The Last Airbender

The Last Airbender is based on a popular children's cartoon on Nickelodeon titled Avatar: The Last Airbender and it is a shame it didn't stay in two dimensions. Writer, director and producer M. Night Shyamalan brings the big screen version to audiences in 3D with what he hopes will be the first in a trilogy. Fingers crossed this series begins and ends with one.

The film is set in a world where various groups of people have the ability to manipulate the natural elements; Earth, Air, Fire and Water. But most of this world is controlled by the tyrannical Fire Nation and all other `benders' of the elements have either been enslaved or exterminated. The only person who can restore balance is the Avatar; the latest reincarnation of a long line of warriors who can control all of the elements. But the Avatar has not been seen in over 100-years and most have lost hope of him ever returning. That is until consistently exasperated Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) accidentally come across an ice cube with the Avatar inside: 12-year-old Aang (Noah Ringer) (above). With the powers combined, Aang is like a miniature Captain Planet complete with Chopper Read's tatts.

They take him back to their village and after a bizarre discussion about responsibility; Katara and Sokka speak to their Grandmother who advises them "It is in the heart that all wars are won.'' How effective their `hearts' are against a flame-wielding army soon becomes the question and the trio make for Aang's home on his flying Beaver creature (below). Once he discovers that the temple of Air bending monks he was brought up by have been executed by the Fire Nation, Aang and the siblings decide to start `a revolution' by restoring power to the people and defeating the Fire Nation. Unfortunately this isn't the fun kind of revolution, with the burning of bras and rock music. This is the kind filled with bad acting, shakey direction, an uncomfortable flow and the most useless 3D in recent times. The film could have just as easily been in 2D and it would have made no difference whatsoever. What would have made a difference is casting a group of young actors who can actually act. Twilight star Rathbone looks so uncomfortable and constipated throughout the movie, that when he utters the word `wow' you can almost see his whole body tremble with concentration. Ringer sounds like he is reading his lines most of the time while Peltz' constant indignation would put any schoolyard brown-noser to shame. The only actor who emerges unscathed is Slumdog Millionaire alumni Dev Patel as one of the most interesting characters, Prince Zuko, the exiled son of the Fire Lord.

The special-effects are cool, but there is only so much water-throwing and dust-blowing you can take before it gets boring and the oh-so-not-subtle environmentalist theme becomes irritating. Visually there is nothing to fault, but there are so many other flaws with The Last Airbender that you are not paying attention to the surrounds. For example, the moment when Prince Zuko calls to his uncle, yet his mouth doesn't move or when the camera pans around during an action scene and Sokka is seen waiting for his queue to do a stunt. On top of that you have what feels like a make-it-up-as you go storyline and a random voiceover that occurs in the last third.

The comedy that lights-up the cartoon series is completely non-existent in the big screen version, with everything taken seriously and straight-faced. When the film finally comes to an end, the conclusion is so abrupt and unexpected you are left thinking `oh, I guess that's it then?' At the start we are told the adventures we are about to witness are Book One: Water. Let's just hope the remaining books stay on the shelf.

The Last Airbender is out next Thursday, September 16. P.S. As a side-note, I’m one of those three film critics who actually defended M. Night Shyamalan over his last two movies because I quite enjoyed them and didn’t think they were bad at all. And yes, that includes The Happening. So when the media ruckus started about how bad The Last Airbender was I thought it was the press just taking another opportunity to poke the angry bear. Oh, how Shyamalan is such an entertaining bear to poke, considering he refuses to see any flaws or alternate points of view. However, this is truly a piece of shit. How the hell could he have let it out of editing suite in this shape? To back-track further, how could he have cast these actors? Seriously!

That’s right, although Friday Favourite Movies might be catchier I’m going to save Teresa Palmer’s choices for the end of the week and bring you a director’s double up now. By that I mean the favourite movies of Oscar nominee and Boy director Taika Waititi and the man with the number one movie in the country at the moment, Stuart Beattie. For those of you playing at home, said movie is Tomorrow, When The War Began, which looks likely to make its budget back within the first month of Australian and New Zealand release.

Anywho, I spoke to both of the lads recently and here is what they had to say about their fave movies:

Taika Waititi: "My favourite period is 70s cinema. I love Korean cinema and a little bit of Japanese. I'm not really into my French films, perhaps a little of the British films but not really. But I'm mainly into Korean at the moment. I’m sure it's just the kind of filmmakers you would expect me to be into based on how my films are made. People say `oh, you must love Wes Anderson' and I do, but his films are way more stylish than mine. I like anything that's original. The only thing that I've seen recently that I really liked was The Hurt Locker."

Stuart Beattie: "Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Jaws, Jerry Maguire, Scent of a Woman, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, anything James Cameron, even the documentaries, Tootsie, The Fugitive, Die Hard, Ghost Busters, Back to the Future, Beauty and the Beast."

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