User Score
2.9 out of 10

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 506 Ratings

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  1. Oct 16, 2011
    2
    "The Last Airbender", a movie based on the famous TV series for kids, is just simply terrible. The story doesn't make any sense and is chopped into crude pieces. The acting and special effects are terribly illustrated like coloring black ink over a well-done portrait of someone. Man, all I can conclude is RAZZIE BUZZ!!
  2. Nov 7, 2011
    3
    I tried to like it, but it is a big letdown compared to the Nickelodeon animated series it is based on. The story was hard to follow and there a lot of changes from the show. It would have been better if they had better actors as well. The character didn't act at all like they did in the show.
  3. Mar 6, 2011
    8
    I really enjoyed this movie, while it doesn't have the same emotional power that the anime had, and some cheesy moments, it's still a great movie, the characters are extremely well interpreted, I'm also glad they didn't use the Aang and Katara relationship, and I hope they don't, looking forward to the next movie.
  4. Jun 11, 2011
    5
    Based on the animated television show from Nickelodeon, this live-action adaptation tells the story about four nations with the elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire who fought against each in a great war. A few years later, a successful avatar and an airbender named Aang, who has been sealed frozen for thousands of years, has been released by two people from the water tribe named Katara and Sokka as they try to protect him by any means necessary by joining him on a quest to the northern water kingdom to master waterbending while being chased by Prince Zuko, the exiled son of the fire lord Ozai, Commander Zhao, and the fire nation's military leader.

    Let's just say I watched the TV show and was excited to see this movie in theaters, but instead saw it online and boy was I disappointed. We'll get to the bad parts in a moment. For now, I'm going to say the good things about this movie.

    The actors did okay at their performances, the CGI effects were great, the music score had great emotion to it, the costume design was neat, and the action scenes were very cool. That's it for my praise.

    Now for the bad things. The storyline had a lot of flaws and was overlong, rushed, and predictable, the dialogue in the characters were let down, the storytelling was inconsistent, the characters were underdeveloped (butchered names included) and the script was bland.

    The Last Airbender isn't horrible, but it doesn't even hold a candle to the TV show. It's just a weak and very mediocre adaptation. I've been expected by a lot of people that I'm supposed to give this a 5/10, so yes, friends. A 5/10 is just the right rating for this movie. Is everyone happy now?

