Close-Ups of the Avatar: the Last Airbender movie actors

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Sooo, close ups of the cast are up now, so I thought that we could do a comparision for those who don't know what the fuss is about. ^^

MovieAang,


(Admittedly, I do like the henna arrow.)

CartoonAang,


MovieKatara,


CartoonKatara,


MovieSokka,


CartoonSokka,


MovieZuko,


CartoonZuko (from Book 1, as that's what the movie's gonna be based on)


Interesting route they're going in. Though hopefully the people who aren't Dev Patel can actually act (Dev I know can act very well), because if not this is going to be an AWFUL trainwreck.

And a what is allegedly a teaser poster,


Who is the Earthbender with the longcoat? Long Feng? Though it'd be a bit early for him wouldn't it?

Guess it could be the movie's version of Toph in an early cameo, though really going the way they were going prior to going for the blind girl route (referenced with Buffmale Toph from Ember Island Players, the Boulder's character design was originally meant to be Toph's I believe) probably isn't the way to go...

For legality, here's three pages of the Official Avatar comic from the Nick magazine (I think),







Found an interview about the movie too, if people are interested,
http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/thegeekfiles/2009/07/the-last-airbender-six-year-tr.html

Comments

[addude.insanejournal.com]

I know a lot of people are going to say stuff about the actors so I m just going to skip that and the only things I will complain about are
1) I hoped the arrow was going to actually be blue, I like blue
2) Zuko needs more scar

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, less ear and eyebrow too.

[greenmask.insanejournal.com]

Oh gosh kids. CHEER UP!

[janegray.insanejournal.com]

MOTTO. Even though it dealt with a war, the show still managed to be fun.

[seriousfic.insanejournal.com]

Avatar! Now with(out) facial expressions!

Sorry, that kinda stood out for me.

[platedlizard.insanejournal.com]

Yeah I was bout to say...

I hope that expressionlessness was for the publicity shots. But then, we are dealing with child actors here.

[runespoor7.insanejournal.com]

Cartoon Katara's expression says it all.

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Hey, the expressions do match my reactions to the pictures. *laughs*

[regnet.insanejournal.com]

HAPPY WITH EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE DIRECTOR.

I like the henna arrow (REALISM FTW), I like Sokka and Katara's clothes (because I always thought they were a little weather-inappropriate for the arctic), I like Zuko's scar (it just looks damn better. I always thought "hey, year-old partially healed scars aren't that red"), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Dev Patel.

I think we're going to be okay as long as the special effects hold up.

We're going to be okay.

[nagaoka.insanejournal.com]

Weather inappropriate? Their parkas?

[lonewolf23k.insanejournal.com]

Maybe the Earthbender is a mercenary working for the Fire Nation. No reason why there couldn't be collaborators.

Also, a comic with Toph vs Bumi? I MUST READ IT!

[kagome654.insanejournal.com]

Boooooo.

[toasty_fresh.insanejournal.com]

Aang should be cute and, you know, friendly-looking. That kid is neither.

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Yeah, no offence to the kid but Aang shouldn't look like someone who hangs around on street corners and shouts abuse at people while drinking stolen cider and smoking.

[gargoylekitty.insanejournal.com]

I'm so sick of movie news I probably should have just not clicked the link. I mean I've seen these before but still...

That aside, I'm amused by the flowers surrounding the word bubbles as Toph and Bumi try to play nice.

[sherkahn.insanejournal.com]

I'm sorry, were there pictures in this post? Really? Photographs? I was just so focused on the awesomeness that is TOPH (Kneel before Toph, bitches!) taking on the Mad King Bumi.

Booyah!

Post the whole thing (or at least some more pages) if you can, please.

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

Well it's ten pages so I can't post the entire thing, but I think I can do two more pages.

[sandoz_iscariot.insanejournal.com]

Terrible.

[lanternicity.insanejournal.com]

That poster is confirmed as a fake, btw. Frank Marshall said so via Twitter.

I really wonder what those headshots are from. They don't seem like promotional pictures, since the characters aren't *doing* anything.

[kaileighblue.insanejournal.com]

I'm guessing the first three are screen test photos. The first time the get in make-up with their costumes. Not meant for people to see just to see how it looks together and if they want to change something. Hence the lack of posing.

[box_in_the_box.insanejournal.com]

It's almost like they WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY to choose actors whose melanin content was the exact OPPOSITE of the characters they were playing.

