|
please just let avatar rest already, every new attempt to milk it just dilutes it more
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 04:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 16:35 |
|
|
Just finished up Avatar. Thought it was really well done. I enjoyed how they merged some of the stuff. I though weaving Jett, The Machinist, Secret Tunnel, and Bumi all into one storyline spanning two episodes was a great idea. I really enjoyed the live action adaptation of Bumi especially. I was worried about that one because that energy is hard to replicate. The actor did great though. More Arden Cho as June please. I wasn't really worried about that one but I also enjoyed it way more than expected. Also surprise early appearance of Wan Shi Tong! That was awesome! Loved Kyoshi being a super hardass too. Exactly as it should be.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 05:32
|
|
|
Junpei posted:Someone I know pointed out that it's harder to suspend your disbelief that a teenager could be making military decisions when they're in live action than in animation and I'm inclined to agree Funny part is that teenagers doing that is probably not unrealistic at all especially in the loosely medieval or even bronze age time periods the show is more or less set in. Hell, it's a whole thing in the Age of Sail.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 07:13
|
|
|
X-O posted:Also surprise early appearance of Wan Shi Tong! That was awesome! I liked the series, still a lot bugged me. Mini-rants about all that follows: They made Wan Shi Tong seem like a random mook. Him just randomly appearing in a dark forest and them dropping Zhao visiting him in the library, made him less the fun weirdo. Actually most of the spirit world was a bit disappointing, hard to do a budget. Forest at night with the fog machine on leaves a lot to be desired. The bending looked mostly good, but the logic behind the bending lost a lot in translation. They were having Aang do way too much with air bending. Why learn all the other elements when his air power seemed very OP. Need to put out a fire? Use air. Need to lift huge rocks? Just use air. He also "floated" high into the air way too easily without the glider in his normal form. If he's getting uplift, that's fine. But they were doing that with the grass below him not moving at all. Guru Laghima, is that you? Katara also going from novice to very skilled in like 3 episodes didn't play that great. I know she gets there, just could have maybe ramped up a little slower. From level 1 to 8 over 8 episodes, not to level 7 by episode 3. If Azula is going to be a menace, they need to crank her up to an 11. She was playing a menace at like a 6 and it didn't seem menacing at all. And what is it with the live action versions having problems with Aang "killing" Zhao. He wrecked poo poo on the navy, let him also take out the bad head man too. The heavy usage of Leaves from the Vine was also just straight cheating. Hopefully it still carries the same impact later. One reason Iroh's moment hits is because it comes together all at once as a sadness volcano. Cast was good, I thought Katara and Zuko did best out of the young cast. Iroh didn't quite have the gravitas I was hoping for (Mako could crank it to 11 when needed too), but Paul Sun-Hyung Lee still did a good job. Editing was really rough at points, both for action and continuity. With way too many cuts during most of the fights and action scenes. One Piece managed to handle this pretty smoothly. All the stunt people were clearly talented, you don't need to hack their moves up by constantly cutting because you think it'll be more frenetic and exciting. Any weaknesses in the movements will probably be covered by the elemental usage fx overlay anyway. As for the pacing. Like Aang never waterbended, right? I assume they're saving that for next season. Seems like the events of Imprisoned, The Fortuneteller, Bato of the Water Tribe and The Deserter weren't mentioned in conversation? I know they did have a few off screen episodes described, and the four I mentioned seemed like they weren't mentioned because they actually had some worthwhile material to potentially use later. So I wonder if they would move them to next season and maybe end season 2 on the Library? Them not naming the seasons after the books, and having Aang learn like zero waterbending this season would free them up to mix things around and possibly do four seasons if this proves popular. A lot of complaining there but overall it was good, I think they cut and moved content around in the right places. Series could have used some more quiet downtime moments that didn't have "PLOT PUSH, GO GO GO" weighing on them. So it falls between Cowboy Bebop (4 out of 10) and One Piece (8 out of 10) for me, probably more towards One Piece thankfully. So 6.5 out of 10. Teek fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Feb 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 07:16
|
|
|
Also it’s weird that they left in Pakku’s sexism but cut him finding out about Katara’s relationship to Gran-Gran or actually teaching either her or Aaang waterbending (which kind of defeats the point) The first episode is probably the weakest one but despite pacing problems it’s fine enough to keep watching and I hope this lives long enough to get another season Larryb fucked around with this message at 13:16 on Feb 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 13:14
