish up a story in each season because they only got confirmed to do another season one at a time while ATLA get to do a full story over the course of 3 seasons
@@kuivia no it was not. Korra was a terrible avatar (so entitled and bratty). Basically lost every fight she was in besides with non-benders. Broke the connection with past avatars. changed the rules of blood benders. Unlikeable/uninteresting side characters. merging of spirit world and real world seem stupid to me. etc..
Fun fact: The girl who plays Princess Yue had one of the few good performances and was cast as Asami, a main character in the Avatar sequel series, Korra!
2:54 Jen: "I'm probably going to end up loving it, honestly." Me: "I'll take that bet." As for "The Last Airbender" vs "Dragonball Evolution"... DBE is "so bad it's kind of fun to watch," whereas Airbender is just "bleh."
This reminds me of Eragon. I loved reading the book in high school, but when I saw the movie I actually flipped off the screen for a good while at the theater with my buddies laughing.
Yeah, it suffered the same problems with casting, pacing, and character development. Thast being said, I could far more easily sit through Eragon agan over ATLA movie.
@@stevenpuckitt212 I think Eragon is a movie that if seperated from the source material isn't too terrible of a movie. It's not fantastic but it isn't as bad as the last airbender, which even for people who haven't seen ATLA is clearly a bad film.
Never noticed that they made Hama (the puppet master) a friend of gran gran in this movie…would have been interesting to see but makes the world feel too small
That's actually not a new thing. Hama was friends with Gran Gran in the show too. In Hama's flashbacks, you see a young girl that looks a lot like Katara and she's even wearing the same necklace. And she was close to Hama.
Jen probably forgets because it was so long ago, but the whole scene with finding of the bones was taken directly from the anime in episode 3, and of course I feel like they did a much better job with that whole part in the anime... i definately think that if jen watched that episode again shed probably connect with it alot more now that she knows the charecters better. Its actually one of two episodes that id actually say are really worth rewatching now that you have that deeper connection to the characters, the other episode being episode 11 the storm. (the storm is definately a fan favorite from season 1 too, and is what most people consider to be the turning point of where the show starts to get really good)
It's not an anime, it's a cartoon with Asian culture and Asian themes. That's like saying that Mulan is an anime😂 Also there were not that many corpes just laying around.
The bones and monk were in a hut though, which made more sense since he removed all the air from the room killing the firebenders killing himself in the process. Finding his body just sitting in the dirt was an odd choice that clearly missed a lot fo the subtlety of the cartoon.
Fun Fact: I was almost in this movie back when they where still filming in 09! I was still in high school at the time in Philadelphia where they where filming and they wanted extras with a 'martial arts background' (I was studying Tang So Do at the time) for pick ups. There was a long line at city hall with people all dressed in martial arts gear and weapons. After 3 hours in line I finally got to the front and they asked me do some spinning kicks then took my photo and phone number and that was it. Of course this was before anyone knew what the movie would be and the hype around the city was real! I didn't get a call back it but fair to say I dogged a bullet on being in this one. I still however got to hear stories from others who where on set like how the movie was filmed in rented out airport hangers in Philadelphia. All those scene with the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation are in airport hangers dressed to look like a counsel rooms. lol
16:02 i love how like 7 guys seem to work really hard to throw a really small stone, one 15 year old could have picked up and easily thrown that far by himself XD
You have to love how they addressed criticism towards a lack of diversity by keeping the all white protagonist cast but making the villains more 'diverse'. Amazing.
Please watch avatar: the legend(s) of korra since it really fits with what you both liked in avatar. It's more mature over all and more anime-ish (i guess)
It's almost like M Night never took the time to watch avatar and went strictly off of his interpretation of events and pronunciation from the cliff notes. lol
Your dog looked immediately upset about this movie, and has like a thousand yard stare the entire time. You know its a bad movie when the dog looks like that
Here, Firebenders can't make their own fire but Zuko can suddenly produce a massive amount of heat when he was trapped on the water sneaking inside the Northern Water Tribe. That's pretty convenient and inconsistent.
32:14 when jen talks about the flashbacks and how she wished there was more in book 1 of the animated series, i'm confused. there WAS plenty of that in the animated series. you got to see him and his connection with Monk Gyatso. you saw them make pies together and throw them at people, you saw them playing Pai sho. you saw him showing the other kids how to do the air scooter. perhaps you simply forgot?
They seem to have forgot things about season 1 like when Jet returns in season 2 one of them ask have we seen him before I was yelling at my phone there is literally an episode named after him in season 1
Animated show: 6 guys all earth bend together and the entire landscape is changed. Movie: 6 guys all earth bend together and a relatively small rock moves about as fast as a single normal guy could throw it with his bare hands.
I remember being super excited about this movie when it was coming out. I thought the marketing for it worked really well. It did look like it was going to be good, until we saw what Shyamalan did with it. Nickelodeon actually released a “sneak peak” a few days before the movie with interviews and behind the scenes stuff which was really where I started to see red flags. That’s where I first heard Shyamalan explain that he was changing the pronunciation of the names of characters because he knows how they “should” be pronounced because he’s “Asian” because he’s Indian, and India is indeed in Asia… so I guess that checks out… 🤔 Completely ignoring the fact that the names of people, characters and any written language in the show is Chinese and the show is, ya know, set in a fictional world created by Americans. I think this movie is a prime example of what happens when a director really has no love for the source material. He states in one of the interviews that he basically just made the movie because his kids loved the show and he thought it would be cool to make it because his kids would think it was cool. I don’t think he really understood how diverse the fan base for the show was and didn’t see the appeal to older audiences who enjoy good storytelling, epic worldbuilding, strong character development, well choreographed martial arts, etc. I had a LOT of respect Mr. Shyamalan as a director before he made this, but I kinda have a hard time appreciating any of his work now. To be fair, that’s not really on him, that’s on me. His earlier works like signs and unbreakable are good movies. I just think in his attempt to do something nice for his kids, he created something that was really damaging to the series, the fans, and his career. I wish other directors would learn from this, but this is not the only instance of this happening. We need passionate directors who know their audience and will serve them well. (Also studios who don’t make stupid decisions, but that’s a topic for another time.)
