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Joined: 23/6/2006
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Director/Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, Shaun Toub, Aasif Mandvi, Cliff Curtis
Synopsis
In a world separated into four nations, each representing one of the four elements (Water, Earth, Fire and Air)ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ, the two siblings Katara (Peltz) and Sokka (Rathbone) discover a young boy named Aang (Ringer)ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ who is not only the last of the air nomads but is also the Avatar, which can control all the elements and save the world from the Fire Nation's wrath.
Review
It is surprising how the arrival of a new M. Night Shyamalan film is a dark warning to us all. In a previous life, Shyamalan displayed a series of great films that were intelligent and dealt with interesting themes. From The Sixth Sense (great), to Unbreakable (his most underrated and best work) and even Signs (War of the Worlds for the thinking man), Shyamalan had a name that was to be excited about.
However, he took a left turn which led him to do stuff like Lady in the Water, a "bedtime story" that was boring and a load of nonsense. After his last film The Happening which did no good either, M. Night decided to change his direction by not doing anything based on his own ideas, but adapt someone else's material.
Based on Nickelodeon's hit television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, Shyamalan has adapted the first season, which deals with Aang's journey through the Water Kingdom to search for someone who can teach him to waterbend, whilst being in the company of the waterbending beginner Katara and her boomerang-using brother Sokka. Through their journey, they have to watch out for soldiers of the Fire Nation and particularly the banished prince Zuko who searches for the Avatar in order to regain his lost honour.
Now being seeing this, I did watch the entire TV series, which is more than just an American kids' programme. It's actually a work of art, in which it was as epic as Lord of the Rings; as entertaining as Star Wars; and like the works of Miyazaki-san, the fantasy (which is primarily Asian-influenced) is so imaginative to make it appealing for all ages. Having seen Shyamalan discussing about his love towards the show and how it is a family sensation at his place, it was quite exciting because this was a different kind of film, and when you see the previews and so forth, you think he can't fail.
However, as a hundred-minute adaptation of the show that I really love, it is one hell of a mess! When it comes to translating television to cinema, you have to reduce the baggage of a series and tell the film through its major plot points. This is what we've learnt from translations like State of Play and Edge of Darkness, which weren't as dynamic as their source material but were good enough to be proper films.
In the case of The Last Airbender, they have reduced a large number of plot points that were pivotel to the storytelling of the show, and thus the film becomes an incomprehensibly cheap rip-off of Star Wars for those who aren't familiar with the original, while those who are fans will have their hearts broken.
As well as having difficulty with the narrative, the film is also badly written, in terms of the dialogue which is up there with the writings of George Lucas. These characters who were so memorable in the series as there were colourful individuals which had interesting backstories while there was humour cleverly worked into their interactions. There is none of that wit and charm within this film, which is filled with people who constantly talk about the plot through such wooden dialogue.
To be perfectly honest, I would have been impressed with the look of the film if it wasn't for the dreaded 3D. Like Clash of the Titans, the 3D conversion felt like a last-minute request as it hardly puts you into this world as the story nor indeed the characters isn't even sucking me in. Whenever the bending action kicks in (no matter how good the effects are), I felt like bending the whole film in order to demolish it.
To truthfully depict a character as complex as Aang, you need to display a child-like sensibility which is reckless and excitable, and yet needs to understand that the world is under attack and become its saviour. Unfortunately, newcomer Noah Ringer does not behave like a child and becomes a rather bland protagonist. As for Dev Patel playing Zuko, who has the most interesting role of the entire series, he disppointedly lacks a menacing screen presence and clearly doesn't have any fun with his screen uncle, Shaun Toub.
Verdict
If the proposed trilogy continues, either get someone else who knows how to do this genre properly or better yet, leave it alone because I don't want to see two more films that will leave nothing but disappointment. Well done, Night!
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The Last Airbender - 
RE: The last airbender ! - 
RE: Blimey, I liked it!! - 
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