    5/10
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  5. Dec 17, 2011
    0
    This film is easily one of the worst films in the decade and should never had been made by someone who works with suspense movies! I give this awful film a 2% of a good movie due to its okay visual effects.
  6. Dec 8, 2012
    1
    Not good, in fact it's one of the worst movies I've seen in years. I hated it! The acting was horrible, basically every actor sucked. The script was poorly written and cheesy. The story jumped around a lot and made very little sense at times, which is strange because I was familiar with the story because I watched a little of the show. The fighting sequences were stupid. Some of the CGI was okay, but not good. I'm now a firm believer that M. Night Shyamalan will never have a comeback as this film is nothing but pure garbage. He can't handle directing a film even with good material being handed down to him. A complete shame and one of the absolute worst films of 2010. A dreadful, excruciating film to watch. Expand
  7. Nov 26, 2011
    0
    One of the worst films you will ever see. Terrible acting, A poor script that made absolutely no sense, and it tried to cram an entire season filled with countless details into a poor 2 hour film. This is absolute trash.
  8. Aug 26, 2010
    0
    "The Last Airbender" places an almost unprecedented burden on fanboys and casual moviegoers alike to ignore its terrible acting and dialogue, its simultaneously forced and incomprehensible plot, its horrendous editing and camerawork, and its dull and uninteresting characters in order to enjoy this would-be epic. Good luck, and may this be the last movie that M. Night Shyamalan ever makes.
  9. Aug 8, 2011
    8
    Overall a fairly solid summer blockbuster although I am a foul for Shyamalan's movies. Some of the dialogue may through people off but not the whole entire movie is poorly written and the acting is fairly well acted especially the part by mr slumdog millionaire. Entertaining fun and the themes and style you would expect from a shyamalan movie
  10. Dec 3, 2010
    3
    ive never seen the cartoon show and didnt even know about it till a year ago and still havent and after seeing this film i doubt i will ever want to. the tv show im sure is better but this film left such a bad taste for this series. well the worst thing about this film is the acting it feels like a middle school play and i feel like thats almost giving this film praise saying that. the worst of it is from the 3 kids whos acting is so bad in this you can bet they will never do films again and if they are lucky may appear on some crappy sci fi channel film or on life time . the plot is poorly told the charicters are about as intresting as waching grass grow . the only good thing this film has is lush back grounds and visaul effects . the fighting is laughable with every one dancing around like abunch of retards trying to hump a door knob. M night shamallamadingdong one again proves he's a **** director and some how got lucky with the 6th sense and unbreakable.. probubly because he had good actors to carry his sorry ass. evade this film like its got herpese. Expand
  11. Jul 27, 2011
    2
    Sometimes one goes into a film with some preconceived notions about it due to critics' reactions, and with "The Last Airbender" those notions get re-affirmed after watching the film. This is, surely, the worst film I've seen in the last year. It is impressively bad on so many levels! The screenplay was simply atrocious, with horrible dialogue and plot. Stunningly badly written. Another stunningly bad thing was the acting. Honestly, this had some of the worst acting I've seen on a major motion picture ever. It is TV-action-flick level of badness, which says a lot. The visual effects and art direction might be the highlight of the film, but even those are not that spectacular. At times, the film would remind me of the awkward cinematography of "The Golden Compass" and this feeling that the film is just too theatrical and "set up," instead of feeling more realistic, like other highly visual effect heavy films have managed, such as The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or Avatar. I could go on and on about how bad the film is. It is a pity that it ended up being so bad, since it was obvious Shyamalan was planning a sequel (or maybe a trilogy - those are popular nowadays, it seems). Something tells me that that (luckily for the audiences) won't be happening any time soon. Expand
  12. Mar 9, 2013
    0
    Nobody knows who Shyamalan is any more......
  13. Aug 25, 2011
    1
    How can you begin to describe the many ways in which this film sucks? Never in history of movies has their been a fall as meteoric as M. Night Shyamalan, a director who began the decade being called the new **** and ends it by making The Last Airbender, a movie that is a failure on every level you can think of. The acting is wooden, the casting is offensive (why are all the good guys white, and all the bad guys Asian, when it was clearly the other way around in the show), the effects are horrible, the plot makes no sense, the whimsy or excitement of a fantasy world is completely absent, and above all things, it is mind-numbingly dull. Expand
  14. Aug 27, 2012
    2
    The TV series are pretty good, but this film is total **** The Last Airbender has to be one of the worst films ever created so far. The movie was rushed and the script was crap. My score: 21/100
  15. Jan 2, 2011
    1
    omfg ... this was the worst I saw in 2010, was a total loss of my money at the movies, I'ma fan of the anime which was extracted the script of the movie and I take the disappointment of my life when I saw this **** totally disgusting
  16. Dec 14, 2011
    2
    The Last Airbender is an awful movie that everyone should avoid. M. Night Shyamalan let his audience down. The privileged of making a movie comes the responsibility of making a good one - a responsibility to which Shyamalan has fail and should not be allowed to get away with. Such a shame.
  17. Mar 18, 2013
    0
    I almost gave this film a one for the special effects but no even though they were the only thing good in the movie. First M. Night Shamalamadingdong has no idea what the phrase "Good movie" means, I bet he's never been to a theater and seen a person walk out of his movie and say anything positive. This was a disgrace to "Avatar: The Last Airbender". Second, for the character Ang or how M. Night F***ed it up Ung. He hired a complete unknown for the soul reason he looked like Ang. I could understand taking auditions from people online but just because they look like them. It would've been better to hire me a BLACK GUY, and It would still be better because I know ever episode. Third. He basically took the TV show script "Katara: We have to do something. Ang: I agree" and basically did this "Ang: We have to do something. Katara: I agree" he blatintly switched characters lines to other characters. He filmed a scene and didnt even show it. The fact that this movie has a 2.9 out of 10 still amazes me. M. Night you can't make movies. Literally everyone in the theater went "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh" when his name appeared on screen. The Sixth Sense, what he wore the same clothes throughout the movie, The Happening was alright but dumb. Devil surprisingly was good, so I looked it up he produced it, not wrote or directed it that's why it was good. M. Night please stop directing and writing, and I swear to God if you come out with "The Last Aairbender 2" I will probably burn down the theater, watch the news. 16 year old kid attempted arisen to save the eyes of movie goers. I'd probably get and award. Oops, M. Night encase you didn't know what that means it's something you get for doing something GOOD. Expand
  18. Oct 12, 2010
    0
