REVIEW: M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘The Last Airbender’

For the record, I, for one (apparently), thought The Last Airbender was a really fun film. I would gladly watch it again and want to own it on Blu-ray when available. Unfortunately, this film has been reviled before its release and will be panned afterward for reasons that have nothing to do with its merits as a piece of cinema. Simply put, I firmly believe a vast majority of critics and film fans are going to hate anything that M. Night Shyamalan makes and will instantly think negatively of any film that has his name on it.

Most of the bile vented towards this film seems to be the perceived racism that has been perpetrated by Shyamalan because he chose to cast white actors in many of the roles that were drawn to look somewhat Asian in the cartoon. To begin with, Shyamalan, who is Asian Indian-American, did not create the original storyline. He wrote the screenplay based on the cartoon that was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, two Americans, who obviously used their love of Asian martial arts films as an influence to create a unique fantasy world. Additionally, all the voice actors used for the cartoon are American actors, which seems to have either been missed by everyone or simply ignored.

While I accept the argument that the characters are depicted in the cartoon as looking Asian, I feel that Shyamalan has actually added cultural diversity in his depiction of the nations in The Last Airbender. The Air Nomads, depicted in flashbacks, seems to be comprised of many different cultures. The Water Tribe are indeed Anglo-Saxon whites. The Earth Kingdom is peopled by Japanese Asians. Lastly, the Fire Lords are played by those of Indian and Pakistani descent, with one of the major Fire roles played by an Iranian-American. Not really a whole lot of racism for a major Hollywood film.

Another thing I think Shyamalan will get negatively criticized for is the fact that this is a very straightforward story. There is no big twist or huge reveal at the end as has been his thing in all his previous films. The only real surprise is that he doesn’t end this film by closing the story, in fact he has one last scene that seems to indicate he has firm plans to make at least one more Airbender film. Those that are hoping for this film to redeem Shyamalan may be disappointed that he has chosen to break from his previous style of filmmaking, but, again, this is not a story that he originated. He still uses color to great effect, almost making it a character in the film and he has his usual unique camera placement, although even the latter is somewhat restrained in service to the story.

As for the film itself, I found it enjoyable and compelling and, as previously stated, worthy of repeated viewings. The story combines Asian influenced mythology with awesome martial arts sequences, great visuals, fine acting and satisfying character arcs. It left me not only wanting to see a sequel, but very interested in checking out the source material to get the full tapestry of the Airbender universe. My son very much enjoyed it and it was nice to be able to have a movie that we could both watch and be excited about. I highly recommend this film for families to watch together.

The major criticism I have for this film is that it was presented in Real 3D. There was absolutely no reason for The Last Airbender to be shown in 3D other than that’s what all the other cool films are doing nowadays. There was no added benefit at all, not even any cheesy “coming at you!” 3D sequences. Save yourself the money and see this in a regular theater, you won’t be missing anything. Also, the flying bison thing that the Avatar uses for transport? Totally reminded me way too much of Falkor at all the wrong times.

To be clear, I am an unabashed fan of M. Night Shyamalan and have loved all of his films, with the notable exception of The Happening. That film just never seemed to come together in a satisfying way and I felt that Mark Wahlberg’s performance was weirdly off. But I can cut someone slack and forgive them a misstep or two. Apparently, I am in the minority, a minority I am very happy to be part of. Don’t worry, if you disagree with me I won’t accuse you of being intellectually racist.