The movie's effects were awesome, but everything else could have been better. The characters' dialogue was very awkward and lacking that certain feel. I watched some of the cartoon episodes and Aang's character was portrayed differently in the film. Aang, as I recall, was quite carefree and had fun in the cartoon. In the film, however, Aang is very serious and I don't think he smiled once throughout the film. The story did not have good transitions. I mean I could follow what is occurring, but again it could have been better. I was very bored during the film probably because I did not really care for the characters. My friend who had wanted to see the film fell asleep and so did the person sitting on my other side in theaters. Again, the only parts of the film I enjoyed was the effects.… Expand

I have to hand it to M. Night, he is THE most consistent director in Hollywood... Every film he makes is consistently worse then the last! Check out all his movies on metacritic: 64, 62, 59, 44, 36, 34, 20... in that order!

I feel sad when I read that M. Night actually has children and they watched the series together. He has just managed to destroy the series with a single blow.

"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

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.

I love the original cartoon of Avatar: The Last Airbender. And I am rarely critical of almost any movie I see. But there were several problems I had with this movie 1. The said several of the character's names wrong. Sokka, Aang, Iroh were not said like it is said in the cartoon. 2. Why can the Firebenders not bend fire without fire around them? In the cartoon they didn't have to manipulate fire. They could make it on their own. 3. Why are the characters so serious. In the cartoon they are pretty funny and light hearted. Especially Aang and Sokka. In this movie, there was rarely a comical moment to be found. 4. They rushed the story. If you have not seen the cartoon I could definitely see why someone would be put off by what occurred in the movie. It went by so quickly that it was hard to tell what was going on. It is only an hour and 45 minute movie. They could have extended another 30 minutes and told the story better. (Even though another 30 minutes might have been torture to everyone who thinks the script and acting was horrible.) Overall I think with some new direction this could be a good live action crossover. With a new director and new script writer, I think it would be okay. I still found it mildly enjoyable because I love the cartoon so much, but can easily see why people would be put off by it.… Expand

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

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.

Whatever thread of similarity this movie had with the wonderful cartoon series I had fallen in love with was broken by stilted dialogue, incomprehensible storyline, and useless graphics. Don't watch this. It will break a fan's heart, and it will only confuse the uninitiated.

M. Night has taken one of the best story lines and ruined it. Mispronouncing names, choosing kids who CAN'T act, and failing to develop the characters, has proven that he no longer knows what he is doing. Unless you have seen the series, you will have no idea what is going on. I have seen the series and I spent the entire movie filling in the gaps in my head. Someone else needs to take this project over and remake the first one. Poor form M. Night.… Expand

Felt like the Dragon Ball Z movie, remixed with modern effects.

Pitch perfect and brilliantly acted, The Last Airbender is a stunning achievement, helmed with a purity and honesty that captures not just the illegal abortion story at its core but the constant, unremarked negotiations necessary for survival in the final days of the Soviet bloc.

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

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

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

I watched this twice, the first was a stinker, bad acting, wooden dialogue, incoherent story and worst still I fell asleep but only because the whole film track seemed completely out of sync. The second time I watched it was like night and day, coherent, more facial detail, great and sometimes very beautiful visuals. What happened? don't know, all I know is the movie turned out to be rather good, some weakness in the casting but the lead was excellent. I read reviews at IMDB as well as here and what do I find? the first 30 pages, yes that's THIRTY is dedicated solely to one star reviews, that's 1/10. Don't know about you but doesn't that seem just a bit strange and curious. I hope M.Knight Shayamalan continues to make movies and the sequel because he is still one of the few to bring innovation to the Fantasy/Horror/Scifi genre.… Expand

It seems like this film might end up as the next Battlefield Earth. Battlefield Earth, which was released at the beginning of the last decade, went on to be the worst film of that decade. The Last Airbender, which was released at the beginning of this decade, WILL be the worst film of the decade.

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

I believe Shyamalan should stop doing films, the acting was something more than bad and the dialogs is not meant for peoples brain, I'm starting believe the sixth sense is not he's film

Horrible directing.

I'm giving the last airbender a B- the fight sceens where exciting to watch but the diologe throught the movie was really horrible and character developet was not as good but they did enogh to make a ok movie.

