This trailer was taken from: “The Last Airbender” Trailer 2 HD (Video). February 18, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-egQ79OrYCs
The Last Airbender
Written and Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Noah Ringer, Dev Patel, Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone
The Last Airbender…
There are only two positive things I can say about this film. Its not the worst film of the year (although it is extremely close) and it was funny in parts (although I am certain it was unintentional) so if you want to see a film that isn’t the worst of the year but is very close and unintentionally funny in parts then this is your film.
Now on to the negative stuff, this is going to be a long review. The Last Airbender is based on a much loved animated TV series which I have not seen but this film does not make me want to see it even though it is meant to be brilliant. The story revolves around Aang who is a bender (If you are aware of the multiple meanings of this word then you will already understand why I said this film is unintentionally funny in parts) what does this mean? Well it means he can bend the elements earth, fire, wind and water. However he is the only one who can bend all four of these elements and that is good but also bad for some reasons that I cant remember. Anyway the evil fire nation want him locked up, whereas the other good nations want to help him and train him in the ways of bending so that he can bring peace to the different worlds.
As you can tell the story in this film is not done well at all and comes off like a rip off of not only star wars but of Lord Of The Rings and numerous other fantasy films. What is it that makes The Last Airbender so bad? Well let’s start off where making the film would have started, the script. The dialogue in this film is beyond awful and the story is poorly mishandled. I found myself confused during the film as to what was happening, why it was happening and why I should care. None of the characters in this film are likable, memorable, charismatic or well developed. There is no attempt to make the film remotely gripping, exciting or interesting in the slightest.
Now on to the acting. The Last Airbender could easily stake a claim for worst cast of the year. The acting is nothing but terrible. Dev Patel needs to fire his agent and do it fast; he went from appearing in the brilliant Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire to this. He really is not suited to this role and overdoes it to the point where you feel embarrassed and sorry for him. However the worst performances fall to Noah Ringer (Aang), Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone. While I feel guilty criticizing child actors they are nothing short of terrible and Ringer possibly gives one of the worst central performances of the year (only Russell Crowe and Sam Worthington were perhaps worse) he is completely uncharismatic and maintains the same facial expression and voice tone the whole film.
So poorly done story, laughable script and dreadful acting…what else could be terrible about this film? While it’s only at 103 minutes The Last Airbender feels long and I mean really long. When a film is this dull and tedious filled with poor performances, annoying characters, a story where you neither know nor care what is happening and dialogue which is both laughable and gut wrenching the minutes become hours very quickly. Perhaps the most insulting thing about The Last Airbender is its 3D to which there is only one way to describe it… A CON!
Plain and simple the 3D in this film is a complete and utter con. I spent most of the film watching it without my glasses on and the viewing experience was much better. All the 3D did was make it darker, if you are planning on watching this film (and please don’t plan to watch this film) then do yourself a favour and watch it in 2D because the 3D adds NOTHING. I am not a big fan of 3D and this film shows us why 3D when used poorly can fail and fail bad, I always thought 3D was a con but I have never felt this ripped off walking out of a film.
I have said a lot of negative things about this film so I will end the review with some positives. As I said at the start this film is funny and for the immature person in you this may just be the comedy of the year in places. If you are aware of British slang then the use of the word bender will generate guilty chuckles. I saw the film with a relatively small audience who were laughing all the way through (not only at the uses of the word bender but at the general awfulness of the film) and that is the only shred of enjoyment you will get out of the film, its humour. It’s funny when the only good thing about a film was not intended to be the high point of the film.
Also making fun of this film is a lot of fun. The dance moves he has to do to bend the elements (which made me think I was watching step up 3D for a few minutes which is most likely a better film than this), the weird beaver creature they fly on and then general poor dialogue and cheesy scenes that occur.
Overall The Last Airbender is a pretty awful film it’s boring, poorly acted, written and directed, contains terrible 3D and is just an embarrassment. M Night Shyamalan (director of Sixth Sense and The Village) has made a career howler with this one. However he can take solace that it might not be as bad as Robin Hood and Clash Of The Titans but possibly worse than A Nightmare On Elm Street but that is not praise it should be proud of.
