Everything is wrong with this film.
It's an adaptation of the well-remembered Nickelodeon show Avatar: the Last Airbender. The problems start with the fundamentals: what parts of the show did the filmmakers choose to adapt? They adapted about five or six episodes of the show's first season, including its introduction and finale, so it's an attempt at that first season's arc. Only, the characters and their relationships have slow arcs that take place across the many episodes. And the first season's finale isn't all that integral beyond certain character interactions (such as the fight between Katara and Zuko). The most important parts of the first season lay in these character building pieces, and so the film adapts several of the most important episodes, notably The Blue Spirit. Unfortunately, most of these episodes don't have strong connective tissue and so the film feels like an exercise in jumping randomly from place to place with little rhyme or reason. Well, if the plot doesn't flow, at least the scenes do, right? Nope. As a person who is totally film illiterate, I'm still pretty sure you're not supposed to zoom right into one character's nostrils in a standard shot-reverse-shot sequence. Conversations shouldn't feel like they could happen in any order, and that characters are responding to totally different lines of dialogue than were recently delivered. Half the time the actors look confused, the other half looks like an unsuccessful but energetic recital. It's confusing to watch, and more than a little boring. Well, if the plot doesn't flow, and scenes feel like they're shots randomly stapled together, at least the movie looks good, right? Nope. This film manages one of those little miracles where everything looks expensive and cheap at the same time. Besides maybe a few of the water bending moments, the effects are out-of-place, ugly and underwhelming. The best that can be said is that the film's scenery is colorful and pleasant to look at. Well, if the story and spectacle both fail, at least kids won't notice, right? The kids'll like it? My son sighed for the first time at about 20 minutes in. Halfway through, he asked "When's this over?" He repeated that again for the next 10 minutes. Finally, he started complaining, "I've got a headache." I asked what he meant. My six-year-old son told me, "Dad, this movie is giving me a headache." My son is right. This movie is an attack on brains everywhere. Skip.
Plot: 0
Characters: 0
Themes: 0
Spectacle: 3
Overall score: gives children headaches.
See better reviews at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender
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