The movie cast looks like a damn PHOTO NEGATIVE of the original characters.

[kaileighblue.insanejournal.com]

I've never actually seen the cartoon, but if I were a fan I'd look at the same way I look at comic book movies. It's a different universe. Don't go to it expecting to see what you've been reading/watching translated directly onto the screen or you're likely to be disappointed.

X2 Kurt is barely like comic Kurt, but he's still adorable. Michael Clarke Duncan was the only thing that made Daredevil watchable to me.

If you don't think you will like it, don't see it. And for the love of god don't try to make everyone that enjoyed it feel bad for liking it. I

[kagome654.insanejournal.com]

Eh, I'd be more forgiving if it wasn't for the racial insensitivity involved. This isn't as simple as a property varying from one medium to another. Taking a racially and culturally diverse cast and whitewashing it is quite problematic compared to...I dunno, the various different interpretations of Sherlock Holmes.

[colonel_green.insanejournal.com]

Casting stupidity aside, I find myself hoping the film will succeed anyway, because I loved Slumdog Millionaire, and I'd like for Dev Patel to become a big star.

[scottyquick.insanejournal.com]

Isn't he already a big star? Slumdog Millionaire won the best movie award, right?

[harmoner.insanejournal.com]

The only reason I might watch this is for Dev Patel but I don't see it being good with M. Night (WHAT A TWIST!!) as the director.

[silverzeo.insanejournal.com]

Aang: I like. Looks like a kid who plays than fights.
Katara: Looks like Wenesday Adams...
Sokka: Got the hairy right. Still looks like a pasty skin teenager... so it works I guess.
Zuko: Where's the scar? Where's is his- oh wait, I see it now....

[kirayoshi1.insanejournal.com]

I only have one question at this point; who's playing Iroh? I don't care who's playing Aang or even Zuko, if you don't have a good Iroh you may as well just cut your losses and go home!

Let's see, jovial, portly, can still kick butt...Sammo Hung! That'd work, dammit! Who's with me?

[espanolbot.insanejournal.com]

It's this guy,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_Toub

[ccsharumun.insanejournal.com]

They're calling it RACEBENDING.

[404glitch.insanejournal.com]

Hearing that word makes me tearbend.

[batcookies.insanejournal.com]

Reprehensible.

[magus_69.insanejournal.com]

Character designs: Mostly win. The live action scar shouldn't be as obvious as the animated scar, but it should be noticeable. The henna arrow is a brilliant touch, but I'd like it to be more vibrant.

The casting: is there anything that I can say that hasn't already been said? Well, maybe this: I cannot in good conscience go see this movie. I was excited for it. The fact that the creators of Avatar were vocally in favour of what Shyamalan was doing was a great comfort to me*, and then this happened.

*-- Come to think of it, I haven't heard anything from them recently. In fact, not since before the whole casting debacle came to light. It could just be because I've fallen out of the Avatar fandom, and was barely connected to begin with, but I think I would have heard something if Mike and/or Bryan had spoken publically. That's rather telling.

That's rough, buddy.

[nefrekeptah.insanejournal.com]

If it's any consolation, the reason that Mike and/or Bryan haven't said anything is most likely because they're hard at work on the movie, since they're executive producers and all.

[janegray.insanejournal.com]

here's three pages of the Official Avatar comic from the Nick magazine (I think),

I have read two Avatar comics, but I've never seen those pages. What comic are they from? How many Avatar comics are there in total?

[menagerie.insanejournal.com]

I'm kind of tired of the surprise and shock over this whole thing. Big studio Hollywood gets involved with a property, of course it turns to crap. Has there ever been a good adaptation of any cartoon? Not many. I've been sick of the Hollywood remake/sequel engine for years now to the point of outright refusing to see most sequels and remakes. (I did buy a copy of Hellboy II second hand though, and I'll say that it's actually better than the first).

[mcity.insanejournal.com]

"Has there ever been a good adaptation of any cartoon?"

Transformers was liked by a lot of the fandom.

[cmdr_zoom.insanejournal.com]

Surprised to see no one here has compared Katara's actress to Michelle Trachtenberg (yet).

Me, I'm just waiting for the inevitable absurd TWEEST.

[pepperspray101.insanejournal.com]

argh! Now I can't UNSEE IT!

[mcity.insanejournal.com]

Skepticism!