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First a bit of background info on the animation that the movie is based on.

Avatar the Last Airbender the Animation is probably ranks up there as one of the most fun animations I had the pleasure of watching. It had likeable characters that had history and personality, cool martial arts, an imaginative world and really pew pew elemental powers. It was clever and the artwork design was well thought out, really reflecting the different nation’s powers and culture.

The movie on the other hand, isn’t remotely on par with the animation.

First of all, avoid the 3D experience at all costs! The Last Airbender movie was never intended for 3D  (it was converted from 2D) and this is shown both with the lack of depth given by the 3D glasses along with several portions of the movie where the glasses made the scene too dark to observe what was going on. Clear rip off here.

Secondly the acting…oh gawd…I wasn’t really expecting any Oscar winning performances here but the stiffness of it was really really unbearable. Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire is probably the only recognizable actor but all sense of depth of Zukko’s character went out of the window. However, perhaps the actors are not solely to blame as the juvenile script was cringe-worthy:

Aang: Earthbenders! Why are you acting this way? You are powerful and amazing people! You don’t need to live like this! There is earth right beneath your feet! The ground is an extension of who you are!

It is amazing to think that the same person who came up with Sixth Sense came up with this drivel…

Aang was also a huge disappointment and seemed to be picked solely because he had the same build and did good martial arts. Although Aang in the animation wasn’t an inspirational character and was more of the “Avatar next door that you grow to like”, you could see how people would rally to his cause. Aang in the movie just seemed like a little bawling kid begging for attention.

General Iroh, one of my favorite characters in the animation  is also not the likeable, lazy and jovial Uncle he was in the animation. In the movie, he was merely the fatherly figure and the ‘voice of reason’ which took all the charm out of the amiable fallen general.

Now the main draw of this movie should have been its elemental effects but although they looked decent, they seemed dated and artificial. The elemental powers moved clumsily especially the earth element that looked more like…slowly levitating foam balls rather than rocks. The kungfu forms were cool enough to make me consider doing Tai -chi for fun and to a certain extent true to the animation, they seem contrived as it did not flow with the elemental powers. In the animation, the elements moved in close unity with the kungfu movements with no long ‘power-up katas’, but here it seems like an eternity for any element to be summoned which had more of a Dragonball feel to it. Except…without the awesome fireballs… Element bending was meant to be effortless and an extension of the user, not something to be summoned.

Without spoiling the story, the animation’s ending of Book 1 was also a whole lot more engaging and had a real epic feel to it. There was real tension there. Instead, the movie’s ‘climax’ felt more like a cross between a poor man’s Battle of Helm’s Deep and the ocean effects of the movie “2012″.

For all of Shyamalan’s efforts, the movie seems to have tried to condense what was a rich world into purely a kid’s movie which is a real shame considering the animation’s broad appeal among all age groups.

Would I recommend watching the Last Airbender movie? Hmm…only if you must…otherwise  just watch the movie’s trailer which has all the cool effects in it already (really…anything worth seeing in the movie was in the trailer) and then head straight on to the animation!

If there’s a silver lining, it’s that a sequel to the animation Avatar: the Legend of Korra is in the works and set for release in 2011. The screenshots are amazing and the promise of a more mature and a bit darker Avatar universe has us Avatar fans hopeful again.

Valhalla Rising’s poster and promo videos are rather misleading. You think you’re about to watch some Braveheart sort of movie with lots of Viking fighting but what you find is a strangely haunting movie with beautiful scenes and imagery but a rather queer plot.

The main character is a mute warrior called One-Eye, first a prisoner forced to fight for survival and amusement with other criminals. He then breaks free and is recruited to join a band of Christians in seeking out Jerusalem to participate in the Holy War.

Without revealing too much, the story revolves around the interactions of these Christian warriors with One-Eye a focal point, arousing suspicion, superstition and fear leading to the disintegration of the Christians, the questioning of their faith and the hypocrisy of their word.

Shot entirely in Scotland, the imagery of the film is amazing. Mystical hills covered in mist and lush taiga forests form the setting of this tale and if you watch with a large screen and a good sound system, I assure you will be immersed in the beautiful cinematography.

Valhalla Rising is not for everyone though. To me, it was rather draggy for me with long sections of seemingly aimless talking and a plot that’s more about the frailty of human emotions and faith rather than an actual story. At times I feel it tries to be a bit too artistic and lose the story telling bit. However I did enjoy it for what it is which is a unique piece of poetic cinematography. If you want a strange and beautiful movie and have some time to kill, I would recommend it. Don’t expect a satisfying ending though…

Word of warning: don’t watch this with the kids unless you want him to develop funny. Has some graphic gory scenes with intestines coming out and such with rather creepy imagery.

