--- Registration is closed. I don't want your Cialis. ---

Author Topic: The Last Racebender  (Read 20584 times)

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
The Last Racebender
« on: Feb 11, 2010, 04:45:01 PM »
This is where I bitch and moan and whine about M. Night Shyamalan's latest fuck-up, The Last Airbender.  This is a live action film based on the Nickelodeon animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender".  [NOTE: it could not be called "Avatar" anywhere in the title for the movie due to James Cameron.  I may call the TV series Avatar here so don't get confused.]

Here's a bit about the series in as few words as possible --

Avatar: TLA was divded into three books: WATER, EARTH, and FIRE.  Each one of these was a season of the show, so yeah, three seasons.  The Avatar is a single being that appears once a generation or so.  They are born with the ability to master all four elements AIR, WATER, EARTH, and FIRE.  The world is also divided into nations that match the four elements.  The Avatar is born to one of these nations (each one gets a turn basically) and must venture to the other countries to learn the other three elements.  Not everyone in the A:TLA universe can use elemental magic, but some people can.  These people can only use their own country's element:

The AIR nomads: Based off of Tibetan monks.  Unlike the other three, every AIR nomad is an air bender.  The Fire Nation killed all of them but missed Aang, who happens to be his generation's Avatar.

The WATER tribe: Based off of Inuit people, these are generally dark-skinned people who live in ice dwellings at the North and South poles.  In the North, the women water benders heal and the men water benders fight and they have an enormous ice city.  In the South, both genders fought but the Southern people were nearly decimated.

The EARTH kingdom: The largest country and most diverse group based off of China, Korea, and some of Japan and India.  Ruled by the Earth King.  Not affected as much by the war as the AIR and WATER people.

The FIRE nation: A small but powerful, semi-industrialized, and colonial nation influenced primarily by China.  Ruled by the Fire Lord.  They had the last avatar, Avatar Roku.  After Roku's death, the Fire Lord ordered the Air Nomads destroyed in order to kill the next avatar and end the cycle.  They are on a campaign to take over the world.

This is someone's fan art but it gives a nice over view of the characters, their costumes, and how freaking Asian they are.
Also, some Water Tribe folks.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #1 on: Feb 11, 2010, 04:46:26 PM »
Here's how they casted most of the primary characters.  Light characters turn dark, dark characters become white people, and there's not one slanty eye in the bunch.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #2 on: Feb 11, 2010, 04:57:27 PM »
Behold, the Fire Nation becomes Indian overnight:

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #3 on: Feb 11, 2010, 05:00:06 PM »
Soon after the casting was announced, co-creater Bryan Konietzko drew the following picture:

Faye Valentine

  • Peruvian Greenie
  • Vending Machine Panties
  • *******
  • Posts: 7832
  • Owl Pellets: 2105
    • View Profile
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #4 on: Feb 11, 2010, 05:00:40 PM »
And not even one hot guy!

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #5 on: Feb 11, 2010, 05:38:48 PM »
And not even one hot guy!

I call this lacking The Hot Guy Quotient or Dismissing The Boone Factor.  I think too many movies and shows ignore the need for a hot guy.  Also, Chris Pine and Channing Tatum are not hot.  They are douches.  The Heroes guy playing Spock was hotter than Chris "Asshat" Pine.

Common fan crush Fire Nation Prince Zuko should've been someone hot.  At first they casted Jesse McCartney and people were all "FTW, everyone's white".
Then he mysteriously dropped out and Slumdog kid Dev Patel is casted as Zuko, when it's glaringly obvious not only is that even more wrong than casting Jesse McCartney, but that fun-loving Dev is a better fit for Sokka, one of the other male leads.  Merla, a confirmed Zuko fan, was in much disappoint.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #6 on: Feb 11, 2010, 05:40:45 PM »
The Martial Arts

In A:TLA, Aang, the hero and avatar, must master the other three elements in order to be powerful enough to face the Fire Lord.  As I said in the other thread, all of the bending from the four nations was based on real martial arts coordinated by real martial artists, Sifu Kisu and his friend Sifu Manuel Rodriguez, and brings in Northern Shaolin, Southern Praying Mantis, Hung Gar style Kung Fu, Tai Chi, etc.  Instead, the movie producers said "No, thanks."  From the looks of footage, the martial arts looks like ass.  Sifu Kisu posts at AvatarSpirit.net and some other places as lokhopkuen.

