As most everybody who saw M. Night Shyamalan's version of Avatar: the Last Airbender can agree on, it's that his movie sucked. No way around it. It was poorly written with chopped sequencing and sloppy dialogue. The acting was almost as bad as a Twilight movie (almost...). They even changed the annunciation of the character's names claiming that the cartoon got it wrong (even though that's where it originated). However, if Nickelodeon is smart, they've give it one more shot to see if it can work. Here's why:
1) The fan base - As bad as the first movie is, I can't be the only fan who still has a little joy while watching it simply because it is Avatar: the Last Airbender. The cartoon has an average rating of 9/10 on IMDB (from over 35,000 votes) and it's series finale reached all time high numbers in viewers with it being the number one show on broadcast and basic cable that week with an average of 5.6 million viewers. Almost four years later, it's sequel series The Legend of Korra premiered to 4.5 million viewers. These are numbers that say people want to see more and given another movie (with different direction, of course), those fans will easily be swayed back to a movie franchise. And with it...
2) The Money - The Last Airbender was made for approximately $150 million (not sure what promotion costs added though so that could make this whole point moot) and worldwide it brought in a little under $320 million. Shitty movie or not, that's a great number to have. Again, it shows what the fanbase can be. Now, those numbers may have dies very quickly and it's more than likely that most fans were very put off by it's quality afterwards but given the new cartoon's success, we know those fans are still there. However, money spent and money gained will mostly depend on...
3) Cast and Crew - If Nickelodeon goes with another movie, it will have to sever ties with most everybody from the first film. Shyamalan wrote this as a fan and for his kids, not with the mid of a movie maker. With that, it comes off more as a fanfilm and not a Hollywood movie. Bringing in new writers and a new director (series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko should absolutely be a part of that) is needed to change the pace and feel and to distance itself from the first a little. And in all honesty, there's always the chance that the cast will be better with new direction (possible, not likely). However, Airbender is still too new to just scrap and start over. Another movie would have to start where the last left off and that's the hard part; starting over without discounting what just happened. I know it's biased but I feel this could happen if given the right words and voice behind making it.
I can't be disappointed it another movie isn't ever made. By most standards, the first one was a bomb and that always scares studios and makers away. However, as a huge fan of the shows, I also feel there's too much potential to just let it fall to the side (Toph alone would bring me back). My pleas will fall on deaf ears, most certainly but that's why we start these stupid blogs, right? to cheer and bitch for the things we love and hate.
No comments:
Post a Comment