What can I say about M. Night Shamaylan’s latest exercise in tedium,The Last Airbender?To begin with, I don’t think it’s a good thing when you want all those characters who are hunting the young hero (a boy with airbending powers and a reluctant, would-be Avatar to boot) to actually catch up with him and put him—and us—out of our misery.
In fact, the last time I felt like this was when I saw The Client, in which everyone is after this truly obnoxious boy that Susan Sarandon is shielding—and I wanted the gangsters to get him). The movie is in 3-D, which I don’t mind paying for if there are some good effects-well I ‘m still waiting for them. The cast is either bland or unsympathetic; the airbending scenes look like failed auditions for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company; the action scenes are ineptly staged. This is a movie that Aasif Mandvi would make fun of in his role as a commentator on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart—only he can’t because he plays the villain-poorly. There is also the threat of a sequel, so please save your money and go to another movie—any movie. Life is too short.