I typically trust Ebert, Travers, and others here who awarded this film such scathing reviews. But for some reason I still felt the need to see this movie, thinking that these critics were sometimes subject to harsh overstatement. Unfortunately, this movie was unfathomably bad, and one of the worst films I've seen since 10,000 BC. Do not waste your money on this. The more who do, the more likely it is that the studio will let him make a follow-up, and that is something that nobody wants.… Expand

M. Night is best at original not putting his artistic spin on an adaption. He white-washed the whole cast not one other leading actors were Asian. Why was Dev Pevel casted let alone considered he doesn't look nothing like prince zuko and didn't attempt to what happen to the hair cut what happen to the burn over his eye. If they do still make chapter two in to a movie I hope it's re-casted w/ possibly with a new director otherwise it's already lost me as a fan!… Expand

Needless to say, as a fan of the cartoon, I was deeply disappointed. The movie felt rushed & peiced together,there was no character development, the dialouge was horrible, and the acting was literally laughable. I do not understand how M.Knight can take something that was handed to him a a silver platter and mess it up so badly. There is just no reason for this.

everything fun or heartwarming or joyful was bleached, wrung, beaten on a rock and then hung out in the breeze. And then it rained and a volcano erupted and all the ash stuck on. This is the in-flight movie they play on that handbasket to Hell.

Though it wasn't perfect, it did a good number of things right in my eyes and since they took time before filming the next, possibly M night will take the criticisms and make the second one longer and attempt to feel less rushed, maybe closer to the show.

Poorly written, rushed plot, horrible dialog, painful acting, amazing effects, ok fight scenes. The "benders" took way to long to get the elements moving. Watch the cartoon series and skip this disaster.

"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.

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...

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

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 previewed 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

This is a fantastic movie. It really touched me. But then ... I did not see the cartoon. I had no problems following the course of events, as feared by other critics on this page. I would have loved to see a longer lasting film though - so I could enjoy more. I think the critics suffer from the déjà-vu-syndrome. They compare it with the experience they had before (with the cartoon) and can be nothing less but disappointed. Apparently the characters are different from the cartoon. So what? M. Night has obviously written his own story on it, which only adds surplus in stead of breakdown. Again: this is a fantastic movie. Can't wait for the sequels.… Expand

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… Expand

I took my son, who is a big fan of the cartoon, to see it and was not expecting to like it at all. I was pleasantly surprised. True, in the cartoon the Aang character is more of a free-spirit, but I found it somewhat exciting and well executed, and the special effects were quite good. While not academy award quality, it was family friendly entertainment.

Wasn't that bad i thought it was great but they did leave a lot out and acting wasn't that terrible. For all you down raters please go outside and do something else besides bashing movies, stop trying make it seem like it was the worst movie in the world i have seen worse, you people just have no imagination.

Lovely like the show, the cgi was the best ive seen since Avatar.

Don't believe those critics. As a big fan of the animated series, I enjoyed the film a log. I would love to the sequels.

This movie is for someone interested in an amazing story! Not just action as it may seem in the trailers.I would say its a drama/action movie. If u want a moving film with a STORY behind it, not just cool action and great acting . I will admit it could have been made allot better, but hey critics chill out it was still amazing . I highly recommend this movie (for reasons listed above).

This movie just blew my fucking mind. My body wasn't ready for the heart pounding excitement.

This is in my top 5 favorite movies. I absolutely loved it. I'm sorry that no one else seems to.

With a running time of under 2 hours, the film covers the events of the entire first season... the plot felt really rushed as they tried to relay as much information to the audience as possible, and the kid playing Aang really needs to work on his acting skills to compliment his kung fu... but the film had some great filming, some excellent special effects, and some truly awesome fight scenes. The movie is not completely broken, but everything happens way to fast to really allow for a smooth flow of events. I'm really hoping they break the sequels up into two 2 hour films to allow for more development with the characters and events. I still enjoyed it and think it is worth seeing, but the plot really is way too crammed for a 1 hour and 40 minute film to cover.… Expand

Thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I felt the acting was fine, the characters developed, the story believable, some of the visuals quite stunning, and the exposatory dialogue easy to forgive. The casting didn't bother me. I felt each actor was attractive and believable in his or her role. I wasn't keeping score of which characters were cast with actors of which ethnicities. (Why would anyone do that?) I simply felt that it was a talented and appropriate cast. Having not yet seen the animated series, I had no trouble following the story, nor did I feel the script left out anything important. I felt the film had a strong climax that appropriately underscored its theme of "water." This was one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in years, and I am eagerly anticipating the sequels. The audiences of both of the sold-out shows I attended seemed to enjoy the film as well. There was some applause at the end, and most of the crowd seemed to be talking in positive tones about the film as they left the theater. Thus, the reviews are pretty surprising.… Expand

No surprise the movie sucked given the director at the helm. What is most criminal and continues to be Hollywood's most befuddling mystery: why/how M. Night continues to get projects (to destroy). My kids were doubly disappointed, first by the movie being simply so bad, but second -- and more importantly -- their expectations were crushed given their sheer enjoyment for the animated series. They had such high hopes, and yet I kept warning them that M. Night directing was a very bad sign, he's ruined one movie after another. Daddy was right again.… Expand

My 4 year old loved only as a 4 year old could. Now me as the grown-up I was highly disappointed. I knew that taking such a rich tapistry such as Avatar:The Last Airbender and adapting it for the silverscreen would be a challege. But M. Night gets a big F in writing. First he screws up the entire sub-plot of the series, which is the love story of Aang and Kateria which is one of the most endearing parts of the series. Secondly he ignores important foreshaddowing senerios, and dismisses entire major charatcters. Did anyone else miss the Keoshi warriors or Jung Jung? Both which are important elements the later books. The relationship between Zuko, and Iroh was underdeveloped. And last but not least the timeing of important dioglouge was misplaced. On the good visually the movie (in 2D) was well done, and the costumes were correct. The biggest mistake was letting M. Night write the adaption. A well written story can keep an audience in there seats and interested for .3 or 4 hours at a time, Think of Gahndi, or Lawerance of Arabia. Unfortantely, he tried to put a Persian Miniature on a postage stamp, and failed in his effort. Should the series be continued I recommend letting the orginator write the screen adaption.… Expand

Certainly a flawed and amateurish film, but also certainly much better than the critics are giving it credit for. I wouldn't read too far into the reviews, they're not all wrong mind you, there ARE issues, but decide for yourself. I think most, especially after reading the unjustly harsh reviews, will be surprised. (On a side note, it is much, much better than Shyamalan's last works.)… Expand

Great movie! The only bad thing I can say was maybe they should have made the movie a bit longer. Nice set up, followed the series quite faithfully. Nice changes. Didn't feel like I was getting preached at! Nice family or date night fun.

Wow, after seeing this film, "Jonah Hex" is like a work of art in comparison. $10 says this wins the worst movie award at the Golden Razzies this year. They can retitle the film "The Last Movie M. Knight Will Ever be Allowed to Make.".

Being a huge Avatar fan, I knew that M. Night would need a miracle after seeing the preview in which the main character is a 6 year old, no one else looks anything like what they did in the show, and the fire nation had been transformed into India. The actual movie followed suit, mispronouncing and misrepresenting almost everything I held dear about Avatar: The Last Airbender.

I'm personally boycotting the movie "The Last Airbender". Care to join me anyone? The reason? This morning as I search for movies to see with my kids this weekend, "The Last Airbender" seems like a good choice, but then as I see the casting of actors I'm pissed. An asian theme animated show has made into an ALL white actors movie. Hollywood happened to bypass all talented asian actors!!!. A racist movie. Most of you know that I'm a moive lover, so are my kids and some of you. But this "Last Airbender" has become my last gasp of Airsucker. Feel like being push over, Kenneth… Expand

Jesus people the movie isn't that bad... I enjoyed it - hopefully a sequel is still in works.