|
|
|
Teek posted:If Azula is going to be a menace, they need to crank her up to an 11. She was playing a menace at like a 6 and it didn't seem menacing at all. Azula's gonna be a hard one to do in live action. Grey Griffin's performance doesn't remotely sound like a child (until right towards the end of her arc when she starts melting down) and that's a big part of why the whole thing works. She's hugely arch, bordering on camp, and that's something that doesn't fit with the tone they've gone for. And even disregarding that, the performance they've got here isn't intimidating in the least tbh.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 13:36
|
|
|
I thought the actress they got for the live action version was fine, she just needs to crank up the crazy a couple notches (what little we saw of Ty Lee and Mai was pretty good though)
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 13:51
|
|
|
Open Source Idiom posted:Azula's gonna be a hard one to do in live action. Grey Griffin's performance doesn't remotely sound like a child (until right towards the end of her arc when she starts melting down) and that's a big part of why the whole thing works. She's hugely arch, bordering on camp, and that's something that doesn't fit with the tone they've gone for. And even disregarding that, the performance they've got here isn't intimidating in the least tbh. Very much this. If Azula was acted the way she was in the cartoon, she would feel very out of place. That performance is so over the top in the cartoon and it fits awesomely there. I like the portrayal in the live action from what little we see in the first season. The ruthlessness and ambition is there, but also the jealousy of Zuko is there. The fear that if he does capture the Avatar it disrupts her ambitions. That's a good hook for this early showing of the character since we never got to see what she was doing at this time period in the original. Also seeing her power grow with the hints of the blue fire and the full on lightning was fantastic.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 16:41
|
|
|
Who needs original ideas when you can just plop out a sequel to a pre-existing property?  Nickelodeon orders Fairly Oddparents sequel series with original voice actors set to return. quote:Titled “Fairly OddParents: A New Wish,” the new series will see the return of voice actors Susanne Blakeslee and Daran Harris as Wanda and Cosmo, respectively. Nickelodeon has ordered 20 episodes of the series, which will debut on the cable channel this spring. The series will also be available on Netflix internationally later this year.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 17:58
|
|
|
Oh, is this gonna be the NATLA thread? I just finished it and I thought it finished...mostly...strong. The last three episodes really skyrocketed in quality, which was a relief because I thought the three or so episodes before those were pretty weak. I have many many many nitpicks of various things throughout, but I think my one most severe gripe, one that I think will probably color a lot of other people's reactions as well, is that this show overall doesn't have the sense of triumph, accomplishment, and catharsis that the cartoon did. For all that the original AtLA depicted a story about war, it also felt like the characters managed -- episode by episode -- to accomplish a lot and get a lot of wins under their belt...however incrementally, however small-scale. We got to see a bunch of kids going around inspiring rebellions, saving settlements, outwitting pirates and natural disasters and so on and so forth. The live-action show skips or truncates a lot of these stories for the sake of time, so unfortunately a win for Live Action Team Avatar generally means that not quite as many people suffered and died during an episode as they might have. This leads to this new series feeling more weighty or depressing than the cartoon, and it's not necessarily that it is all that much more weighty or depressing (although it...kinda is), the issue is more that we don't get the stories of victory and accomplishment to counterbalance all of that. And it adds up. The best part of the show is probably in the performances. I didn't like Katara much at first, when she almost entirely resembled her Ember Island Players parody, but she grew on me a bit by the end. Iroh also didn't seem right to me at first but, again, when all was said and done I do think he had great rapport with Zuko, which is what really matters. Zuko in particular, Dallas Liu, is probably the standout of the show...which, admittedly, is made easier by the fact that he gets to play the best character with the meatiest role. Just like in the original, he basically ends up being just as much the star of the show as Aang, who also does a great job here, and it would be a travesty if this series doesn't make both of them household names. Sokka was also quite good, and in particular I thought his story with Yue was much improved from the original. Making Yue much more of an ordinary girl, almost a bit of a cheeky wiseass, was probably the smartest and most effective change from the source, though there were some others. I have to say it, worst change was with Bumi. Which part of Bumi? Uh, well, all of him. I literally don't have time right now to go into all the ways that the show made every wrong decision they could've made with this character at every turn.