This was the first time as a kid I could tell a movie was bad, I didn't understand the feeling coz as a kid anything adventure never feels like a bad movie but this was my first movie heartbreak for sure
Fun fact (or sad fact) The amount of time to reveal Aang in the ice is the same in the movie and the show. The show still managed to establish Sokka's and Katara's characters and relationship in that amount of time. The movie chose to skip it and show an interpterion of a few clips instead.
I cannot tell you how excited i was to see this movie. The series is very personal and to see a talented director like M.Night Shymalan tackle it sounded awesome. Never saw it in theaters thankfully. By the time i did watch it….i was HEARTBROKEN. Im sorry y’all had to watch it,but now you understand the pain.
My brother and I loved the animated series. Our father was a multi Emmy award winning Ex. Producer. We dragged him to the theater as adults. We were so embarrassed we wanted to drag him out of the theater about 30min in…
I know a lot of people use Starship Troopers as an example but I agree with them, I absolutely love The Starship Troopers movie and I love the book, both are 10/10 but if I had to rate the movie on how great it adapted the book it would be 1/10. I don't care how well it adapted the show (which I love) I just hate that it's so boring and stupid on it's own
The southern water tribe are natives with facial features from different tribes, but they’re mostly based on Alaska natives,(Eskimo, Inuit). The clothes, the culture, the hunting, AND MOST NOTABLY the badass Eskimo sun goggles(sunglasses) the avatar forces wore during the solar eclipse. Fun fact Eskimos invented sunglasses look it up.
Having seen this movie before seeing the original ATLA I never had a problem with it. In fact, I remember enjoying it immensely. The years went by and I finally found myself watching ATLA for the first time several months ago. I have watched the entire series three times since, watched ‘Korra’ once, watched multiple reactions here on UA-cam and read through several of the sequel graphic novels. Now, having watched this again with Holden and Jenn, (full body shiver) I suffered from nearly constant cringing over everything from the pronunciations to the pacing to the poor character translations. Far too many issues to list here 😢
I saw the movie before watching the series, and it actually got me to watch the series. Watching this, while terrible, showed me that this material could have been done SO much better, so I checked out the cartoon and loved it.
The bending in this movie takes FOREVER. In the series, every punch or movement creates a movement in the element. It’s very snappy and quick. In this film it takes five moves to have anything happen.
Its almost as if M. Night didn't bother watching the show but had someone recap it to him 4 years after they watched it. Fun fact though the girl playing Princess Yui also voices Asimi in The Legend of Kora.
in the live action tv series coming out, they want Katara to be the oldest and Soka as the younger sibling but they're keeping Aangs age the same and they also want sex scenes in the show as well. So me personally i think the live action tv series is going to flop with these changes because there is no need to switch anything up about the tv show. That is the actress who played in Transformers 4 and the actor who plays Soka also played in Twilight as well
Ok your editing made this 10 times better Jawa Aang LMAO. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I guess you guys missed the part with Earthbenders being surrounded by earth in their prison but ok
Are you guys planning to do Legend of Korra?? It’s the series sequel and I think you guys would enjoy the darker tones more. I do understand if you would like to move on from the series as well since you guys were not completely into it at first.
LMAO I honestly can't wait to see your reactions to this awful adaptation 😂 Edit: This movie is laughable now lol. I do hope you two watch The Legend of Korra, despite what a lot of people say, I think it's an enjoyable show. Especially season 3. It does have it's ups and downs (Season 2 was rough) but overall I think you two will like it. I feel like Jenn especially will love Korra.
Water Tribe are Inuit, Earth Kingdom are China(Ming if I had to guess), Fire Nation are Imperial Japan and Air Nomads are Buddhist Tibet. 25:00 smol Azula also briefly appeared in the Storm episode, watching gleefully as her brother got his scar. But what is interesting is that I think Ozai didn't appear until Book 3 and here he is spoiled very early. 29:00 he served as an anchor/channel for very vengeful and very powerful ocean spirit.
i really hope you both decide to watch The Legend of Korra it actually got cancelled and relegated to internet only viewing because Nick thought it was getting too mature and even though it got hate at the time for not being what the fans wanted it really turned out to be what the universe needed its aged so much better then original oppinions would leave you to believe
I was more along Jen when this first came out, but I was in denial lol. I quickly became more like Holden. One of my favorite reactions to this is the Ember Island episode tag gag, where they come out of the play complaining about how awful of an adaptation it was, and then Sokka says "but the effects were alright."
Not me I am a big fan of AVATAR the last Airbender but I adore so much the movie this is a pure genius to make this movie because I cried a few times in the movie and contrary to other people who watched and earned the names me I clearly earned the Aang name they don’t change the name for Sokka this is similar to Aang I clearly earned Sokka That means because all people who don’t like the movie are dumb because they don’t want a new story but me I thought about the movie this is the best movie ever of Avatar the last Airbender And I probably the only person who love the movie because the movie is so good and beautiful the effects are amazing
One(of so many things) is how they show the fire lord like it's nothing, in the animated series he was kept in the shadows for two seasons, but here he just walks into the scene like no big deal, then for no reason the next time we see him he's shot from behind so we only hear him and see his hand 🤷, then it goes back to showing him.
The one good thing from this trash fire is that Yue's live action actress impressed Mike and Bryan (the two creators of the original series) so much that they offered her a main part in their Avatar sequel series, the character of Asami.
24:53 - Wrong. Azula was actually shown much eariler in book 1 during THE STORM Episode where we see Azula next to Uncle Iroh in Zuko's Flashback during the fight between him and his dad.
