2010 Preview: The Last Airbender - 電影院

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2661&p=.htm

2010 Preview: The Last Airbender
降世神通:最後的氣宗

by Ray Subers
January 30, 2010

Release Date: July 2
Studio: Paramount
Genre: Fantasy
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Noah Ringer, Jackson Rathbone, Dev Patel, Cliff Curtis, Nicola Peltz,
Jessica Andres, Seychelle Gabriel, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi, Randall Duk Kim

Studio Description:
In a world where the elements Water, Earth, Fire and Air can be controlled
by people known as "benders", the Fire Nation is waging a ruthless,
oppressive war to control the other great nations.

The only hope for stopping the brutal war rests on the shoulders of a
reluctant young boy named Aang (Ringer). The last known survivor of the
peaceful Air Nomads and the Airbenders, Aang is the Avatar.

The Avatar is the physical re-incarnation of the world, with the power to
manipulate all four elements and draw upon the power, knowledge, and
experiences of the Avatar's previous incarnations.

官方介紹:
在世界上，有一種叫做"氣宗"的人，可以控制水、土、火與氣四大元素的運作
然而，火之國卻為了想控制其他國家，打算發起一場沒有規則而且高壓的戰爭
唯一能夠阻止這場殘酷戰爭的關鍵，在於一名叫做"安"的非自願男孩
他是和平的"氣族"唯一的生還者，也是一名"降世神通"

降世神通藉由物理的方式再生，擁有控制四大元素的力量
而且他的功力、知識與經驗，都會藉由上一個形體來傳承

The Avatar is responsible for maintaining balance between the four nations
of the world and the spirit world, hence keeping the balance of the world.
Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Peltz) and her
brother Sokka (Rathbone), Aang begins a perilous journey to restore balance
to their war-torn world. Standing in their way are the Fire Nation's Admiral
Zhao (Mandvi) and Prince Zuko (Patel), the banished prince of the Fire Nation
who seeks to capture Aang to regain his honor.

降世神通的責任，是維持四個國家之間勢力的平衡
在水族一名被保護的少女卡塔拉，與她哥哥索卡的協助之下
安踏上了一場重新讓世界維持平衡的驚險旅程
與他們對立的是火之國的海軍上將趙，以及遭到放逐的王子祖柯
他想要藉由逮捕安取回他在國家的地位

Analysis:
After writing and directing massive hits The Sixth Sense ($293.5 million)
and Signs ($228 million), M. Night Shyamalan was one of the hottest names
in Hollywood, seemingly becoming one of the very few moviemakers with
recognizably bankable names. And while his next movie, The Village,
grossed a solid $114.2 million in 2004, it opened big and fizzled quickly,
and Lady in the Water ($42.3 million) and The Happening ($64.5 million)
followed suit.

What's more, these three movies garnered progressively worse reactions from
audiences; The Village received a "B-" from Box Office Mojo readers, while
Lady in the Water got a "C+" and The Happening got a "C."

分析:
在編導出大熱賣的靈異第六感與靈異象限之後
奈莎馬蘭不僅成為好萊塢最熱門的人物之一
也被認為是少數能幫電影公司賺錢的電影製作人
然而,他2004年的陰森林,儘管依舊有破億的成績,但卻是典型虎頭蛇尾的代表
至於水中的女人與破天荒也一樣很快就退燒了

更糟糕的是,這三部片在觀眾的評價上也是每況愈下
陰森林在BoxOfficeMojo的會員投票還有B-,但後兩部電影都只獲得了C

In an apparent effort to get back in the good graces of audiences (and the
studios who finance his movies), M. Night Shyamalan's next picture is the
first where he is not working from an original idea. Instead, he is directing
the live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon's popular Asian-themed animated TV
show, Avatar: The Last Airbender (to avoid confusion with James Cameron's
blockbuster of the same name, producers decided to drop "Avatar" from the
title).

為了獲得觀眾與片商的重新喜愛
莎哥決定他的最新作品,將是他第一次不採用他原創的構想
相反地,他將改編尼克頻道頗受歡影的亞洲主題動畫"降世神通"
其中,為了與詹姆士柯麥隆去年那部超級大片作區隔
製作人還將英文裡面的"Avatar"拿掉

Adaptations of Asian-themed source material have struggled lately. Movies
like Digimon: The Movie ($9.6 million), Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie ($19.8 million),
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li ($8.7 million), Dragonball Evolution
($9.4 million) and Astro Boy ($19.6 million) were all disappointments.

The Pokemon movies may provide a good comparison, despite being significantly
more popular than Avatar: The Last Airbender when the first big-screen movie
was released. Pokemon: The First Movie grossed a sizable $85.8 million in
1999, but its sequels faded quickly: Pokemon: The Movie 2000 dropped to
$43.8 million and the last movie, Pokemon Heroes, was a limited release in
2003 that grossed around $750,000.

However, the Pokemon movies featured animation similar to the Pokemon TV
show, whereas The Last Airbender is a big-budget live-action adaptation.
In this way, at least, The Last Airbender appears to offer something
noticeably different from its original form.

根據亞洲相關作品改編的電影近來在市場上都不大討好
遊戲王與原子小金剛在美國的票房1千9百萬美金
數碼寶貝電影版、快打炫風:春麗外傳與七龍珠:全面進化
不到1千萬的收入更是讓人失望

神奇寶貝電影版倒是有相對亮眼的成績
1999年首部電影版在美國推出時,他賺進了超過8千萬
但是千禧年版本便縮水到到4千萬
到了2003年,不僅戲院變少,連收入也只剩下75萬
然而,神奇寶貝的風格還市與電視版相當接近
至於降世神通不僅是高成本的真人改編
就連形式與內容都原本的動畫版有很多的不同

Besides its source material-related challenges, The Last Airbender is
debuting on one of the busiest weekends of the year, with The Twilight Saga:
Eclipse and Knight & Day also opening. Eclipse and Knight & Day should
monopolize teenage and young adult audiences, and The Last Airbender could
still find success with younger kids familiar with the TV show. This built-in
audience will help, but, all things considered, it would be surprising if The
Last Airbender restored M. Night Shyamalan's box office stature.

除了題材因素帶來的挑戰之外
降世神通的上映檔期,也很有可能是今年最擁擠的週末
這個週末上映的電影還包括"暮光之城:蝕"與"騎士出任務"
這兩者將會壟斷青少女與年輕的成人群
慶幸的是,降世神通仍然能在對此節目熟悉的小學生找到他的市場
然而,假如莎導想要藉由本片重新獲得票房金童的地位
他恐怕要祈禱奇蹟的降臨了

小評:雖然降世神通跟暮光3在同一個週末上映
不過他目前的賣座行情也不像影評人先前那樣的唱衰
在派拉蒙公司的強勢行銷之下
一般預測還是可以擁有超過4千萬美金的首映成績
至於台灣目前也已經開始宣傳,我想應該也可以
獲得不錯的票房,畢竟就算不考慮幕前幕後陣容
光看預告片就覺得氣勢漫足夠的


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