Quote from: Sifu Kisu
M. Night originally wanted me to train the actors and help with the Martial Arts in the film but well it didn't work out that way....

The length of time to create the battles depends first on what the script for that particular show calls for and how many beats of action are in a particular sequence. To map it out we meet several times over a three - Four week period while the director and the storyboard artists map out the various framing and camera angles. When all of this is set I come back in and they film the active martial art movements from the required angles framed in the manner selected by the director then the boards are sent away to the Korean animation houses for "tweens" and final animation. When all is said and done we have spent over $1,000,000 dollars per each episode from start to finish.

Quote from: Sifu Kisu
No not really. I had a breakfast meeting with the director at the Bel Air hotel

where I explained my philosophies about bending and how it's manifestation was built on "coming from and going to" not just appearing out of thin air for no reason. That it required impetus flowing from beginning, middle to an end. If you look at your favorite characters and their bending styles you'll see how it all starts from the breathing. Breath was a tricky concept for the animators because unless it is highly exaggerated it just does not register on screen. I was tickled later to read an article in some magazine where M. Night quoted me word for word. (no credit given LOL!)
M. Night considers himself a martial art enthusiast as he has studied Kenpo for many years and he thinks outside the box as you can see from his body of work in film. One of the last conversations I had with one of his underlings was that "they decided to go in a different direction martial art wise"....

M. Night sticks his foot in his mouth, again:
Quote from: M. Night Shyamalan
What is funny is that you can see so many influences in the cartoon with scenes almost copied entirely from martial art movies, but I wanted the live action film to be truly original with action scenes you had never seen before.

WRONG.

Quote from: Sifu Kisu
Well when I first saw the trailer I got excited because the special effects looked great (barring the ((less than polished)) martial arts staff sequence which I overlooked with sympathy 'cause I told them "how" to make it right and apparently the martial art is not priority...) the more I hear about elements related to the film, the fact the guy lies about the silliest things, the race issue (sad) all puts it way on the back burner of my movie go see list.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #7 on: Feb 11, 2010, 06:05:23 PM »
BTW, The Last Airbender is supposed to be one of three movies, with each movie representing a book/TV-season of the show.

FOOTAGE

First Trailer -
feature=related
Behold the poor stick work, among other things.  This looks like a kid who got into the props closet.  The character of Aang is not a novice martial artist.  This fails.  Visuals are gorgeous at least.

Superbowl Spot -
feature=related
Notice the oddly placed white folks in an Inuit village.

Second Trailer -
If only the casting was decent, costumes weren't a little less off, and the martial arts competent (1:12, I'm looking at you) because again the visuals are stunning.  How did they get the sets so perfect and the people so terrible?  Too bad.


Also, the chick playing the female lead, Katara, is the bratty daughter of Wendy's owner billionaire Nelson Peltz.  I don't know what I hate more about her as Katara: that goldfish stare or her simpering during her one line in the trailer.  I call bullshit and bet daddy bought her the part.  Fuck them and fuck their chicken nuggets.  A self-serving blurb about Nicola Peltz.

Executive Producer Frank Marshall had the balls to say casting white folks as the main characters was meant to promote "diversity" or some bullshit like that.

Among those who disagree are Roger Ebert in his Answerman column:
Quote from: Roger Ebert
The original series Avatar: The Last Airbender was highly regarded and popular for three seasons on Nickelodeon. Its fans take it for granted that its heroes are Asian. Why would Paramount and Shyamalan go out of their way to offend these fans? There are many young Asian actors capable of playing the parts.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #8 on: Feb 11, 2010, 09:38:18 PM »
Merla adds that Zuko is not properly scarred.  It looks better up close but the distance shots create a bit of a problem, especially since they gave Zuko a head full of hair when he's not supposed to have one yet.

