B-Movie Review: The Last Airbender (2010)

I have caught bits and pieces of this film at random before, but finally decided it was time to sit down and watch the entire movie.  The Last Airbender, for those that don’t know, is an M. Night Shyamalan project.  Now, back in the day, he was a decent director.  This movie, however, proves that the man has absolutely nothing left in him.  By the end of the film I was left not only wondering what happened, but also trying to figure out how anyone could have made this pile of rubbish.

The story basically follows a young “Airbender” who, surprise surprise, also happens to be the chosen one, AKA The Avatar (not to be confused with the big blue aliens in James Cameron’s films).  This boy, upon hearing that he was to be the chosen one, decided to run away.  After that, he got stuck in the ice for like 100 years.  Some other teens find him and pull him out and then the evil Fire Nation begins hunting for him.

The Avatar must travel about through the other kingdoms, Water, Earth and Fire, and learn the secrets of their magic.  The movie was actually intended to be a trilogy (good God no!), so this first film only deals with the Water aspect.  The kids that find the Avatar happen to be Water Tribe people, so it’s all good.

They run around, get in adventures and find out clues to the Avatar.  Eventually, they reach the other side of the world, where the other Water Tribe resides.  The Fire Nation catches up with them and a great battle of martial arts ensues.  The good guys win.

Okay, so there’s not much for a story, though oddly enough the potential within the story was better than anything else in the film.  The acting was bloody atrocious.  These poor kids make Kristen Stewart look like a Shakespearean pro.  Add to that some very poorly choreographed action scenes, some mediocre special effects and editing that leaves your head spinning trying to keep up (or leaves you dozing as it lingers on and on), and you have the long-lost recipe for crap casserole.

There is little redeeming about this film other than that it’s very colorful and has some interesting ideas in it.  Of course, those ideas were all taken from the kids’ show that was its predecessor, so there’s no credit to Mr. M. Night for that one.  Even Rotten Tomatoes has nearly broken a record of awful with a 6/36% rating.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this one altogether.  It’s not even good for a laugh.  It’s just plain terrible.  M. Night Shyamalan, you are hereby banned from ever making another movie again!

Photo Credits -           

The Last Airbender courtesy of collider.com