Harry doesn't hate THE LAST AIRBENDER, he pities it.

I don't get it. Watching what has happened to M. Night Shymalan is a lot like that feeling a lot of people get when we see those with the cardboard signs. You may consider being charitable, but then you remember that knifing you heard about, a car jacking, you can tell that there may have been a good person there before, but he's wallowed one time too many and now... You just find yourself hitting the accelerator. There might be something that you remember about this viewing that you'll hold on to. ILM's FX are pretty cool, but only if you see it in 2D, in 3D the image is so dark you can't really make hide nor tail of it. And that's not a good thing. Unmarred by rushed 3D conversion... the film has a degree of vitality and lushness that isn't altogether unsatisfying to one's viewing palate, but ultimately it is a completely hollow experience. Now, you might be surprised that I'm not angry about the film. You see, I'm almost completely unaware of this mythology. I've tried to watch a few random episodes... but I didn't like the animation style and never have given the story a fair shake. I have received the first season, so I'm thinking of giving the first disc a try, but after the film... I'm honestly less curious. It isn't that the film is horrifyingly awful, it is just not very compelling. Nobody in this world has ever lived a day in their lives. They're surrounded by magic and mysticism, but none of it affects or grazes them. You have a boy aged looking boy, but he just kind of stares neutrally for most of the film. I kinda like his look, but he isn't given a single moment of vitality. Now, when ever he gears up for his DEMO, that he performs in various locales... he reminds me of Van Damme balancing on the back of that Motorcycle in HARD TARGET. He's counting. You can see it in his eyes. He's counting. The boy is counting. I don't see the danger of the situation in his eyes, I hear his thoughts, "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi..." And I almost believe M. Night told him to count for his cues. M. Night can create a few pretty killer shots. But they're just random shots. The casting, which various race based organizations have been protesting as being racist... is to me, even worse... boring. There's only one part that I found genuinely compelling to watch. The big bad Commander Zhao... as played by THE DAILY SHOW'S Aasif Mandvi. The casting is possibly amongst the worst casting since Frank Sinatra in THE KISSING BANDIT - which obviously should have been Gene Kelly. Here... Had Omar Shariff played Commander Zhao... or hell if you had to cast younger... Naveen Andrews... If Sayid was tormenting some kid, you might feel vaguely threatened... But Aasif Mandvi? He's the least scary person ever. He'd make Lou Costello stick his chest out. The only person that Aasif Mandvi intimidates is Jon Stewart, but that's just because well... Jon is made of sugar and spice and cotton balls all built around a popsicle stick skeleton forged in adamantium. Seriously though... Mandvi's hair is the same. His accent and delivery? The same as on DAILY SHOW. I kept expecting Kurt Russell's character from USED CARS to try and sell him a Lemon. And he's your BIG THREAT of the movie. You may have noticed you didn't see him in the Trailers and TV ads... I think it is because the marketing folks know how badly miscast he is. That does get me mad though... You see, I don't think Aasif Mandvi is a bad actor. I don't think he was given anything to do. That's a serial offense throughout this movie. Nobody has anything to do. You might think that our main character is motivated out of revenge... but that doesn't really seem to be. No, Aang floats about with a chip on his shoulder. Upset that everyone he knows has died, upset that he didn't learn how to master the other elements... and that's about it. Seriously. He apparently has a ton of adventures in the film, we're just not privvy to them. Instead we'll go visit assorted Fire Nation characters - none of whom seem to like or know much of anything about anyone. Other than this is the prophesied one. So he must die. There's no elegance, no charm. When a major character dies, you're not really sure why - and it isn't transcendent or hurtful in any real way, but I understand it is supposed to be a big deal. Dev Patel is kind of pulling a Sal Mineo from REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE here. Another mopey bastard that can't satisfy Daddy. Ho hum. Like I said though, I've never gotten LAST AIRBENDER... but my nephew does. He's seen every episode. When asked, "What'd you think Gio?" The boy answered, "I hated it." When we asked why, he responded, "I wanted it to be fun. Aang should have more fun." I don't know if that is so, but certainly having a degree of fun might be preferable to this really drawn out empty shell of a film. It is pretty to look at, but there's nothing really to digest. It is all curious surfaces... but nothing to leave one particularly impressed. That said, if you loved this show. Prepare yourself. You could go stark raving insane mad at this film. Me? I found myself wishing he'd told the story from the vantage point of Aang. I didn't need to know what the Fire Nations was up to. I really did want to learn more about Aang, but M Night had - well I don't want to say more important things on his mind, but that is kinda how I feel. This felt directed from two continents away. There's just no weight. No substance and nothing at all to see. If you want to spend time in a theater this weekend, I suggest going to anything else. You're not likely to leave with happy thoughts... and I don't feel children will either. This could by your child's first real disappointment in a theater. I did find talking to my nephew about his problems with the film... kinda amazing. Cuz I just thought it was forgettable, but he was passionately dismissive and angry about this movie. He doesn't really do that. He's 10. He loves most things. Just, really not this.