The Last Airbender (2010) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 24) 💨

 Hello everyone,

Today's film is a doozy. Frustrating back in 2010, and even more frustrating now that everyone and their dog is re-watching the Avatar TV series on Netflix and falling in love again with the source material. I have tried not to re-watch films I've already seen for this series, but I was curious to see if this one would improve after some time. It did not; in fact it actually got worse. I hate calling films duds because I think there is usually something to salvage, but I feel OK saying this was a proper dud....

(**disclaimer: the following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them - film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some thoughts....**)

Source: IMDB

M Night Shyamalan’s underwhelming attempt at a live-action iteration of the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender series was an embarrassing miss in early 2010's YA fantasy film. A journey following 12 year-old Aang, the latest in a long line of the ancient Avatar, who must master all 4 elements – fire, water, air and earth – in order to stop the Fire Nation from annexing the Earth tribes and Water kingdoms. Big ideas with big potential for spectacle that ended up being largely frustrating and disappointing in a number of key areas.

From the opening scene, there were immediate problems. Largely static and rigid, the introduction of the four elements was awkward and the Star Wars-esque scroll of prologue/world building text was show blandly onscreen in front of a plain black background and a monotone voiceover from Katara (Nicola Peltz). It was such a missed opportunity for a captivating montage sequence that added human faces and a sense of dimension to the stakes that are presented. It felt hollow, and did a poor job of immediately immersing audiences in a clear aesthetically-oriented world. The cinematic rule of show don’t tell was largely ignored immediately by Shyamalan, a big-budget Hollywood regular who should know better. An oversight like that was not a good first sign.

A lot of Shyamalan’s direction was flat and slow; lacking the energy or urgency that is required of a journey-esque tale where time is of the essence. It’s surprising how boring the plot actually is given the premise has so much potential to be action-packed. The mythology of this world was fascinating on paper, but the way this film has been conceived doesn’t respect or embrace all the potential opportunities this world presented. Even the fight sequences, which are supposed to be some of the most climactic and dynamic, are clumsy and inconsistent. Too often they’re calm and dull, and the accompanying soundtrack lacked any sort of bite. It didn’t match the beats, and even slowed down the pace of the action.

What also became alarmingly obvious quickly was some major script issues. Shyamalan’s screenplay was underwhelming and frustratingly simplistic. The writing of dialogue was appallingly bad; lacking depth or expression in favour of disjointed and bland exchanges between characters. Many scenes read as awkward and hollow; even the ones between friends and family members. There was also little to no character development, and where Shyamalan attempted it resulted in patchy and flimsy work. Every character felt half-baked in their construction from the start, especially our protagonists Katara and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone). Shyamalan chose to emphasise the wrong plot points from the TV show in setting up this film as both a world creator and developing a complex ‘good vs. evil’ plot structure. The pacing was also odd and didn’t leave enough space in the plot or the action sequences for significant turning to have their intended meaningful effects on the characters. In the final battle, the purpose of the Red Moon and the upper hand that was supposed to give the fire nation wasn’t conveyed strongly enough; and the waterbenders losing their power core with the death of the spirit fish wasn’t anywhere near long enough to create the intended amount of tension within the battle sequence. No matter what type of scene was on-screen, it felt rushed and simplified to an insipid degree.

There were also too many ‘antagonists’, thus not allowing enough time or attention for each one to beef them up properly. Commander Zhao (Aasif Mandvi) was the most ruthless and forthright in his desire for total domination; yet his impact ultimately felt a little hollow given how quickly he was disposed of in the final battle. Incorporating Zhao’s boss Firelord Ozai (Cliff Curtis) was potentially the most distracting, with an ambitious yet bland presence perpetuating the toxic dominance attitude of the militaristic Fire nation. But the most interesting arc rightly went to moody fire bender Zuko (Dev Patel). His position as a form of anti-hero fighting for himself against both his evil uncle and the Avatar had the most appeal, but his arc suffered within Shyamalan’s desire to shove so many elements into the plot.

This film had plenty of issues across several elements. Largely average performances were made worse by poor writing and a general lack of nuance or energy in the tone and pacing of the plot. Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender sucked the life out of a popular YA fantasy world, and huge missteps like poor special effects and whitewashing lead casting did not help. Not even an engaging performance from Shaun Toub as the wise and spiritual Fire bender Uncle Iroh could save this film from falling flat on its face.

6/10, 2.5 STARS

Thanks for reading,

Love and being able to move fire, water, earth and air with your hands, Emily 💨