The following is Josh’s post on the IMDB boards, not mine.  I’m simply quoting it, because I don’t think he has a blog here.

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Frankly, I’m rather disappointed so far. The looming pessimism has come to a culmination I think with the recent release of the casting decisions regarding Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko. 

First off, we need to realize that Sokka and Zuko are not set in stone yet. We can speculate all we want, but in the end, what good will it do us if it turns out neither of these guys can do the movie? I kind of figured that a cast list would trigger a reaction and a stirring in the fandom, but not just here, but all over so far I’ve seen nothing but moaning and groaning about how “OMT WTZ JESEE MCCARTNEY SUX AND I DON’T WANT HIM IN THIS MOVIE HE WILL RUIN IT I HATE SHYAMALAN!!” 

Unfortunately, the above is not as much of an exaggeration as it appears. And again, I want to stress that I’m not talking specifically to you guys here, because I’ve seen it everywhere so far. 

Now, I am open and I do realize that the anger is not totally irrational and unjustified. At first glance, I admit, it looks like a sell-out. I’m not going to sit here and lie and tell you guys that I think Jesse McCartney would be the best possible choice for Zuko. And more than that, I’m not going to say that I’m thrilled about a Twilight cast member joining the team either. Neither of those two would have gotten my consideration had I been M. Night or the casting director. 

But now, I think it’s time to do a little flashback sequence. 

Two words, Heath Ledger. 

So many of the Batman fanboys were stunned and shocked out of their wits when they heard Heath Ledger would be playing The Joker in The Dark Knight. They completely shunned the idea and started ranting and raving about how he would ruin it. 

I think we all know the rest of that story and can learn a little lesson from it. 

So how about this? Let’s not start cast-bashing until AFTER July 2, 2010. Realize that hardly ever do casting decisions in movies like this make or break a movie. Can they have some outcome in the final product? Of course they can, but we haven’t seen the final product yet. Heck, we haven’t even seen the rest of the cast. 

As for myself, I truly do think there is a reason for any casting decision, and if Shyamalan didn’t have who he wanted, I think the situation would be worse because he would be working with people he didn’t want to work with. 

So like I said, let’s hold off on the judgments that are solely based on 4 casting decisions, 2 of which that aren’t even set in stone yet. After July 2, 2010, you have all my respect if you want to rip Shyamalan a new one, but let’s give the guy a break and let him make the movie first. 

Now, speaking from past experience, I do want to say this. I’ve made plenty of criticisms like this before in thread form, and I’ve been shot down many times because I come across as arrogant or as though I’m in charge. If that’s the case, so be it. I would rather make my point and stand firm behind it and be ridiculed because of it than let this thing run rampant and have a really upset and restless fandom that is grumpy all the time because we didn’t get our way in the casting decision. 

And if I sound like I think I’m in charge, then I apologize for the tone, but not for the message. I think this needed to be said, but if it was said in a way that offends you or makes you feel inferior, I’m sorry for that and I mean no disrespect to anyone who reads this. I want to be friends with everyone here, and I know I kind of have a bad habit of drifting in and out at times… 

*glances at his “Most Likely to be Trapped in an Iceberg for 100 Years” Award from back in August* 

…but I just really felt that this needed to be said. Rant over. 

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EPIKK

*Spazzes* OHMYGOD!! MELON LORD! ZUKO GONE NUTS! AZULA CRAZY!! URSA IN THE MIRROR!! LION TURTLE!! LOVE!! FIGHT!! AGNI KAI!! PHONIEX LORD!! AVATAR STATE!!! MAIZU!!! KATAANG!!

Its all there folks. I don’t think I have to review this episode to tell you how amazing it was. All I wanna know is, where is Ursa??? Possible spin off or open for interpretation??

Maizu won. Kataang won. TAKE THAT ZUTARANS!!

The episode opens with the shot of Zuko and Aang firebending, as scene in the SDCC trailer. They’re in the courtyard of Zuko’s old sumemr home, where the presume they’re safe. Zuko looks especially hot firebending with his shirt off I especially love Sokka in this episode, being blatant towards everything we question in the series. First off, he admits to the fillers! “This is the type of wacky time wasting thing I miss!” Oh Sokka…Unfortunetly his remarks are not far off, as this episode doesn’t seem to offer anything to the table except for a confused shipping moment and hints of finding Iroh soon.

Its quite funny how Zuko cuts Aang off as he sits next to Katara. NO ZUTARA SHIPPING AT ALL IN THIS EPISODE!! (Love it) Poor, poor Aang.

