Avatar Rocks!
Jul. 25th, 2010 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrewduckerI'd ask people why they hadn't recommended Avatar: The Last Airbender to me, only they did, a lot. I've had friends raving about it intermittently on LJ since 2005, and it's entirely my fault that I hadn't gotten around to watching any of it until a few weeks ago.
Julie and I repeated our Babylon 5 decision - to make it through the first few episodes no matter what - and were well rewarded. Not that the first few episodes are _bad_, but they're a bit kludgy as the characters are all lined up and sent off in the different directions. You can definitely see authorial fiat at work. But as time goes on, and you start to get more depth, we definitely formed a strong emotional attachment to the various characters, both good and evil.
In fact, it's been great seeing how even a small amount of extra complexity can make me fall in love with a character. The occasional line here and there, hints dropped across a few episodes, make all the difference. And the actual plots being a cut above traditional children's cartoons doesn't hurt either.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a kids cartoon. But it's a damn good one, and we're looking forward to season 2 arriving next week!
(Plot spoilers for seasons 2 and 3 will result in your summary execution.)
Julie and I repeated our Babylon 5 decision - to make it through the first few episodes no matter what - and were well rewarded. Not that the first few episodes are _bad_, but they're a bit kludgy as the characters are all lined up and sent off in the different directions. You can definitely see authorial fiat at work. But as time goes on, and you start to get more depth, we definitely formed a strong emotional attachment to the various characters, both good and evil.
In fact, it's been great seeing how even a small amount of extra complexity can make me fall in love with a character. The occasional line here and there, hints dropped across a few episodes, make all the difference. And the actual plots being a cut above traditional children's cartoons doesn't hurt either.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a kids cartoon. But it's a damn good one, and we're looking forward to season 2 arriving next week!
(Plot spoilers for seasons 2 and 3 will result in your summary execution.)
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Date: 2010-07-25 07:07 pm (UTC)which is a scene from the movie. Which is about 1/500th as good as the scene from the TV series which inspired it.
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Date: 2010-07-25 09:20 pm (UTC)But the series is made of AWESOME. And it just gets more and more awesome the further you go! Ahh I look forward to you hitting season two. =) *does a happy dance*
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Date: 2010-07-25 09:22 pm (UTC)Oh, and it looks _dull_. The TV series fights are frequently fantastic!
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Date: 2010-07-25 10:20 pm (UTC)Really, I'm awed by the movie. I can only conclude that those who made it didn't actually watch the series, or just went "Ahh, another hero-saving-the-world story, we can always use one of those, and this bending trick seems interesting" and left it at that, while ignoring all the series' strengths and things that made it unique. Arrrrrrrrrrgh.
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Date: 2010-07-26 12:24 am (UTC)AND now for some joy!! http://www.racebending.com/v3/featured/avatarthe-legend-of-korra-2011/
YAY!!
Oh and uh sorry but, WHY ARE AANG, KATARRA, AND SOKKA WHITE?!?!?! Ok, sorry, I'm done now.
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Date: 2010-07-26 12:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 01:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-25 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-25 07:07 pm (UTC)Oh, I'm so glad that you liked it -- it's one of my favourite things, and I love it to pieces. The first half of season 3 is slow, but it makes up for it so dang much.
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Date: 2010-07-25 07:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-25 08:08 pm (UTC)Meanwhile, I'm reliably advised the movie is kak of the highest ordure.
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Date: 2010-07-25 09:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-26 02:03 am (UTC)