    This movie is so horrible that it considered a bad movie! The Last Airbender is hateful movie that the Avatar fans will discover that this pile of diarhea will be hated this movie and it;s nothing based on the hit series on Nickelodeon,it's almost as bad as Dragonball Evolution! I'M NOT KIDDING! The cast was so bad,they even have a laughable dialogue and they sorted suck when they speak like Jake Loyd in Star Wars,Episode I. The characters are again NOT so suppose to be white,it's suppose to be asain!The story is horrendous and the visual effects looks good,but where's the movie lead to you for any bad dialogue what they said. The fight scenes are ripping off in any movies like The Matrix,Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,and many more martial arts films that they put on and I'm so shame that M. Night Shyamalan did this movie so bad that it's even more bad like The Happening! What go wrong about this movie,even children will discover that they like,but please I guess this movie wouldn't get any good like this. Expand
  19. May 26, 2012
    0
    One of the worst movies I've ever watched. The acting is weird and terribly bad. The story makes no sense at all. The script was just ridiculously terrible and corny. The characters' personality in the movie are not even close with those in the TV series. Although the film has great special effects, it was completely overshadowed by these awful features of the movie..........
  20. Oct 9, 2010
    1
    "Last Airbender was such a rushed messed , it goes to quickly tho the action scenes were pretty neat , it could not save , these terrible performances , Awful script , and Laughable Dialogue ,One of the worst films released this year" .. F
  21. Mar 26, 2012
    2
    â
  22. Nov 16, 2010
    1
    Couldn't even sit through it. Just plain terrible. It's disappointing to me especially because the cartoon was so good. Way to ruin it. I didn't think something so bad could be made from this.
  23. Jan 26, 2011
    0
    The Last Airbender, thanks to its horrendous screenplay and dialogue, horrible special effects, 3D that is just as bad as Clash of the Titans, bad acting, and horrible fan service, it is one of the worst movies of the year! It is also the worst movie of the decade so far. Even if you are a fan of the Nick show, skip this movie and you will not regret it!
  24. Nov 29, 2010
    0
    While I respect M. Shyamalan's talents, I've got to say this is the worst film of 2010 (I bet nothing will top it). It will win the Razzie Awards, but its box office is so huge that they are going to make a sequel! No need for a big review. While the effects are quite good, I hated the acting and everything else about it. This is just like a Disney TV show with good effects. It is nowhere good enough to be in the big screen, yet people still come to check it out. The Last Airbender is by the far worst film of the decade and M. Shyamalan is the worst director of the decade for creating this film. Expand
  25. Aug 11, 2010
    1
    Long ago in a forgotten land there were four nations Earth, Air, Fire and Water the four fabled nations lived in peace and harmony with one another that is until the ruthless and power hungry fire nation declared war on the three other nations. Only the fabled AVATAR the master of all four elements could stop them but when he was needed the most he vanished, for a hundred years, the Fire nation ruled thinking that the only threat that had the power to defeat them was long deceased. That is until a young water-bender from the Southern water tribe and he smart mouth brother find a young boy trapped in ice they soon find out to be the new AVATAR a young air-bender named Aang who is the three nations last hope of saving there world from the dominate fire nation. In 1999 a young up and coming director by the name of M. Night Shyamalan directed his first big budget film to critical and commercial success that film is called "The Sixth Sense" which today still stands as the highest grossing horror movie in history grossing 293 million dollars domestically and 672 million dollars making it not only the highest grossing horror film domestically but he highest grossing horror film worldwide a feat that no other film of the genre has been able to surpass to this day. Shyamalan then followed his huge success with the equally impressive "Unbreakable"(2000), Shyamalan's take on the superhero tale and although "Unbreakable" lacked the mind blowing twist ending of "The Sixth Sense" it is still one of his most ingenious and thought provoking works. Then two years later Shyamalan tackled the frequently told tale of visitors from another world with "Signs"(2002) using his signature flare and stark storytelling to create his finest work since his breakout film "The Sixth Sense.â Expand
  26. Aug 30, 2010
    2
    Shyamalan tries to gain an audience with a movie that is off of an already successful story. But this doesnt do the show justice at all. As a huge, and I mean huge, fan of the series, this was a big let down. But I'll use the pros and cons method to express my feelings. Pros: Action, Effects. Cons: Laughable Dialogue, Bad Acting (for the most part, Dev Patel did great), Name Changes, Takes itself way too seriously (they're kids, why aren't they having fun? no comedic relief?), Jasper ruined my favorite character of the series. and what gets me angry is that people will think the series is bad. It is not. so overrall, this movie is bad. and it's hard that it's from the guy who directed and wrote The Sixth Sense. Expand
  27. Jan 11, 2013
    3
    It really is the last airbender. Just because of horrible dialogue, boring fights and no humuor it is terrible. Paramount need work to make it better instead of it worse.
  28. Apr 7, 2012
    1
    M. Night Shyamlan directs an EPIC FAILURE of a TV show. His best was The Sixth Sense, but his film-making skills took a downfall and so far, The Last Airbender is probably his worst. First, the story was too short and skipped to much exposition from the show, there wasn't enough of a conflict, a lack of climatic events, and the conclusion is choppy. Second, EVERY SINGLE actor was miscast and not very firm with their roles, the script suffered from being appalling and mispronounced the characters names, and the art direction lacks enough element-bending. Many movies were adaptated from television shows, but this one suffered from retardation in almost every part of the movie and I am not the one who's racist but especially when Arabs, Indians, and Persians were catastrophically and wrongly depicted as Firebenders. Expand
  29. Sep 27, 2011
    1
    The story of the Dalai Lama don't need to have fantasy to be good, this movie is simply bored and stupid, like a cartoon it works very good, but in a movie is just boring and pointless
  30. Sep 17, 2011
    0
    M. Night Shyamalan. That's the one name you need to hear instantly to avoid this movie. It is the WORST MOVIE EVER!!!!! I have never seen another movie in my whole life that has failed so badly on every level! He has taken my favorite show and turned it into the most boring pile of crap ever produced!!! Everything fails!!! They skipped too much from the show, the acting wasn't good, the whole look of the movie was just cheap and tacky and the script had no sense of life to it whatsoever. If I was not a fan of the show I would have forgot this movie instantly as soon as I walked out of the cinema door. I have forever decided to boycott M. Night Shyamalan after seeing this poorly done piece of tripe. Expand
  31. Aug 14, 2010
    1
    In my opinion, this movie is a polished turd. The polishing is the neat look. But if you polish a turd, its still a smelly turd. I can't believe how bad M. Night screwed up. He was good years ago, but now he sucks. If he just directed it and didn't write it, it would be good. But his writing really sucks! Its like a two-year old wrote it!! Im a huge fan of the show, and M.Night's writing really screwed it. First, whats with the wrong pronounciation!! Second, the writing is so rushed that they don't have room for any little millimeter of soul or heart. Finally, there's horrible acting, laughable dialouge, bad 3-D, and dissapointing action. Whether you're a fan of the show or not, skip this movie!!! Expand
  32. May 23, 2011
    1
    Gio: I'm gonna see it. Carl: No! Just buy a Madonna album or something. Ugly ugly film. Even racist! Gio: But what about my RT review? Carl: Oh man, you don't need to waste your time reviewing that crap!
  33. Aug 25, 2012
    5