I don’t know if anybody else noticed, but the actor ‘Sokka’ was voiced over by Jack DeSena (Whom, as everybody should know, is the actual voice actor of Sokka.) Now everybodies probably seen “Gender-bender’s” Which is that funny little thing on Deviantart.com where characters such as Zuko or Aang or Sokka are drawn as girls, and vice versa. Here, Aang is played by a girl and Toph is played by a boy (Hillarious that she loves this. Toph to in touch with her male side and Aang, blantantly pointed out, to in touch with his feminie side) Cheap laughs thrown in, for our amusment so we can slap ourselves silly and say/yell; “TEARbend!? Momo TALKS!? ROTFLMAO!!!” I know I did. (Best line in episode is, by far; “It just gave me so much HOPE! *sob*”)

Its odd how Zhao is barely even mentioned in this renactment. His part in the first capturing of Aang is replaced by ‘Zuko’, leaving the Blue Spirit to be an entirly different person. The only time he is even shown is when ‘Aang’ as the Water Spirit ‘kills’ him. Also, they pass right over the Great Divide, showing how POINTLESS it was!

The weird looks; Azula’s make-up makes her look like a wh0re, Jet looks like he’s on drugs, Mai has panda hair and a frowny face on her clothes, Ty Lee’s in a freakin tu-tu, and Zuko (and his hair) look like something out of a Fabio commercial. I absolutly ADORE how the writers cleared up Jet’s death; Sokka admits it’s indecisevness!

And one of the two only impotant parts of the episode, Katara and Zuko in the Cave. They look so awkward and embarassed about the whole thing, they even shift away! If that doesn’t SCREAM Anti-Zutara, I don’t know what does. Katara fingers with her pigtail when she’s nervous around Aang, quite like she does right before they’re kiss. She never says she doesnt like him, just that shes confused in the middles of a war. Quite understanable.

(I also want to point out, as a Techie veteran, that TECHIE IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR NINJA! THE TECHIES IN TEH PRODUCTION WERE NINJAS!)

The end is what amazes me. Its not looking into the future for the gAang, but a subtle (or not so subtle) reminder of what could go wrong if they messed up. Interesting though, it shows Zuko being shot down by Azula, killed by his own element, by his own sister. In the new new NEW finale trailer, there is a scene, my favorite and its also my least. It shows Zuko lying on the ground, wincing in pain as thin smoke rises from a ripped, and what looks like bloody, shirt, Katara shocked in the background. Sokka, comic relief as always, states that the play may show the future. Well, I think it did…At least a little bit for Zuko. I doubt he’ll die, but I don’t doubt that he’ll suffer even mroe at the hands of his family.

And Aang. Maybe it shows the future for him too. Maybe not. All we know is that people clapped when he died. The play ended up then being nothing more than a shoddy communistic renactment of a hero whom half the world wants to fail. Pretty heavy.

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All in all, this episode turned out to be nothing more then another filler, with one or two important points that could’ve been filled in another episode. Yesterday’s episode was great, and tomorrow’s promises to be amazing. But it’s like getting a sandwitch with great bread and bad meat. You eat it, you smile at your mom and dad, but you silently wonder “Why make me sit through this when I’m just dieing to get to the other end?” Answer;

It just makes waiting for the finale even more antagonizing.

So I did adore how this one started In Media Res. It was sudden and it cleared up the rest of the episode (How glad was I that Hakoda and…Uh…whats his name didn’t stay. I hate it when adults mix with the gAang. And they got rid of the extra gang in one easy line!) Though it is sad isn’t it? It feels as though Sokka and Katara just found their dad and he left. Sad. How did Azula find them? War balloon and pure craziness? She did scare me through this one. She’s slowly starting to snap. I think we are now witnessing the deteriorating of Azula’s mind. I do believe during her final face off between her and Zuko (Which is definatly gonna happen) her insanity will be her downfall. And who else is freaked by the fact she can FLY!?

The scene of Appa flying over the FN Battlement reminds me very much of the beginning of Winter Solstice part 2. Also, Zuko falling and Katara saving him was definatly a call out to that.

I adore the fact Zuko made his “Well, I could always chase you around *smirk*” joke. I pretty much kept slapping myself during that scene. Cheesey and funny. Ya gotta love Avatar. I liked the crazy run in of Zuko and Suki. It always does piss me off when main characters never interact. I thought she just felt awkward around him but NO! She wanted to sneak in and see Sokka!!!