One Sentence Summary: A con with its 3D and a con with your time, The Last Airbender is one of the years worst films.
3/10
By Michael Dalton
There are only two positive things I can say about this film. Its not the worst film of the year (although it is extremely close) and it was funny in parts (although I am certain it was unintentional) so if you want to see a film that isn’t the worst of the year but is very close and unintentionally funny in parts then this is your film.
Now on to the negative stuff, this is going to be a long review. The Last Airbender is based on a much loved animated TV series which I have not seen but this film does not make me want to see it even though it is meant to be brilliant. The story revolves around Aang who is a bender (If you are aware of the multiple meanings of this word then you will already understand why I said this film is unintentionally funny in parts) what does this mean? Well it means he can bend the elements earth, fire, wind and water. However he is the only one who can bend all four of these elements and that is good but also bad for some reasons that I cant remember. Anyway the evil fire nation want him locked up, whereas the other good nations want to help him and train him in the ways of bending so that he can bring peace to the different worlds.
As you can tell the story in this film is not done well at all and comes off like a rip off of not only star wars but of Lord Of The Rings and numerous other fantasy films. What is it that makes The Last Airbender so bad? Well let’s start off where making the film would have started, the script. The dialogue in this film is beyond awful and the story is poorly mishandled. I found myself confused during the film as to what was happening, why it was happening and why I should care. None of the characters in this film are likable, memorable, charismatic or well developed. There is no attempt to make the film remotely gripping, exciting or interesting in the slightest.
Now on to the acting. The Last Airbender could easily stake a claim for worst cast of the year. The acting is nothing but terrible. Dev Patel needs to fire his agent and do it fast; he went from appearing in the brilliant Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire to this. He really is not suited to this role and overdoes it to the point where you feel embarrassed and sorry for him. However the worst performances fall to Noah Ringer (Aang), Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone. While I feel guilty criticizing child actors they are nothing short of terrible and Ringer possibly gives one of the worst central performances of the year (only Russell Crowe and Sam Worthington were perhaps worse) he is completely uncharismatic and maintains the same facial expression and voice tone the whole film.
So poorly done story, laughable script and dreadful acting…what else could be terrible about this film? While it’s only at 103 minutes The Last Airbender feels long and I mean really long. When a film is this dull and tedious filled with poor performances, annoying characters, a story where you neither know nor care what is happening and dialogue which is both laughable and gut wrenching the minutes become hours very quickly. Perhaps the most insulting thing about The Last Airbender is its 3D to which there is only one way to describe it… A CON!
Plain and simple the 3D in this film is a complete and utter con. I spent most of the film watching it without my glasses on and the viewing experience was much better. All the 3D did was make it darker, if you are planning on watching this film (and please don’t plan to watch this film) then do yourself a favour and watch it in 2D because the 3D adds NOTHING. I am not a big fan of 3D and this film shows us why 3D when used poorly can fail and fail bad, I always thought 3D was a con but I have never felt this ripped off walking out of a film.
I have said a lot of negative things about this film so I will end the review with some positives. As I said at the start this film is funny and for the immature person in you this may just be the comedy of the year in places. If you are aware of British slang then the use of the word bender will generate guilty chuckles. I saw the film with a relatively small audience who were laughing all the way through (not only at the uses of the word bender but at the general awfulness of the film) and that is the only shred of enjoyment you will get out of the film, its humour. It’s funny when the only good thing about a film was not intended to be the high point of the film.
Also making fun of this film is a lot of fun. The dance moves he has to do to bend the elements (which made me think I was watching step up 3D for a few minutes which is most likely a better film than this), the weird beaver creature they fly on and then general poor dialogue and cheesy scenes that occur.
Overall The Last Airbender is a pretty awful film it’s boring, poorly acted, written and directed, contains terrible 3D and is just an embarrassment. M Night Shyamalan (director of Sixth Sense and The Village) has made a career howler with this one. However he can take solace that it might not be as bad as Robin Hood and Clash Of The Titans but possibly worse than A Nightmare On Elm Street but that is not praise it should be proud of.
One Sentence Summary: A con with its 3D and a con with your time, The Last Airbender is one of the years worst films.
3/10
By Michael Dalton