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 18:02
|
|
|
Yeah, episodes 1 and 4 were probably the worst of the bunch in my opinion (which sucks because Bumi’s debut is one of my favorite episodes of the original series) but I did like what they did with Suki, Yue, the Mechanist, and even Jet however Moving Zuko’s backstory to the Blue Spirit adaptation was a nice touch as well and putting Aang’s right at the start as a prologue worked well enough I suppose
|
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 18:12
|
|
|
As I said above I thought Bumi was great. I can see where some thought he came across more harsh than in the cartoon, and that's definitely true, but I thought the actor was great and I loved how they weaved several storylines together in the Omashu episodes. I think in the end Bumi as a character accomplished the same tasks as he did in the cartoon. The biggest whiff in the entire show for me was including the Secret Tunnel musicians. That just did not work in live action. Came off goofy and stupid. I get that it was kind of a beloved part of the cartoon, but it needed to stay there. X-O fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Feb 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 23, 2024 18:14
|
|
|
Junpei posted:Someone I know pointed out that it's harder to suspend your disbelief that a teenager could be making military decisions when they're in live action than in animation and I'm inclined to agree Only halfway through, but the first scene with the Fire Nation girls was a real "holy poo poo they're young for what they're all tangled up in" moment in live action for that reason. But that's also a valid storytelling point. X-O posted:As I said above I thought Bumi was great. I can see where some thought he came across more harsh than in the cartoon, and that's definitely true, but I thought the actor was great and I loved how they weaved several storylines together in the Omashu episodes. I think in the end Bumi as a character accomplished the same tasks as he did in the cartoon. I enjoyed him too. It made sense that they'd make some of these changes with it being less of a direct children's show and being more explicit and upfront about how the tragedy and hardship of a century long war has created a world full or broken people but in the end they preserved a lot of the original attitude/character by changing it from a story about Aang rediscovering an old friend to one about Aang helping an old friend rediscover himself. We didn't meet Bumi in the same place as we did in the animated version, but we left him in the same place, and that's Aang making positive change in the world.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 03:54
|
|
|
The problem with Bumi (and also Kyoshi) to me was that, in this show, they're frustrated and bitter at Aang for having ran away from his responsibilities and letting the world turn to poo poo. But...in this show, he didn't run away. He went for a nighttime drive in his mini cooper to clear his head, and was about to finish his trip and head home before a storm drove him off the road. So everything that happened is just flat out not his fault (and as Roku points out, he couldn't have prevented anything even if he was there), so all these people scolding him for not taking his job seriously enough -- which would be a completely valid thing to criticize cartoon Aang for -- just instead comes across as a bunch of weirdos bullying a child here in the live action. Like, Aang is literally telling Bumi, right then and there, that Aang needs to get to the North Pole asap so he can take responsibility and do his job and that Bumi keeping him captive in Omashu is preventing him from taking responsibility, all the while Bumi is grousing about Aang not taking responsibility. The messaging is all weird and annoying now. Also there were some white people jumpscares in Omashu and they didn't warn me about that 
BrianWilly fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Feb 24, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 07:05
|
|
|
A lot of that opening is dubious tbh. e.g. the way the story puts so much weight on Aang's relationship with a 70 year old monk. The cartoon uses that character as a stand-in for everyone who died in the massacre because it doesn't really want to have to deal with the implications of twenty dead Probably would have been a good idea to give him some friends if they really wanted to expand this sequence in any significant way. But, let's be honest, it's about milking the attack for spectacle rather than anything else. Open Source Idiom fucked around with this message at 08:20 on Feb 24, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 08:17
|
|
|
The Space Ghost clips got me intrigued, so I started watching Jellystone It's good to great, depending on the episode. Episodes focused on Augie/Yakky/Shag are usually the weakest, but it's still overall a good time.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 09:04
|
|
|
I just cannot take live action Azula seriously. I want to pinch her cheeks. https://twitter.com/GreyDeLisle/status/1609084640408797185?t=wayTjHXj97nZbTyQpL6Ugg&s=19
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 13:31
|
|
|
a neat cape posted:I just cannot take live action Azula seriously. I want to pinch her cheeks. She does have kind of a babyface, it's true.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 14:05
|
|
|
All the Fire Nation kids, even Zuko, have a bit of a baby face thing going on. But if the show is given time to run through its story, they’ll grow into the roles.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 14:33
|
|
|
I figure that's kind of the point, Azula shouldn't be some kind of political leader, she should be in grade 9 (freshmen?) math
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 14:42
|
|
|
a neat cape posted:https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1760770595942240476?t=acPaeSTfI7g1tmHziDn3DQ&s=19 Deeply frustrating because the next logical step is to switch focus to the next earth avatar and advance the world to the modern day.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 17:24
|
|
|
Didn’t they say something a while back about a new series coming in a few years as well?