Speaking of which, how much mental scarring was that for Zuko to walk in with Sokka in that oddly almost seductive pose!? I nearly died. But I so called that from the trailer!!! Sokka’s description was odd…a description of the day through a warrior’s eyes. All of that destruction over one little waterbender…

Katara was incredibly harsh towards Sokka “Maybe you didn’t love her like I did.” Ouch. You see that the old Zuko didn’t really die. Harsh, violent, angry, revenge seeking…He’s still very much the same. But, even through this episode, he’s still learning. Which is great! (Zuko field trips. It’s amazing! When does Toph get her turn?!)

But then, Katara did something unthinkable. She bloodbends. She swore she’d never bloodbend no matter what! Ever again, but she does it here without a second thought, without guilt. It’s frightening and you can even see Zuko being frightened by it. It really did bother me that through the entire episode she doesn’t even think about the fact she bloodbended. Doesn’t mind. Katara angry is terrifying because she’s no longer herself. She has no convections about anything, and she could very well kill someone if provoked.

The Epik Question. We all knew it was going to be asked, we all wondered. We argued for ages that Nick would never show death. Yue, Zhao, Jet. It never happened but here, Zuko, the Prince the newest member of the gAang, the son of the enemy poses the question. The one that (I’m so gonna keep milking this ) we have wondered; Will Nick go this far? Answer…well…really question “What will you do about my father.” BINGO!!! Goes against all of Aang’s learning to solve peacefully, to not fight (or more importantly kill) to talk rather then violence. Zuko ruined it all (*hugs*) but that one question will set the scene for our finale.

What will Aang do with the Fire Lord?

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On the note of tomorrow’s episodes, I originally thought it was another filler (*death*). But this seems to be the ultimate shipping episode. Tomorrow night, the battle between Kataang and Zutara will end.

Go Kataang!!

YouTube:  http://youtube.com/watch?v=sR8wRgQsHHc

MP4:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DB4BAON3

AVI:  http://www.megaupload.com/?d=34E0H1MQ

So here we go.  BTW, using the AVI file for framecounts, since it’s easier to frame-navigate with that format.

We open with a scene of Aang and Momo sitting on what appears to be a wooden floor with dirt partially covering it.  He tells Momo that he has no choice, that he has to kill the Fire Lord.  Note the use of the term ‘kill.’  Nick has been hesitant to employ that word, for obvious reasons, so this is pretty darn serious now.  Also note his usage of the title ‘Fire Lord.’  Either he doesn’t know at this point his title is Phoenix King, or he doesn’t bother correcting himself whenever he lapses.

We cut to a scene of – presumably – Pheonix King Ozai’s coronation.  This appears to be staged near the bay.  We also see some sort of mechanism spewing fire around the throne-area-thingy, which is huge.  We also see his new logo on the flag behind him.  Zooming in on his face, we don’t see much new.  Next we see Aang standing in front of the house we saw him training by in previous trailers.

Next we see Aang standing in front of the house we’ve seen him practicing by in earlier TV ads.  His mouth movements don’t match the voiceover, so he’s not speaking what we’re hearing now.  Next: zoom in on Ozai standing on a platform underneath and towards the front of one of his airships.  He’s grinning.  Cut to Zuko and Katara; Zuko’s down with severe burns, and he’s twitching.  Katara’s running towards him, but she’s shot at with blue lightning.  You can tell it’s lightning from frame 311.  Next, we see the entire Gaang gathered around Sokka, taking a knee.  They’re on a craggy cliff/hill, with something tall and red at the very top, protruding from the ground.

Next we’re zooming in on Aang’s head; he appears to be wearing clothes that cover the shoulders, and he’s surrounded by rock.  It’s night.  At the last frame, he widens his eyes.  Fade to the volcano scene, which is old.  Cut to the airship-burning-the-beach scene, also old.  Aang launches a fire blast, also old, but now we see what he’s firing at: an airship (what else, really?), presumably Ozai’s.  He hits the engine.  Cut to Zuko shooting lightning at Ozai in 311.  Now we see something odd that I haven’t the faintest clue what it is.  There appear to be two somethings high above the ground, a smoke cloud between them.  Something within the cloud emits five fireballs heading towards the ground.  Can’t make out what those somethings might be.

Next we see an old clip from NYCC, what appears to be the inner ring of Ba Sing Se being breached, with tanks in the streets.  It’s obvious that the blast is initiated by the good guys, since the Fire Nation’s already seized Ba Sing Se.  Now we see Aang launching a spinning-kick fire blast towards camera; I’ll refer to this later.

