The Last Airbender

So, I just briefly read up on this, and I was curious. The main casting issue seems to be that everyone was given a Race Lift. What seems more jarring to me is the Dawson Casting- or rather, the inconsistency of it. They went to the trouble of finding an actual twelve year old to play Aang, but resort to Dawson Casting for all the other main characters? Huh? Am I the only one who sees the massive Squick potential in such a plan?

So far, all I've heard about this film is "Doom! Doom! Doom!!" and about relatively minor things that can can and might be changed at any time. I know there is a possibility that the studio (or someone else in charge) can screw the whole thing up, but if the writers from the original series are involved there's a good chance that it'll turn out well. Filming won't start for a few weeks now and the release could be as far as two years from now.

I remain cautiously optimistic, knowing that the original co-creators are working closely with Shyamalan.

Also, they're tapping James Newton Howard for the score, which has to be worth something.

Considering that M. Night Shyamalan hasn't done a good movie since Unbreakable, I suspect that this movie is going to suck.

At least this time he's working from some excellent source material. And I can't wait to see the trailers that frame it as a horror movie.

@Karalora: Every century one of them arrive to this world... They tought that it was over, but you can fight the powers that you don't understand... and two kids will unwisely befriend with THE LAST AIRBENDER...

At least this time he's working from some excellent source material.

There's plenty of room for adaptation decay, no matter how awesome the source material. Just ask Alan Moore. :)

It seems less likely when the original creators of the source material have also had a hand in the film script.

I'll believe it when I've rented it.

I pray to god that they do. And I think that the guy from Slumdog Millionaire will at least make a decent Zuko. Not because he's Indian- but at least he can act. Seriously. That was the reason I was so up in arms about Jesse Mc Cartney. Not because he's white, but because I think the producers looked at Zuko and didn't see this deep, conflicted character whose motivations and decisions are far and away the most interesting part of the show, they saw a package full of fangirl-bait, and decided they wanted to cash in on that.

^ This. Seeing Jesse Mc Cartney's name on the cast list was one of the biggest WTF?! moments of my life. I blame Mae Whitman.

It kind of sucks how the name Shyamalan now just inspires dread in people. He used to be such a popular name, too.

It might bode well for the movie if the reason for Shyamalan's downfall is because of his tendency to be an egotistical prick. We saw with Michael Bay that the power of a person's ego to destroy a film concept is considerably lessened when they're adapting something, as opposing to using an original idea.

I do agree that the problem with Shyamalan is his ego. Adapting someone else's material may help that.

I think repeated application of a sledgehammer would work better.

Hey, Unbreakable was pretty good! I don't know how he ended up with it.

edited 5th Mar '09 7:44:53 PM by CTrombley

Yeah, I liked Unbreakable as well. Unfortunately, Shyamalan has since become the directorial equivalent of Yngwie Malmsteen: a one-trick pony with a gargantuan ego.

Someone should get him and Uwe Boll together, then make popcorn.

Oh, come on he's not that bad.

Yeah, Boll might learn something in the process. I have to give Shyamalan his due; he knows how to make a movie look good.

Doesn't anyone want to hear why I blame Mae Whitman for the initial casting of Jesse Mc Cartney?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Yeah, go ahead. I suppose it's what the internet is for.

I actually kind of liked The Village although the "secret" was pretty honking obvious, and liked parts of Lady In The Water; I could have done without the director cameo, though, or some of the preciousness.

• cracks knuckles*

Mae Whitman, the voice of Katara in the series, recently voiced the title character in that Tinkerbell movie. (As a side note, this makes three Avatar V As who have also worked on Peter Pan-related projects.) Jesse Mc Cartney also played a role in this film. It's possible that the two got a chance to talk to each other outside the recording booth, where they might have discussed other past and potential acting projects, in which event it would emerge that Mc Cartney had been offered the role of Zuko in The Last Airbender, and Whitman would tell him "Go for it; it's a great story and a great character."

The teaser trailer is out.

I'm just sad that they're not making it a sequel to the series (although this does make sense). I want to see the search for Ursa.