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 17:34
|
|
|
readingatwork posted:Deeply frustrating because the next logical step is to switch focus to the next earth avatar and advance the world to the modern day. BUT WHAT IF IT ENDS UP LIKE KORRA? A GOOD SHOW THAT THE INTERNET AND THE STUDIO HATE FOR SOME REASON. (AND TO BE FAIR IT IS ALSO A VERY CENTRIST SHOW BUT MOST PEOPLE WHO BITCH ONLINE DON'T BITCH ABOUT THE ANTI-BLM 2008 DISCOURSE AND THE BAD PORTRAYAL OF ANARCHY).
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 17:48
|
|
|
Larryb posted:Didn’t they say something a while back about a new series coming in a few years as well? Yeah I think they've been saying that for a while now though. So it'll be interesting to see if and when it gets made. Maybe if the live-action generates enough interest in the brand, they'll finally make it? I don't know, I'd say "it'll never happen" but that's what I said about further Young Justice seasons after its initial cancellation and Greg Weisman had the last laugh there... I guess the real question would be that if the live-action generates the interest, are producers/platforms gonna insist that any future stuff also be live-action or will they let it be animation? readingatwork posted:Deeply frustrating because the next logical step is to switch focus to the next earth avatar and advance the world to the modern day. I think that miiiight be interesting but only for a really brief time. I mean I feel like it was kinda interesting that the Avatar as a concept was getting kinda outdated in Korra*, the more you go forward the more modern inventions (or modern in their world) are gonna be able to mimic/duplicate bending powers and it makes the Avatar less special. And personally I think that'd be a bummer. It's like telling a Superman story in a world where everyone has powers (or tech that mimics it), an interesting thought experiment but not something that could be dragged out for long. *also high level techniques were becoming more and more common, like lightning or metal bending were supposed to be special stuff that only a few people could do in Aang's time, but in Korra a bunch of schmoes down at the power plant are just firing lightning like it's nothing. In short: kidcoelacanth posted:please just let avatar rest already, every new attempt to milk it just dilutes it more
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 17:57
|
|
|
Covok posted:BUT WHAT IF IT ENDS UP LIKE KORRA? A GOOD SHOW THAT THE INTERNET AND THE STUDIO HATE FOR SOME REASON. (AND TO BE FAIR IT IS ALSO A VERY CENTRIST SHOW BUT MOST PEOPLE WHO BITCH ONLINE DON'T BITCH ABOUT THE ANTI-BLM 2008 DISCOURSE AND THE BAD PORTRAYAL OF ANARCHY). It does indeed portray anarchists as far more intelligent and noble than they tend to be in the real world.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 20:00
|
|
|
Larryb posted:Didn’t they say something a while back about a new series coming in a few years as well? They did. I think it was announced near the new movies. What time it is, depends on how long Korra lives. She's reckless as hell, and stubborn as all get out, she might get herself in over her head. It could be interesting to see how an Avatar increasingly doesn't fit in with the world around it. It could also be interesting to see how the Air Nomads grow post Korra and Tensin. How Republic City and Aang's Legacy grows. I don't know if they're going to adapt the comics, it seems like some of the movies like Zuko's movie might, but some of those were pretty well reviewed.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 20:30
|
|
|
There’s two other fantasy series with magic that have done the “transitioning into the Industrial Revolution and beyond” storyline, The First Law and Mistborn. In The First Law magic gets more and more useless as a force to shape the world and is gradually replaced with economic and technological power. I haven’t read past the first trilogy of Mistborn so I’m not sure what happens in that scenario. I’d like more Avatar I guess but I’m not sure what era of story I’d want told. Katara is a real wet blanket so far in this live action adaption.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 21:09
|
|
|
PicklePants posted:They did. I think it was announced near the new movies. I would absolutely love a mini series based on The Search comics.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 22:11
|
|
|
TwoPair posted:Yeah I think they've been saying that for a while now though. So it'll be interesting to see if and when it gets made. Maybe if the live-action generates enough interest in the brand, they'll finally make it? I don't know, I'd say "it'll never happen" but that's what I said about further Young Justice seasons after its initial cancellation and Greg Weisman had the last laugh there... Although not unlike Young Justice the more we get of it the more people go "please stop."
