The Last Airbender Review: M. Night FAIL
July 3, 2010 by Nicole C.
Filed under feature overlay, Movies
I reserved judgment when friends started telling me that this film got bad reviews. The trailers looked awesome and it deserved a real chance at an open untainted view. But as I watched, an all too familiar feeling came upon me. It felt like that time I watched Star Wars: Episode II and found myself thinking, Natalie Portman is a great actress but why am I cringing every time she delivers her lines?
Avatar: The Last Airbender failed on the acting. It just did. Maybe it was the screenplay because Dev Patel is a good actor. But his portrayal of Prince Zuko was over the top and felt really forced. Actually almost every actor except for Shaun Toub who played Uncle Iroh, felt like they forced their lines, which saddens me because I loved the animated series that this film is based on.
Before I further illustrate what I didn’t like about it, let’s get to the stuff that did work. The costumes were great and very much the way I’d imagine it to be in live action. The sets were big and beautiful, especially the Northern Water Tribe kingdom which was an awesome ice city/fortress. CGI Appa was fantastic! The tai chi/martial arts were believable and pretty to watch. The visual effects of fire/water/air/earth bending, can’t complain, was also a treat for the eyes. I even enjoyed that each tribe were ethnically different. The Water Tribe were made of up of Caucasians, the Earth Tribe were East Asian and the Fire Nation were made up of Indian and Middle Eastern ethnicities.
Lastly Shaun Toubs performance was the saving grace to this film. He played Uncle Iroh perfectly, showing the wisdom, grit, and caring nature of his character.
But was that enough to distract me from the disjointed storytelling and bad acting? Just barely. This is the first movie for new comer Noah Ringer who plays Aang so I am cutting him some slack. Jackson Rathbone who plays Sokka was off and on for me. Aasif Mandvi as Admiral Zhao was again too exaggerated. Fire Lord Ozai is portrayed by Cliff Curtis (most recently seen in the cancelled NBC show Trauma) didn’t play a believable terrifying evil villain.
For the most part, the film was a disappointing rendition of a great series. I’ve read that it’s meant to be a trilogy and usually the first film is the worst because it sets up the stage before the meatier parts. I understand that there is a lot to tell in such a short amount of time, but it there was a lack of natural flow to the story. The Harry Potter series succeeds where this movie fails in scene to scene cohesion. Sadly I felt that was missing in The Last Airbender.
This film is based on an animated series of the same name that aired on Nickelodeon from 2005-2008. It tells the story of Aang, a young 12 year old boy who is actually the Avatar, a being who can manipulate the four elements of air, water, earth, and fire and can communicate with a spirit world that is a part of this fantasy realm. There are four nations: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air; each with citizens who can bend an element. A hundred years before the present in the series, Aang the Avatar disappears. He is found by Katara and her brother Sokka of the Water Tribe. Meanwhile the Fire Nation is on a conquest for world domination. Prince Zuko is tasked by his father the Fire Lord Ozai to bring back the Avatar in order to be released from banishment. He is accompanied by his father’s brother Iroh.
Aang is the reluctant hero but he learns to become a true leader and understands what it means to be the Avatar, the only being who can bring balance back to the world and restore order.
I would recommend the series over the movie, but if you must watch it, see the movie before you start the series. You’ll appreciate the story more.
If you make a sequel M. Night Shyamalan, will it be better?
I really don’t understand what’s wrong with the Last Airbender movie. It was just a great, wait… the best movie ever made!!! I made posters from the movie, just printing them online and gluing them together. I watched the animated series ever since the movie came into a trailer. I stopped at the last two episodes in the last season because I wont even watch them until they make the third movie! So the people who were leaving these awful and unreasonable messages, guess what? I will never learn what happened to Aang if they don’t make the movie. Plus, Noah Ringer said that “if we followed the animated series, what would be exciting about that? It makes it more fun if we changed some things to make it exciting.”
And guess what Noah Ringer I agree. You may be saying these things online which I searched and answered.
Why did they say the names wrong?—– Because the director thought it would be best to say the names the way the Asians say it, it would be like saying it was honor or making the names more realistic. Saying that the animated series was related to Chinese people.
What about the kyoshi warriors?——— the director thought the kyoshi warriors took most of the film when he was making it. He is planning to put them in the second movie. If you would give him a chance.