To my understanding, the actor who played Aang was actually a lot like the character; energetic, expressive, and fun. But then he was actually _directed_ to act emotionless and wooden. I feel very sorry for him, and everyone in this movie. They were likely all better actors than we see here, or at least had potential to be with good direction. They didn't deserve this. Also, a huge failure about this movie (among *many*) that infects the whole thing and makes it bad even standing separate from the cartoon; M. Night failed to understand that bending IS the martial art. In the movie it behaves as though bending is summoned by doing martial arts, so they had them dance around a bunch and _then_ something happens. Bending isn't casting a spell, it very arguably wouldn't qualify as magic, it's an extension of the body. And if you don't make it behave like an extension of the body, it just looks really dang awkward and slow.
This is the first movie I can ever remember hating. When you’re a kid you kinda just take whatever entertainment is put in front of you, but I distinctly remember despising this one, especially after finishing the show.
I'm sorry for this everyone... I'm... I'm sorry.
Why 😂
Brooo whyyyyyyyy
Being an ATLA fan comes at a cost...
Yeah you'll be sorry after watching it alright.
I really hope so!
The fact that Dev Patel actually apologized to
Avatar fans for this, is just magnificent.
Truth. Meanwhile, we have not a heard an apology from Paramount, Nickelodeon and Shyamalan .
Patel actually good in his role it's just the burn in his face... Is less...
Given what he was working with, Patel actually did a decent job. With a good director he could've made a much better Zuko.
And he honestly didn’t even have a bad performance. I’ve always liked him. Just bad casting here.
I've noticed how everyone complains about the white washing of Aang, Katara & Sokka yet almost nobody complains about the "tan washing" of the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation people are based on Japanese/Koreans. Not Hindu Indians, Pakistanis & middle easterners.
I was 11 years old when this came out. I begged my dad to take me to see it in theaters, and it remains the only childhood movie i ever wanted to walk out of as a child
lmaooo same, my dad was asleep so I didnt bug him but I was pissed as a child watching this
I didn’t even finish it lol
I am so glad i forgot about this movie because I wanted to say it when i heard they were making it but then forgot and never did any ads for it.
I was the opposite I knew it was gonna be bad. I blame my cousin at the time who wanted to watch it. My dad liked watching the series with us but I wanted to watch Toy Story 3 instead.
Same here, watched it as a kid and it was the first time I felt something was off while watching a movie
My poor mom, she knew all three of us (my brothers) loved this show growing up. When this movie came out, she was excited to go see it with all of us. After we saw the movie, we left like it was a funeral. My mom hated it too and she didn’t even watch the original show, she said she felt like she tortured us 😭 it’s ok mom
Omg poor her 😭😭
The imagery of everyone walking out like they just a funeral 😂. I was mad when i left the theater back then.
That's some joint family trauma right there😂. I had to suffer through this alone
Poor her, I really wanted to watch this movie in theaters but my mom said we'll just wait for the DVD version or what... I'm glad we didn't
People often talk about how it took 5 Earth benders to bend that single pebble, and rightfully so because it's so awful. The REAL TRAVESTY is that Earth benders are somehow imprisoned by Fire benders who can only fire bend if they have fire. And they are in a camp completely surrounded by EARTH. HOW DID THEY THINK THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA!??? They're literally drowninng in their own element.
But I guess you could argue that they're so trash at Earth bending that they wouldn't have a chance. That's why it took 5 people for the pebble in the first place lmao. I'm not gonna blame them though.
In the show they’re in the middle of the ocean on a metal ship which makes way more sense.
Fire benders can bend without fire around , that their what make special than other benders
The way bending was shown in the movie, I would rather have a sword. It takes so damn long, that I could just run up to them and run them through before they got the bending going.
If firebending really was the reason why they were imprisoned, then a prison break would take 5 buckets of water and a bit of timing.
@@spunkymaniac9312 in the movie they could only bend already existing fire they couldn't create it like in the show
I am going to blame them, because they clearly show that one bender making an Earth wall to protect his son from frie benders. No what it is is Shyamalan's who thinking he can do a better job that the show's creators. That's why he intentionally altered the pronunciation of the names. Because HE felt that it "sounded more authentic and less Americanized". His words.
The fact she asked if this is a dance movie so genuinely is hilarious
She was so serious, I couldn't stop laughing
16:06 Jen had us in the first half of the sentence, then she finished talking. I was like "Oh No! nothing like that, this is very serious fighting going on as portrayed by Shymalan."
I spat my water out. Legit nearly killed me.
There are behind-the-scenes clips that show the kid playing Aang actually was like Aang a lot. He was playful and was running around being animated and stuff. The director was the one that sucked the life out of him in the actual movie.
The actor playing Katara (Nicola) was also a factor of nepotism, the producer father Nelson(?) was owed a favor and he wanted her specifically cast in it, her being a big fan. It's also why the Sokka had to be recast to look related to her, which in itself apparently caused a slight discontent as they realized the majority of the main characters at that point were Caucasian, so they overcompensated by hiring a dark-skinned actor for Zuko to 'balance' it; which then snowballed into having to change the race for the Fire Nation which did the opposite effect of making a gang of white heroes against the "evil" Firebenders who were now all Indian Lol
Mismanagement doesn't even begin to describe it, also some stark disagreements between Shyamalan and Paramount where he reportedly phoned a lot in and went with a ghost writer. He actually did like the story quite a bit, but in classic Shyamalan fashion what little creative power he was afforded, he stressed hard.
@@zhaquiri Yeah, he wasn't a good actor, but a lot of that comes from the director and the script. He looks like he's suffering all the time because that's what they told him he should look.
@@Whazzupie The director has full fault. I will NEVER watch another movie of his production.
@@Aloysius_OHare Unfortunately the whole of it is far more complicated than a single person being responsible, director is definitely not solely responsible, he had a part in it but there was a lot of factors that plagued this production.
