I know some people have complimented the visuals, but I really wasn't impressed by them. All of the bending had a labored look, and some of the shots were particularly inconsistent, especially with the Waterbending. When Aang is fighting in the courtyard, for example, it's incredibly obvious to see the transition when Noah Ringer's stunt double comes in with his face, and his flips look so contrived it's unbelievable. I was also baffled by how the soldiers look
completely frozen when they're only surrounded by spaced-out spikes of ice.
As far as the costumes, I wasn't much of a fan. They reminded me of some cheap, elaborate cosplay and the designers clearly didn't know how to make interesting, practical armor. The Fire Nation soldiers in particular looked so campy, as if they walked out of a low-budget television show from the 80s.
Now, if the costumes looked like this, I would be impressed:
There's the cultured look that the movie lacks.
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| except perhaps a few isolated moments from Dev Patel and Shaun Toub |
Toub was one of the few cast members that I genuinely liked, but near the end of the film, his line readings came off as if he didn't even care anymore. For example, his "Whaat?" in response to Zhao announcing his intentions for the spirits was pure Mark Wahlberg in The Happening.
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| Well, and the Appa/Momo effects don't suck |
What's sad is that there's no sense of any relationship between Appa and Aang in the movie. His name is only said once, and he becomes little more than a mode of transportation who disappears into the background whenever the story doesn't need him. For example, before the Gaang gets captured and sent to the prison, he conveniently flies away and is not seen until the montage in the next scene, and when Aang is captured at the Northern Air Temple, he is conveniently gone as well, even though he was clearly at the temple himself.
What's pretty infuriating is that Momo wasn't even going to be in the film before Shyamalan's kids convinced him to reconsider, and it shows: his name is only said once near the end of the film, and there's no indication that the Gaang even decided to keep him after his introduction, which makes his subsequent appearances in the background incredibly weird.