“Why is the film messed up? ————-for me it would be pretty much stupid if they made fun of farts or anything else animated series made up. I mean if they made Noah scream PENGUIN! That would be just funny but also a little weird. The director changed some parts because he wants to make it more realistic instead of animated.
Why isn’t Katara or Sokka black?———-seriously? Did they have to be black? The director chose the best actors for Katara and Sokka. I’m sure he was looking for one resembling them but there was just no one that looked like them.
Is the director making another movie?—– the question is still not answered but there is a slight chance they might make it. M. Night Shyamalan is already working on it and is planning to make it darker. I seriously cant wait to see it, if they make it. He hopes Paramount Pictures will let him make the other movie and so do I.
Did M. Night Shyamalan talk to the original directors of the Last Airbender? ——-Duh!!! Yes he did, and if you say you hate the movie, it means you hate the directors of the animated series. The original directors were talking to Shyamalan and telling him the plot, of which is important and which is not, what to take out and what to leave, what to change and what not too. See? Even the animated directors changed it not just Shyamalan.
Any other questions?????????????????????
Aang – I thought the actor did great. hes young and can improve. but i kinda thought the actor playing him should be a bit older.
Sokka – disappointed but some good parts.
Katara – i thought she was the best, the actress really stuck to how katara is in the animated series. Very innocent but still strong and brave.
Prince Zuko – very disappoint, my first thought ‘the scar’ make up artist SUCKS, i know the actor is very good but he didn’t do well.
Fire Lord – THEY SHOWED HIS FACE! it made me mad since the whole series his face was a mystery we never found out until close to the end.
Iron – Amazing actor i have to agree, but it would make it whole lot better if he was ‘fat’ like the series, just to make his character more charming.
Appa – he looks like a wet dog! why???? Appa is the cutest thing in the series!
Princess of fire nation – we saw he for a few seconds but she could have been more ‘evil’
The scenes were amazing! and so were all the bending it felt really real. Where were the Kyoshi Warriors?
6.5/10 i’m hoping for the next movie
for the people who haven’t seen the series would probably give it a 9/10 i think.
Wao!All the commets i’ve read. All of them said The last Airbender movie is a bad film. I don’t think so. There are few part are very cool. The screenplay is a lillte boring and people said that the casts are bad too. But they are also tried their best for the movie. M.Night said that Noah Ringer ( Aang) works very hard on his acting. he still a kid and he never ever shows up on TV untill now. He doesn’t have enuogh experience to act. This movie have spent alot of money and it still has two others book too. I think the next book is Earth will be better than the frist book’s Water
yup I totally agree with most here, fireee the dude. I personally think M Nightwas always kinda sippinig his own self potrait, ahhh well. After the bad casting job for this and clearly more not suprised at all.
What a dissapointment. Wait till it comes on DVD or pay per view. As my son said – it was a rip off. Poor acting and abrupt ending.
We are all screwed, the movie is making money, so looks like Shyamalan will make the sequel. So another ruined f*cking starwars-like franchise by an incompetent director. Looks like in every corner of our societies the most incompetent people are in charge from governments, to corporations to film making, everywhere is the same. Its always the incompetent moron with the big smile and charisma who wins in the end.
The hulk from 2003 was remade in 2008..the second version of he hulk completely ignored the previous film..thats what i think they should do with this film..
FIRE m night and start over from scratch!!!!!
The movie sucked…they should fire m night shyamalan…and just start over!!!! For example…the HULK it was made so much better by changing the complete cartoony hulk in a too the cooler hulk..i wouldnt mind if they just strtrd the trilogy from the beginning with new everything….Though some actors and special effects guys were good…
Definitely hoping for more
I think its rather aweful what M. Night Shyamalan has been doing recently. I expected much more of the story and the whole while the movie felt lacking and just in general poorly made.