We now see a lightning blast strike a stone pillar – I assume it came from Ozai, since it seems just too powerful for Azula.  I also assume it’s the pillar that Aang’s standing on, or a pillar near where Aang’s standing on the ground.  Cut to Sokka cheering Aang and his airbending slice, a throwback from 205.  We see him, Toph, and Suki in the pilot room of assumably an airship; the windows are broken, suggesting their mode of entrance.  Suki is at the wheel.

Next is a line of tanks launching an attack.  They’re in a civilian area, indicated by the houses in the background.  No chance to identify what nation they’re from.

Next is Aang being thrown back by a fire blast.  It appears that there is earth being thrown back alongside him.  Also, this clip appears to be in slow motion.

Now is a scene I’m really excited about.  We see an intricate fire spiral in the air above the ground.  There’s some pieces of earth flying up, as well as a wave of water coming in.  This can only mean one thing.  Aang’s at the center, and he’s about to unleash some awesome.

Cut to Aang flying through the air, an old clip.  Cut to Suki reaching up.  The surface seems to be unstable.  Cut to Sokka assumably reaching down; a pillar of smoke is visible over his shoulder.  Cut to Suki and Katara, both in Fire Nation disguise, in awe.  Cut to Katara eying an oncoming lighting blast.

Cut to Ozai standing on his platform, reaching upwards, then moving into an attack stance, launching an amazing fire blast on the earth.  Cut to someone who just launched a spinning-kick fire blast.  We can only assume this is Aang.  This attack is odd, since we see someone (maybe Ozai) on another stone pillar, but no one else, so the spinning attack makes little sense against a single opponent.  Cut to Aang launching a waterbending attack, an old clip.  Cut to what appears to be a stone pillar flying through the air to impact on an airship.  Cut to Zuko dodging an Azula blast, and launching one of his own.

Cut to Aang blocking a firebending attack, being thrown back.  Smart, in my opinion.

Cut to someone – I’m assuming Zuko – launching a breakdancing-style fire blast across an open court.  This appears to be Azula, Katara, and Zuko’s battlefield.

Cut to Aang in the Avatar State, bending all four elements, flying through the air.  Freaking awesome.

Well, that’s it.  As awesome as this trailer was, I’m left with sense of being robbed of the suspense.  Now I know that Aang unlocks the Avatar State, and what many of the epic scenes will be looking like.  I half-feel like I wish that I hadn’t seen the trailer, but what’s done is done.  Comments are much appreciated.

Most importantly, what will happen to all of these fan sites? Will they just disappear? Or, like Harry Potter, will we continue in or disscussions? Will we look deeper into the storyline handed to us OR even petition for a new season? (hopefully???)

Well this is it folks. Hold on to your hats, and get ready for the last episodes of Avatar the Last Airbender

So I’ll be discussing the various strategies employed by both sides, and how they relate to Avatar.  I’ll start with the castle raid.  FYI, I haven’t read any of the books, so I’m just going from the movie.

This raid was poorly executed.  They weren’t overwhelmed by numbers, they were slaughtered by archers from unassailable positions.  But let’s back up.  Prince Caspian (the character), on the surface, is an idiot.  The goal of the raid is to secure the castle – to eliminate the enemy presence so long as the enemy is combative.  There is absolutely no reason to risk delaying the attack to go rescue some guy in a prison hold.  He can go and get is professor later.  Not only is it a waste of time, but the professor is safe as long as he stays put.  He is not in any danger at all if he stays where he is, but out in the open, he is just a big target.

However, Prince Caspian does not believe that this raid will be successful.  So he is likely preparing for what he believes to be inevitable, and what actually does occur – the Narnians’ defeat and retreat.  He wanted to have his professor ready to go in such a scenario, and it was well of him to believe it would occur.

This gets me to the main part of the invasion, the courtyard battle.  This is a classic example of what happens when Sokka does not fly in on Appa and get the troops organized.  They remained out in the open while the Telmarines poured soldiers into the fray.  The thing to do in this case is, get out of the open, and more basic, have some group coordination.  They may have been subscribing to the general’s school of thought, that the archers would not fire if the Telmarine soldiers were not safe, but they also knew that Miras was a tyrant, and should have seen it coming.  They needed to get moving, with a common purpose, into the hallways of the castle where they can’t be shot at en masse.  Instead, they simply stayed where they were, doing combat with no coordination at all.  That reminds me: immediately after the gate and bridge were open, the Narnians should have disabled their mechanisms, making it impossible to seal off the exit.  Simply chew through two ropes for the bridge, and prop two supports beneath the gate.  Don’t rely on single guards to watch over the mechanisms and make sure no one tries to close them (as the main dwarf guy did).