    Perhaps giving this movie a 5 would be high praise considering how many people HATE this movie, but I can understand why they would hate it. I never watched the cartoon, but my guess from all of the hate is that the film adaptation isn't faithful at all to its source material. I tried watching the film as just a stand alone film, but it didn't even succeed with that. With the wooden acting and bland storytelling, it's hard to care about what happens at all in the 103 minutes of this movie. It has some decent special effects and some ok action sequences, but that's all. Expand
  34. Oct 23, 2011
    0
    It's awful.It's awfulI.t's awful.It's awful.It's awful.It's awful.It's awful .It's awful.It's awful.It's awful.It's awful.It's awful. Is the worst movie i ever see
  35. Nov 6, 2011
    1
    The visual effects and the overall design of the movie are impressive. But it can't fully make up for The Last Airbender's bland acting, horridly written script, absence of character development and short running time. Now, I'm a fan of the animated series of which this movie is based off of, and I must say this was a pretty pathetic excuse for an adaptation. The story that the movie is based on is highly original, spiritual, philosophical, humorous and emotional. But all of that has been taken away and substituted for crap. This film did not live up to it's potential what so ever. 1/ 4 stars. Expand
  36. Mar 15, 2011
    1
    With an incomprehensible plot, laughable dialog, poor actors, and flat action sequences, The Last Airbender is a mockery of the original cult TV series and one of the worst blockbusters of 2010.
  37. Nov 22, 2010
    2
    It is really depressing that something like this could have come out of such enjoyable source material. There is good intent, but that is about it. Save yourself some time and watch that.
  38. Sep 11, 2010
    0
    I'm an idiot. Getting fooled in because I am such a fan of the cartoon. This is one of the worst films I have ever seen in my life. Alienating, boring, effortless and lifeless which by any means never do any justice to the cartoon show. The acting and dialogue is horrendous, the editing is awkward, the characters are boring, being badly written, the script is pathetic and the plot is completely rushed. Avoid it. It sucks. Expand
  39. Dec 23, 2012
    0
    An absolute filmic disgrace - wooden acting, M. ShamlalamalamaDingDong's horrible directing, and absolutely no faithfulness to the brilliant source material, The Last Airbender is one of the worst films of all-time. I'll be honest - I thought I was watching a cheap soap opera.
  40. Oct 11, 2010
    2
    Great visuals. Decent Story. Horrible dialogue! I would say take the risk just to see the visuals and be submerged in this world but I can't just because the dialogue (and maybe the acting?) is just that bad. There's no justification for the horrible dialogue given how clever, witty, and funny the animated series is. So disappointed.
  41. Aug 17, 2012
    0
    Out of all the M. Night Shyamalan films I've seen, this has got to be the worst one that is in need to retire. I do like his 3 movies, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. But his ideas started to get bland, boring, and silly after those 3. But this one just killed it completely, he needs to retire.
  42. Nov 3, 2010
    9
    a movie with many holes partlly because M. Night did really care about it he just wanted to make money. the special affects really saved this movie big time. and the acting and dialoge really improved in the 2nd half of the movie.
  43. May 23, 2013
    3
    I don't watch the series this movie was based on, so this isn't a fan rage review. Just the usual negative review. Just about everything I look for in a film is absent from this major motion crapper. A boring/ uninteresting/ stupid story, horrible acting, and just a feeling of: why should I care syndrome. There's nothing good in this, nothing; perhaps "okay" special effects, but overall nothing. I can't say much about this because it's been a while since I've seen it; several years in fact, and I don't plan on ever seeing this again unless it's a dare. Expand
  44. Oct 18, 2011
    6
    Even though I liked the visuals the acting was just horrible and the dialogs, Oh my dear God.
    Since the acting is a really important thing in a movie it really irritates you if you can't enjoy a movie because of it. Furthermore, when the acting doesn't kill you, the stupid dialog will. To sum up, a good movie with some "bugs" and if you are a more visual type that doesn't care about the d
    ialog, acting than you will enjoy this movie and if not than I watching this movie would be a sin Expand
  45. Jan 18, 2011
    9
    I watched the entire show, also this movie, so I'll try to give my best to make a reasonable comparison, if it's possible. By first, I don't think is a non-sense movie, is not fair to compare a movie intended to get attetion not only for children but for adults too. Of course the expected in this case is to find what we found: a more ''serious and... why not? dark movie''. So, al least for me, is not an excuse to say it's worthless to be seen because it doesn't keep the humor of the TV show. In second place, we cannot say that the characters are not ''well-performed'' because is just a movie which tries to get the best of a full season! Come on! It is really unfair to say it's bad because of this! I've seen enough for a first movie... we have to let Night S. at least explore the characters deeper along the trilogy, not to ''make a wall''... In 3rd place... I don't know you guys but the martial arts scenes, when they're practising... the movements are really amazing!! They give a really nice sensation of peace all around... And... well, what else i can say? To be objective... Night is neither Clint Eastwood nor Steven Spielberg... but he has a really good career... with he's own personality... movies like Signs, Village and Sixth Sense are all movies of suspense... non-conventional and in a way of thinking... odd... but he's gaining personality, he lives his watermark in every each of them... if i say ''he is bad'' because of this... whoever could say ''Tim Burton is a bad director because of he's darky madness'' but... c'mon! Tim Burton has gone way too far of the expected madness, is brillant! And Night is good for me too, neither the best nor the worst. And TL Airbender is a nice movie, well adapted for it's lengh and with nice Sound Score (James Newton Howard) and efects. What was not really good was the 3D effect, since it was not though for it... but released 3D anyway. Expand
  46. Feb 28, 2011
    1
    TNot only considered the worst adaptation of a cartoon series, b ut also the worst martial arts film ever. Not only is it a butchering for fans but also non-fans will find not only everything wrong but also a poo man's recap of the first season. The dialogue is dumb, the acting is unwhelming, the 3D is a joke. Not to mention that its getting a sequel of a planned trilogy.
  47. Aug 3, 2011
    8
    I didn't know anything about Avatar before I saw this film so I had to take it at face value. I was pretty impressed by the whole thing. The story was easy to follow and the acting was good. Nothing ground breaking but this is a child's movie. With that in mind, I was expecting to see just what I saw. The Last Airbender does a good job telling what needs to be said to keep the sory going. It doesn't focus on the small details that fill out a series. The serious tone keeps the audience from being jerked back and forth from silliness to realism making the focus more clear. Also the film makes me care about the characters and not just wanting to see who does a cool trick. Some elements felt a little rushed but not so much that I was confused. The dialogue does well by not telling everything in the first five minutes leaving me with things to look forward to. There was room for improvement but I was overall satisfied. Expand
  48. Dec 13, 2010
    1
    Has M. Night Shyamalan done it again? No, no he hasn't. Or actually if I look at it from a different point of view, maybe I can say that he has done it again. Based off of his last few movies, which were huge disappointments, The Last Airbender certainly followed suit. With a spectacular trailer and a well-written cartoon series to back it up, it was sad to see that the great storyteller, Shyamalan, did a horrible job at telling the story of The Last Airbender.

