Review of The Last Airbender (2010) by Seth S — 07 Aug 2014

I guess when the floodgates are opened, there's very little that can stop the water from deluging. After gradually losing the good favor of audiences and critics alike with his previous three movies, M. Night Shyamalan was inexplicably given 150 million dollars to adapt a much beloved animated TV show for the big screen. I haven't seen the original show, so I'll get that out of the way right off the bat. I'm basing this review on the merits of the movie alone.

And I was surprised to find that this film is not entirely without value. Or maybe I was just so scarred from Lady in the Water, any improvement seemed like a colossal step forward. Thanks to the (reportedly) excellent source material, the plot actually offers some interesting elements. In fact, the story should be a lot more compelling than what ultimately wound up on screen. A "last of his kind" hero who can bend all four elements, in a world where very few can even bend one. A quest to learn the skills necessary to defeat an imposing threat. A villain with melodramatic but viable motivations. It should pull together into something marginally compelling.

But it never really does. The only thing that impresses in this film are the visuals. I can't deny that the element bending does look cool. There is an attractive visual aesthetic throughout. And Shyamalan can actually shoot a decent action scene. There are some lengthy shots in the action that are executed quite well. The production design by the always excellent Phillip Messina is ... always excellent. The sets look great. I said in my Lady in the Water review that there was absolutely nothing to like about that movie. The same can't be said for The Last Airbender. It's horribly flawed, yes. But at least it's easy on the eyes.

Ah, who am I kidding, apart from some well done technicalities, this movie is pretty poor. The most noticeably declining facet of Shyamalan's career is his screen-writing. Back in The Sixth Sense/Signs era, Shyamalan managed to write screenplays that were consistent and compelling. Sure, those scripts did suffer from occasional slow pacing and questionable dialogue - but overall, they got the job done. The same does not hold true here. The Last Airbender's script offers its fair share of horrible dialogue, senseless reveals, awkward exposition, and so on.

But what proves to be worse than the script is having an abysmal leading actor deliver that script! In his first (and surprisingly, not last) big-screen appearance, Noah Ringer falls flat on his face. I usually try to take it easy on child actors. Putting an untested 13 year old front and center in a 150 million dollar movie is asking a heck of a lot! But we've seen Shyamalan cast great child actors before, from Haley Joel Osment to Abigail Breslin. He seems to work well with kids. But all he can wrangle out of Noah Ringer is some passable martial arts.

But believe it or not, Ringer does not offer the worst performance! Jackson Rathbone plays Sokka, and please, for the love of all that's sacred, stop acting! If you ever get offered a part (which I can't fathom happening), turn it down. He doesn't have "the Ringer excuse." Rathbone had acted in a bunch of movies and TV shows before 2010. He was what, 25, when they filmed this! There is no excuse.

Shockingly, a few supporting performances manage to be perfectly passable. Dev Patel plays the villain, Prince Zuko. His backstory can be fairly hammy, but Patel plays the role with conviction. Plus he has some really cool action scenes!

Nicola Peltz, who's body went on to star in Transformers: Age of Extinction, offers some solid acting as well. This performance is more in line with what Shyamalan usually yields from his child actors.

I mentioned in my Lady in the Water review how I often wonder what composers feel when they're handed a real clunker to score. I also often wonder how some composers can find inspiration to write fantastic music, even when the movie they're writing it for is bad. I don't know how he did it, but James Newton Howard must have seen something in this movie that prompted him to write a top-notch score! His music is a huge highlight! The "Flow Like Water" scene at the end is expertly scored - it even makes the scene kind of effective! I don't know why, but the Shyamalan/Newton Howard collaboration reached its peak with The Last Airbender.

In classic tentpole fashion, the story is left open-ended for a sequel. And oddly enough, I wouldn't be against the idea (not that it will ever happen). Like I mentioned above, there is a compelling story in here somewhere. First (and most obviously), recast completely. Second, don't let M. Night anywhere near the script-writing process. Don't let him direct either... And lastly, please bring James Newton Howard back to score the film. That's all I really want out of this deal!

No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how much I tried, I just can't get all that worked up about this movie. Yes, it has some rotten elements. Yes, it's a bad movie. But it also has some elements that I honestly enjoyed. When you look at it as a simple kids fantasy movie, it really isn't as excruciatingly bad as some would have you believe. And it's far from being Shyamalan's worst film. But if you're in desperate need of some Last Airbender, I'm guessing you should just watch the TV show.

"It is in the heart that all wars are won." 4/10.