M. Night should not be allowed to make the sequels to the film. I don’t think he was truly invested in the story, rather just wanted to make a quick buck. I wanted so badly to see Aang come out of his frozen globe and ask for penguin sledding. Instead he was just depressed and dreary the entire movie. Even Sokka had no humor. I noticed that only two of the character names were pronounced properly and that was Katara and Yue. Even the one on one fighting challenge of Agnie Kai (I know I spelled it wrong) was mispronounced. There was no connection to the characters. M. Night obviously did not see the series and did not identify with the little details of the main characters that the fans fell in love with. This would include but not be limited to Aang’s sweet innocence and childlike playfulness; Katara’s huge and mesmerizing blue eyes and her adorable “hair loopies”, as well as her obvious love and nurturing nature toward Aang; Sokka’s unique way to put a smile on the viewer’s face, even when faced with the most dangerous of adversaries. I think M. Night rushed through the thing to make some money and simply had no care of how the series fans would be affected. M. Night…just hang up your hat. You don’t need to be making movies. Please allow someone who actually still has vision, talent, and respect for the fans make the next installment. I’m scared to see Toph, one of the three funniest characters in the series. With M. Night behind the wheel, she’ll probably be a monotone snore just like the rest of the cast. For those who never watched, or didn’t follow the series, it’s a cute little movie…decent visual effects. But there are serious fans out there of all ages who fell in love with not only the story, but the characters as well. M. Night brought nothing to the movie that would please the fans. As an avid fan myself, I was very excited to see this movie only to walk away saddened at how it was butchered.
Wow.. What did they do to my mythical, magical, emotion filled movie? Besides the total BOSH on ang’s name.. which could in it self ruin the connection I had to the series ang.. they left so much out.. M.. blah blah the director didnt show the amazing friendship that ang and oppa have.. he was not a flying slave.. the only personality moment for oppa was when he patted sokka with his tail… im very sad how they just rushed the entire arival to the northern water tribe… ” my brother and the princes became close.” that was all we got…
The martial arts were to me, way over done.. there was no flow at all.. did he console any of the creator of the series and take a look at the amazing studies they did on different martial arts tech to create the distinct differences of the benders. And it seemed like the coreographer did not do much work with the actors as they were never in sync.. Ashame.
I just really am disapointed at the director.. Feels like he didnt even take the time to watch the seriese.. i dont know if thats what he is suposed to do or maybe as a director he doesnt want to and wanted to make it his own.. But its not his own and he really let me as a fan down… 100% i will go see the following books.. but i would apreciate it if they would replace this director.. i pray that there is not a contract involved.. and if there is.. i definetly think this is one they should reconsider, pay him, and brake it before they ruin the entire movie series!.. the name screw ups i just cant get over…. grrr… and now we are stuck with them…. you mean to tell me every single person on set couldnt have corrected him from the beginning..
the tv series was so good i would pay to see that rerendered, made in 3d with a few added seens… Definetly..
I just looked up the directors filmography and they should have known from his past fantacy movies that he was going to bosh this. if they were giving him a second chance for a comeback.. this is not the movie they should have done it with… say a prayer.. and maybe they will pay the extra money and give us an amazing director like James Cameron and the crew from the avatar movie… i would love to see them amazing effects in the last airbender movie as i believe it deserves it.. This movie to me was one movie that had unlimited potential… and i dont even think for a second M. Blah blah(the amound of effort i put into his name)cared..
Thank you “Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz” for your amazing world of the elements.. I hope that hollywood will give your creation the respect it deserves, gets rid of the blah blah guy and gives you a creator that is worthy!… as crazy as it sounds he has discrased your creation..
all that said, Now that we are stuck with actors names and so on that are in the first movie.. I believe they all have great potential, did there jobs, and deserve to be mad into starts as this film should have done on opening day.
Inception
I heard this movie was a complete dud. I can’t wait for inception. my most mind stretching movie of all time was Memento. Nolan’s classic has me guessing until the very end and was just mind blowing what was really going on
This movie was such a complete waste of time. I wish I could get a refund and reclaim that wasted hour and a half of my life.
I actually kinda liked it, despite the bad acting… huh, maybe it’s just because I wanted to like it so much. I’ll have to watch it again.
M. Night keeps coming out with bad movies. Poor guy is on a downward spiral!
if this terrible movie means the end of Shyamalan’s career, then i love this movie.
mail me if u like, glad to chat
you forgot to mention they MISS PRONOUNCED EVERY NAME IN THE MOVIE!!!!!
i watched the amime and loved it, i like the names pronounced that way and if the director even bothered to watch a singe episode then he would of known how to say there names correctly
aang was auung, not sure where he got the u from
iroh was like iron
sokka was sooka
so on and so on
if harry potter’s name in the movie was changed from the way you say it in the game it would make people mad
I cringe every-time people like you start these blogs and write meaningless reviews..Your kind is the reason critics have become irrelevant.
