Based on 849 votes and 222 reviews
M. Night should retire, plz!
Bad movie, bad acting, bad script. Not worth spending any money if you ask me. Just too bad, the animated tv series was so good.
I enjoyed this movie, probably because I never watched the original TV series. There were a few cheesy moments throughout, but overall it was super entertaining and visually well done.
Though it features mediocre acting, awkward dialogue, and cinematography that was at times surprisingly terrible, the lore behind Avatar (I'm not calling it The Last Airbender...screw you James Cameron) was fantastic and if nothing else, made me want to sit down and watch the cartoon start to finish. So I guess it did it's job in that respect.
It was visually spectacular, with great special effects and CG. The actors were cast well and did a good job with the roles. It tried to follow the story in the cartoon a little to close and lost a little in translation but that was it's only fault.
Better than I expected, (according to the reviews I read). The effects are decent as is the plot! I will be going to see the sequel(s) if there are any. My 14 year old son and friends also enjoyed it.
M Night Shyamalan is a horrible director. The concept was great but actual execution fell apart badly. war scenes were like a tea party, character romance lacked development, air bender moves missed the extra punch that made me think he's waving hands and doing some kind of Tai Chi. Lastly character acting was very lousy. Don't bother watching this, you will be better off with DVD rental
Worst movie of the year...and worst movie M.Night ever laid hands on. I can't believe that huge budget went into this badly scripted, acted, directed, piece of lousy cinema. Even our kids hated it.
interesting special effects did not make up for the rest of the movie being bad (esp the acting)
So who liked the movie? Whoever does, you have no idea what the animation is about, this movie is sooo bad it is actually offensive! M. Night S-Whatever ur name is, plz do us all a favour, and let this be the last movie you will make plz? Promise us that, at least we can have a sense of relief now.
It was a pretty good movie, I have to say =) I'm a fan of the series and it did follow pretty close to it for a movie. It was very fast paced and I think that if you didn't watch the series, you'd be a little lost. I think that's why critics didn't like it very much. Don't listen to them though, check it out for yourself and make your own judgements. The acting was a little off but they're mostly young and unknowns, give them a little bit leniency. The acting in the first Harry Potter wasn't that great either but they got better as the series progressed. I'm sure these actors will too. Can't wait for book 2 and 3.
pretty pretty good
Karate Kid meets Narnia. Lousy acting, lousy directing, lousy screenplay, horrendous dialogue! Only your kids would enjoy this. The trailer had such a promise!
The movie is totally not like the show. Many scenes took place at different places, characters took other characters dialogue. Bending does not take 20 moves to start something. Characters had dull acting.
I could not believe how bad this movie was. The action scenes were great...but as soon as someone opened their mouth, I cringed. Everything but the CGI was terrible. Great movie to take the kids to, because I'm not sure if they would pick up how bad the acting is. But I was disappointed at how wrong I was about this movie.
Better than the last five Potters put together! This is M. Night's masterpiece!
Well done! Never seen the cartoon but I was in awe at the movie.
The 5 star reviews of this movie must be tricks by people to get others to waste their money on this horrible, horrible film. It should now be clear that The Sixth Sense was the oddity in Shaymalans career. Awful script, laughable acting, and just ok special effects by today's standards. Oh and of course - There was no need for this to be in 3D as there were zero 3D effects. Awful awful awful!
bomb!!!!!!
I was disappointed, I expected more, the acting was not at his best and I was bored at some times. It's based on a very good story, but the dialogue does not gave it justice. I hope to see the next ones, because the special effects were very well done and the music was beautiful.
THE BEST MOVIE EVER
Enjoyable movie - not too serious. Kids were better than I expected ... both the acting and the tai chi. I hope they make the next two.
It is close to the series, love the special effects and very well done.
