Some thoughts on Last airbender
Apr. 13th, 2010 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kd7sovSomehow, I'm not entirely sure I want to see Last Airbender anymore, even to invoke Ember Island Players.
Here's why...
As more details and reviews of pre-screenings and such are released, it's sounding less and less like it'll be any good. Well, let me back up a moment.
Ten years ago, if you had asked me if I'd see a movie based on The Dark is Rising, I would have given me an unequivocal yes. Three years ago? Not a chance. (I mean, unless it turned into Tarzan, with dozens of movies.) I investigated a little, and determined that, while it was possible The Seeker might be a good movie, it was an utter disgrace as an adaptation. I'm wondering if the reverse might not be the case here: a potentially-decent adaptation (although that's looking more unlikely), but a really cruddy movie.
Part of that, I think, is to do with a fundamental flaw in the concept. Many movies, I'm sure you'll agree, are adaptations of one thing or another - books, true stories, other movies, etc. There are many, many movies based on TV shows, and yet I can't think of a single case of a movie trying to retell the events of some portion of a show. The closest thing I can think of is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which took characters, events, and situations from a single episode and explored the question of what happened to them when that episode was over. And that's what you want to do with a TV-show movie: sequels, prequels, ficbiopics of lesser characters...
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1 has twenty episodes, of which perhaps five could reasonably be excised or drastically truncated without making it impossible to adapt the rest of the series. Given that each of these episodes is half an hour, as well as the fact that a movie would need transitions, and you're looking at either a ten- or twelve-hour movie or not much in the way of characterization, motivation, or cohesive story.
The Harry Potter movies are frequently criticized for being largely incomprehensible to those who haven't read the books. It looks to me like this will have the same problem, several times worse.
Here's why...
As more details and reviews of pre-screenings and such are released, it's sounding less and less like it'll be any good. Well, let me back up a moment.
Ten years ago, if you had asked me if I'd see a movie based on The Dark is Rising, I would have given me an unequivocal yes. Three years ago? Not a chance. (I mean, unless it turned into Tarzan, with dozens of movies.) I investigated a little, and determined that, while it was possible The Seeker might be a good movie, it was an utter disgrace as an adaptation. I'm wondering if the reverse might not be the case here: a potentially-decent adaptation (although that's looking more unlikely), but a really cruddy movie.
Part of that, I think, is to do with a fundamental flaw in the concept. Many movies, I'm sure you'll agree, are adaptations of one thing or another - books, true stories, other movies, etc. There are many, many movies based on TV shows, and yet I can't think of a single case of a movie trying to retell the events of some portion of a show. The closest thing I can think of is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which took characters, events, and situations from a single episode and explored the question of what happened to them when that episode was over. And that's what you want to do with a TV-show movie: sequels, prequels, ficbiopics of lesser characters...
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Book 1 has twenty episodes, of which perhaps five could reasonably be excised or drastically truncated without making it impossible to adapt the rest of the series. Given that each of these episodes is half an hour, as well as the fact that a movie would need transitions, and you're looking at either a ten- or twelve-hour movie or not much in the way of characterization, motivation, or cohesive story.
The Harry Potter movies are frequently criticized for being largely incomprehensible to those who haven't read the books. It looks to me like this will have the same problem, several times worse.