OK, so they didn’t do so well here.  But they more than made up for it with their conduct in the final battle.  But first, I want to discuss the Telmarine technology, because it plays a major role.  Their catapults were amazingly designed.  When I first saw them, when they were in production, I noticed the belt drive and wondered why they would build a catapult like that.  But, seeing them in action, I understood, and was blown away by the ingenuity.  The catapult arms swing constantly in one direction, and both ends of the arm pick up rounds and fire them.  There are free-swinging weights on both sides, to amplify the force.  The rounds are small and spherical, which makes them easy to load – simply place them on a ramp, and they’ll roll into position by the time the next arm comes around.  One big problem I had with the catapults at Minas Tirith were that the rounds were not spherical, they looked like left-over chunks of buildings.  These rounds landed on maybe fifteen Orcs, and did nothing more.  If they had been spherical, they could have rolled over many more.  The Telmarine catapults were round, but too small to do any rolling – they sunk into the ground upon impact, making rolling impossible.  What the Telmarines need to do is, scale up.  That is, these were fine for that battle, when the enemy was weak and the battlefield was small, but in future conflicts, with more enemy forces, bigger would be better – not just more catapults.

One more piece of tech: their ballistas, which they used effectively to shoot down the eagles.  Maybe not so original, but loading many small rounds into the ballista was a very good move, giving them a much wider spread.

I am very impressed with the Telmarine technology, just as I am with the Fire Nation’s.  I hope the FN uses their tech as effectively in the finale as the Telmarines.

Now, finally, on to the Final Battle.  One of the reasons I absolutely love this battle is that I totally called the collapse-the-ground move.  I sat there, seeing the cavalry charging, and wishing that the Narnians could make a big chasm across the battlefield, cutting off their approach.  And then I saw that centaur wield his mace, destroying the column support, and I knew that that was exactly what they were going to do (maybe it wasn’t a big chasm, but it was as close as they could get and still remain realistic).  And then they deployed the ramps and surrounded the Telmarines.  Abso.  Lutely.  Brilliant.  But, not before the archers got off one good round (amazing cinematography, btw).  That was all they could do, before their own guys got in there, and they couldn’t risk killing their own people.  Though, I would have preferred if our cavalry had held back for a bit, so the archers could get off a few more rounds.  Nonetheless, we dispatched of the Telmarine cavalry, which is when they sent in their footsoldiers.  I said I was very impressed by their tactics, not that I had nothing at all negative to say about them.  Marching like they did, one foot three inches in front of the other, is not at all a good way to deploy troops.  I am a firm believer in guerrilla warfare, and marching in formation is not an effective strategy, as the British so painfully learned.

So anyways, the footsoldiers are deployed, so we deploy our long-range archers.  Not the most effective use of air support I’ve seen, I would have preferred it if the eagles carried round rocks, and ran bombing runs from high altitude, above the range of the ballista.  But, things never happen the same way twice, so we get to watch the airborne archers take out a few soldiers before they’re dispatched with the ballista I mentioned earlier.  Either stay high, or come in from the side or rear.

So the footsoldiers are approaching.  At this point, there’s not much for it but to engage in hand to and combat.  The fighting goes badly, High King Peter orders the retreat, and the amazing catapults collapse the cave entrance.  At this point, even if the footsoldiers had not advanced past the point where our cavalry came out of the ground early on, those access points would no longer be useful, as they lead to a collapsed cave system.  So the only thing to do is engage again until – contrary to Aslan’s no-repeat philosophy, he does come in and save the day, just not directly.  These trees are awesome, maybe almost possibly kind of comparable to the Ents in awesomeness.  Then comes the Telmarine commander’s retreat order, claiming that they can defeat the Narnians if they draw them to the river.  I though this was strange, until I saw the bridge.  That bridge would have acted like a bottleneck, forcing the Narnians to either attempt the treacherous river crossing, or to cross on the bridge, and present only seven or eight targets at a time.  The only problem with this is that it acts like a bottleneck for both sides – the Telmarines must cross first for this to be an effective strategy.  I’m going to rail for a moment on what happened after the hole was blown in Helm’s Deep’s wall.  The elves had the opportunity to rush in and plug up the gap before too many Oruk-hai could get through – if they had, the wall would have acted as a bottleneck, allowing only a handful of enemies to present themselves at a time.  Instead, they waited, and the Oruk-hai took possession of the gap, pouring though and presenting an ever-wider wall of enemies to the elves.

All right, so that’s all I have on this topic.  I really hope that there will be some sort of brilliant strategy at play in the finale, or if the writers are going to make both sides act sloppily.  We shall see.  Comments are appreciated.