I wanna start with full disclosure. The instant I heard about the casting of this film, I did not approve. Even more than I disapproved of the director. Things only got worse when I looked into the matter, and yeah, I sounded off on the issue. The fact that this production favored white actors in the selection process still makes me cringe, and every single defense of Paramount's actions concerning this movie has rang as disingenuous to me. I genuinely would've preferred Asian actors in these roles as that would've been a legitimate opportunity for a cast of unknowns or relative unknowns who otherwise would not have likely been given the chance at a starring role. That said, none of these things change the fact that M. Night Shyamalan wrote, produced, and directed an insufferable turd of a film that sucks so much dick through a straw that it makes the idea of watching Tommy Wiseau's The Room, The Butter Cream Gang (look it up, I dare you...), and Mac and Me on a 48-hour loop sound like a better use of your time.

I'm a little unsure of where to begin, really. When it comes right down to it, everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING is wrong in this movie. This isn't just a matter of poor adaptation we're talking about here either. This is fundamentally shitty film-making on a grand scale. If you were expecting anything of worth to come from the studio that gave us this shit last year...

...well, I think it's time to start looking at Paramount's summer productions with a sideways glance.

But the time for telling M. Night Shyamalan to go fuck himself is long overdue. This asswipe has proven beyond any shadow of doubt that he DOES NOT know how to write natural dialogue. And if there were ever more solid proof that this man isn't fit to write a picture book than this movie, then I don't ever wanna experience it. But what's worse is his inability to handle criticism in a reasonable or respectable manner. He notoriously displayed this to some in Lady in the Water with his apparently none-too-subtle jab at his critics. Many viewers have pointed this out, but I never saw it (read: have gone out of my way not to) so I can't really confirm. Though I have no reason not to believe it when numerous people have made the claim. And when faced with detractors during the production of The Last Airbender, he responded like so:

"Well, you caught me. I'm the face of racism. I'm always surprised at the level of misunderstanding, the sensitivities that exist. As an Asian-American, it bothers me when people take all of their passion and
rightful indignation about the subject and then misplace it."

Well then, let's have a look at the movie you produced, shall we (I'll touch on the racial aspect later)? From the very start, things go off the rails. For fans of the show, the imagery looks familiar but they immediately don't feel right. As many already know, the "bending" in this franchise refers to the manipulation of the elements through martial arts. Earthbenders practice Hung Gar Kung Fu (with the exception of fan favorite, Toph), waterbenders practice Tai Chi, firebenders practice Northern Shaolin Kung Fu (also known as Long Fist or Chang Quan), and airbenders practice Ba Gua Zhang (there's a good chance you've seen it before). If you've seen the opening of the show enough times, then you practically know these movements by heart. More importantly, you know when someone's not doing that and that's how this movie starts. Of all the things to fuck up, Shyamalan shits the bed right out of the gate by portraying the martial art styles incorrectly. And it's not just the opening of the film either as the entire film showcases indecipherable fighting styles at best (arm waving and XMA bullshit), and piss-poor martial arts the rest of the time. Those of us that followed the casting and pre-production of this film know that Dev Patel and Noah Ringer hold black belts in Tae Kwon Do. And those of us that practice(d) a Chinese style of martial arts know that this doesn't really mean much. They are definitely the best among the principle cast, but it couldn't be more obvious that Wushu in any form is not second nature to them. Ringer and Nicola Peltz are noticeably going through the motions of Tai Chi form, but they are in no way connected to what they're doing (as an internal form of Wushu, that matters). One may see this as nitpicking, but I ask one simple question: If you're not going to do something right, then why bother doing it? Sadly, that'll be a recurring theme so bear with me...

What really comes up short here are the special effects. They don't do the actors' physical presence any favors by literally appearing as the afterthought that they are. As a result, they never feel believable even within the confines of the film. Rather than water, fire, earth or air having any sense of weight, gravity, or tangibility to them, you feel as though you're merely watching people wave their arms around waiting for ILM to fill in the blanks. The most notable example would have to be in the film's climactic battle. The sad part is that this is supposed to be Aang's big moment to shine, and what we get is this...

That doesn't look like a person with great power wielding it as much as it does a person being pulled along on a track as the post-production team does all the work (and it really doesn't help that the kid sounds like a Jr. Frankenstein). There is no gravity to what we are presented with, and this is ultimately only impressive to those still wowed by the novelty of a live-action adaptation. Of course, once it becomes clear how much hasn't been adapted that novelty will wear off very quickly.

The most important rule of storytelling in any medium is and always will be show your audience, don't tell them. Somehow, Shyamalan forgot this crucial fundamental as his screenplay violates this rule so often it needs to show an adult where it was touched inappropriately. In the place of character or plot development, M. Night's take on Avatar: The Last Airbender sees its characters speaking in uncomfortable and unrealistic chunks of expository dialogue and voice-overs (no wonder this dip-shit liked Twilight so much). The audience rarely sees action of any note, and is constantly told about things that have or will happen in order for the film to fill in blanks and move along to the next plot point. Even for fans of the show, this is irritating and boring since you know what the movie is glazing over. For the uninitiated, the description of the scene that you're NOT seeing just brings more attention to how plodding and snooze-inducing the rest of the film has been and will continue to be. And in the rare instance that a character's back-story is highlighted, Shyamalan goes about it in the most awkward and unnatural manner possible. To inform the audience of how Dev Patel's banished prince received his scar, the character calls over a young boy (snarling as he does so) to recount the events for our benefit. What follows is a shoddily filmed flashback that conveys less than the voice-over that accompanies the visual. Patel is really left up a shit creek sans paddle because of this script, but that doesn't excuse every performance in this film.