Karmarose

  • Thermite Paint!
  • Crunchy Greenie
  • Erotic Plastic Snowman
  • **
  • Posts: 90
  • Owl Pellets: 3
    • View Profile
    • http://geminipersona.deviantart.com
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #9 on: Feb 11, 2010, 10:16:18 PM »
I know little of the show other than the hilarious antics of Zutara psychos, the ED page and basic characters, but holishit what's with that fucking cast list? o.o No Asians? Why the changes ?
This movie will be fail and make Avatar fans super rage.
« Last Edit: Feb 11, 2010, 10:18:25 PM by Karmarose »

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #10 on: Feb 11, 2010, 10:33:24 PM »
The ED page including what happened to Sifu Kisu?  Something about people shipping him with Avatar characters like he was a fictional character himself?  Or did they draw him in pr0n?  I don't remember much about that, but Sifu Kisu came to mind when you mentioned ED.

Zutara is nuts.  I like the pairing myself, but I can't even look for pics of the single characters without some fantasy art popping up.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #11 on: Feb 11, 2010, 10:36:38 PM »
Some pics:

Noah Ringer as Aang.  Little Texas boy with an empty soulless stare, which is weird since Aang is a relatively joyful character.  I think I could've lived with him being casted as white through it's hella weird to have him basically be a Tibetan monk.  Asian boys into martial arts, are these really in short supply?  Not to sound even more superficial, but does he look fat to anyone else?  Maybe he should've taken up Aang's vegan habits.

Also, he apparently knows some karate or some unrelated shit.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #12 on: Feb 11, 2010, 10:43:19 PM »
Nicola Peltz and Twilight douche Jackson Rathbone (he plays a Jasper Hale, whoever the fuck that is) as Southern Water Tribe siblings Katara and Sokka.  Katara is the last waterbender of her tribe.  Her brother can't bend at all and has to use his boomerang and other mad skillz to compensate.

I think these two are the most insulting parts of the casting.  These two roles HAD to go to people of color.  They HAD to.  WTF.

Jackson Rathboner's response: All I needz iz a tan!!111

If you look carefully in the last trailer I posted above, you'll see they actually had the cajones to go and make most of the other villagers Inuit.

Common excuse seems to be that these two were the best ones for the job?  ORLY?  Neither one has much in the way of credits.  Certainly not enough to argue they should be allowed to carry the movie over an unknown person of color.  Neither one has a martial arts background either.  Better qualified my ass.
« Last Edit: Feb 11, 2010, 10:46:47 PM by B E C K »

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #13 on: Feb 11, 2010, 10:49:54 PM »
Prince Zuko was originally Jesse McCartney but then M. Night farted or something and everyone became brown.  Why just look at the pictures.  The resemblence is truly.... truly... TRULY!

If you see any on the net when he has hair, DISMISS them.  Those come later.  Zuko has that one topnot for the entire Water Book of Avatar:TLA so he should've been the same in the first movie... which I hope will be the last movie.

Also, his costume looks like he raided fucking Bed, Bath & Beyond.
« Last Edit: Feb 11, 2010, 11:13:58 PM by B E C K »

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #14 on: Feb 11, 2010, 10:59:30 PM »
Uncle Iroh makes me weep.  Uncle Iroh travels with his nephew Zuko, taking care of him and seeing him as his own son.  He is a happy, jolly guy: Like Asian Santa Claus except he can kick your fucking ass.  Although he helps his nephew, he still operates under the important tenet that balance must be maintained in the world and thus also supports the mission of the avatar.  He should NOT scare small children with his appearance. 

You can also see him in the bottom left of the second pic.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #15 on: Feb 11, 2010, 11:04:10 PM »
From: http://youbentmywookie.com/entertainment/m-night-reinterpreting-instead-of-adapting-the-last-airbender-franchise-6803

Quote
M. Night Reinterpreting Instead Of Adapting ‘The Last Airbender’ Franchise?
Posted by WebMonkey on August 8th, 2009

While promoting the TV show “Trauma,” Cliff Curtis who plays Fire Lord Ozai in Paramounts’ “The Last Airbender” spoke to the press at the Television Critics Association summer press tour saying, “I’m kind of like the Darth Vader character for that [The Last Airbender] franchise.”

Based on the popular Nickelodeon series “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming fantasy movie is seemingly more of a reinterpretation inspired by Star Wars than a faithful adaptation of the animated series.

