the last airbender panned

[almostnever]

I'm relieved to read bad reviews of The Last Airbender; it would've really made me sad if the movie were well-received despite the major casting fail.

Ebert gives it a thoroughly poor notice, and specifically refers to the casting problems. The Chicago Tribune says it's "the latest 3-D offering in theaters, yet barely functional in 2 or even 1."

Comments

[bunniewabbit]

I hated that the trailers actually looked pretty good. I had no intention of going to see it, anyway, but I'm actually relieved to read this. It's so sad, because it could have been so good!

[almostnever]

Yes. But maybe it'll get a better adaptation a few years down the line. And we'll always have the original show. ♥

[frisbyg]

it just seems such a weird standout from the rest of Shyamalan's work. I was surprised when he took it on way back in the day pre-casting, pre-production, etc. I would have thought he would have crafted it into something striking, like The Onion mentioned. I am wondering if there was a game afoot that we will never know about. it suprises me that Shyamalan would let a poor movie like this be made with all of its fail.

[almostnever]

It's really puzzling, I agree. My best guess is that his reputation has taken such a hit in the past few years that he decided to cater to what looked like the safest bet: a big-budget movie aimed primarily at children, based on an established property, whitewashed and Star-Warsed to death. (IO9 comments at length on the blandifying of the story in their scathing review, M. Night Shyamalan Finally Made A Comedy.)

Other reviewers pointed out that an action movie doesn't really play to Shyamalan's strengths. He's superb at mood-building, slow burns, creating tension between what's seen and what's unseen, setting up expectations and then subverting them. An action movie asks a director to make linear sense and logic out of the chaos of conflict: very different set of skills and techniques. :-/