The Last Airbender

Based on the cartoon television series, The Last Airbender, which unfolds in a world that’s been divided into territories based on Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, follows scrappy Water Kingdom siblings Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) as they attempt to keep the title character (Noah Ringer’s Aang) safe from harm – as Aang’s ability to master the use of all four elements has made him a target of the violent Fire Kingdom. The rather dense nature of the film’s mythology ensures that the opening half hour of The Last Airbender is surprisingly difficult to follow, as writer/director M. Night Shyamalan offers up a convoluted narrative that’s exacerbated by a distinct lack of character development (eg why are the film’s white heroes living in a village with dark-skinned natives?) It’s worth noting, however, that the movie is initially quite watchable even during its overtly baffling stretches, with Shyamalan’s expectedly skillful visuals and the almost uniformly strong performances – Ringer’s astoundingly awful turn is a notable exception – proving effective at sustaining the viewer’s interest (albeit on the level of a summer-popcorn-flick extravaganza). The progressively muddled storyline – coupled with the inclusion of a few decidedly underwhelming action sequences – slowly but surely transforms The Last Airbender into a lamentably tedious experience, and there’s little doubt that the interminable build-up to the final confrontation results in as hopelessly anti-climactic an atmosphere as one can easily recall (with a noble sacrifice made by a periphery figure standing as the only reasonably compelling interlude within the movie’s otherwise disastrous third act). And while Shyamalan does deserve some respect for trying something completely different, The Last Airbender is simply (and ultimately) a tremendously disappointing effort from a once rock-solid filmmaker.

** out of ****