The problem with the story is the in the presentation not the actors.
Are you out of your mind? You thought the CGI Appa looked good? He had no character like he does in the show; he was just a random floating, screeching monster that was horribly distorted from the cartoon. True, the CGI may be good, but he still looks nothing like Appa; they could have tried much harder to make him into an accurate portrayal. And you think the martial arts were “believable and pretty to watch”? They all looked like spasmic wannabes for 20 seconds and then one rock moves or one gust of air blows by. They could have tried much harder on this. They should have made the martial arts realistic like they did in the cartoon. And how hard is it for Shyamalan to pronounce the word “Sokka” instead of “Soaka” and “Aang” instead of “Ong”? And while the firebending graphics were very realistic, firebenders are supposed to shoot fire out of their fingertips; that’s supposed to be normal, not moving fire around that’s already there; oh well, I guess Shyamalan was too busy writing a horrendous script to watch the actual cartoon series. This movie was a complete farce mocking anyone who has enjoyed the animated series; it served only to occasionally wow people who have no knowledge of Avatar: The Last Airbender and have no knowledge of what a good movie actually is.
you guys are full of it, it was a much better movie than everyone is saying. The acting was not at all bad, in fact it kept me interested the whole time. If they had put all the books together in one movie i would’ve stayed to watch it, and that’s saying a lot, because it would of been 3 or more times longer. The story speaks for itself. Don’t listen to these guys, who have no idea what a good movie is. The only thing that i could say that they could have done different is shot it in 3D instead of 2D and converting it. Either way, i saw it in 3D and HIGHLY recommend to MOVIE LOVERS. Screw the critics and they’re overly judgmental opinions.
This movie was so bad!! I haven’t seen the series, but as a movie, it’s a total flop. Go see Toy Story 3 instead!!
Im also a big fan of the animated cartoon and maybe thats why I thought the movie was garbage. i agree, the outfits were great and wouldnt change it any other way. appa was very cool even though he has like 2 mins of showtime. I really like the wildlife in the show and was disapointed when i saw how much of it was shown. This was obviously a chilids movie with the fight scenes everytime ending in the foe running which is not what happend. But for a pg movie that was based on a very funny and jolly cartoon series, it had one tone, serious. aang smiles like once or twice.. in flashbacks, he dosent say one joke or make a ha-ha at all. I really liked uncle Iroh though, he was the only actor that played their role and was believible. It wouldnt hurt to make book 2 and book 3 (the next two movies) into two movies a peice. just my opinion, dont try to fix what isnt broken. great review Nicole. 2 out of 10.
You know, when the movie ended I sat there watching the credits and laughing. I liked it, very realistic with the bending and all that. But of course I’m the kind of person who pays attention to even the tiniest details so here is a list
1. Katara does not have her hair in a long braid :/
2. There was not alot of footage of Appa
3. The ethinicities were great but come on, Katara and Sokka are not…well, white (ouch, it hurt for me to say it but its true). And now the fire nation is indian? okay then lol
4. The moon and ocean spirit oasis was not inside a cave
5. I watched the “Revealed” clip on Nick and I understand M.Night’s thoughts on how the other benders neeeded their element source for their bending but the fire nation soldiers fightng with swords when they were fire benders was lame. I mean, they are strong fire benders who would be more powerful with flames, showing the strength and the fear of that nation. If they had swords originally I would not be so scared (so whats gonna happen to Azula’s blue fires?)
6. Why is Sokka not funny? I barely laughed. I know its serious but thats when the times are serious, all the other times he is funny, please he is my comic relief (everyone else is funny too!!)