“I think that M. Night’s a really interesting filmmaker, and when he spoke to me about it, he said that one of the most influential films he ever saw was Star Wars,” Curtis said. “For him, this was his Star Wars that he wanted to make, so I thought that’s a really interesting way to have a look at this kind of franchise.”

According to Curtis, he has not watched the original show for reference or research. “I haven’t watched the TV series to get confused by it,” Curtis said. Instead, he will take directions and pointers directly from the vision of Shyamalan. “I wanted to take his lead on what way he wanted to take the franchise. He’s had to condense, I don’t know how many episodes, but two or three years’ worth of television episodes into three movies.”

Curtis adds that his character “The fire lord loves fire,” and that “He’s responsible for it. He’s sharing it with the rest of the planet.” (Eh????)

When speaking about his costume, Curtis had nothing but high praises, despite it deviating heavily from the Asian inspired costume of the original show. “Outstanding, the most beautiful costume I’ve ever had in my career, actually.”

“It’s sort of like a cross between Roman and kind of Greek, [a] gold, Roman and Greek military/samurai military [uniform]. It’s really, really beautiful.” (Sokka slaps forehead)

Wow, they threw in three cultures into those Fire Nation uniforms and still managed to get NONE of them right.

SW is just EW.  If that were the case, it wouldn't get shitty until he decided to tack on three prequels.

The Firelord does not want to share fire.  He's a genocidal overlord, not a fucking hippy.

BTW, bolding inside the article mine but internal comments are not.
« Last Edit: Feb 11, 2010, 11:13:08 PM by B E C K »

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #16 on: Feb 11, 2010, 11:11:24 PM »
Also the show uses Chinese calligraphy and through I can't find a source right now, I hear it's to be reduced to stylistic giberish.  This one's really stupid because the people on the film don't even have to translate much of anything.  The staff for the show already did the hard work for the cartoon.  It was just a matter of copying the damn signage.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #17 on: Feb 11, 2010, 11:22:30 PM »
Snipped from promotional material at their website.  Should you like these images enough to want the full wallpaper, they're there at the offical movie site: http://www.thelastairbendermovie.com/

The funny thing with heavy shadow and gratuitous black is that either it's so bad you need to cover it up or it's so cool that it's too badass for proper lighting.  I'm going with the former.

Faye Valentine

  • Peruvian Greenie
  • Vending Machine Panties
  • *******
  • Posts: 7832
  • Owl Pellets: 2105
    • View Profile
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #18 on: Feb 12, 2010, 07:42:17 AM »
Omg all these pics make it look like its going to be as much as a failure as DB. I expect the same for when CB comes out. And yes the characters don't look alike at ALL. And fuck Shamyalan for trying to cast indians for parts they shouldn't even been doing (cause they don't look like the characters).
Ahh, c'est Hollywood

Rama

  • The Laziest Man on Mars
  • Crunchy Greenie
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 10360
  • Owl Pellets: 1124
  • Sex Robot...Sex Robot
    • View Profile
    • Radioactive Theater
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #19 on: Feb 12, 2010, 12:34:09 PM »
At least the costume department is doing a pretty good job.

Faye Valentine

  • Peruvian Greenie
  • Vending Machine Panties
  • *******
  • Posts: 7832
  • Owl Pellets: 2105
    • View Profile
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #20 on: Feb 12, 2010, 04:21:56 PM »
What are you talking about, none of the costumes in the anime/cartoon still look like (or are the same color as) the ones real people are wearing in the pics.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #21 on: Feb 12, 2010, 04:35:58 PM »
Omg all these pics make it look like its going to be as much as a failure as DB. I expect the same for when CB comes out.

Has there even been any word on that aside from Keanu being cast?  Maybe it'll die in Production Hell.  And Akira is also taking a long ass time and I'm still undecided whether or not possible direction from the Book of Eli's Hughes Bros. is encouraging or not.

Quote
And yes the characters don't look alike at ALL. And fuck Shamyalan for trying to cast indians for parts they shouldn't even been doing (cause they don't look like the characters).