Super cool special affects. I was thoroughly entertained, and didn't get bored once. It was worth the 20 something bucks for movie and popcorn.
it a good movie if your a fan of the anime series. I like it, because it stay as true to the anime as possible. But the main heroes need to work on their acting skill. THE background and cgi are awesome.
This movie was a big disappointment. I can't figure out which was worse - the acting or the script. Most of the actors did a very crappy job of delivering their lines and I didn't know whether to laugh at them or cry for the money and time I wasted on this thing. The only thing that kept me in my seat were the graphics and some of the action scenes. They were at their best when they weren't speaking.
Not my type of film. Was decent but nothing thrilling.
Best movie ever i do not know how people do not like it. : )
I enjoyed it, yes the dialogue was horrible and some really weak acting but I thought Noah Ringer did a good job with Aang especially considering his first acting role. I think people just have to let themselves get past the horrible dialogue and get into aangs character. too bad with all the bad reviews this will be the last one in the series.
Weak, weak dialogue. One of the selling points of the cartoon series was the clever, humorous dialogue between characters, but all the actors are WAY to 'epic' in their deliveries, and the screenplay is a total bore. Also, whats with the white-washing? In the series, almost all the leads excluding Ang were clearly people of color, whereas the fire nation seemed a more pale Asian. In this movie almost everyones white -except- the fire nation, who all bear a middle-eastern look.
Makes Battlefield Earth look like a cinematic masterpiece by comparison! WOW I can't believe I just spent 27 bucks to watch this absolutely horrible, disjointed movie. To be continued??? I freakin hope not!
The movie is not what on the movie trailer. They had post a false movie trailer just to get people watch the movie.
Good movie, not great. acting was a little weak, but worth the watch.
The story was not very good.
Good movie for thos who knew the original animated version
This movie doesn't even deserve ONE star. I am 22 years old and I love the show because of the well-developed plot and characters, elaborate animation, memorable music, among so many other things, and Shyamalan managed to mutilate every single one of these aspects. On that screen was not the vibrant, fun, and intelligent show I followed, but a mutated and empty rendition. I feel so deceived and disappointed. Save your money for a worth-while film. Avoid this movie.
very disappointing, to much detail left out
I have not been exposed to this story, or it's characters before this movie, therefore the following is NOT BIASED. There is very little character development at the beginning, it felt like the characters were being shoved down my throat. Once the story started moving, it started to pull my attention. I liked the story, but the constant talking about the cartoon vs. movie from people around me was very distracting. Parents, PLEASE do not bring your kids to this movie if they can't be quiet! I give the movie 3-stars.
well, to producer Frank Marshall, congratulation on the $280 million dollars of money that is well wasted on M. Night
If you liked the cartoon you should enjoy the movie. otherwise, it's a pass.
Liked the movie a lot, looking forward for the next one.
It was a pretty amazing movie, had a decent story line and good acting. I really enjoyed it.
i'm not a harsh person but the movie just wasn't that good... your better off sticking with the cartoon!
The dialog needed a primer. To many dumb questions to move along a slow plot. Nice CG
Poorly made movie. Unnecessary deviations from the character of the original series, weak acting on almost everyone's behalf. Very disappointing!
AWESOME.
A visual masterpiece...but the pretty pictures won't distract from the worst screenplay of recent memory...This review is coming from a fan of M. Night. It's sad to see a great filmmaker regress so badly.
Shamylan is a terrible director. He had a great chance to make a huge blockbuster really good. To the people arguing about the characters being asian and them having blue eyes in the cartoon, lets be real to the story here. There is no denying that this story is very Chinese influenced. The cartoon fighting style is martial arts based and the avatar is a buddhist monk, which is the largest religion in China. Chinese movies often have a martial arts fighting monk, comparable to the avatar story line here.
While the movie was not perfect, I enjoyed it quite a bit and would reccomend it.
waste of time and waste of money. Horrible from the standpoint of an adaptation of a GREAT anime series. Even worse is that it has no plot to follow other than, these are the bad guys they are bad lets stop them...