Film Reviews

The Last Airbender

• Rating:
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Starring: Dev Patel
• Details: US/103mins PG

A mere shadow of the man who gave us the brilliant Sixth Sense and criminally underrated Unbreakable, M Night Shyamalan is a gifted filmmaker who has gotten lost so far up his own arse, there isn't a GPS system advanced enough to get him out. Once again he writes, produces and directs here, in this adaptation of the popular kids show of the same name. While the title and promise of expansion of the small screen universe may get the kids in, this flat and uninspired film will leave most wondering where the adventure went. As you'd expect at this stage, the shoddy 3D, added in post-production, is also a shambles.
The story begins with two youngsters from the Southern Water Tribe, one of them a waterbender (it means exactly what you think), stumbling across a little baldy chap named Aang, frozen in some ice. Aang is no ordinary kid, and is in fact the latest embodiment of The Avatar, a figure with the ability to bend all of the elements, who pops up once every generation before being reincarnated when his current guise buys the farm. But Aang has been stuck in the aforementioned ice for damn near a hundred years, and the world has gone to hell without him; mostly on account of the nasty firebenders, who want to utilize the little fella's impressive powers for further world domination.
There is no doubt that there was massive potential here for an epic franchise that could have been on par with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The world is not slight on characters, and is dense on fantasy and regions; Shyamalan just fails to explore one bit of it with any assurance. Even the core characters are scenery and nothing more; with lifeless performances from all of the kids the antitheses of a stand-out turn from Hayley Joel Osmont ten odd years ago.
Casting across the board is just plain strange; with Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi, and unassuming Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel in the main bad guy roles. They couldn't shed an ounce of menace between them if they were holding an open blade to a puppy's throat. Everyone else looks like they're auditioning for a part on Gossip Girl, and act as such, with cringingly awkward exchanges during the most simple dialogue scenes.
There is no doubt that The Last Airbender is a terrible film, and a mammoth waste of $100-odd million. I still think Shyamalan has the talent to wow us all; but as of right now, his ego is writing cheques that his ability can't cash.

Review by Mike Sheridan