If there's anything that the acting in this movie proves it's that the casting process was a complete fucking sham. Sure, the screenplay did them no favors but many of the actors themselves are just horrible. Jackson Rathbone's Sokka is an affront to humanity. He emotes purely through nostrils flares and widening his eyes, but sadly this means he has one additional trick more than newcomer Noah Ringer. Aside from flaring his nostrils, this kid reads lines with the intensity one might expect of shampoo directions. Now, I know what you're thinking...

"You shouldn't be so hard on him. This is his first movie, and he's just a kid."

Well, for clarification, let me remind you who this kid is working with...

Shyamalan's claim to fame has partially stemmed from his ability to work with actors, and his most well-known film hinged on the great performance from a child actor. There's no excuse for Ringer's portrayal of Aang being in need of allowances for its awfulness. He was surrounded by people that should've known better. And as this IS his first film, more people should've been looking out for this kid as a multi-million dollar showcase of his shortcomings as an actor would do him no good in the long run. But he's not alone as Nicola Peltz displays the kind of skill you'd expect out of the worst dinner theatre. Again, this falls on Shyamalan as both his direction and screenplay completely screw this girl over. However, nothing would've helped Aasif Mandvi. This guy is simply not right for the role of Zhao because it's next to impossible to take him seriously as a threat of any kind. And this has nothing to do with him being a Daily Show correspondent. It's his face...

I mean, c'mon. Look at that guy...Try as you might, M. Night, but you can't make this guy menacing. Not with your writing and direction, anyway. So all this does is point to the fact that no one was really selected for their ability as an actor. Even in Ringer's case, his skill as a martial artist are never truly showcased and we do see is not that impressive. Specifically, he's really not better than this kid...

And he auditioned too. Never got a callback. Now why is that...? At this point, it should be more obvious than ever. For all of Shyamalan's claims of diversity in his take on the Avatar franchise, the only diversity he really added was in the form of white heroes. Now that the film has been released, anyone can see within the first 10 minutes that there are in fact plenty of non-white faces in The Last Airbender. However, most of them don't speak. In fact, the short amount of time spent in the Southern Water tribe village from which Sokka, Katara, and their grandmother hail shows us that EVERYONE else in the village is not white. They also don't say or do shit (except for this one adorable little girl that shoud've been told not to look at the camera). However, the worst example of this comes in the earthbender prison scene. M. Night takes pride in the fact that the Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribes, and Air Nomads are all so ethnically diverse, but then depicts non-whites as evil, powerless, or ignorant. The earthbenders in particular are being held captive by Fire Nation troops in the middle of a fucking internment village, and have to be told that their very surroundings can be used to their advantage by Aang. In the show, earthbenders were sent to metal processing camps which limited their abilities. Here, they're too stupid to realize they can fight back without a savior coming along to inform them. This savior just happens to be a white kid. Now, if you're white and you don't immediately see the problem with this: Congrats to you as you're not a racist! You probably those actors and thought they could just as easily be white given the context. But let me explain to you what the rest of us see (and we've seen it before). People of color in this instance are depicted as inferior in both power and intelligence as they are literally standing on the means to defend themselves, and they still need an all-powerful white child to save them. Then when Aang visits the Northern Air Temple, it's a shifty old Asian man (Nice job, Keymaker...) that lures him into a trap. These things would fit well with the mentality of a white supremacist. After all, it shows people of color as foolish and untrustworthy while whites are capable, competent, and powerful. Now before you cite the film version of Monk Gyatso as a defense know that this is no better than a bigot that denies it by pointing to his black friend (literally). Shyamalan's film took what was originally an Asian fantasy setting, mixed up the ethnicities, and conveniently the major heroic roles were filled by white actors while the villains are portrayed by people of color. It takes far too much delusion to believe this is a coincidence...

All of these factors are more than enough to inform us that things were mishandled at every turn. So, let's get something clear right now: They WILL NOT get better if there is a sequel. I say this as a preemptive measure for anyone that might think to say that they "hope the next one is better." NO! I'm personally tired of this mentality because on the many forums I've occasionally perused, this shit always pops up in the case of movies as shitty as this one. People said it about Dragon Ball Evolution. People said it about Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li. People said it about Transformers, and look what that got us!!! This line of thinking needs to die. We are consumers, and as such we hold more power than industry insiders seem to have led most to believe. The movies these studios make and the manner in which they make them are a direct reflection of what they think WE want. So if you want a better product, you gotta ask for. But for fuck's sake, know who you're asking and what you're asking of them. Otherwise, we get stuck with shit like this...

Just my thoughts on the matter...