Roberta: Everyone who had anything to do with this movie should not be allowed to have anything to do with movies ever again. Not even to sell popcorn. That’s how bad this movie was.
Brent: Shyamalan has committed a travesty upon the source material, and it’s tragic to see how far he’s fallen as filmmaker. If I sound like I’m taking things way too seriously, it’s nothing compared to how seriously this movie takes itself. Take the Last Airbender himself – in the TV series, he was a regular kid who liked to goof around. Then, when something serious happened – like when he found out that all the other Air Nomads had been slaughtered – it had a real impact. The relentless somberness of the movie, on the other hand, is just laughable. Young newcomer Noah Ringer could have been good as Aang, if he had been given better material.
Roberta: When the movie started, they showed those two faces (Katara and Sokka), with those dumb expressions and staring eyes. Did they beat them and put fake eyes in their heads and then ask them to perform? Young people should be full of life, but Katara (Niccola Peltz) made Kristen Stewart from Twilight look happy by comparison. We recently saw Toy Story 3, and to think that they could make animated toys that you could feel for, and here were people, and I felt nothing
Brent: Yeah, I felt no attachment to the characters, which is especially bad, considering I already had an attachment to them from the TV series before the movie started. One thing the movie completely missed is how Aang, Katara and Sokka are supposed to be close friends - when characters care about each other, it makes us want to care about them too. There was an episode where Katara and Sokka got sick, and Aang went out on a dangerous mission to bring them a cure. Katara was Aang’s greatest supporter, but in one episode, she got jealous of him surpassing her as a water bender – she was a person, not the bland saint portrayed by Peltz. I was excited to hear Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel would play disgraced Fire Prince Zuko, but his performance was disappointing, too.
Roberta: Zuko’s uncle (Shaun Toub) had a little tiiiiiny bit of personality, not enough to carry the movie, but at least I remember him. Everyone else was just all mushed together and it was just a big nothing.
Brent: Compared to everyone else, he had personality, but he wasn’t nearly eccentric enough and he didn’t drink nearly enough tea to be Uncle Iroh.
Roberta: If they lived, if they died, I didn’t care – I just wanted to get out of this movie!
Brent: I knew we were in trouble from the first stilted line of dialogue. Characters spout long-winded speeches about “living by the spirits” and “responsibility” and “destiny.” Shyamalan didn’t create this mythos, but he somehow managed to make it sound just like his mumbo-jumbo from Lady in the Water. And when the characters shut up and start fighting, it still doesn’t feel right.
Roberta: In Kick-A**, when they were doing the moves, it looked real, whereas in this they just looked silly. It wasn’t like they were fighting, it was like they were doing ballet.
Brent: Or yoga. Or Winsor-Pilates. There were only two scenes I actually liked – one involved some village children playing with the weightless Appa (Children playing?! I’m shocked such a concept was allowed in this movie, even for a few seconds), and the other had Aang fighting inside some sort of training device with spinning tablets
Roberta: I wasn’t delighted with anything. Even the special effects were hokey. Even arrow symbol on Aang’s forehead bugged me - it was too much. I liked it better when it was just an arrow. It looked like a math equation.
Brent: The CGI creatures look cool, but are just as devoid of personality as the humans. 11 years ago, Shyamalan gave us The Sixth Sense, which was the perfect balance between the story of a kid going through real-world problems and a supernatural premise. The Last Airbender is severely lacking the humanity of that film. Heck, even Shyamalan’s so-bad-it’s-almost-good previous film, The Happening was actually a lot better than this.
Roberta: The people in the row in front of me were texting, and normally that makes me so upset, but this time I was like, I don’t blame them. I almost wished I could have read their text because I was so bored. Or maybe I should have tried to do the math equation on Aang’s forehead. This is among the most torturous movie-going experiences I’ve ever had. I don’t think any age group would like it. Children are way too bright for this. I don’t even think Shyamalan’s own mother would like it. I really hope it’s the Last Airbender, 'cause I don’t wanna see another one.
Brent: Paramount, Nickelodeon - if there is a sequel, please, please take it away from Shyamalan. He bent the concept out of shape, and I think he’s gone 'round the bend.