The biggest failing of “Avatar: The Airbender” is not the bad acting, M. Night’s directing or scripting massacre of the popular anime story or the terrible martial arts choreography.
The real crime is the marketing of the movie in the 3D format.
I have complained about 3D effects being slapped on movies…most notably the recent Wonderland debacle…which tend only to make the movie darker and generally unwatchable in order to throw a couple of beach balls at the audience. I was worried that this would happen to Avatar, especially since the early trailers did not mention 3D.
However, “Avatar” does something even worse than this.
There was no 3D effects in the movie! The trailers were in 3D. The beginning title sequence and all the production houses’ logos had 3D. The credits had 3D. During the actual movie, none. I am not talking about effects that were really bad. I am saying that not a single fireball, ice ball or earth clod that came out of the screen. No arrows, spears or swords threatened the goggled eyes of the audience. Nevertheless, glasses were still required to reintegrate the separated colors of the film, which i s doubly annoying when you already have to wear glasses.
So, not only was this movie bad, but fraudulent as well. The studios, producers, director, special effects companies and the movie theaters should be sued for misrepresentation, false advertisement and anything else a smart lawyer can think of.