@@Whazzupie honestly i think the biggest problem was that the original creators werent given any creative control over the production. the story itself is quite simple, but what made it special was the way that it was executed. certain stories require certain kinds of people in order to tell them properly, without that personality it all falls flat. any remake that doesnt value input from the original creator will always be nothing but a cheap imitation
It’s interesting to hear Holden highlight all the missing content from Book 1 as being necessary to form character relationships, considering how much they struggled through it.
I legitimately think that they went into Avatar expecting not to like it rather than being open-minded and it hurt their impression of book 1 initially.
@@solusmaximus2566 Well it's live action so it's inherently not chiiillldiiisssshhh
@@solusmaximus2566 i don't think that's why. she said she leans more into live-action, but she's going into the movie with high expectations because it was M. Night Shyamalan. also, isn't hating something just because everyone hates it instead of going into it with your own, unbiased, opinion... biased?
Yknow, my deep theory is that it's not so much the critics that stopped the other movies from happening. It's Shyamalan, shooting himself in the foot by not including CRITICAL elements to the first book. The other two couldn't be salvaged without it. There wouldn't BE a story or stakes for book 2 and 3 if Aang had mastered the Avatar State the way he does it in the movie here.
@@Goomyx1492 Yeah, Jen especially seems to be in the "animation is for kids, live action makes it more adult automatically" camp. It caused her to not really care for the first half of the show, to the point where she forgets huge scenes like the main character discovering the corpse of his father figure and being hit with the reality that his people have been genocided and everyone he's ever known is dead.
I love how all the bending looks like it’s delayed, like they do a big kick, pause for 5 seconds and then the fire moves
Piccolo charges his special beam cannon faster than the elements respond to the Bender's movements.
also love how it took a dozen people to move a single rock
"Are you... the Ahvatar, Ahng?"
Truly a movie of all time
M. Night claimed he made the movie for his kids. But I feel he didn't consult his kids or anybody who actually watched the show while making it.
A blind man could do better
@@edwincarpenter8829 a cabbage man could do better
Does he fucking hate his kids or something? Lmao
He said he watched the whole series with his kids yet he cant have any of the actors pronounce any of their names correctly 🙄
After watching this abomination we know that he doesn't love his child
When Netflix makes their live action series they should use the actors in this movie for the ember island players 😂
That would be perfect.
It's sorta like when TFS voiced for DBZ Kai recreation of Cell Games.
I think that the show voice actors should be the ember island players lol.
That would be PERFECT. And have the new cast talk about everything wrong with it like in the original episode. 😂😂
24:53 Fun fact! Azula actually shows up twice in Book 1 of ATLA. When Ozai sends her after Iroh and Zuko in the season finale, thats actually her 2nd appearance. Her first is while Iroh is telling the story of Zuko's agni kai with Ozai to the men of the ship. In the flashback, while Zuko is being burned and Iroh is looking away, Azula is in the same frame, smiling.
I can't believe Holden and Jen sat in front of a blank screen for two hours, they're really committed to this channel
There is no live-action adaptation in Ba Sing Se
Jen - "I'm probably gonna end up loving it"
Me - Get's popcorn out
Lmao 😂
SAME! I literally shouted JEN! No! 🤣 I felt so bad for her optimism.
Her expression at the end when Holden was concluding the film was... priceless. It said everything lol
the worst part about them casting aang's actor is that if you actually see him outside the movie he seems like a perfect fit for aang's character. he was just directed very poorly and told to be serious all the time instead of playing the character how he should have been.
I'll be honest. I usually watch full length, but then I thought "why should I put myself through this pain?" Watched it when it came out in 2010 and a couple of times since just to make sure I wasn't just being a picky 14-year-old... I wasn't. Glad you finally watched it though, as it's a rite of passage for all Avatar fans. Can't wait to see your thoughts on Legend of Korra!
it is not a write of passage. i am a fan of the cartoon and i watched the cartoon when it originally aired when i was a child. i never saw this movie. i always avoided this movie after hearing the innitial reactions. to this day, i refuse to watch it. i even have to convince myself to watch reactions of it. for the longest time i also refused to watch reactions of it just because i didn't want images of it in my mind.
Rite of passage*
Both of you lol
have they said if they plan to do legends of Korra?
@@claytorizzle No, nothing has been said...... at least not yet.
How can you say Book 1 sucked every reaction but then say this movie was alright. Bro the betrayal 😂😂
I could never get past the Earthbender prison scene in this film.
Since they were imprisoned in a prison made of Earth.
Just, how can this movie have been made and managed to F it up so much.
That was the moment my friends and I walked out of the theater
I think that was kinda the idea so Aang could have the whole "The earth is right under your feet" speech.
@@Kjf365 The Earthbenders: "HOLY SHIT HE'S RIGHT!"
Plus the movie firebenders needed a fire source to bend.
That was the scene that made me leave the theater
My top 5 favorite moments from this movie of comedy gold.
5: The earthbenders being held in a prison made entirely of earth.
4: The water tribe battlecry of one continuous high note.
3: That one water tribe guy that, right after getting his power back, tackles a fire tribe warrior like a football player.
2: The 4 goons that arrive, dodge a fire blast like a boss, kill the bad guy, refuse to elaborate, and leave.
1: The earthbenders doing a full dance routine to move a 10 pound rock.
Watching this movie with another avatar friend is an amazing and painful experience and I love it
it legit hurts on a genetic level. all the changed pronouncings of names and titles makes any real fan cringe from minute 1 to the end.
Not only is Netflix making a live action series but the creaters of Avatar created Avatar Studios and they're making 3 animated movies and a new animated series that takes place after Legend of Korra! 🙌🏽🙌🏽
One of my favorite parts!
Earth Benders *does all kinds crazy martial arts moves*
M' Night: Now let's have 1 rock float across the screen while they do that...
😂😂😂
I live for the new Avatar Studios
Except the original creators of the ATLA series left the live action netflix adaptation because of "creative differences" so it's probably not going to be very good or faithful
@@TheRibottoStudios Yeah, as much as I'm not a fan of sequels as a whole I'm just glad they're not involved at least
@@TheRibottoStudios Yes, thank you! No one has any idea what a couple of hacks Mike and Bryan are. They’ve done to Avatar what D&D did to Game of Thrones.