    Read full review at FlicksWorthWatching.com
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  49. Dec 6, 2010
    8
    I have never seen the cartoon so I knew nothing about this story before I watched the movie, however, I had read several of the reviews here on metacritic prior to seeing this film (yes, I watched it anyway!). I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised, I fully expected to dis-like this movie and consider it a waste of time but it was much better than most of these reviews would make you believe. Perhaps if I was a fan of the series I would have found more fault with it but I thought that the visuals were awesome at times, I liked the story, it was kind of like Lord of the rings of the "elements world", albeit not nearly as good! I do wish that the movie had been about another half hour in length because it did feel a bit rushed at times as if the story was moving very fast and giving you just the basics. I did not have a big problem with the acting, not Oscar caliber but not bad either. I was partially motivated to see this movie because I have a 3D television, so I bought the 3D blu-ray, It had some of the best 3D visuals that I have seen yet, they really tried to take advantage of the technology and did a great job. If you just want be swept into a mystic fantasy world with a good story and some fantastic visuals I don't think that you would be disappointed. If you are a die-hard fan of the series then I have no idea! I'm looking forward to the next one to see how the story progress's. Expand
  50. Jul 21, 2012
    3
    The Last Airbender is all eye candy and has no heart like the Nickelodeon cartoon it is based upon. The only thing really going for is the somewhat decent visual effects used for the action and bending effects. Other than that, the story is dull, the dialogue is uninspiring, and the acting is utterly atrocious. If the visual effects were not decent, this film could have been a lot worse. This is by far the worst film M. Night Shyamalan has ever made. Expand
  51. Nov 22, 2010
    1
    I guess you cant expect anything less from M Night Shayamalan, whos movies continue to get even worse as his carreer moves along. I dont think that he should quit the movie biz, i just think he should stop writting and directing movies peroid!
  52. Dec 29, 2011
    1
    If this had been some unknown director's debut film, released with little to no fanfare, it would have just been a bad movie. But because of the director's pedigree (albeit diminished from his first couple of films, but still!), because of the relative popularity of the source material, because of the marketing campaign that drove this film and because of the relatively large sum of money invested into its making, "The Last Airbender" is jaw-droppingly bad. I almost recommend you to watch it, if nothing else so you can truly understand what an awful major motion picture truly is and have a low-point to forever compare all other bad films to. Expand
  53. Aug 11, 2011
    5
    "The Last Airbender" is not terrible. The story is well put-together and flows well, considering it was all condensed from a whole season from a TV show. The visuals - save for the shameful post-production 3D that makes Clash of the Titans look like Avatar - are also very solid. Peltz's performance is bland, but aside from her, there weren't any huge problems. The screenplay, though, is a mess. Full of cliches and often incomprehensible, the whole plot falls apart by the end. Expand
  54. Nov 19, 2010
    1
    I like watching the series on Nickelodeon but this movie was just so boring and I know it wasn't to long but it felt like it. I hope that if they make a sequel is better than the first one.
  55. Jun 27, 2011
    2
    Usually I can find some kind of redeeming element from a bad movie and enjoy the flick. I just could not do that with Ava... whoops sorry the Last Airbender. This movie is honestly laughable. Even the fight scenes are terrible, at least with Transformers Revenge of the Fallen the fight scenes were entertaining to watch. I honestly don't think that I've seen pacing this bad in a movie ever. Also the name pronunciations were fine in the TV show, there was absolutely no reason for them to change. I mean changing the way a name sounds is not the end of the world but thats only the surface for the problems with this movie. My number one problem with the film is the acting, absolutely terrible across the board. My second problem is how bad the story is, you can not follow this film for a second. The only reason this movie is getting two stars is because of the films musical score (one point) and the Special effects (another point). I guess what I'm trying to say is this movie is terrible because... it sucks. Expand
  56. Jul 26, 2011
    0
    Okay, how do I put this........THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST MOVIES EVER!!!! Don't watch this. This is a disgrace to the TV show. The special effects are great, but the dialouge is laughable and the acting is wooden. Do NOT watch this. I hope Noah Ringer is better in Cowboys vs Aliens than he was in this. People often ask, "What went wrong" about this movie. A better question is: What DIDN'T go wrong?
  57. Jul 11, 2012
    0
    this movie was so bad i was excited at first when they first announced it then i saw it i was horrified they said uvatar instead of avatar and (if you watch LOK they made a joke about that) they pronounced characters names wrong zuko didn't even look like zuko was sapost to look like i think the guy who voice sokka could have been a better one because in this movie sokka was to serious there was so many wrong things with this movie it's not even funny i don't think they even watched the series before they made the movie ooh and they forgot the kioshi warriors suki was sokkas main love interest Expand
  58. Jan 27, 2013
    2
    I am a huge fan of the animated series. I absolutely hated this movie. There is really no similarity between this movie and the series. First, in the series, Aang is a happy-go-lucky kid. In the movie, there is no joy to be found anywhere. Second, bending doesn't require five minutes of dancing before a single move can be made. In the series, a flick of the wrist throws a rock. In the movie, the characters have to go through rigorous dance moves just to levitate some water. Third, the series cannot actually be made into a movie because the movie can't encompass all of the little details the series had to offer. All in all, nothing in this movie lives up to the series. Expand
  59. Mar 13, 2011
    2
    I was staring blankly at the screen within a minute and a half. (Thats about when the movie starts). The characters from the start seemed lifeless and not nearly as emotional as the cartoon characters. This carried on all throughout the entire movie, and by god, it was boring. This movie is an insult to the Avatar: The Last Airbender series. Flashy effects do not make a story, and this is a true example of that. Expand
  60. Aug 11, 2010
    1
    The Last Airbender is what you might call "a movie you must see because it was an awesome tv show" don't some people realize that most cartoon adaptations don't work? Obviously this one didn't, because of its poorly constructed plot, poor acting, and racism.
  61. Aug 11, 2010
    6
    I was skeptical when I heard M. Night was directing it. The movie wasn't "bad" but the story just seem so rushed. If you never seen the cartoon series you would be completely lost to what was going on and who any of the characters are. While the acting wasn't the great, it was on par with just about every other child actor in any other movie I've seen. I just hope this doesn't kill any chances of more Airbender movies being made,get a new director and new writers and this movie series could rival the Harry Potter series if done right. Expand
  62. Sep 10, 2010
    0
    Right after Enemy Mine, this is second worst movie I've ever seen. Hell, this is the second worst thing I've ever seen. Film students should study this film just so they can learn what not to do. That isn't an exaggeration. I hope people in VFS and TFS study this and that way at least this movie does some good.

