M.Night Shyamalan's latest effort is flawed, but still manages to pull a few surprises.

By ARIS ZARIL

Fame is never easy. The higher you go, the higher the chances of falling. M.Night Shyamalan must really be experiencing this now. Ever since he gained reputation with The Sixth Sense and reinforced it with movies like Signs, he was the 'it' director. However, his later works like Lady in the Water and The Happening didn't go well with critics and he seems to be churning out a streak of misses. This brings us to his first adaptation attempt, The Last Airbender.

Based on the popular Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, the tale takes place in a world where four nations, each a master of an element; air, water, earth and fire live in harmony thanks to an entity called the Avatar. The Avatar is able to bend all four elements and bring balance, yet about 100 years ago, he suddenly disappeared. This led to the Fire Nation suppressing the other elements in order to become the dominant nation.

The story revolves mostly around the young reluctant Avatar Aang (Noah Ringer), who is found by Waterbender Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone aka Jasper in Twilight). Aang is an Airbender, and the last of his kind as the Fire Nation, led by Fire Lord Ozai (Cliff Curtis) has exterminated every remaining Air Nomad. His son Prince Zuko (Dev Patel) on the other hand, is exiled until he can bring back the Avatar.
If all this sounds like a lot to digest, it's because it is.

Squeezing an entire season of an animated show into two hours can be quite a challenge, but the direction in The Last Airbender is rather messy. Either M.Night Shyamalan spent too much time with the effects or the scriptwriter should be slaughtered. The dialogue in this movie is atrocious, with lines such as Sokka yelling early on to his sister, "Do not touch that sphere!" (which she did of course, eventually) or the cringe-worthy scene of Aang telling the Earthbenders to stand up against their suppressors.

The badly written dialogue is complemented by uneven acting by most of the cast. The only performance worth noting was Shaun Toub (Yinsen in Iron Man) as Zuko's uncle Iroh. It says a lot when the best parts of a movie are the ones where no words are spoken.

On the other hand, the visuals in this movie are top-notch and the action is fun and entertaining.

The bending of the elements were cool and believable and the filmmakers have succeeded in creating an alternate world that is detached from our own. It is easy to see that M.Night Shyamalan was aiming for the whole 'epic' feel ala Lord of the Rings. In this sense he has succeeded, but sadly the film's direction and script are not on par.

While The Last Airbender never reached its full potential, it still makes for an entertaining watch for all ages, as long as you keep an open mind before watching.

3 Stars