7. I loved the little Noah kid playing Aang, really looks like him so this was a good point
8. They skipped so much that we miss character build-ment (is that a word lol?) and how their personalities are shaped. Right now its a brother, sister, and important bending kid traveling together trying to stop fire soldiers :/
9. Gosh, I guess I expected so much more. Heck if this movie had to be 5 hours to properly attempt to get as much as every episode from the show, I would so be watching it with Lunch/Dinner prepared
10. 3D? Really??? the only time I reached out and went “aaahh” because the screen was coming to my face was the trailers. That commericial I saw made me anticipant water bending coming towards my face. Plus those glasses made my nose itchy :/ i wouldn’t really expect much for 3D next time ):
Wow long list ^_^;;; but hey I love Avatar and Im going to give this production more chance when all the movies come out (the I can watch all of them with all cut out scenes and all stuff they filmed just to fully compare with the show)
and lol Azula is too pretty to be the evil witch she is in the show (unless she can do a REALLY good evil frown-grin XD)
I am mostly disappointed in the Funny part in this movie. In the series, Aang and Sokka were funny ! Sometimes Sokka was dumb but that made him who he is. It wasnt supposed to be serious all the time ! Some characters werent very good either. The firelord Had a big beard ! and very long hair. He was always in a wall a fire, not showing his face until book three? yet they show it immediatly. Iroh was done good in my opinion, again, they could’ve added the beard in there. Just to make it look more like the series ? i know its not supposed to be exact, but cmon a few details in there could really help. They also messed up there names. I literally almost left when i heard them say Aang. I was so disappointed. Again with Sokka, and Iroh. Another point is the hand movements. They use to many ! in the series Aang can just burst air from his fingertips like nothing, without having to do all these hand movements. And why can’t they shoot fire just like that ? they have to use a lamp or fire source ? that was dumb. I did enjoy the earthbending though. The actors sucked, but the bending was similar. Overall i did not like the movie, being a avater fan. Maybe people that have never heard of it will like it, But not me.
I completely agree. If you’ve watched the original series do not go see this movie. It seems like the movie is designed for children the way they push the “peace” aspect.
On a personal note, Fire-benders require a source to do their bending…? What’s with that.. I understand where they’re going with it in the long run but that still does not justify it in my mind.
I recommend watching the series rather than the movie; at least you’ll see some emotion in the characters.
One of the worst things a director can do with a film adaptation from something as epic as a great book, or in this case a T.V. series, is rush the plot to where its very hard to decipher. M. Night must have realized that the great majority of his viewers would be fans of the original T.V. series Avatar: The Last Airbender. With this realization in mind, he had to, in order to be successful, meticulously pull the parts of the original plot out that are integral to the story. His attempt, I must say as an avid fan of the show, was unsuccessful. Now I will concede that this movie had sub-par acting and some questionable dialogue that was very “silly”, however, I would contend that the fatal flaw in “The Last Airbender” was the gutting of the original story that was truly magical. The special effects were fine and the casting, although sketchy by the original series standards, were alright, but the pace of the movie itself was rushed and sloppy. Unfortunately for Noah Ringer, Jackson Rathbone, and Aasif Mandi, I liked the cartoon Aang, Sokka, and Zhao better.
I was goin to see it because im a uge fan of the show but for what i’ve heard i don’t think it’s even worth a shot a watching it, i haven’t even read or seen a good review about it!
Thanks for the review. Advertising made this look good, but I guess M Night screwed the pooch again.
I enjoyed your review, it was not totally bashing the movie but did pick out the imnportanty things that acting/directing completely hacked. In my entire life of being a movie patron this was the first one I contemplated leaving during. If and when they make the other books I will have to wait awhile for reviews because I won’t be wasting movie again.
“I’ve read that it’s meant to be a trilogy and usually the first film is the worst because it sets up the stage before the meatier parts.”
Please name some other trilogies in which the first movie is the worst.
The first movie is usually the best.
And this was just really really bad.
ok,i’ve just seen this movie and it wasn’t that bad. i’m tired of all the reviews saying this movie was horrible. i admit this movie had some bad acting but it didn’t bother me. i’m a huge fan of the series and have watched every single episode, and i understand why m. night needed to cut things out and change things. so what i’m trying to say is to quit bashing this movie!!! lets just hope for better acting for book 2 earth
As a long time hater of M N. Shamalyn movies (he’s made 6 of my worst movies of all time) I was disheartened to learn that he was making The Last Airbender….now it seems I was right. It’s Time Mid-Night retired from feature movies and started doing ads for the QVC chanel.
I brought my two children to see this movie last night thinking that kids may have a different outlook of the movie. Leaving the reviews behind since these are all the opinions of adults.
I was wrong, they thought it was ok, but not overly excited about it as we left the theater. Generally they can’t stop talking about the wonderful films we’ve seen before. In this case they spoke very little except the parts they noticed were missing or a negative comment.
I will not recommend this film & so disappointed in paying such a high rate due to it being 3D. If this was a guarantee movie, I would’ve asked for my money back.