The Last Airbender

Nicola Peltz and Noah Ringer learning to bend water. Whatever that means.

So we officially found our first terrible movie for this blog: The Last Airbender. It's rated PG for fantasy action violence, which means that all of the action in this movie could not possibly take place in the real world, so we can take comfort in that.

Mark-
So many people are probably wondering if this movie is really as bad as the reputation that proceeds it, and the answer is...yes! I will gladly admit to being an M. Night Shyamalan fan, but he did nothing to help this movie. There are some cool special effects in this movie, but it can’t help the awful dialog and numerous plot holes that fill this movie. The movie is based on the anime series called Avatar, which takes place among various Earth, Fire, Water, and Air regions. Within each region there are individuals who can manipulate or "bend" the different elements which are prominent to the nation they reside in. The one exception is that the Fire people have eliminated all of the air benders with the exception of one who is known as the Avatar. This special bender is likened to a God among all groups, and is the only individual known to be able to bend all four elements. Upon learning that he is the Avatar, Aang runs away from his monastery and becomes trapped under the ice in one of the water nations for close to a century. The fire people have destroyed all of the air benders in the meantime, knowing that the Avatar is prophesied to be among them. With the Avatar having returned it essentially becomes a battle of the fire nation against all others.
I will be the first to admit that this movie has a major disadvantage with me, as I’m sure it does with many, due to the fact that it is based upon anime. Sadly this movie leaves off in a way that leaves no doubt that a sequel is in its future. I have a small hope that many of the flaws of this first movie can be solved in the sequel, but I have a hard time believing any major changes will take place. If you like anime then you have probably already seen this movie, and if you don’t then I wouldn’t recommend this movie anytime soon. 1 ½ * out of 5 stars.
My Random Thought For The Last Airbender: What? No cameo appearance Shyamalan?

Dan-
This review is taken from a letter I wrote to this movie's director, M. Night Shyamalan:

Dear Mr. Shyamalan,

I have been such a fan of your movies for the last 12 years. I even own most of your movies. I want you to be around for a long time making movies, Night. Can I call you Night? I'm going to anyway because I feel like I may have understood you when few others did. I have defended your movies even when it seemed no one else would/did, which makes this letter that much more difficult to write. I recently watched The Last Airbender and felt compelled to write you. I had heard terrible things about this movie for the past year, but chalked them up to naysayers who didn't want you to succeed.

But we need to discuss this most recent movie of yours. I don't want to blame you for how much it sucked because there's a lot of stuff that factors into a movie, but at the same time you were the one who wrote and directed it. Maybe it was just a poor choice of source material. Seriously? Anime? What could possibly be done with it to make cool in live action? I have to assume that it was merely a showcase for the special effects team that created just about the only positive thing I could take from this movie.


This looks like a sloth mated with Falcore from Neverending Story, but for some reason it has a furry beaver tail and bull horns. A dragon would have been much less retarded.

 I know you can write dialogue well, so here's the benefit of the doubt that some of the cheesy lines were taken directly from the children's cartoon from which it was adapted. But what can be attributed to you was the child actors that were cast. I couldn't care less that they were white instead of Asian, but at least give me somebody who is talented other than how they move their arms and hands. What happened to the ability you once held to cast amazing child actors like Haley Joel Osment or Abigail Breslin? Has the talent pool dried up? I read somewhere you picked Noah Ringer based on a tape he sent in showing himself "bend" elements. Please tell me this wasn't true. Regardless, I'm sorry to say that the delivery of most of that dialogue was painfully bad.


Noah Ringer, showing more emotion here than in any other scene in the movie.

 I suppose the worst part of this mistake (what else can it be called) in your career is that you have set yourself up for a possible sequel with how this movie ends. I know it was a decent hit and money will try to dictate to you that more movies should be made, but I'm begging you, please don't. No good can come from more movies like this one.

Look, Night, let me be clear that I want you to succeed. I feel like I understand you as any moviegoer and director can understand each other. I get the fact that Lady in the Water was to be considered a bedtime story that you could tell your children. I also thought The Happening had one of the best tracking shots I've seen in a long time. For example, that scene where the same gun is used by 4 different people on themselves was done in one continuous shot. It was so effective that I still remember how impressed I was by it. Perhaps with Airbender you were hoping to create another movie for the benefit of your children.

The point is I'm not ready to give up on you. Yet. Everyone makes mistakes, but we can move forward and learn from the past. Spielberg went from "Jaws" to "1941", but rebounded with "Raiders of the Lost Ark". I believe in you Night. Please make your next movie as great as I hope it will be.

Sincerely,

Dan, the Movies for Lunch Critic

I rate this movie 1 star out of 5, simply because a few of the effects were really impressive. But the rest of the movie sucked.