Whoops, I doomed the world.

Hotel, Canada. 9:21 AM, 24th of July, 2010.

Hey Y’all! (SOUTHERNISM!) Finally I’m posting again. Triple topic this time: The Last Airbender (Which I saw on Thursday), Calgary Zoo (went on Friday) and then also what happened yesterday. (Saturday):p So let’s get started shall we?

“The Last Airbender”, the recently released movie based on the Nickelodeon TV show, “Avatar the last Airbender”. Most comments or reviews I’ve heard about it seem very biased- they either praise it more than it deserves, or bash it down and put it in the movie junk-pile. While the movie has it’s ups and downs, I’d like to try and not take a side, as neither extreme is correct. The following review WILL contain spoilers.

Assuming you don’t know the general plot-line of “Avatar the last Airbender”, here’s a quick (attempt at a) summery. Hunting for food in the South Pole, Siblings Katara and Sokka find an iceberg with a boy, Aang, frozen inside it and they boy’s Sky Bison, Appa. Eventually they learn that Aang is the last airbender, the only survivor of the Air Nomads since the fire nation whipped them all out a hundred years ago. Aang was frozen all that time in ice from running away, and getting caught in a storm. Aang is soon revealed also to be the Avatar who has been missing for one hundred years, making him one hundred and twelve years old! Aang, Sokka and Katara travel up to the north pole so Katara and Aang can learn water bending together, and later they travel the world so Aang can find teachers so he can learn to bend the other elements, and eventually defeat the fire lord.

The TLA movie as a stand-alone, not comparing it to the television, it works well for (really only) an action movie. Though there really didn’t seem to be much dialogue, and they didn’t really explain the plot-line at all, really requiring the viewer to have seen the TV show else be confused. Some of the bending was pretty epic though. The fight choreography is well thought out, and was performed stunningly and precise. The use of slow motion in battle scenes did get a bit over used at times, but asides from that, the camera work framed the fights well. The bending effects were rather nice- but being a 2D to 3D conversion, they weren’t as good as they could have been. If we get a sequel the director plans to start the movie development in 3D, so that’s certainly something to look forward too.

If you want to compare it to the TV show, do still give them credit for what they tried to do with this film. I know it fell short of many’s expectations, but did you really just want a carbon copy of the TV show? That’s just not possible as a live action movie. In Season one alone of the ATLA TV show, the running time (based off a 22 minute average) is 440 minutes. the TLA movie had a total running time of 103 minutes. Way less than a quarter of the time to try and do just as much. Though it’s true that the Kyoshi Warriors aren’t in the movie (They WERE in the movie-manga adaptation though I’ll point out!) and it’s true that they changed it how in episode six where Katara rallied the Earth Benders, they changed it to Aang doing that... and how Zhao died, and the name pronunciation changes (which I like, by the way)- How Aang defeated the Fire Navy, and mixing Roku and his dragon together- and the fact that Aang remains uninformed of Sozin’s comet... they tried.

I know it sounds like I’m saying ‘they tried, they tried’ a lot, but they did, and I’m glad. I won’t go and tell loads of people it’s the best film I’ve ever seen, because it’s certainly not, but it wasn’t so bad that you throw it in the junk-pile either. What the Movie did get me thinking of, was that if the Video Game follows the movie well enough, it would make for a good game... A really good game! *is interested in trying it some time...* There’s loads of people out there who love the TV series yet bash the movie, but if they were true fans, they’d appreciate the effort that was put into the movie FOR THEM and just enjoy it anyway like it was made for.

I’ll note quickly I saw the Eragon Movie and then read the books- And I’ll also admit I like the movie more than the books. (No arguing about Eragon please), and I’m aware of many of the changes from book-to-movie, like how TLA has been a TV show-to-movie. I’ve heard many complaints about the changes between the book and movie of Eragon, and I’ve also heard some for TLA. But from my own veiw, (since I liked the Eragon movie) The Last Airbender is a lot like Eragon in adaptations. Sure, there may be many changes, but it’s still the same general story we know and have come to enjoy over time.

