Roger Ebert begins his review of "The Last Airbender" with the following passage: "'The Last Airbender' is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. The laws of chance suggest that something should have gone right. Not here."[1] Ebert's description is not an exaggeration. Those who have never seen Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender (the animated series on which the film is based) will hate the film because of its incomprehensible plot, dreadful acting, poor writing, and awful fight choreography. Those who are fans of the animated series will hate the movie for all these reasons and many more--namely, the racially absurd casting, the radical alterations to the characters' personalities, and the perplexing choices regarding what elements of the series were kept and which ones were omitted. There is no audience whom this movie will please. Even younger children will find the movie boring and uninteresting. It lacks the frantic intensity needed to succeed as an action film, lacks the character development and quality writing needed to succeed as a drama, and lacks any humor whatsoever. The movie also fails to fall into the "so bad it's good" category. Whereas some films like "The Room" and "Troll 2" are so awful that their failure actually becomes entertaining, this film is so awful that it's just downright painful. Beyond the problems already listed, the story is told primarily through exposition revealed through either narration or dialogue. There was no effort to tell the story by using visuals, despite the fact that this is the primary reason that films (as opposed to books) are used to tell stories. The animated series is fantastic and could be enjoyed by viewers of almost any age because it balances drama, action, and comedy extremely well in the context of a continuous, rewarding 61-episode narrative. Considering the superb quality of the source material, it is difficult to imagine how this film could have been a bigger disappointment, particularly considering the film's $150 million dollar budget. Most of that money clearly went to the poorly rendered visual effects. The movie is in fact so reliant on visual effects that it utterly fails to suspend the viewer's disbelief: there is virtually no moment in this film where one will forget that he or she is watching a movie. The wooden acting does not help in this regard: if the characters are unable to get immersed in their fictitious world, then how in the world can we get immersed in it? This is why Mick LaSalle described the film as a "dull, boring, poorly acted, limply written and thoroughly unappealing fantasy, featuring bland characters locked in a struggle of no interest."[2] Of course, one may wonder why I purchased the film given the content of this review. I purchased it solely because I am currently writing a critical review in which I argue that this film is in fact the worst movie ever made. The Blu Ray disc in this set contains a 9-part documentary that I considered required viewing for that sort of project. And I believe this is the only kind of justification one can reasonably offer for buying this movie: if you want something entertaining or even remotely interesting, you must look elsewhere. [1] Roger Ebert, "The Last Airbender," June 30, 2010. [2] Mike LaSalle, "Review: 3-D 'Last Airbender' has no dimension," July 2, 2010.Read full review
Our 7 year old just discovered the last Airbender and is hooked, so we wanted the disks to allow him to watch it (without commercials) anytime he wanted. Disks are in great shape and play well
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Ignore all the hate and judge for yourself. Very solid and wonderful film. It could never be an exact copy of the cartoon. Very well done live action.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
M. Night Shyamalan did a great job on this film but I felt he could have done more and yet, I found this to be a great start, but he stopped and never made a second. What a shame, but a classic to own. A must watch if you havent' already!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The movie is a great story, love the characters. Wish there would be a sequel.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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