Shyamalan’s Airbender a Picturesque Letdown
The Fire Nation is on the verge of victory. They have wiped the Air Nation from the face of the planet, the Earth Nation is more or less subdued and the Water Nation’s smallest cities are beginning to come under their control. Only the return of the Avatar, the one being with the ability to hold sway over all four elements, could derail Fire Lord Ozai’s (Cliff Curtis) quest for world domination, his banished son Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) searching for the warrior even though he’s been missing for almost a century.
Noah Ringer in The Last Airbender © Paramount Pictures
Two young warriors of the Water Nation, Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her older brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), come across a young boy and his gigantic fluffy pet frozen in a patch of ancient ice. Freeing him, they quickly learn he is the last surviving member of the Air Nation, that his name in Aang (Noah Ringer) and that he, in fact, is the Avatar, the potential savior of their world and the only one who can ultimately defeat the Fire Nation.
Just writing that description has my head spinning, The Last Airbender an odd assortment of Asian mythologies that’s far denser than I imagined it could ever be. But having never watched the hugely popular Nickelodeon cartoon series on which writer and director M. Night Shyamalan’s (The Sixth Sense, Lady in the Water) latest is based there was no way to know that. There lot going on and the filmmaker gamely tries to explain as much as he can as quickly as possible, and while the basic thread is fairly simplistic (wandering hero must learn to control his growing powers before an evil warlord can stop him) the intricacies surrounding it – especially as they relate to the supporting players – are anything but.
The problem is that Shyamalan’s brushstrokes are too brief, written is far too nondescript a shorthand, and what should ebb and flow as naturally as the tides instead comes off as bumpy, uneven and borderline nonsensical. The movie resorts to claptrap platitudes that can be downright laughable, the director laying the melodrama on so thickly if it weren’t so gosh darn annoying it might have been impressive.
This is one of the few kid-centric adventures where I’ll actually admit to wanting more. More character development, more plot progression, more moments of natural emotional intimacy between the major players whether they be good, bad or in-between. I wanted Shyamalan to dig into the mythology of the scenario with relish, to give the audience insight into the what’s and the why’s. I wanted depth, the story screaming for that and more almost right from the very start.
But it just isn’t there. The three heroes Aang, Katara and Sokka or hamstrung wet noodles saddled with dialogue so insanely horrible even George Lucas wouldn’t have used it for one of his Star Wars prequels, while the film’s major baddie – Lord Ozai’s right hand man Commander Zhao (Aasif Mandvi) – is so pathetically underwritten and overacted he might as well have been twirling Snidley Whiplash’s mustache. Whenever Shyamalan focuses on any of this four the movie grinds to a complete halt, and while I’m sure all the actors have some sort of talent (especially in Rathbone’s case) none of them are given even the slightest chance to deliver on it here.
There is a key exception, however. Both Patel and the great Shaun Toub (playing Zuko’s advisor and protector Uncle Iroh) are excellent. Shyamalan’s script gives both men something to do and complexities to play, each of them delivering in ways that are fairly wonderful. I found myself far more immersed in their stories then I ever was in Aang’s, and as conflicted villains these are two figures I could see myself wanting to go on journeys with again fairly easily.
It also must be stated that the director’s skills with a camera, in design and with choreography have not diminished one bit. Even in slightly muddy 3D The Last Airbender looks sensational, so much so even with all my reservations I probably wouldn’t kick or scream if someone tried to drag me to see it again in 2D. Andrew Lesnie’s
(The Lovely Bones) cinematogrpahy borders on hypnotic, while Philip Messina’s (Ocean’s Thirteen) production design suitably impresses. The martial arts choreography, even with all the gusts of wind, bursts of fire and plumes of water, is at times fascinating, Shyamalan refusing to over-edit allowing for long takes that continually impress. 