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 22:38
|
|
|
TwoPair posted:I guess the real question would be that if the live-action generates the interest, are producers/platforms gonna insist that any future stuff also be live-action or will they let it be animation? Considering the $120 million budget for the 8 live-action episodes, I'm sure there'd be a strong consideration for animating it instead.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 22:42
|
|
|
a neat cape posted:I would absolutely love a mini series based on The Search comics. I'd love something that starts out as The Search but almost immediately gets hijacked by a different unrelated plot
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 22:57
|
|
|
Gnome de plume posted:I'd love something that starts out as The Search but almost immediately gets hijacked by a different unrelated plot Slam The Search and Imbalance together into a single story. The Gaang goes looking for Ursa and they find her in the place that is destined to become Republic City and get embroiled in a plot and place that dictates the rest of their lives for the next 100 years.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 23:25
|
|
|
Robotnik Nudes posted:It does indeed portray anarchists as far more intelligent and noble than they tend to be in the real world. The Red Lotus really were the best Avatar villains. I just finished a Korra rewatch, and Zaheer getting all evil and cackly immediately after getting captured was the dumbest decision. Ccs posted:There’s two other fantasy series with magic that have done the “transitioning into the Industrial Revolution and beyond” storyline, The First Law and Mistborn. In The First Law magic gets more and more useless as a force to shape the world and is gradually replaced with economic and technological power. I haven’t read past the first trilogy of Mistborn so I’m not sure what happens in that scenario. I haven't finished the trilogy, but Mistborn series 2 deals with it similar to Korra where the specialized variations of powers become more widespread and mixed + matched leading to new overpowered combinations. Particularly due to how the different power sets were segregated in series 1. And technology develops both to compliment and to counter or emulate specific abilities. AlternateNu fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Feb 24, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 23:37
|
|
|
Robotnik Nudes posted:It does indeed portray anarchists as far more intelligent and noble than they tend to be in the real world. In the first season of a new series, the avatar takes on a dsa polycule who are all political science grad students.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 23:42
|
|
I AM GRANDO posted:In the first season of a new series, the avatar takes on a dsa polycule who are all political science grad students. Descendants of the NEET airbender from S3 of Korra who go on about the wonders of Juche
|
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2024 23:49
|
|
|
Robotnik Nudes posted:It does indeed portray anarchists as far more intelligent and noble than they tend to be in the real world. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2024 00:17
|
|
|
readingatwork posted:Deeply frustrating because the next logical step is to switch focus to the next earth avatar and advance the world to the modern day. or they could jump into the time abyss that is between Wan and Aang - 4 which imo is a far more viable ore vein to mine
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2024 00:57
|
|
|
Watched the first two and a half episodes, and while I don't think it's bad I don't think it's very good. The writing and characters in particular feel like a big downgrade from the original, and Katara feels especially done dirty by the changes so far (Her actress also looks really stiff, especially in some of the action scenes). I'll probably keep watching, but so far my impression is that it really struggles to justify its own existence, and so far there hasn't been anything that makes me think "wow, I'm glad this exists and that I watched it instead of simply rewatching the original." Costuming and the sets are pretty good though, I'll give them that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2024 01:00
|
|
|
So I knew the new ATLA wouldn't be very good but man... I couldn't finish the first episode. Live action bending just doesn't look cool. Too much exposition explaining poo poo instead of just letting it unfold naturally. I didn't like any of the actors. Please just let this IP die. We don't need an earth nation Avatar with an iPhone or whatever is coming next.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2024 01:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 16:35 |
|
|
It gets better by the second episode to be fair Anyway, I’d kind of like to see the story of the second Avatar to be honest (as at that point the usual procedure wouldn’t have been established yet and the world wouldn’t even be aware that Wan COULD reincarnate)
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2024 01:01
|
|