This is the worst adaptation of the wonderful film series I have EVER seen. They changed the names, the storyline (completely) and the acting is horrible! Don't see this movie! We cannot support this atrocious adaptation. Every thing is choppy, nothing makes sense, it assumes you have already seen the series. Don't watch. Trust me, if I ate popcorn during the movie, I would';ve thrown up.… Expand

Production was okay. The effects were alright. But the dialog was just awful....every bit of conversation was so awkward, and poorly written! I was cringing inside whenever anyone said anything. The story felt ridiculously rushed I'm pretty sure anyone who hasn't seen the show will be incredibly lost. You do get an idea about the plot, but only through awkward, terrible, forced lines that are....just the worst. I'm rating The Last Airbender a 1, simply for the novelty of the effects and seeing "Ong," "Soaka," and the rest of the gang in live action. I WAS BETRAYED!… Expand

About the only positive thing I can say about the movie is that, visually, they stayed true to the original cartoon series. Otherwise, this was just a trainwreck! Bad acting, bad script, bad editing, bad fight choreography! Avoid this movie and stick with the far superior animated series!

This movie was by far the worst thing i have seen in my life. Horrible acting. No character development. I cant even describe how distorted the story itself was. Save your money and watch the TV series. Don't even bother seeing it in 3D either if you do decide to see it.

Wow, I'm giving this movie a 1 just because the special effects were good, other than that this movie was horrible. I am a huge fan of the animated series and waited a freaking year for this movie to come out and now that it finally has i wish it would have never even happened. The music was good but in the wrong parts the acting was horrible the names weren't even right, the movie just didn't make sense and jumped from scene to scene. I should have known M.K.S would have destroyed this movie, and to top it all off it didn't even have a twist.… Expand

I'm so pissed with Shyamalan. How could he butcher one of the best cartoons of the past decade? There should be a restraining order against him-he can't be within 5 feet of any film studio because almost everything he does turns out to be horrendous egotistic garbage devoid of any emphasis on trying to tell a good story, just trying to tell HIS story. I mean. the series' had amazing story telling potential, which should leave little room for messing up, from the horrible casting to the sloppy 3D....fans of the cartoon are most likely going to be super pissed.… Expand

This movie was hilariously awful. Almost worth seeing just to laugh at. Almost.

Just horrible.

The movie was varry cool because it has the first episode and then at the end he fights the fire lord I say it is vary intreating so I would give it an 8.

This movie was a travesty in comparison with the original animated series. Endless streams of exposition (sometimes repeated again in a "voice-over flashback"), wooden, wooden dialogue, and nonexistent 3D. The movie also takes the animated series' progressive handling of gender and race issues and skewers it. Every villain in the movie is a person of color. Every heroic character with a name is white. Every person of color who does a heroic action--aside from Iroh--needs inspiration from a white character before he can take action. In the movie, a woman never gets to show herself the equal or better of a man in any act that both are capable of doing. And adding a CGI dragon and three 3D CGI dewbacks did nothing to cover the massive amounts of boring exposition, genderfail, and racefail.… Expand

Your money would be better spent on highly addictive, life threatening drugs, they would do less damage to your intelligence and self-esteem. Terrible movie, and a failure in every imaginable way.

The movie was nothing like the cartoon. It left out important details and moved to fast for the viewers. For the people who never seen the cartoon will really be lost to what's going on. Also there is no reason why this should be a 3D movie, there were no special effect...M. Night Shyamalan missed the mark on this one.

Awful, and not helped by the amount of people troling. Collin M. - youz trollin. And I take my hat off to you.

They pronounced all the names wrong and it was terrible.

Never watched the cartoon & thought the movie was very entertaining. Wish it was a PG-13 movie so it could have better fights & deaths but this movie does with PG what Star Wars did & entertains its audience. All I see are a bunch of cartoon whiners on here complaining. Hope this movie makes enough to bring at least 2 more movies.

Incredibly frustrating and inexplicable debasement of simply wonderful source material.

Very well done for fans of the cartoon, and even people who did not watch the cartoon liked it.

My son wanted to see this movie and both of us enjoyed the movie. I was worried after reading the reviews but I don't agree that this is a bad movie.

If you are a fan of the cartoon you will LOVE IT. If you don't know the cartoon, watch a couple episodes before going. Good action, start of a good story.

