Despicable Me & Airbender: The Good, the Bad, the UGLY

Hey there out in the Interwebs! I guess I’ve decided to keep this blog going, but I’m going to go about things a little differently. Those official reviews are nice, but they’re a little bit of work, so I’ve decided to take things a little more fast and loose.

 If you haven’t taken your kids to see Despicable Me, do so IMMEDIATELY before it’s out of theaters. And do yourself a favor and pay the extra money to see the 3-D version. (3-D costs us extra here.) Believe me, it’s TOTALLY worth it. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is still ultra funny and touching for both kids and adults if you choose to see it in 2-D, but the filmmakers used the 3-D to great effect and the extra visuals are fun, fun, fun.



 Yes, I have read some of the negative reviews regarding this movie and all I can say is that someone must have taken a dump in those reviewers’ corn flakes the morning they went to see it: It’s trite, the 3-D is overused, nothing new to see here … blah, blah, blah, whine, whine, whine and total BS.

 The fact is, if you see this movie you and your kids are going to LAUGH. You may even laugh yourselves silly. We certainly did. The movie is appropriate for any kid aged 5 and over. In fact, I want to see it again, but I don’t know if we’ll make it back to the theater.

 

Another movie we caught this summer is The Last Airbender, because our whole family are HUGE fans of the cartoon, which airs on Nickelodeon. Everything you’ve heard about this movie is TRUE: It is a ginormous STINKER, and the use of non-Asian actors for the main characters is nothing but OFFENSIVE, especially when everyone around them is Asian. (I think the Fire Nation are all Indian actors, but whatever.) I feel so bad for the creators of this awesome cartoon, since M. Night Shamalamadingdong took a fascinating concept and turned it into a huge fiasco. (And he really needs to quit plastering his name all over his movies. I mean, criminy, it’s not like he’s Steven Spielberg or Alfred Hitchcock or anything.)



My advice: sure, take your kids to see it in the theater if it’s just totally unavoidable, but ask Santa to not bother to put the DVD in anyone’s stocking, if you know what I mean.

 And if you haven’t watched the animated version on Nick, which is called Avitar, the Last Airbender, check it out! The concept of the four nations and their bending abilities is really interesting, and the writing for this show is quite good. (Normally, I DESPISE anime, but I make a huge exception for Airbender.)