    I can only hope that this will be the last The Last Airbender movie we ever s
    ee from M. Night. Expand
  63. Apr 7, 2011
    0
    A disgrace to the Avatar animated series. Much was expected by fans but most of the main events in the first chapter of the chapter where cut out and not many main characters where presented. A bad movie ending with a bad cliff hanger and a sequal that might not even see the light of day.
  64. Aug 21, 2011
    9
    i love this movie and i dont know why cause this movie sucks in almost ever way possibly from the acting to the story telling. and for me i was lucky i have had seen the cartoon show so i did know what was going on because the movie had a hard time telling it. To me there is only one person to blame M.Night this guy directed, producted, and wrote the movie. His story was just a mess there was no flow at all to the pace the story jumped place to place without really telling us why. the diologe was horrible as it only was used to tell what was going on and it didnt even do a good job of that. the acting was bad but to me its m.nights fault there to as script was just so poorly written. but know im getting to the part where i liked the film the music score is the best i have heard in a movie simply untouchable. the special affects just kick ass and the costoms and the beauty of the avtar world is breath taking and the fight scenes are ok. the slow montion kinda sucks though and if you look at it there really isnot that many fights anyway. and still even with that said i still have no idea why i like this movie haha but it just works for me and maybe it will for you so it cant hurt to see it or can it?.haha Expand
  65. Apr 13, 2012
    0
    i loved the avatar series, but this was THE WORST MOVIE EVER. ya know, you'd think the creators of the series would know how to spell the charterers names, i mean aangs name is pronounced ayng, not ong, sokka is pronounced socka, not soaka, and i could continue, but id rather not rage
  66. Aug 17, 2010
    7
    From its simple, but horrendous dialog to its overly exposited story the Last Airbender delivers a fairly different approach in its effects department, considering what we've seen in the past for fantasy films. Though, teen to adult fans will be disappointed when viewing this film, but young fans will enjoy, because they can easily relate to the dialog. It's the most faithful film I've seen in years that has taken something from an animated show to a film and have it recognizable. This is a kids epic movie, an 100% kids epic movie. Expand
  67. Aug 31, 2010
    2
    Good intentions, BAD results. As everybody knows, every movie based on a video-game (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, KOF, etc) or animated series (Dragon Ball: Evolution, The Last Airbender, etc) is a total waste of money. Personally, I'd prefer the crappy animated 3D versions than the Live-action movies.

