Ok. I didn't really plan on doing this kind of thing on my blog, but the movie I witnessed today demands that I speak out. All I have to say is..., M.Night...WTF?!!!?!!! What the fuck are you doing? I mean, I hate to judge, but come on!
We all remember the first time we were watching "The Sixth Sense". When we laid eyes on that weird little genius kid for the first time? You know, he steps out the front door of his place, puts on the lens-less glasses? The kid who had more emotional depth than a "Monster"-ous Charlize Theron? Yeah. Goosebumps. Big ones. When he looked at the camera, he was looking at us and he was peering deep into our souls. Fuck that movie is brilliant. Or even the little kid in "Unbreakable"(my favorite, I don't care what anyone says). When he is sitting at the breakfast table and he and his Dad exchange those looks!! HOLY SHIT! A-ma-zing. "Signs" with Culkin and Breslin? Don't even get me started.
So, when I watched this movie today I didn't feel angry as much as I did sad. I felt as if someone I loved was dying a slow, painful death. And I either want one of two things to happen: A) He begins to heal and get better. OR B) He dies quickly to avoid any more suffering. For himself or the other people around him.
I think my biggest issue is this: Does fantastical have to replace quality? Meaning, let's take a look at "The Sixth Sense" again. In it's heart, where is all the money going in that film? The actors, right? Bruce Willis, Toni Collette? Of course. Because how many special effects are there in the movie? And of the special FX that they do have, they're not particularly amazing. Some lame bodies hanging in a school hallway? A kid with his headblown out? Mischa Barton puking up oatmeal and yogurt? No, the money went to the actors. And guess what? The movie fucking rules! Those people acted the shit out of that film. You overlook things like poor FX and Bruce Willis' hairline because the actors are so engaged! So truthful that it's impossible not to believe them. Once again, this is not unique for M. Night. The aliens in "Signs" were crap but the actors sold it. "Unbreakable"? The weights. We know they're not real, but they damned sure felt real the way that Bruce Willis was acting! "Lady in the Water?" and "The Village", no comment. They don't factor into this.
"The Last Airbender", however, M went all the way with the Special FX. Tons of CGI. Tons of greenscreen. And..., I get it. I understand. If you're doing an adaptation of a cartoon, you HAVE to spend on CGI shit. In cartoons you can do anything and if you're adapting to live-action you're gonna have to do that. BUT..., does that mean you have to skimp on actors?
From the first lines uttered, I knew I was in trouble. I honestly don't know why I didn't walk out, but I didn't. I stayed. These actors were horrible. And I know they're young so I don't entirely blame them, if at all. I blame M. What are you doing, M? You are that same director. That same one who wowed us all. How could you let these performances be seen? How did you not sit there on set and push these young actors to get a performance that was worthy? Did you think that by making some of the supporting actors gifted thespians(Cliff Curtis, Shaun Toub, even Dev Patel from "Slumdog" fame has some honest moments) that we would overlook the lead actors? Noah Ringer - This kid is an unknown in every sense of the word. And he should have remained that way. Buried. His only talent is that he moves well. But you can't tell me that you couldn't find a child actor who actually has depth AND can move well. Nicola Peltz - I actually don't think she's that bad. She seemed to have some great moments but I chalk it up to editing. There seemed to be an added/missing beat every time she would have a line. It made her performance come off as..."off". Jackson Rathbone - First of all, he doesn't deserve his name. That name should be owned by a villain in a Sherlock Holmes novel. More importantly though, he shouldn't be acting. I am embarassed to say that I've actually seen the first two "Twilight" films and I feel less intelligent because of it. He is in both of those. All he basically does is stand there with these huge, weird, psychotic eyes and say nothing. BUT I preferred him in those cases because he said nothing. In "Last Airbender" he has to speak, unfortunately for us. I didn't give a shit about his character one bit. Or any others. Except for maybe Dev Patel's "Prince Zuko". He's the only one that seemed to know what he was doing. Even Aasif Mondvi, who I loved from years back when I lived in NYC. He would do a little sketch comedy show called "The Associates" and killed it. Yeah. He's miscast. Are we sensing a theme here??
I'm not even going to get into the accusations about M being racist for casting White actors in Asian roles. The only reason that bothered me was because it took me out of an already crap movie. "Why are they the ONLY white people in their village of, basically, Eskimos?" I don't think M is racist. I think he's lost.
Take it back M. Take it way back. Take it back to where you excel - The family unit. Keep it simple, damnit. I haven't lost faith in you. And, obviously, based off the $70 million opening, others haven't either. But we won't hang on forever. We will only give you so many chances. As my parents used to tell me "Think before you speak". You need to think before you take on other projects. Think about what made you who you are. Sure, twists are great. But that's not what made you. What made you was your ability to make actors feel so comfortable that you evoked such incredible performances it brought people to tears. Literally. Your ability to edit those performances together seamlessly with breathtaking scores. Wow.
Do NOT let the opening numbers of this film fool you, M. I dare you to watch this film back to back with any of your early work. "Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable", or "Signs". I guarantee that you will see exactly what I'm talking about and will pinch yourself on the inside of your thigh saying "Damn you, M. Night. Damn you."
No comments:
Post a Comment