THE LAST AIRBENDER (USA 2010) *
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

THE LAST AIRBENDER is like THE KARATE KID saving the planet without a master and proper training.  The planet is supposedly made up of conflicting elements Fire, Water, Earth and Wind and THE LAST AIRBENDER (Noah Ringer) is supposed to be the saviour that will bring the four nations together.

THE LAST AIRBENDER is a live action 3D adventure fantasy based on the animated TV series AVATAR, no relation whatsoever to the James Cameron film. The film has Aang, the reluctant hero who prefers adventure over his job as avatar.  Aang (Ringer) and his friends, Katar (Nichola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), journey to the North Pole to find a Waterbending master to teach Aang and Katara the secrets of the craft.  At the same time, Fire Lord Ozai (Cliff Curtis), the current Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, is waging a seemingly endless war against the earth and water Kingdoms and the already vanquished air nomads.  So, the narration tells us!

The troubling nation is Fire and is warring against the others tipping the stability for everyone.  As the film opens, as the narration tells us, the airbender is unschooled yet and is currently learning under the Water nation (the title chapter of this film).  He has to master all four schools.  Apparently, this rebel left his training because he wanted to be a normal boy instead of a saviour o the world.

Shymalan’s film is marred by over-excessive use of voiceover, poor writing, bad acting and dull storytelling.  Most importantly, the fight sequences lack any excitement or impact.  The only secret of the water craft seems to be to let the emotions flow like water in order to be able to fight.  This sorry ‘wise’ statement is repeated later in the film in case the audience misses it.  Instead of shock tactics, Shyamalan prefers using slow motion with a lot of scenes done acrobatically with the bad guys turning into ice sculptors.  The martial arts element in the TV series is noticeably played down in the film. The writing and dialogue is infantile.  In one scene where the princess explains the reason of her white hair and the lover remarks why she never told him, “You never asked,” is the childish reply.

Strangely too, the bad guys in the movie are East Indians, Shymalan’s countrymen.

For a 3D movie, there are not much 3d effects.  At several points in the film, I took off my glasses and noticed that all was still 2-D.

THE LAST AIRBENDER is made as a trilogy, so expect two more coming, and perhaps one more since there are four elements.  THE LAST AIRBENDER ends abruptly with the start of a sequel.  Did you not know there are this film is part of a sequel?  Well, you never asked!