32:38 Jen.. We do. There's an entire episode dedicated to Aang going to the Air Temple to see his people and finding his mentor dead. It's the first time he enters the Avatar State.
No it's the first time Katara and Sokka see the dangers of emo Avatar State. Aang uses Avatar State when escaping Zuko's ship the first time.
@@bahamute6198 You're right.
I think the reason you didn’t get a sense of danger from the Avatar State was because if you watch the scenes again you’ll notice the wind doesn’t effect the environment. When Katara get close to Ang her hair isn’t whipping around. The CG was working in a vacuum because the environment didn’t help sell them.
Even the animated show shows the hair flying. All they needed was an industrial fan.
All reactions to The Last Airbender from different reactors should be made into a single playlist called "Pain Marathon".
The two good Things I can say bout this Movie: The Set Design+ Effects are pretty good
Zukos Actor actually sat down with Dante Basco(who voiced him in the Show) to portray the Character better and he is the most spot on of the Cast. What makes me the saddest tho is that Aangs Actor actually has his Energy and Spirit in real Life but they made him such a Stoic Monk… so much Potential…wasted
casting accuratly for children that are very eccentric like the avatar cast is nigh impossible. but its clear that shamylan had 0 buisness being in charge of this movie. whoever cast 90% of this movie should never work again. the choice for Iroh especially hurt to look at especially when that guy is way more intimidating then the general or the fire lord. like should have made the iroh actor literally anyone else in the movie.
Well him and Iroh's actor I think did good jobs. As good as they could with the script they were given. You know?
@@CrazeeAdam its not iroks actors fault that he shouldnt have been cast as iroh. he could have been great as the fire lord or the general or something. he just shouldnt have been iroh. but thats not his fault. what is he supposed to do? say no to what was looking like a giant 3 plus movie deal?
I'd really recommend Arcane as an animated show for u guys to check out, there's only 9 episodes and it's one of the best I've seen, it's a league of legends adaptation aswell so I thought it would be terrible but it was genuinely amazing
Arcane would be great too!! That and Korra
YES! Do Arcane!!!
Yes! I had commented this awhile back!
Right before this movie came out, I remember watching an interview with m night. And he was saying that his kid was a huge fan and made him be a part of the movie. And m night said that he wanted to honor the Chinese heritage and pronounce a couple names differently. And I was kinda worried. Then he complained that firebenders were the only bender that could make their own fire. And that's when my hopes dropped. We went to see it. it's the only movie I've ever gone too and trash talked the entire walk back to my parents car and during the whole ride home.
Funfact: Yue's actor made enough of an impression on the show co-creators that they cast her as a main cast member in the sequel "Legend of Korra".
Yall are probably the most forgiving of this movie in comparison to other reactions channels. I'm right there with you Holden, I can enjoy a movie and a book as two separate things. If I had no affiliation to the source material, would I still enjoy it? this was a movie that failed in that regard for me as well. Everything from the flat performances, how they mispronounce names and words. The weird marital arts to bending (Dancing, as Jen described it) Lack of seeing the relationships between characters. We were constantly being told the characters were bonding but we never actually saw it. There's even super awkward pauses in between the lines. You don't need to wait 4 or 5 seconds in between every line of dialogue lol. Jen may have liked Appa in this live action but to me he was just creepy. The weird creepy Appa feet in this movie still haunts my dreams hahaha.
I am looking forward to the Netflix live action adaptation! There is an Asian cast who seem to be very passionate about doing the show correctly so it does look very promising!! The major thing that makes me nervous of the Netflix live action show is that they had originally announced that the creators of the animated show were going to be working on the Netflix show and that they would have control of how the show was going to be made. It was announced awhile back that the creators then voluntarily left the production of the show, more than likely because of creative differences. I believe their words were "Whether you like what you see or you don't, just know what you see is not what we wanted to make" So that definitely makes me nervous. BUT hopefully they do the live action show justice. It's been in production for a very long time so hopefully that's a good sign that they're not rushing this for a quick cash grab. We shall see.
Those channels all tell their viewers what they think they want to hear. I respect the unfiltered honesty of the Hardmans!
Idk, I feel like the problem with that line of thinking is that it IS still an adaptation, it doesn't matter what you would think if you had seen the source material or not because you have and that's the whole point. But truly, a bad movie is a BAD fucking movie regardless and that's what live actian avotor is
@@kevinzhang6623 nah it's cus the other reacted can appreciate the fact that it was a childrens show unlike them they just don't bother with that part what so ever there expecting it to be 50 shades of gray and games of thrones
@@DJP-cy9qq yea fair point. They kinda dont seem into childrens animated stuff at all but keep getting forced into it by viewers that get annoyed when they don't react the way they did when they watched it as kids.
@@freebird6591 well yah cus they don't look at it as a childrens show there looking at it as idk what they where expecting but other reacted actually look at it as how it is n enjoys it as how it's meant to be enjoyed
Movie: *Fire benders cant make fire from hands*
Also Movie: *Zuko melts ice twice with his hands.*
I have to admit, I'm one of those that saw this movie first.
It took a while to get the motivation to start the series after...
It's also the fact that the actual effect of their bending has so minimal results compared to the over exaggerated movements they do. AND that is takes several seconds to actually happen. Like in the time between a benders motions and its effect, you can just walk up the them kill them with a sword.
Mom took me to see it after we watched the series as I grew up. Instant regret. Even under 8 years old I was severely disappointed. You can never erase this stain as a child.😭
This is the first time EVER that I skipped the entire movie/show just to get to your comments. And this is all the energy I'll put to this.
One of the few things that I actually liked about this was the redesign of aang's master tattoos, it's a really bad movie but it does have some little things that can be appreciated.
true... like ... uhmm... it´s a bit more brutal ? but I like the tatoo too
Yeah, the tattoo looks good. They couldnt have just done a solid blue arrow for the live action, it would look goofy
I also like that Yue's hair stops being white after she dies, it symbolized her connection to the Moon spirit and this connection was lost after she ressurected the spirit.