Really enjoyed it. Keep in mind the first start trek movie. They have to explain a lot, because the magic is the original parts of the story. So yes, fans of the tv show are bored with stories they already know, but what about the people new to the story? Keep in mind all the reviews are from fans of the shows. Of course the movie is going to deviate from the show. I had a wonderful time and enjoyed the movie a lot. My one critisism is that Sokka was not funny enough. They went for goodlooking instead.… Expand

If you liked the Avatar series on Nickelodeon, this is worth seeing. It's a little slow in spots and obviously it's difficult to condense a year of the series into one movie, but I liked it a lot and look forward to Book 2.

ok. I watched the series from start to finish and will eventually have the dvd set. I really dont get the reviews saying its the worst movie of all time. I mean its a nicktoon series. **if you expected lord of the rings then you deserve to be dissapointed** I did think it was too short and certain things were left out. Pronounciation of certain names were a non issue to me. I think people are reading much more into this movie than they should have. Its a childrens cartoon series made into live action movie and M.N.S did a pretty decent job. Yes the acting was a little off but have any of you seen the cartoon? No oscard for the cartoon or movie for sure. Its still a GREAT family movie that me and my niece and nephew enjoyed. **yes it seemed rushed **yes the pronounciation was off (((who cares)) **yes stuff was left out.. ((cant have a 12 hour movie folks)) **yes it was a GREAT MOVIE.… Expand

How is it possible that no one has caught on yet? M. Night Shyamalan is a JOKE FILMMAKER! He's a latter day Andy Kauffman. I was shocked that no one seemed to catch on after The Happening. A man slapped a lion in the face! How can people have attempted to take this film seriously? It was obviously a comedy. This film is exactly the same. You can't tell me that it wasn't a joke for him to cast Aasif Mondvi as the heavy, or that the entire cast woodenly reciting terrible and mostly pointless dialog would have passed muster for any major studio film that wasn't intended to be taken with tongue firmly in cheek. Seriously, this movie was a comedy, and the joke was on everyone who tried to take it seriously. One of the more enjoyable movies I've seen this year.… Expand

Love the cartoon, loved the movie....bring on chapters 3 & 4!!

But the series was so good, how could this happen.

I enjoyed this movie despite what everyone else is saying about the film, it might not be the best movie to ever hit the screen but i will take this movie any day of the week over sparkling vampires!!!

As a devoted follower of the series, I must ask, "Why is everyone hating M. Night for this?" Granted, the film had B-Movie dialogue and sometimes shaky acting. But all-in-all I found it to be a faithful adaptation of the series. A welcome change to me were correct pronunciations of characters' names. The film was a bit rushed and had lackluster 3-D effects, but I would gladly see it again. I only hope enough people share my opinion that we get a sequel.… Expand

I dont know what people expect...... You cant fit an entire television series into a feature length movie and if you tried people would complain about how long it was. Sometimes you just have to speed it up a bit. M, I think you did a great job. It was entertaining, didn't take itself to seriously and had pretty good special effects. James you have once again renewed my faith in the move score. This movie is definitely not potential for an academy award but its entertaining and an all around solid flick. Sometimes its just the reviews that ruin the movie.… Expand