I would've done:
AIR: Asian, emphasis on peoples of Tibet, India, or China.  They're based on monks anyway.  From a Hollyweird standpoint, most of the Air Nomads are dead so there wouldn't be a hell of a lot to cast other than Aang, Monk Gyatso, and Avatar Yangchen for flashback purposes.

WATER: Native American, Inuit, island people like the Maori and Tongans, possible some Latino.

EARTH: This is the hugest, most diverse set of people.  The ruling people I would go with Korean and Chinese and other East Asian people, specifically the Earth King, the Dai-li and Long Feng*, the officials like Ju-dee, and the elite rich like Toph Bei-fong.  (Who, as you note, all have freaking Asian names!)  Japanese for the Kyoshi Island people.  There's a character called Guru Patik who's clearly Indian, who would likely be in a third movie should it be made.  Sandbenders would be Middle Eastern, African peoples, etc.  However, there's refugees, merchants, side characters like Bumi and the Boulder, and a vast array of other people who could be cast as almost any ethnicity.  

*Long Feng was voiced brilliantly by Clancy Brown, however I'm certain if they get to a second movie, god forbid, they will be certain to make him Asian because he's BAD and therefore can't be white in this universe.   ::)

FIRE: Chinese and East Asian for the ruling class, including every brown guy in this freaking thread.  For the army, generals, and such, it could probably be mixed.  Especially for those away from home, since the Fire Nation has multiple colonies.  JASON ISAACS as Zhou goddammit.  Sifu Kisu should play Master Piandao, since the character was freaking modeled after him.  The archers looked different than the ruling class, so they could probably be any race.  The Sun People are clearly Native American types, prime for Latino casting.

There's also some dragons and spirits who could really be anybody.

The vast majority of props, writing, architecture, martials arts, philosophy, etc takes from China, Korea, Indian, and Native peoples.  The majority of the characters were designed based off of the Korean animators themselves, their friends and family.  They should've been 80-90% of the casting.

Also, when this movie was casted, lead roles and such specifically asked for Caucasian.  When it was time for extras, everyone else was invited and told to wear their headscarves, kimonos, and lederhosen.  (I'm not being sarcastic either!  That really happened!)

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #22 on: Feb 12, 2010, 04:43:53 PM »
At least the costume department is doing a pretty good job.

It's decent in general, but it fails in comparison to what it should've been.  You can tell they really rejected the predominate Chinese-influences in the costuming for the Fire Nation, especially in the armor.  Zuko's looked like he was cold and stole rugs and sheets from Target.  Aang's shirt looks straight from a catalog and I don't know what the hell's going on with his wrists, calves, and feet, but it's all wrong.  I'll pass the Water Tribe costumes, however.  Except for that necklace of Katara's.  It's a betrothal necklace and they should've made it less obvious that I can go buy one at Kohl's.


EDIT: Granted, that's not a good look at Suki's costume (the girl in the green picture) but that side view looks like they went to the Goodwill and bought a green sheet to throw over her.
« Last Edit: Feb 12, 2010, 04:54:53 PM by B E C K »

Rama

  • The Laziest Man on Mars
  • Crunchy Greenie
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 10360
  • Owl Pellets: 1124
  • Sex Robot...Sex Robot
    • View Profile
    • Radioactive Theater
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #23 on: Feb 12, 2010, 05:06:25 PM »
Well nothing is going to be 100%, but really the lack of Chinese themes might be more because of the fact that so many non-Chinese where cast for those parts.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #24 on: Feb 12, 2010, 05:28:42 PM »
No, nothing is 100% but there shouldn't be a lack of Chinese themes.  Reducing 100% to 30% because M. Night wanted to make slighty Asian-looking magic Star Wars is appalling.  The show was filled with Asian influences.  No matter how much or how little they scale back, Chinese aethetics should still be in the costumes.  Zuko's an exiled prince and a main character who should have a better made, more accurate costume.  Those armored dudes are full regalia Fire Nation army.  Giving Zuko Ranma Saotome's shirt is just being ignorant.  Throwing the soldiers into Greco-Roman inspired armor is also ignorant.  Aren't there enough American movies with Greco-Roman armor being used?  Aren't there also enough faux Samurai?  The other East Asian nations have their own histories and their own armor.  Especially China.  It screams of laziness and dismissal of the cultures that had actually been given a great deal of thought and research for the show.  It does, however, sound sadly in line with people who would ask Koreans to wear their kimonos (instead of something that's actually Korean, like a hanbok) to an audition.