    The collapse of the M. Night Shyamalan project called "The Last Airbender" was previe
    wed since the movie trailers. And be honest, if you'll make a movie based in an awarded cartoon like Avatar: The Legend of Aang, the very first thing to do (as an advice) is to respect the originality of the series, books or video games that you're planning to make. Mr. Shyamalan is a good director but he needs co-work with the nickelodeon producers or a bunch of fans of this animated series.

    Greetings.
    Expand
  68. Sep 17, 2010
    0
    Poor M. Night, his carrear as one of the best directors of our time is falling like a shooted duck. The Last Aribender is bad. Bad as the hopes of that duck. The acting is outrageous bad, the story is depressing awful written, the 3D is inexistent and the plot is nothing more then ridiculous. The visuals are alright thou, but tiring and inexpressive. So, save your money or if you really want to give a try, go see it in 2D, doesn't make any difference. Expand
  69. Nov 19, 2010
    0
    Do they hire people to give this movie a score of above 0? I thought Dragonball Evolution was brutal, but its actually not that bad compared to this POS.
  70. Nov 26, 2010
    0
    Wow M. Night really messed up on this one. I saw no parts similar to the series in the movie. Oh and that wall of water was like the worlds biggest psych out! Hope they don't do book two.
  71. Feb 2, 2012
    1
    This movie just sucked hard at best, but it still a highest grossing film. I hate the transition of story of this movie. The characters aren't characters at all. They're like clever bot speaking to other clever bots. You can't sense the feeling of each character ( except the boy who played aang which is his first time in this business). I hope the sequel to this film is better than this one.
  72. Jun 10, 2012
    8
    As I've never watched the series, I had no point of reference and no expectations of this film, which is likely beneficial in this case. As it turns out, the so called "critics" are wrong, as they usually are. While it's not the best film ever made, it's captivating, the effects are awe inspiring, the score is wonderful. The only suggestion I could give would be to extend the length from 90 minutes to 2 or 2.5 hours (given the series' history and following noone would complain). This would allow for more natural and in depth character development and backstory. I hope Paramount hasn't pulled the plug on the film series as I'd love to see what's next. I rate the film B- or 3.5 out of 5 stars! Expand
  73. Sep 3, 2011
    8
    Negative reviews of this film follow a common message: this movie was bad because it was bad. Sometimes critics cite the bad [child] acting, the confusing story (my 4 year old niece understood it all just fine...), bad visual effects (that did not look like water being bended- I know these things!) or how it was not exactly like the cartoon in every single aspect, but overall this film is considered bad because it is a bad film. That is powerful and air tight logic. So feel free to join the masses and condemn this film is you hate things like clear cut good and bad, characters with motivation, sacrifice, redemption, character growth, loss, duty, and a whole host of other classic story telling motifs otherwise nonexistent in modern cinema. Expand
  74. May 28, 2011
    10
    Terrible, terrible movie. The combined emptiness and stupidity of the protagonists is unfathomable, and though the effects are VISUALLY impressive at times, the fidelity of the audio is non-existent, thus "airbending" becomes fizzly breeze-bending, and fighting scenes become unintentionally funny. Stay away from this movie, read the books instead
  75. May 20, 2011
    8
    Having seen several of the avatar cartoons with my nine year old son, we watched this movie with very low expectations due to the terrible ratings. I honestly do not understand why this movie got shredded by most people. Sure, it isn't exactly Oscars material but I thought it was reasonably entertaining, particularly if you have seen the cartoons (may not all make sense if you haven't). Great special effects and an average storyline surely deserves more than most of the critics and user ratings? In summary - if you enjoyed the cartoons, this movie is worth considering. Expand
  76. meh
    Aug 11, 2010
    5
    The animated version is far and away the pinnacle of its existence. This movie felt far short of that pinnacle. Stiff acting, bad casting and the machinations of M. Night ruined what would have been an epic film. Now, it's just one of those movies used to babysit your nephew on a Saturday night.
  77. Sep 27, 2010
    4
    I took my ten year old daughter to see this. She does Karate and she likes fantasy, explosions and swords. She gives it an 8. For her I think the fact that the acting and screenplay is really cringeworthy in many places eludes her. On the other hand I have to admit to being really bored and just kind of embarassed for the actors. I'm sure many of them have a lot more potential. Some of the special effects and action sequences are really very good, and I can see that Shyamalan had a lot of potential with the intellectual property, but I really think he just couldn't pull it together. Honestly it's like watching a train wreck in 3D animation, but slowed down to 1/60th time. You just want it to be over. If there is an obvious 'reason' for such a flop I think I saw it in the end credits "Written, Directed, and Produced by M. Night Shyamalan". His ego has him wearing one (or two) too many hats. This is a movie that you could wait to see on DVD if you have kids that like the cartoon or the idea, or not at all if you don't. Expand
  78. Nov 18, 2010
    2
    Wrong score on first review oops
    If you are unfamiliar with the movies source material, the Animate series of a similar name this movie will have little to offer you ; If you are familliar or even a fan however, it will have plenty to offer, unfortunately all of it's offerings are bad. First off, I do want to give an honorable acknowledgement to the special effects in the move as well as t
    rying to stay somewhat close to the story, one can understand that sacrifices have to be made to take a full season of a series into a one sitting movie timeframe. What kills the movie however is the acting, Bad diologue bad choreography, just about every name is mispronounced which to an extent is understandable perhaps if the source is either in a foreign language or a book but not if the source is in the movies originating language and has already established such things. Also the story is very shallow and some scenes such as a segment where the main character and their friend are practicing water bending stances (based off of tai chi) you can tell that they are supposed to be in sync with each other but are fare from it. All in all, at best this movie could be accepted as a very well done fan movie done by a third party with some of the best special effects programs available to the public, but when one considers that this is published and backed by major production companies, all of this films shortcomings are unacceptable. I find it to be hard to believe that this movie can leave a positive impression on any viewer, fan or not Expand
  79. Dec 4, 2010
    2
    Wow, poor acting, worse dialogue just an overall terrible film. The movie had a TON of potential, yet it lacked just about anything to make it worthy outside of it's concept. Whoever casted and wrote the dialogue in the film should be shot. They made Hayden Christianson(Anakin Skywalker) look smooth in speech.
  80. Feb 24, 2011
    10
    Very awkward dialogue and pretty terrible acting, it was good that they atleast kept the story true to the actual cartoon. Aside from the compacted story it was quite lacking in all areas.
  81. May 16, 2011
    0
    Now that this film has a total of 5 razzies, all of the people who gave it a good review should be ashamed of themselves. It wasn't total garbage, but garbage nonetheless. It made certain fans cry and/or throw a fit. HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF A FAN IF YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GREAT? Shyamalan certainly didn't make it for us.
  82. Mar 19, 2011
    1
    You're better off watching the animated series. There aren't enough characters to describe what is wrong with this movie, but bad acting, bad script and bad special effects just about sums it up. Since The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable it has been going from bad to worse for M. Night Shyamalan.
  83. Mar 10, 2012
    0
    Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i dont know what to say.................................. really i dont honestly know
  84. Nov 23, 2011
    0
    This film is UTTER RUBBISH, from the acting to the cgi it self. How can a director start with a film like sixth sense to this carp, it does beggars belief. Firstly the characters/actors were TERRIBLE. in the tv show the first two episodes you felt the connection and bond between the three protagonist, but in the first 20 mins of this film you just DIDN'T feel anything. There should be an INSTANT bond between katara and ang but there wasn't. Secondly say the blasted names correctly darn its infuriating watching them say it wrong.
    thirdly, and may i add the most IMPORTANT is the story/bending. it was a completely and UTTER joke. Mr night shyamalan if you bothered to watch the show you'd realise ang picked up water bending very very very easily, contrary to what the director believed. All of the bending parts in the film was cringe-worthy and thats why i'm not going in to that. The scariest thing is he's going to inflict more of his rubbish if (i'm sorry to say this) Nickelodeon don't fire him. I don't believe the actors are at fault for this diabolical and atrocious movie, that lies down to the director entirely. What's even more astonishing is the source material is amazing yet he released this joke of a film. I'm sorry i may be extremely harsh but he should NEVER EVER be allowed behind a camera or script AGAIN. PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    N.B i didn't have time to proof-read sorry
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  85. Aug 30, 2012
    5
    This movie is a big delusion! The dialogies and the script are terrible and the acting isn't much better. It's also too much serious, while the cartooon has many hilarious moments. If give it a 5 and not a 3 or a 2, it's just for the special effects and the fight scenes, which are some of the most visually beautiful I've ever seen.
  86. Nov 19, 2012
    0
    How do you take a great TV series with the strong fanbase that it had and simply spit in our faces with crap movie man. The acting was horrid, the casting was just as bad, the CGI was cool yes but the rushed movie with the limited respect to the series was embarrassing. Why would anyone give M. Night the rights to produce this movie? His resume is that of pure mediocrity. Why not James Cameron, Riddley Scott, Michael Bay even. I hope they re-do this movie the right way. Expand
  87. Aug 15, 2010
    9
    After seeing this movie this weekend I was astounded to come onto Metacritic and see the horrible ratings for it. You should all be ashamed of yourselves! M. Night is the most visionary director in Hollywood. I was never a fan of the first film but for M. Night to get a sequel of Avatar out so fast (within a year) astounded me! This movie reminded me nothing of the garbage of the first film directed by James Cameron. The script took the Na'Vii out of the picture completely and replaced them with a beautiful bald child who controls the wind. I wouldn't have changed a thing about this movie other than that I was a little confused how this was connected to the first film. See it anyways, it is fantastic! Expand
  88. Aug 14, 2010
    3
    I'm being more than a little generous. The movie is the logical extreme of what movies like Avatar have wrought. Excellent aesthetics, absolutely atrocious acting. The movie is a butchering of the cartoon, with horrible, awkward dialogue, a plot consisting mostly of exposition, and flat characters with very little to like.
    The sad thing is that the cartoon is one of the best written and in
    telligent children's shows in recent memory, yet it gets adapted into a horrific film. If you like the cartoon, watch it for a laugh. If you never watched the cartoon, keep this movie off your list. Expand
  89. Gix
    Dec 22, 2010
    0
    Awful,just awful. everything from acting,story, cgi, all of it was just awful. the names are wrong,the bios's for the main cast is wrong. In short this movie has nothing to do with the show at all, its like m. Night really hated the show and set out to destroy it and he did a good job of trashing everything that is Avatar.
  90. Aug 21, 2010
    10
    as a fan of the series i can say that i enjoyed it and even if i didnt i still wouldnt say it was the worst movie ever because there are way worse movies out there
  91. Aug 29, 2010
    8
    The show is much better...but still the movie wasn't that far behind. Of course things were left out and some others were changed, but the story was still there and it was pretty accurate. Aang and Sokka could have been at least more fun and less serious, but I still enjoyed the movie. And hey in cartoons it's easy to do whatever you want, but in movies not so easy...
  92. Oct 18, 2010
    2
    The only reason this movie gets a 2 is because of the speical effects. It doesn't show the good and evil in Zuko, it has poor acting, to many movements before any bending is done (you could get smacked in the face before ang can use any air attacks) and how can Indians be portrayed as the bad guys ? Indians are not evil enough, nor strong. Bad casting, bad scripting and bad acting with good speical effect doesn't make for a good movie Expand
  93. Dec 6, 2010
    0
    awful. he changes it from the original awesome series to this shamalayandingdong piece of #$@. stays tru to the series very few times. i hope he will not disgrace the awesome series by nmaking another piece of crap movie.
  94. Jan 22, 2011
    5
    M. Night Shylaman does it again! That is not a good thing. If I were not a fan of the original series, this would be a 2 or a 3. He absoulutley ruined a potentially great movie. The acting was not awful, but the dialouge sure was!! Honestly I didn't know why people made a big deal in the casting when they should be concerned in who is directing and writing this THING!!! It doesn't make sense and it was rushed. And I don't understand why they made the film dark and humourless, yet still wanted to stay within a PG rating? That's like making Terminator happy and G rated or Despicable Me dark and R rated!!! There are a few pros though. For starters the special effects are beautifully done and Dev Patel and Noah Ringer showed they can carry the role into a future film ( if there is one). The story also has alot of potential if they just lighten it up and take their time in developing their characters. It also wouldn't hurt to fix up the dialouge. If by some miracle they do make a sequel, they should dump ShylaBAD for ruining a potentially great first in a planned trilogy. Expand
  95. Feb 14, 2011
    10
    Didn't read the book or watched the cartoons, but the movie is awesome. I'm sure that this rating isn't correct there are way, way, worse movies out there. Stop hating the M.Night movies, they're all good.
  96. Oct 26, 2011
    0
    This movie is an insult to Brian Di Martino's masterpiece.... The acting is an insult to young actors everywhere.... The casting is an insult to all Asians....... M. Night Shyamalan is an insult to moviedom.....
    and I am ashamed that he had Indian origins..
  97. Mar 19, 2012
    1
    I have watched this movie ONE 'S and never again!!! as a big fan of the avatar series i just wanted to see what this movie is like despite what the critics and everyone else said this movie is HORRIBLE. Uninteresting, bad dialogue, if you haven't seen the series big parts of the plot are missing. WERE THE F**k are the Kyoshi warriors. This movie is terrible. the only thing that's okay are the effects but that is not enough by a long shot. Expand
  98. Jun 9, 2012
    3
    Many of the characters names were pronounced wrong. The movie was very serious, when the cartoon was lighthearted. They changed the plot, it was chopped into stupid and very unintelligible pieces, the effects were horrible, the characters looked nothing like the originals. The spirit world looked cheesy, appa and momo looked like scraggly puppets attached to the ceiling with "invisible ropes". If you liked Avatar; The Last Airbender, I highly recomend that you don't watch this. Your high hopes will be crushed. Immediately. Don't watch it and hopefully, they will let someone else make the second (but that probably won't be good either).

