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THE LAST AIRBENDER M. Night Shyamalan Starring Noah Ringer Dev Patel Nicola Peltz Jackson Rathbone I hate this fucking film, I really do. It took me a while to realise it but it's there now; undeniable and unavoidable. I left the cinema thoroughly unimpressed, agreeing with comments about how bland, shoddy and poorly directed it was but the most apt comment was a distinct comparison between this release and 2006's Eragon. An absolute mess, a complete waste and a damned shame. The initial premise is incredibly promising, a story about four nations able to harness the elements of water, air, earth and fire, all suffering the oppressive rule of the conquering fire nation awaiting the return of the fabled avatar. The avatar himself is the source of this world's balance, the only being able to control each element and ensure harmony between the nations. Unfortunately, he's been missing for over one hundred years and as such, the majority of the world has been plunged into war. One day out hunting, brother and sister water.. people, Sokka [Rathbone] and Katara [Peltz] stumble across a sphere in the ice, trapped inside is the twelve year old avatar, Aang [Ringer]. After thawing him out, Aang is captured by the banished fire prince, Zuko [Patel], who explains he cannot return to his kingdom without the avatar. Aang promptly escapes and begins his journey with Sokka and Katara to the Northern Water Tribe to learn the ways of water-bending. Upon hearing news of the avatar's return, the opportunistic Commander Zhao [Aasif Mandvi] launches an attack on the Northern Water Tribe. Incidentally, that's also a very brief synopsis of the original animated series that this film is based on - albeit an incredibly sparse one. You see, this film has almost everything working against it and only one real positive point - the costumes and landscapes are pretty good. The animated series was very much like Invader Zim, which was an insanely brilliant show written for adults but marketed to children. However, this film completely misses that inherent point and assumes all movies of this nature are strictly kids' films and because children are mentally retarded, they need every single ounce of storytelling dumbed down to single syllable concepts. On top of that, far too much is crammed in - I understand that Shyamalan is going for one series per film (good luck getting a sequel, by the way) but it's simply too much, at the very least you would require Lord Of The Rings style running times to fit in all the necessary plot elements. Lazy developments and patronisingly dumb outcomes flitter about on-screen accompanied by piss-poor acting, terrible writing, a forgettable score and even worse direction. Then there's the 3D element which, being an afterthought, offers nothing to this film. On a side note, I hate 3D. I hate it. It's a cheap gimmick and although it's getting better the assumption that '3D is the future of cinema' is ridiculous. The only reason so many blockbusters (and now televisions) are being released with this option is for the sole fact that they can legitimately up the ticket price. You want to know what I think? I believe we should scrap this gimmick and heavily focus on properly developing IMAX cameras - anyone who has seen the opening sequence of The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray will agree. The characters themselves need an entirely new paragraph. One of the fundamental traits that has been woefully ignored here is the fact that Aang is a boy - a twelve year old with a responsibility he's not yet ready for. This version of Aang seems to be little more than a timid child with little knowledge of the world and the sole ability to emote fear - not to mention the fact that Aang's affection for Katara is completely ignored. In addition, the supporting characters are equally bland, spouting ridiculous dialogue and rigidly stumbling from one predicament to the next. However, I felt it necessary to separate this paragraph owing to the fact that I'm not sure it was the actor's faults; sure, the performances are horrific (bar Patel's) but the fault lies solely with the direction. The very first credit that appears after the film's finale is: Written, Produced and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Put quite simply, this man is to blame. Fans will be outraged, uninitiated neophytes will be apathetic but ultimately, I doubt anyone is going to praise this pile of arse-bending nonsense. My advice is to purchase all three seasons of the animated series and ignore the existence of this film. Release Date: 20th August 2010 The Scene To Look Out For: I think the most memorable scene would have been shortly after one of the worst scenes in the film. Aang visits the people of the earth (earthbenders) and manages to start an uprising - that whole scene was appalling but that's not the point - following this he explains to Katara and Sokka that he never learned the other elements. Simple enough, except for the fact that when Shyamalan cuts to Aang's dialogue, he's so close to his face that the camera cuts just above his eyebrow and below his lower lip. It's almost as if Noah Ringer started to grow his hair back and a rather unsightly beard and they just didn't want to show it. If that wasn't bad enough, he kept rattling on about his skills as a bender, which only made matters worse.. hehe. I understand it's immature but every British cinemagoer is going to snicker just a little when this word is used - hence my highlighted quote. If you don't get what I'm saying, it's not really very funny but playground slang has a hard habit of lodging itself in a nation's subconscious. Notable Characters: As a fan of the series, I have to say I hated everyone; no one did justice to the original characters at all. The only individuals who came close were Dev Patel and Shaun Toub who actually managed to act credibly with what they were given. Highlighted Quote: "Stand back! She's a bender!" In A Few Words: "Other than the lush visual design every single decision made on this film was a poor one. Filmmakers take note, this is the perfect way to kill your career" Total Score: 
2/10Matthew Stogdon |