Posting various examples of Chinese-style East Asian costumery:  (I'm aware the armor is a little tin foil looking, but disregard the finish.)

Rama

  • The Laziest Man on Mars
  • Crunchy Greenie
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 10360
  • Owl Pellets: 1124
  • Sex Robot...Sex Robot
    • View Profile
    • Radioactive Theater
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #25 on: Feb 13, 2010, 01:24:28 AM »
Well I'm not saying that's right, just saying that was probably the thinking. And really I hope this movie fails miserably for your sake, but after seeing what they did to Transformers and G.I.Joe and then looking at this I can't help but think it could be a lot, lot worse.

Derrick

  • Remember...
  • Crunchy Greenie
  • Vending Machine Panties
  • *******
  • Posts: 5635
  • Owl Pellets: 116
    • View Profile
    • Myspace
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #26 on: Feb 14, 2010, 09:12:20 AM »
I've only seen like 15 minutes of Transformers, because I couldn't continue with it. Keep in mind, I watched all of Dragon Ball Evolution even though that was a pile of shit.

I never liked Avatar, sooooooooo I have no opinion of this. I'll cheek it out on TNT in a few years.
I said its hot outside let me go swimming in your eyes;
We been running for awhile. Why don't you lay dow, I'll make you smile.
I could never ask for nothing better than this;
It's just tequila and the beach, it's quite salty when we kiss.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #27 on: Feb 14, 2010, 11:45:52 PM »
I feel like even touching or looking at the DVD cases for any of those movies gives me ebola.  And what does that do?  Leave at the mercy of Dustin Hoffman and Cuba Gooding Jr.!

This article brings up a good point: The trailer and spots so far emphasize ZOMG DRAMA and not the funny slapsick or cuter moments of the series. I have a feeling Sokka is gonna seriously lose his sense of humor for Twilight-esque moments of poutery.

<a href="
>Also, Jackson Rathbone can not say "Sokka"[/url].  It's "Sock-uh".  He keeps saying "Soak-uh".  Also, he screams of <a href="
>d-bag[/url].  Hey Jasper, Johnny Depp wants his look back!

Rama

  • The Laziest Man on Mars
  • Crunchy Greenie
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 10360
  • Owl Pellets: 1124
  • Sex Robot...Sex Robot
    • View Profile
    • Radioactive Theater
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #28 on: Feb 14, 2010, 11:49:36 PM »
I've only seen like 15 minutes of Transformers, because I couldn't continue with it. Keep in mind, I watched all of Dragon Ball Evolution even though that was a pile of shit.

I never liked Avatar, sooooooooo I have no opinion of this. I'll cheek it out on TNT in a few years.

Well like I said when I saw Dragonball, it actually stays closer to it's source material then Transformers does.

B E C K

  • 高橋 啓介 FANGIRL
  • Administrator
  • Your Personal Jesus
  • ********
  • Posts: 22444
  • Owl Pellets: 888
  • I ♥ 高橋 啓介!
    • View Profile
    • Rabbit In A Suit
Re: The Last Racebender
« Reply #29 on: Feb 14, 2010, 11:52:56 PM »
M. Night Shyamalan had a sense about 'Airbender': 'This would make a killer movie'.  Why link this?  Because IT COMPLETELY IGNORES THE RACE ISSUE, to many lulz.  The comments blow up at this.  I don't think every article about it needs to center on the topic, but it should be acknowledged somehow.  Then in the following article for that column on Percy Jackson, it has the balls to prefix:

Quote
Rachel Abramowitz stirred an avalanche of reader comments last week with her post on "The Last Airbender" and she may do the same with this update on the Hollywood treatment of a certain half-god.

As if she did it with her cutting-edge journalism and not for her head-in-the-sand, I've-got-a-fist-up-my-ass approach to touchy issues.

Also of note in that first column:

Quote
Shyamalan sees similar spiritual motiffs in “Star Wars” and “The Matrix."

God, can we stop trying to remake these movies already.  ::)  Hey, Shyamalan, give SW its color scheme back!