    Ah well.

    -kataangforever1
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  99. Dec 14, 2012
    1
    I was a huge fan of the original cartoon, in fact it's my favorite TV show. I just don't see how anyone who was a fan of the series could rate this movie any higher than a 1, and how anyone who enjoys movies could rate it higher than a 2. The Last Airbender is the worst movie I have ever seen, and I am making that claim as a disappointed fan and a movie lover. Every aspect of the film that could have gone wrong went horribly wrong. From the atrocious dialogue, to the mediocre story, to the wooden characters, to the awkward cast, to the sloppy special effects, it all worked together to create one massive piece of s%#t. However, the worst part of it all by far was that M. Night Shamalan challenged the ways of the Emmy winning, critically aclaimed show and failed in every single itty-bitty little way I can think of. Now, people who have never seen the incredible TV show may never see it and any chance of it evolving into a live-action movie, which had so much potential to be good, has been extinguished. As a fan, it is a saddening thought. Expand
  100. Feb 13, 2013
    1
    This has got to be one of the worst movies I watched. And it's so frustrating because I loved the cartoon series! D:

    Bad acting, incredibly bad script, bad casting... the only thing good might be the visual effects. But not even that and the fanbase was able to save this from being a huge waste of time.
Metascore

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 33 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 33
  2. Negative: 23 out of 33
  1. Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    20
    This is all enormously disappointing, of course, since the best we could hope for from a live-action "Avatar" adaptation is the mind-blowing equivalent of our first encounters with wire-fu, rather than this cartoony nonsense.
  2. The movie is "Star Wars" with martial arts, plus a touch of "The Last Emperor." Technically, it's not badly done; I enjoyed the physical clash of elements, the water balls rising like sculpture in the air.
  3. Reviewed by: Scott Bowles
    63
    He hasn't mastered the craft yet, but M. Night Shyamalan may be on to something with this action-movie thing.