Long before it became a live-action Netflix series, Avatar: The Last Airbender was the subject of the first live-action adaptation. Released in 2010, the film by M. Night Shyamalan – then one of the most prominent directors in Hollywood – was supposed to be the first part of a trilogy directly adapted from the animated series.
Despite the fame of the director and a comfortable budget of 150 million dollars, the film was a critical and commercial failure upon its release. The years did not allow us to rehabilitate the feature film, on the contrary, which is still considered an industrial disaster.
The Last Airbender is also the lowest-rated film in M. Night Shyamalan’s filmography by AlloCiné internet users (only 1.9 out of 5 stars, out of 8,738 ratings).
Unworthy of a filmmaker of his fame
Among the main criticisms leveled at the films, most netizens highlight the disastrous interpretation of lead actor Noah Ringer. He was barely thirteen years old at the time of filming, the latter, in his defense, is not a professional actor, but a junior taekwondo champion.
Chosen both for his martial arts prowess and his physical resemblance to Aang, the Avatar hero, Noah Ringer failed to impress audiences. The latter did not continue the film path, as his last role dates back to 2011 in the movie Cowboys & Invaders!
If one of the reasons for explaining the failure of the film is the performance of the actor, the main culprit according to the netizens is M. Night Shyamalan. Despite the means at his disposal, the filmmaker failed to imbue the touch of a feature film, nor to add depth to the story.
The script, which is considered boring and surprising, is accompanied by action scenes that are considered unsuccessful and repetitive production effects that are not worthy of such a famous filmmaker (repetitive breaks, dialogues shot in reverse). …). In short, the majority of Internet users assessed the film as an absolute failure.
The French press turns on Shyamalan
Critics at the time shared the sentiment, as the film has an average press rating of 1.9 out of 5 stars from the 16 reviews listed. Samuel Duhair, a journalist at Télérama, did not hesitate to turn on M. Night Shyamalan and wondered when the filmmaker was “fall down” After the failure that his recent films faced in succession.
Same story with Liberation: “The result is disastrous, and it is not the professorial tone of the dialogues and the hermeticity of the situations that will save this case”. “Thinking” The film for Marie Sauvion (Le Parisien) was condemned “Technical KO” By his colleague from Télé 7 Jours, Philippe Ross.
Fun fact though: The Last Pilot (by Vincent Malausa) was the best, 3 out of 5 stars. The magazine Les Inrockuptibles did not hesitate to give the film a 4-star rating. for that “This graceful martial arts tale where its cosmological obsessions are gloriously undone”.
We can bet that Avatar: The Last Airbender, now available exclusively on Netflix, will be better than Shyamalan’s film. Which still won’t be a success…
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Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
