|
 
|
 |
The Last Airbender
(2010)
  
Review
M. Night Shyamalan first gained
recognition as a filmmaker because his films (notably
The Sixth Sense,
Unbreakable, and
Signs) had edge and audacity, written
and shot from a different perspective, always with something unique to
communicate. There is nothing unique about Shyamalan's latest outing,
The Last Airbender, however. It is a self-absorbed, glossy fantasy adventure
which boasts little else than all the mandatory ingredients for this
rapidly self-destructing subgenre: a chosen Messiah figure, a simple
good/bad dichotomy, furry mythical animals, and wild and grandiose
scenery. There's nothing inherently wrong about the story's outline or morals; it's
just that the film appears completely inane and flat before our eyes.
Shyamalan somehow drains all potential vitality from the story, as if
determined to make his film as generic as possible. At the same time, he
ceremoniously insists on the story's importance and pathos, forgetting in the
process that we've been told and shown all this many
times before – and in better versions. The dialogue and acting only
reinforce this impression, perhaps with the exception of Shaun
Toub, who exhibits something that could have been a
touch of class in a better film. And the fighting scenes, which should have been filled
with aggression and tension, instead look like tamely choreographed
rehearsal routines from So You Think You Can Dance.
|
|