Seems like the trend of gore and sex in TV series continues.

Spartacus is about a Thracian who served in the Roman auxiliary and through circumstances is forced to fight as a gladiator. Without revealing too much, the series draws a lot of influences from 300′s cinematography though it isn’t as well executed (especially the first episode). The first episode was clumsy and looked like a poor rip off of 300 but endure it a bit, and the stylized gore is just replaced by pure gore which still makes my body tense up when I see it.

The story is not a bad one, its easy to follow if rather predictable but sets the story and setting for the gladiatorial battles. Treachery is abound and a rather unexpected twist happens with Solonius 3/4 through the first season but it is otherwise without too much surprises. The ending is quite satisfying if also a bit predictable but basically this is just Gladiator (the one with Russel Crowe) combined with 300 which isn’t really a bad thing.

Did I also mention that there’s a lot of sex scenes? Yes of those there are plenty and although there’s a warning before each show that the gore and the sex is to portray historical accuracy of Roman society, the sex at times does feel a bit tacked on but with the bevy of beauties in the cast, I can hardly complain.

Character wise, unlike my review of Pacific, you do get some character depth especially with Lucretia (played by Lucy Lawless of Xena Warrior Princess fame) where she plays a wife, eager to elevate her family’s standing, loving of her husband yet also lustful, deceitful and opportunistic. Crixus is also another favourite of mine, playing first a bully and then a former champion, honourable yet also full of pride. Doctore is also a particularly likeable character. The hero however does not fare as well with  Spartacus (played by a relative newcomer Andy Whitfield) is your typical brooding hero fueled with vengeance and a limited expression set (look of pain and look of  ‘I’m a mean shit’).

As a whole, I enjoyed Spartacus thoroughly by embracing it for what it is…a man flick filled with fighting, gore and sex which does a decent job in satiating the void which was left by Gladiator. Don’t watch it with children, don’t watch it with the ladies, this is the kind of series you watch with your guy friends over packs of beer. I eagerly wait for Season 2.

The Pacific has been receiving tons of publicity on the TV series and with some big name producers like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, I thought I’ll give it a go. This review is written after watching 6 episodes out of 10.

The Pacific strikes off as very typical male fare…epic battles, lots of gore, inexplicable sex scenes and characters whom I have a hard time feeling for.

Let’s talk about the good first. The battles do evoke an epic feeling especially the night battles which really immerse you into their world…Watching it in HD and in surround sound…and you almost forget you’re in the comforts of your living room. Unfortunately, that’s all the good there is to it. Well ok, Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack is typically heroic so that’s a plus.

For the rest of it…I found it hard to like. The parts where there were no fighting was mostly about 3 things:

1) Soldiers and their chicks (almost all of Episode 3):

The cursory goodbyes, the VERY QUICK courtship…and then sex…makes it hard to feel for the characters. The sex scenes seem slotted in and do little to advance the plot. Guy and girl stare at each other for a while, say a few things and bam suddenly they’re REALLY in love. Perhaps that’s how things were in the 1940s…

Episode 3 was a whole bunch of crock shit though it did give us the opportunity to delight in some Australian beauties: Claire Van der Boom and Isabel Lucas.

2) Soldiers going crazy/emo

Soldiers frequently go crazy or emo and I believe you’re supposed to go ‘Oh gawd, war is horrible!’ but it seems overdone as I believe in every episode at least 2 people go nuts.

3) Soldiers giving each other a hard-time

Now even with soldiers giving shit to each other, often it’s inexplicable why they’re so jack-assed beyond ‘It’s war, we can do what we want’. For example, the guy that watches the new recruits clean oil drums cause he ‘enjoys watching newbies sweat’ or the part where the officer steals a chest with a nice gun in it from one of his subordinates, we’re given little context beyond people being assholes. It struck off as way too cliche.

It was almost as if the director was trying to fit every single horror of war in each episode and rehash that. Yes we know war involves flying body parts, yes we know it makes people go nuts and we also know that it makes soldiers inhuman. But stop shoving it in our face every single time?

But I feel that isn’t the reason why it made it so bad. The real reason why everything seems so contrived is that there’s little character development so any ‘horror of war’ just seems slotted in. There’s either bad-ass, scared white boi or emo shit. It’s hard to actually feel for such characters to the point it was hard for me to distinguish between certain characters. Heck, I don’t even remember their names.

Should you watch it?

Depends…if you want to see some nice battles, by all means! If you are expecting an engaging plot, then probably not. As for me, I’m going to continue watching to have my living room reverberate with the sound of Japanese bombs pounding American positions…and the sound of Americans pounding Australian ladies.