@@Prototype-357 Yeah thats a great detail and honestly something I wish the animated series did
Watching this movie made me realize how appreciative I am that Netflix are actually taking their time with the live action show. Lots of time with the acting, writing, and editing. As long as it’s a great adaptation that honors the original show.
The main problem with this movie for me is it’s constant exposition. It’s needs to show and not tell. And even then when it does show, it’s so fast paced. This could have been one really long epic movie about book 1. But instead they didn’t take their time to make it good, they just wanted to rush the story as quick as possible. And they missed some really big things from the show to top it off.
Thats definitely not the main problem lol.
@@mrgotitfordalow Read my comment again. I said it’s the main problem FOR ME. Meaning it’s what I personally find to be the worst thing about the movie.
I think the most accurate character in the whole movie was Princess Yue. She actually felt like a live action adaptation of the animated character.
The sad part is that I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic about this comment, because the actress does well in the role but has so fucking little to do in even less time.
I'm glad the creators of the show actually recognized it and brought her back for Legend of Korra. She was great as Asami.
@@Mrryn out of all the characters she was the most faithful. That being said the bar isn't very high.
Didn't that actor got a role for some character in Korra?
"You could get arrested for that Katara"
I mean, despite how it seems that crater area is in fact a prison somehow.
I watched this when it first released in theaters as a kid. And typically as a kid you think everything is good and you enjoy it for what it is. This was the first movie I walked out of saying "that was really, really bad."
It kinda puts a button on how much personality both Aang and Sokka have and how much they both individually bring to the dynamic. I think the series gets better if you watch it more than once. I think what Jen was reacting to with the choreo was the effects lagging behind the martial arts and not being as dynamic.
And also season 3 of Korra makes the case for airbending as coolest bending.
True Airbending in S3 korra is fucking awesome
For most shots the actors' motions basically had nothing to do with the elemental effects, it's like Jen said, they did a dance and then an almost unrelated thing happened in the general direction where they had gestured ten seconds earlier. Whereas in the show the bending flows from their motions.
I’m honestly going to be legitimately upset if you don’t watch Korra but made time to watch this instead
Korra was terrible too.
Honestly Korra fans are so annoying. If they want to watch it they will. If they don’t feel like putting time into a series that is absolutely no where near as good as the original series (with exception to the animation) then they don’t have to.
@@emilychristine7059 I mean it is pretty near as good, mostly suffered from having to finish up a story in each season because they only got confirmed to do another season one at a time while ATLA get to do a full story over the course of 3 seasons
@@kuivia just because they are reasons why it's bad, it doesn't make the end product better
@@kuivia no it was not. Korra was a terrible avatar (so entitled and bratty). Basically lost every fight she was in besides with non-benders. Broke the connection with past avatars. changed the rules of blood benders. Unlikeable/uninteresting side characters. merging of spirit world and real world seem stupid to me. etc..
Fun fact: The girl who plays Princess Yue had one of the few good performances and was cast as Asami, a main character in the Avatar sequel series, Korra!
"I didn't think it was that bad."
Then you didn't love the show like I did. 😂
2:54 Jen: "I'm probably going to end up loving it, honestly."
Me: "I'll take that bet."
As for "The Last Airbender" vs "Dragonball Evolution"... DBE is "so bad it's kind of fun to watch," whereas Airbender is just "bleh."
I'd say Evolution is like objectively the worst adaptation, but at least there's something there that isn't just "the series but worse in every way".
I just think of this movie as the live action adaptation of the Ember Island Players
Congratulations. You guys are officially Avatar: the Last Airbender fans.
Their small moments of silence really speak volumes 😂
This reminds me of Eragon. I loved reading the book in high school, but when I saw the movie I actually flipped off the screen for a good while at the theater with my buddies laughing.
It's the ending of the movie that I really enjoyed. So much so, that I also bought the animated series.
Yeah, it suffered the same problems with casting, pacing, and character development. Thast being said, I could far more easily sit through Eragon agan over ATLA movie.
@@stevenpuckitt212 I think Eragon is a movie that if seperated from the source material isn't too terrible of a movie. It's not fantastic but it isn't as bad as the last airbender, which even for people who haven't seen ATLA is clearly a bad film.
Never noticed that they made Hama (the puppet master) a friend of gran gran in this movie…would have been interesting to see but makes the world feel too small
That's actually not a new thing. Hama was friends with Gran Gran in the show too. In Hama's flashbacks, you see a young girl that looks a lot like Katara and she's even wearing the same necklace. And she was close to Hama.
@@kwenasepuru4604 never saw that before…just looked it up!! Mind blown!!
The funniest thing to me is like, dude does 5 seconds of movements to throw 20 kg of rock
Jen probably forgets because it was so long ago, but the whole scene with finding of the bones was taken directly from the anime in episode 3, and of course I feel like they did a much better job with that whole part in the anime... i definately think that if jen watched that episode again shed probably connect with it alot more now that she knows the charecters better. Its actually one of two episodes that id actually say are really worth rewatching now that you have that deeper connection to the characters, the other episode being episode 11 the storm. (the storm is definately a fan favorite from season 1 too, and is what most people consider to be the turning point of where the show starts to get really good)
It's not an anime, it's a cartoon with Asian culture and Asian themes. That's like saying that Mulan is an anime😂 Also there were not that many corpes just laying around.
Episode 12 is the Storm. Also rewatch episode 13
The bones and monk were in a hut though, which made more sense since he removed all the air from the room killing the firebenders killing himself in the process. Finding his body just sitting in the dirt was an odd choice that clearly missed a lot fo the subtlety of the cartoon.
Fun Fact: I was almost in this movie back when they where still filming in 09!
I was still in high school at the time in Philadelphia where they where filming and they wanted extras with a 'martial arts background' (I was studying Tang So Do at the time) for pick ups.