If you’re wanting to go and watch The Last Airbender in the theaters, don’t bother goign to it in 3D if that costs extra. It’s a 2D to 3D conversion, and it’s no where near as good as true 3D. (keep an eye out for the sequel though.) So in theaters, 2D is the way to go, or you can just wait for it on DVD, because that will be worth it. (The Movie Music is beautiful too I might add and am SOOOOOOOO looking for the soundtrack while I’m here!)

Also, if you do see it- there is a funny scene where they’re trying to rally the earth benders, and there’s a group of ten or so, bending, and it looks like they only move one rock. (However, when the camera rotates around enough, you can see one guy bending who’s moves look more fitting to the action and movement of the rock, so I think he’s really the one bending it.) But it looks funny. :p And I am glad Sokka accidentally got waterbended at by Katara a couple times. ;)

From a standalone movie rating perspective, I’d give it a 6/10. I know, but it leaves the viewer plot-confused, and really requires them to have seen the TV show. However ‘the effects were decent’ to quote Sokka. (in true 3D it’d have been epic...) The actors didn’t do a great job, but it was... excusable... The music was amazing, and the scenery was great though.

From the point of view of comparing to the TV show, I’d give it a 2.5/10.

They sort-just-kina followed the plot, but they changed a lot. I mentioned a few of the changes above. I gave them a quarter of the full mark, because that’s how the movie is. It’s fitting also because they had a quarter of the time, so it fullfilled my expectations.

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On Friday, we went to the Calgary Zoo.

Sorry, *posts sign* Sorry, I’m not here right now.

...Auckland Zoo is better... Even just from memory from ages ago. Honestly, there’s not much to say about the Calgary Zoo... Half the animals had signs in their enclosures saying, “Sorry, I’m not here right now.” And my favorite animal there was the otter. >.<>.<>

So yesterday (Saturday) I was at my Auntie’s house. They have seven dogs at the moment. (two are actually theirs, and the other five are foster puppies.)

Tasha and Cobi are my Auntie’s dogs. Boy, Girl who looks like the Boy (nick-named: Girl), Tippie, Red and Blondie. the five playful pups are adorable. How you can tell them apart is:

Boy: He’s the darkest colored one, and he’s the only boy.

Girl: She looks a lot like Boy, but a bit lighter, she’s a girl, and she has this raccoon-looking pattern around her eyes.

Tippie: (Not the DioMer. :p) She’s got the same coloring as Boy, only a few shades lighter, and has a white tipped tail. (Boy has a white tipped tail too, but Tippie is a lighter coloring to Boy.)

Red: No obvious markings, she’s the same shading of fur as Tippie, but she has no tail tip, or raccoon-ring eyes.

Blondie: Like her name suggests, she’s a blondie. :p She’s got by FAR the lightest coloring of the pups.

If you saw the photo of one of the puppies before I linked to in my previous post (which has had more photos added to it- so bookmark the link and check back often.), that was Red I was petting. She just came up to me and I scratched her belly a little, and she decided to collapse sideways and just fall asleep then and there. ;) When they’re all awake though, it’s chaos. They remind me of Dreagons (Yes, Dreagons.) when they play-fight. They climb all over each-other, try pin each-other down, nip at each-other, try and chew on each-other’s feet or tails... All they’re missing is the appearance, mind you, both Baby Dreagons, and Baby Puppies can be cute. :p

Later in the day, we went with my Auntie to one of he friend’s birthday party by a lake (it was shallow though mind you- probably for little kids safety). There was a water park too. All in all, it was pretty cool. :p

And, don’t ask about the blog post topic. ;) If you read a certain comment on a previous post, you’ll get it. Whoops! :p

Until next time, this is Icey disappearing through the screen layer.