The Last Airbender

Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Cliff Curtis, Seychelle Gabriel, Shaun Toub
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In a world ruled by the tyrannical fire nation, a lone surviving airbender (Noah Ringer) emerges after a hundred year absence. Some believe he is the fated Avatar, one who is able to control the four elements- air, water, earth, and fire. He takes a stand against the fire nation, but there are those who want him silenced forever.

Review:

Tim: It is now apparent that M. Night Shyamalan has lost any talent he might have had. I have never seen a director lose so much of brilliance so quickly. He went from one of the best up and coming directors, to a maddeningly incompetent one. I can't believe how disappointing he has been as a director lately. I once looked forward to his movies so expectantly. Now, I dread them. I very much disliked this movie.

The biggest problem with The Last Airbender is that the script and the cast are horribly disappointing. The film has a huge number of plot holes. So much of what happens in this film defies logic. And yet, I was mostly able to look past those holes. The problem I have with this film is the dialogue. The actors utter some of the most incomprehensibly stupid dialogue I have ever heard. Shyamalan wrote the film, so he has no excuse for the wooden, atrocious dialogue. He sadly assembles a terrible cast, so the weak words they speak appear even more awful. I was rolling my eyes at the cliche-filled, poorly written, badly acted script. It was just so stupid.

The cast was really bad. I know the film was controversial because it cast a non-Asian actor, Noah Ringer, as Aang. I don't so much care about this, but I wish they cast a good actor in the role. Ringer was terrible. His acting was weak, unbelievable, and completely silly. He spent most of the movie with his nostrils flared and his mouth wide open. He looked awful, and gave a forgettable, poor performance. I can't believe after the casting process, they came up with Ringer. Sure, he can physically perform the martial arts, but his acting ruined the film.

Nicola Peltz was very bad as well. She has little acting experience, and it shows up in every scene. Peltz is wooden, and I didn't believe her for a second. She was clearly acting in every scene- she never made me forget I was watching an actress perform. I was horribly disappointed in her. The supporting players aren't great. Besides Dev Patel and Cliff Curtis- both of whom give good performances, the other actors are all equally weak and ineffective. The casting process failed miserably here.

I will admit that the special effects are pretty good. The different elements- earth, air, water, fire- show up in interesting ways. There are some good battle scenes, and the elements are mostly cool to watch unfold on screen. While there's never a completely amazing, memorable moment, the special effects do occasionally help you forget that you are watching a disaster of a movie.

I have heard from a number of people that the cartoon series is actually really, really good. That just makes this film worse. M. Night Shyamalan took something cool, and made it awful. He used to be a good director, but I have completely given up on him. I hope he can make a comeback, but I have given up caring about him. He's disappointed me too much, and this ineffective, boring, stupid movie is the last straw.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 3.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Lady in the Water, The Village, The Happening