The Last Airbender (film review)

The plot centers around a world at war. The Fire Nation plans to enslave the people of the Earth, Water, and Air Nations, prohibiting them from using their abilities to control– or “bend”–their respective elements. Aang, the lone successor in the line of “Avatars” that can control all of the elements, must team up with some newfound friends to stop the Fire Nation once and for all. At the same time, the exiled Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation (played by Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire who is clearly trying his hardest to overcome the atrocious script) must seek out the Avatar in order to appease his dictatorial father and rejoin his people. As Aang and company travel to the realm of the Water Tribe to hone his skill in bending liquids, the Fire Nation draws ever closer in their attempt to enslave the child and retain control of the world.

 

Only having seen a smattering of episodes of the popular Nickelodeon show upon with this film is based, I thought it a smart idea to see Airbender with a friend who is a huge fan of the surprisingly thoughtful and well-crafted source material. He confirmed that the plot of the movie indeed follows that of the show’s entire first season. While I can tip my hat to Shyamalan for remaining faithful to the series, I cannot condone the manner with which it was pulled off. Through endlessly tiresome exposition, dialogue as subtle as a sledge hammer to the face, wooden acting across the board (although it’s hard to blame the performers due to the severely weak script and apparent lack of any cohesive direction), and confounding editing choices that rob the film of any cohesive timeline and emotional resonance, Writer/Director/Producer Shyamalan fails in an astoundly encompassing manner. Those who complain that the Harry Potter films cut too much from the books need look no further than Airbender to see a cinematic example of what happens when stubborn filmmakers try to do far too much in a short amount of time. Airbender glosses over the surface of so much that not one single plot point or character arc is given any substantial amount of depth or importance. As a result the movie is dull and instantly forgettable because nothingstands out.

 

And then there are the potentially racist issues in the film…Egads! Whereas the majority of the characters in the show were of Asian and/or Inuit descent, all of the key players here are clearly Caucasian. Well, except for the villains which were cast uniformly by Indian actors. To be fair, the hundreds of extras in the movie all seem to match the ethnicities of the characters in the show, but they are all relegated to mundane tasks and are kept squarely in the background throughout. Shyamalan, who was given complete freedom of casting by Nichelodeon and Paramount, insists that he color-blind cast the entire film and selected only the best actors for the roles. Hmmmmm….okay. First off, none of the actors gave solid performances to begin with, including several who are hopelessly miscast (Comedy Central’s funnyman Aasif Mandvi as a maniacal  villain…really?!). More importantly, the film would still be a huge misfire regardless. In all actuality, the controversy surrounding Shyamalan’s casting is far more interesting than the movie itself. 

 

On the dimly-bright side of things, the special effects are quite nice if seen in 2D. The last minute 3D conversion, a blatant attempt to cash in on the current blockbuster fad, are purportedly hideous and distracting. I saw it in 2D so I can’t conform or deny this but I shudder to think that Airbender could actually be overn worse in another format. There are also about five cumulative minutes worth of cool figths spread throughout the 103 minute run time. Whoopee! 

 

Although it’s tempting to say that Shyamalan missed the boat with The Last Airbender, his career path would suggest that his ship already sailed years ago. This is sure to go down as one of the year’s worst movies.

UNDOUBTEDLY SKIP IT!