The Minority Report - "The Last Airbender" (2010)

“He will need you... and we all need him.”
I’m going to go ahead and start off by saying that I am a big fan of the original series. The thing with movies that are based off of something is that they will not be an exact replica. Keeping that in mind, when I went to see it, I forgot all about the television series and began with a blank slate. I had also heard for about a week (because movies come out a week later where I am currently) that the movie was absolutely terrible from everyone and everywhere (from friends to rotten tomatoes). I still held some level of hope, though.

Like the series, the movie is about an alternate earth where there are 4 nations that represent the 4 elements (Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water). Each nation practices different martial arts styles that make some of the people able to control their respective element, which is called “bending”. Legend tells of the avatar, who has the unique ability to master all 4 elements and rotates through all nations in an infinite reincarnation loop. One hundred years ago, he was born to the Air nation; that was also the time when the Fire nation decided to launch an attack to take over the other nations. When the world needed him most, though, the avatar disappeared. Now, one hundred years later, he has reappeared out of an ice sheet. Aang (Noah Ringer), the new avatar, along with the people that found him—Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone)—have set out to liberate the nations from the grip of Fire and learn all 4 elements.

So…here we go. The movie wasn’t terrible, but it was bad. That is because of 3 main reasons: the script, the acting, and the editing. I had no problem with the camera angles and shots, as they were modeled after many of the scenes from the series and were pretty artful. What was terrible was the way that the movie was put together. Scenes would come and go with barely any cohesion. Only near the end was the editing bearable. Also, the bad acting coupled with the terrible script that only allowed for one-dimensional characters made the movie somewhat hard to watch. The only part of the movie that was fun to watch was the fighting and “bending” scenes because of the fantastic special effects created by Industrial Light and Magic. This movie is definitely like watching paint dry on a wall filled with ancient martial arts drawings and weird hybrid animals.

By Kulguy

The Minority Report - "Crash" (2005)

“It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”
Intertwining plotlines, harrowing life stories, and deep characters all come together in this marvel of a movie. Easily one of my favorite movies, “Crash” echoes within the confines of the mind and resonates within the soul. Telling the stories of a myriad of people from Los Angeles, this movie delves right into the thick of racism, crime, and social injustice. Among the characters are a cop (who has fallen off the line of what is considered respectful and good), a district attorney’s wife (who cannot see all that is around her and refuses to appreciate her life), and a Latin American man (who earns a living fixing many utilities in people’s houses and has a very close relationship with his daughter). Not just a social drama, the movie moves from traumatic moments in the life of one of the characters to playful and comedic discourse between two African-American characters as they proceed through the everyday. Lighthearted comedy and intelligent dialogues are not the only strong suits this movie possesses; it also boasts a number of plot twists, dramatic moments, and a looking glass into the heart of society and the people around you. Even though all the plotlines seem to be taking their own course in the beginning, as the movie progresses, the lives of each of the characters becomes inextricably knit with the others as they all come crashing down.

Apart from plot, the directorial aspect is one of the best that I have witnessed. Some shots represent the atmosphere in which the characters find themselves—when the action takes place in the ghetto or in a run-down house, the camera angles are askew and the shot is gritty and has a handheld feel. When the camera captures a moment in the courts or in a rich family’s house, the shots consist mostly of pans and still angles that evoke a smooth feeling and a calmness that is not present in the outer world. Slow motion and muted scenes were used only when necessary and to a degree that not only made the moments more emotionally packed, but also gave the happening a sense of injustice and dark irony that will make the viewer acknowledge that what is occurring is not deserved.

In the end, though, life keeps moving on. The realization of many things and the choices one makes (how we act, how we react, who we are, etc.) are what will create long-lasting effects in each other’s lives—this is the main message of the movie. People feel like they need to be a part of something; they need to feel that they are alive and that things are happening around them. As a social experiment, this movie gets to the root of the problem; but, it also doesn’t offer any solutions…the world just keeps spinning. Sitting through this movie was definitely not like Watching Paint Dry…

By Kulguy