The Last Airbender (or The Death of M. Night Shyamalan's Career)

I hate to be blunt right off the bat, but this was a horrible movie. "The Last Airbender" is based off the popular Nickelodeon anime series. Before I saw this movie I hadn't seen the whole series, but just enough to get a basic grasp of what the movie would be like. When I walked into the theater I had an ominous feeling about this movie and well the feeling was spot on. I don't know where to begin with this hodgepodge of a movie.

The biggest problem is the script, which has some of the worst dialogue I have ever heard. The story felt really rushed, which I was afraid of from the start because the script is trying to condense a 20 episode season into a movie less than 2 hours. The acting is horrendous and everytime a character spoke on the screen my ears bled. The actors, especially the three leads, had no emotion at all and their characters were so undeveloped and boring. They were just acting like dolls on the screen. The special effects looked cheap and were underwhelming. Plus the action is not that good to begin with. However, the worst thing about this film is that it took itself way too seriously. I mean it's a children's show for Christ's sake. If the movie had some kind of humor at least it would helped ease my boredom.

What's even worse is that the film was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who made one of the best horror movies of all time (The Sixth Sense). "The Sixth Sense" is such a good film because it's a psychologicaql horror film, which are the best kind. The director really know how to build up suspense and set up creepy atmosphere. The Sixth Sense probably has the best twist ending I have ever seen. Despite my intense hate for twist endings I have to admit that it was a good and clever ending.

The next film he made, "Unbreakable", had a very interesting premise and was set up well. The twist ending was not as good as his previous film, but still a solid ending. In fact if it was any other director who made that film he/she would have gotten a lot more praise. Of course at that time people are going to judge you more harshly after making an excellent film like the Sixth Sense". After that I didn't watch anymore of Shyamalan's movies. I heard "Signs" was a solid movie, but his next film "The Villiage" had a disappointing ending. Next I heard that Lady in the Water was just terrible.

Then he made "The Happening", which was god awful. It was the first Shyamalan film I saw since Unbreakable and I was very disappointing. The twist ending was garbage (the plants are killing people) and the casting just seemed off. Plus, just running away from flowers and plants probably seemed good on paper, but fails on the screen. "The Last Airbender" was supossed to be a comeback for Shyamalan, but instead this ends up being his worst film. After seeing the film I can safely say that Shyamalan is officially a one hit wonder. He is past his prime and is going to need one hell of a comeback to salvage his career. I here that he is making another movie starring Bruce Willis, which will be the third collaboration between Willis and Shyamalan.

I wonder if "The Last Airbender" will get a sequel because there are 3 seasons of the show. Shyamalan wants to adapt the next two seasons into two movies, but I hope he lets someone else take the directing chair and the writing responsibilities. I think Chris Columbus would be a good replacement because he can handle the fantasy element thanks to his work on the first 2 Harry Potter movies and action thanks to his experience on Percy Jackson.

Lastly, if anyone is going to see this in 3-D, don't! It does nothing for the movie and it just distracts from an already terrible film. This film will win Worst Picture at the Golden Raspberry Award, so at least Shyamalan will get something in return.