I finally had the chance to catch The Last Airbender after waiting a long time to see it.
From the opening scene of a brother and sister from one of the water tribes I knew I was in trouble. Not because of the acting, but for some reason the shot just seemed cheap. And from that point on, it only got worse; well maybe I can’t say that, but it didn’t get much better.
Things just really seemed out of place from the Caucasian actors mixed in with a whole tribe of Asians. I rolled my eyes when the fire tribe pulled all the elders from a water tribe and every one of them looked either Asian, Native, or Inuit, an then out pops the main old person character and she was; um, how do I say it, white. It just didn’t work for me.
From time-to-time though, there was a glimmer of hope that the movie would redeem itself, but always fell short; way short. Perhaps it was because it was a Nickolodeon had their hands in it, and was doing their best to dictate that the movie be catered to those small fry’s who watch their shows without the accompaniment of their parents. If that’s the case, they may have been on the right track. Or maybe it’s just that M. Night Shyamalan was a fluke (seems so long ago) and that he just doesn’t have what it takes to make a grand movie.
The story was kind of there, but could have been alright, but the poor acting didn’t help any either. At times when the movie and characters were meant to be serious the crowd in the theater (including myself) couldn’t help but to burst out into laughter.
Anyhow, this movie had a little bit of Star Wars, the Never Ending Story, Avatar, and a few others mixed in a punch bowl poured into a dixie cup. It’s a good thing, because I don’t think I could have gulped anything more.
On my star meter, I give it a 2