There was a long line at city hall with people all dressed in martial arts gear and weapons. After 3 hours in line I finally got to the front and they asked me do some spinning kicks then took my photo and phone number and that was it. Of course this was before anyone knew what the movie would be and the hype around the city was real!
I didn't get a call back it but fair to say I dogged a bullet on being in this one. I still however got to hear stories from others who where on set like how the movie was filmed in rented out airport hangers in Philadelphia. All those scene with the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation are in airport hangers dressed to look like a counsel rooms. lol
16:02 i love how like 7 guys seem to work really hard to throw a really small stone, one 15 year old could have picked up and easily thrown that far by himself XD
You have to love how they addressed criticism towards a lack of diversity by keeping the all white protagonist cast but making the villains more 'diverse'. Amazing.
How does this shit happen 😭 HOW
Please watch avatar: the legend(s) of korra since it really fits with what you both liked in avatar. It's more mature over all and more anime-ish (i guess)
Quoting “that’s rough buddy” unprompted makes you a true avatar fan
How does Jen not remember the scene of Aang finding his old master's skeleton in the animated series? And she liked dark Iroh lol
It's almost like M Night never took the time to watch avatar and went strictly off of his interpretation of events and pronunciation from the cliff notes. lol
Every fan of avatar has to endure this once in a lifetime
Dude had the audacity of saying he tried to stay true to the source material lol
Your dog looked immediately upset about this movie, and has like a thousand yard stare the entire time. You know its a bad movie when the dog looks like that
Boston LOVED watching Avatar, so I can only imagine this hurt her.
Here, Firebenders can't make their own fire but Zuko can suddenly produce a massive amount of heat when he was trapped on the water sneaking inside the Northern Water Tribe. That's pretty convenient and inconsistent.
32:14 when jen talks about the flashbacks and how she wished there was more in book 1 of the animated series, i'm confused. there WAS plenty of that in the animated series. you got to see him and his connection with Monk Gyatso. you saw them make pies together and throw them at people, you saw them playing Pai sho. you saw him showing the other kids how to do the air scooter. perhaps you simply forgot?
Perhaps she forgot lol. Perhaps she just wishes there were more than what we got.
I think it's because they weren't really paying attention in book 1 because they were still hung up on it being a "childish, kid's show."
@@Goomyx1492 yea i also struggled so much during book 1 and parts of book 2. Shows hard to get into if you're an adult and didnt watch it as a kid
They seem to have forgot things about season 1 like when Jet returns in season 2 one of them ask have we seen him before I was yelling at my phone there is literally an episode named after him in season 1
Animated show: 6 guys all earth bend together and the entire landscape is changed.
Movie: 6 guys all earth bend together and a relatively small rock moves about as fast as a single normal guy could throw it with his bare hands.
I remember being super excited about this movie when it was coming out. I thought the marketing for it worked really well. It did look like it was going to be good, until we saw what Shyamalan did with it. Nickelodeon actually released a “sneak peak” a few days before the movie with interviews and behind the scenes stuff which was really where I started to see red flags. That’s where I first heard Shyamalan explain that he was changing the pronunciation of the names of characters because he knows how they “should” be pronounced because he’s “Asian” because he’s Indian, and India is indeed in Asia… so I guess that checks out… 🤔 Completely ignoring the fact that the names of people, characters and any written language in the show is Chinese and the show is, ya know, set in a fictional world created by Americans. I think this movie is a prime example of what happens when a director really has no love for the source material. He states in one of the interviews that he basically just made the movie because his kids loved the show and he thought it would be cool to make it because his kids would think it was cool. I don’t think he really understood how diverse the fan base for the show was and didn’t see the appeal to older audiences who enjoy good storytelling, epic worldbuilding, strong character development, well choreographed martial arts, etc. I had a LOT of respect Mr. Shyamalan as a director before he made this, but I kinda have a hard time appreciating any of his work now. To be fair, that’s not really on him, that’s on me. His earlier works like signs and unbreakable are good movies. I just think in his attempt to do something nice for his kids, he created something that was really damaging to the series, the fans, and his career. I wish other directors would learn from this, but this is not the only instance of this happening. We need passionate directors who know their audience and will serve them well. (Also studios who don’t make stupid decisions, but that’s a topic for another time.)
7:02 I can never thank you enough Devin for shots like these...just can't get enough of that adorable-yet-derpy face
Ahahaha I got you!
This was the first time as a kid I could tell a movie was bad, I didn't understand the feeling coz as a kid anything adventure never feels like a bad movie but this was my first movie heartbreak for sure
Fun fact (or sad fact) The amount of time to reveal Aang in the ice is the same in the movie and the show. The show still managed to establish Sokka's and Katara's characters and relationship in that amount of time. The movie chose to skip it and show an interpterion of a few clips instead.
the show had many inspirations from real life cultures. The water tribe is loosely based on Inuit culture.
I cannot tell you how excited i was to see this movie. The series is very personal and to see a talented director like M.Night Shymalan tackle it sounded awesome. Never saw it in theaters thankfully. By the time i did watch it….i was HEARTBROKEN. Im sorry y’all had to watch it,but now you understand the pain.
“Things are worse than ever!” took me out 💀💀💀💀
My brother and I loved the animated series. Our father was a multi Emmy award winning Ex. Producer. We dragged him to the theater as adults. We were so embarrassed we wanted to drag him out of the theater about 30min in…
I know a lot of people use Starship Troopers as an example but I agree with them, I absolutely love The Starship Troopers movie and I love the book, both are 10/10 but if I had to rate the movie on how great it adapted the book it would be 1/10. I don't care how well it adapted the show (which I love) I just hate that it's so boring and stupid on it's own
A little thing. The actress who played Princess Yue, went on to playing an important character in Legend of Korra.
