The Last Airbender: Shyamalan's Last Blunder

Let me start off by saying I am a huge fan of the show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is easily one of my top 5 cartoon shows of my lifetime. Combining intense (yet still kid friendly action), with witty and interesting dialogue. Complex and relatable characters with a streamlined and gripping storyline. It tells the tale of a young boy named Aang who was destined to be the Avatar (The lone controller of the four elements fire, water, earth, and air) and how, after 100 years of disappearance, he comes back with friends Katara and Sokka, to save the world from the Fire Nation, who had begun a war in his absence. You'd think it would be easy to take such amazing source material and translate it into a fun and fast-paced summer blockbuster. M. Night Shyamalan took this golden material and managed to completely mess it up, I wouldn't recommend this movie even for a die-hard Avatar fan like me, let alone the average cinema attendee.

The movie opens with some simple, yet beautiful special effects, and for a second, just a second, you feel that maybe this film won't be as bad as everyone says. Then, quickly, an opportunity for an easy, witty one-liner is shot down by some poor acting and some even poorer writing. The little glimpse of hope in your heart begins to fade. You'll sit through the entire movie waiting for some speck of witty dialogue, or even some slapstick humor, nothing. In the cartoon, one of the main characters, Sokka, is the head source of comic relief. He's hilarious, yet he is also the warrior of his tribe, so he has a serious side. He's a teen, you can't expect a little bit of humor about how hungry he is, or how much of a nag his sister is? But, you get none of that all too real humor in the movie, though Jackson Rathbone's attempt at acting in such a serious role is laughable. Unfortunately, the acting doesn't get much better. In all honesty, my favorite acting was done by Appa, the giant flying bison Aang rides on. The special effects were incredible, but they never really had a chance to shine, as the choreography for the fight scenes was severely lacking and the scenes themselves were impossibly short. In the rare scenes where a full on fight did break out, it took eons for the benders to prepare moves, and the Fire Nation soldiers they were usually fighting against didn't have the brains to rush the benders while they were drolling on with their pre-bending warm-ups. Even the epic seige at the end of the movie, one of the most exciting points of the show, was absolutely disappointing, though the one semi-cool action scene took place at this juncture, with Aang running through a stretch of the city, taking out firebenders with a variety of creative, and quickly executed moves. Half the movie was spent with either Katara narrating, Appa flying, or Aang practicing his bending, without any actual bending.

Of course, some of the most important moments in the show were left out, but that's to be expected from a movie. What's not expected is the most action packed, and movie-esque scenes were left out. Scenes where, if you're watching the cartoon,you'd think, "That would look sick on the big screen". The characters are underdeveloped, and the various flashbacks and "scenic spirit world strolls" would be extremely confusing to someone who had never seen the show. Heck, I had seen the show and had some trouble following. The plot was clunky and rushed through every event, giving you the feeling afterwards of "Did anything actually happen?"

Overall, this was a disaster of a movie that could have easily been a masterpiece. After coming home from watching this wreckage I popped in the Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 DVD to appreciate the brilliance of it, and to wash out the toxic taste the movie It's hard to imagine the film will garner enough respect to incur the creation of a second and thrid one. But, hopefully, as a fan of the show, M. Nightmare Shyamalan will get the boot from the team completely, and an overhaul is done to correct this mistake. Then I can watch a second and third movie with an appreciation for the show, and not with disgust.