The southern water tribe are natives with facial features from different tribes, but they’re mostly based on Alaska natives,(Eskimo, Inuit). The clothes, the culture, the hunting, AND MOST NOTABLY the badass Eskimo sun goggles(sunglasses) the avatar forces wore during the solar eclipse. Fun fact Eskimos invented sunglasses look it up.
Having seen this movie before seeing the original ATLA I never had a problem with it. In fact, I remember enjoying it immensely. The years went by and I finally found myself watching ATLA for the first time several months ago. I have watched the entire series three times since, watched ‘Korra’ once, watched multiple reactions here on UA-cam and read through several of the sequel graphic novels. Now, having watched this again with Holden and Jenn, (full body shiver) I suffered from nearly constant cringing over everything from the pronunciations to the pacing to the poor character translations. Far too many issues to list here 😢
You know what's harder than watching this movie... watching someone else watch this movie. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten Holden
I saw the movie before watching the series, and it actually got me to watch the series. Watching this, while terrible, showed me that this material could have been done SO much better, so I checked out the cartoon and loved it.
The bending in this movie takes FOREVER. In the series, every punch or movement creates a movement in the element. It’s very snappy and quick. In this film it takes five moves to have anything happen.
Ah, yes... The infamous 5 Earth Benders and the randomly floating rock.
Its almost as if M. Night didn't bother watching the show but had someone recap it to him 4 years after they watched it. Fun fact though the girl playing Princess Yui also voices Asimi in The Legend of Kora.
Really hoping you do Korra next, its more mature and I’m sure you will love it
Response from M. Night: "Thanks for the review, Hildon and Jan!"
in the live action tv series coming out, they want Katara to be the oldest and Soka as the younger sibling but they're keeping Aangs age the same and they also want sex scenes in the show as well. So me personally i think the live action tv series is going to flop with these changes because there is no need to switch anything up about the tv show. That is the actress who played in Transformers 4 and the actor who plays Soka also played in Twilight as well
This isn’t true though
Ok your editing made this 10 times better Jawa Aang LMAO. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I guess you guys missed the part with Earthbenders being surrounded by earth in their prison but ok
Are you guys planning to do Legend of Korra?? It’s the series sequel and I think you guys would enjoy the darker tones more. I do understand if you would like to move on from the series as well since you guys were not completely into it at first.
Fun fact: the actress for Yue in this ended up voicing one of the leads in Korra!
LMAO I honestly can't wait to see your reactions to this awful adaptation 😂
Edit: This movie is laughable now lol. I do hope you two watch The Legend of Korra, despite what a lot of people say, I think it's an enjoyable show. Especially season 3. It does have it's ups and downs (Season 2 was rough) but overall I think you two will like it. I feel like Jenn especially will love Korra.
Water Tribe are Inuit, Earth Kingdom are China(Ming if I had to guess), Fire Nation are Imperial Japan and Air Nomads are Buddhist Tibet.
25:00 smol Azula also briefly appeared in the Storm episode, watching gleefully as her brother got his scar. But what is interesting is that I think Ozai didn't appear until Book 3 and here he is spoiled very early.
29:00 he served as an anchor/channel for very vengeful and very powerful ocean spirit.
Fire Nation has Chinese influnce too,names,Dragons being thier icons,and China genocided Tibetian monks.
i really hope you both decide to watch The Legend of Korra it actually got cancelled and relegated to internet only viewing because Nick thought it was getting too mature and even though it got hate at the time for not being what the fans wanted it really turned out to be what the universe needed its aged so much better then original oppinions would leave you to believe
I was more along Jen when this first came out, but I was in denial lol. I quickly became more like Holden. One of my favorite reactions to this is the Ember Island episode tag gag, where they come out of the play complaining about how awful of an adaptation it was, and then Sokka says "but the effects were alright."
I feel bad for them. They're going to need years of therapy to be able to recover from this 😔
Not me I am a big fan of AVATAR the last Airbender but I adore so much the movie this is a pure genius to make this movie because I cried a few times in the movie and contrary to other people who watched and earned the names me I clearly earned the Aang name they don’t change the name for Sokka this is similar to Aang I clearly earned Sokka That means because all people who don’t like the movie are dumb because they don’t want a new story but me I thought about the movie this is the best movie ever of Avatar the last Airbender And I probably the only person who love the movie because the movie is so good and beautiful the effects are amazing
One(of so many things) is how they show the fire lord like it's nothing, in the animated series he was kept in the shadows for two seasons, but here he just walks into the scene like no big deal, then for no reason the next time we see him he's shot from behind so we only hear him and see his hand 🤷, then it goes back to showing him.
The one good thing from this trash fire is that Yue's live action actress impressed Mike and Bryan (the two creators of the original series) so much that they offered her a main part in their Avatar sequel series, the character of Asami.
24:53 - Wrong. Azula was actually shown much eariler in book 1 during THE STORM Episode where we see Azula next to Uncle Iroh in Zuko's Flashback during the fight between him and his dad.
To my understanding, the actor who played Aang was actually a lot like the character; energetic, expressive, and fun. But then he was actually _directed_ to act emotionless and wooden.
I feel very sorry for him, and everyone in this movie. They were likely all better actors than we see here, or at least had potential to be with good direction. They didn't deserve this.
Also, a huge failure about this movie (among *many*) that infects the whole thing and makes it bad even standing separate from the cartoon; M. Night failed to understand that bending IS the martial art. In the movie it behaves as though bending is summoned by doing martial arts, so they had them dance around a bunch and _then_ something happens. Bending isn't casting a spell, it very arguably wouldn't qualify as magic, it's an extension of the body. And if you don't make it behave like an extension of the body, it just looks really dang awkward and slow.
13:55 hahahahahahahaha I TOTALLY missed that! I’m usually really good with faces.
Holden your doing your wife a disservice by making her watch this lol. Also I would seriously pay to watch this movie in theaters with your edits lol.
This is the first movie I can ever remember hating. When you’re a kid you kinda just take whatever entertainment is put in front of you, but I distinctly remember despising this one, especially after finishing the show.