The opening titles for this film is well presented, but the live action attempt at making the introduction of the show seem to be out of placed, and cheesy, considering how since the whole martial art theme in films are overdone, and for new comers of this story, they might feel that this is going to be what they've been seeing for a long time. The first ten minutes to fifteen minutes of the film literally mimics the first scenes in the first episode of the Avatar: The Last Airbender, and though I can say hardcore fans are satisfied, but for the new audience they might feel that the first fifteen minutes were very rushed in terms with pacing, and cheesy when it came to dialogue, and utterly complex in story. Though, after this, some narrative came and reminded the audience on what's going on, and what they should focus on. M. Night is obviously trying to get a point across, since the basic story elements can be complexed, and though this story came from a tv show, there can be a full episode with nothing but flashbacks explaining everything. M. Night did well not confusing the new comers, but the transitions with the film when it came to the set change/location change on Aang's journey, this could be worked out much better. The acting within this film is not that bad as what many critics make out to be, and numerous of hardcore fans who have nothing better to do than live in a fantasy world, where films should perfectly depict an Anime-influenced show unto real life. It wasn't Academy Award winning good either, but the actors played out these simple personalities well, and since this is the first season adaption, and if you've been really watching the show, then you'll know these characters really aren't fascinating from the gecko, to where an actor can really bring out that Oscar winning performance. For young actors who played the trio, it's better than watching most young actors who often appear on the Disney Channel. Consider this a good thing. For the villains in this story, the Fire Nation, which consists of the Fire Lord, General, Prince Zuko, and his Uncle, they are B-List actors here who have a good track record, and they provide wonderful performances, and the way M. Night darken this story a little bit on the serious side, these actors pulled it the hell off. You don't know how much I was into it when I watching them on screen, and for the Avatar's actor, Noah Ringer, there is something about this boy that makes me like him, it's his presence that really pulls this film through. The effects within this film is top-notch, and it's different compared to other special effects I've seen in other films this year and last. It's about time that there was more fantasy combat in these fantasy films, besides the creatures. Damn. Really though, there's nothing to say about the effects, but I will say this to get this out, the 3-D version is a bad attempt to get more money. Watch the regular version of this film, and you won't be disappointed if you would be a centralist for once in your life, and look past those neg. reviews. This is my review of the Last Airbender, and it's great to share my opinion, and hopefully we'll get a sequel, because I want M. Night to have another crack at this, this film is worth seeing on the big screen.… Expand

Did anyone agt all watch the seires???? jizz look the film followed a more serious note of the avatar series everyone was cast well except uncle. the film hit the major parts of the first season spot on and was beautifully rendered special effects. it sets up great for the rest of the seires. which would be another three films book two earth and then a two part book three due to the excessive amount of story to be told.… Expand

ALRIGHT, yes the movie wasn't perfect, there were some things they needed to work on, yes, but let's think about this...he had TWO hours, and ONLY two hours to place all of Book One into. NOW, a cartoon to movie/ comic to movie isn't supposed to PERFECTLY replicate the thing it is picked off from, it is SUPPOSED to be used to make an exciting experience to people new to the series to get people to read/watch the thing the movie was made from, and Avatar did a good job, with the limited time they have, and if you are one of those people who think, "Oh, the voices weren't perfect, or the people weren't perfect." I want to to tell me ONE live action movie where the people look the EXACT same as the people they portray as WELL as sound the same. So in conclusion, they did a good job with the time and resources they had.… Expand

Decent. Had some stilted acting towards the beginning, but overall good (especially in 3D).

According to many reviewers, both the cartoon and the movie used racial categories for their characters, but they differed from the cartoon to the movie. How does that make the movie racist, but not the tv show? That's like saying that a movie where a woman defeats a man is sexist, but one where a man defeats a woman is not. It's completely illogical. In my opinion, this movie did a fine job of showing that none of the races (as defined by element, not by skin tone) were inherently evil, good, heroic, or corrupt. The movie showed many inoffensive, interesting, or even heroic characters within the fire nation, and at least one corrupt character from another nation (the monk who betrays Aang--sorry for the spoiler.) Compare this with the utter racist filth that characterized the film 300, or with the pretentious, implicitly racist assumptions of the film Avatar, and one has to wonder why this charming, but not particularly bloody or hate-filled, film has won the worst condemnation from our culture. Perhaps just for not being adequately ironic or spiteful?… Expand

I was impressed in this movie. The dialogue might be dull at times, but the story was compelling and easy to know. I really like the special effects, the 3-D use, the battles, the music. I jsut like the film, even the acting was good. Come on fans, you will like it. Don't let the negative reviews get on you, it is a enjoyable film. See it in 3-D.

I don't think this movie deserves a 10, by any means, but I'm tired of seeing it bashed. I've seen terrible adaptations, and this isn't one. It could have been better, but it deserves a higher score than it's getting. Way higher. What it all boils down to is, it has become a meme, for internet fans and pro critics alike, to hate M. Night Syamalan, no matter what he does. Fact is, he's a good director. I would have liked for him to do a better job on The Last Air Bender, but, I think he did a decent job, and I'd like to see him have the opportunity to DO a better job on it's sequels.… Expand

Being a huge fan of the animated series on Nickelodeon, I was skeptical when I heard that that a live action movie was in the works, and it seems my skepticism was well placed. Everything I loved about the animation was missing in this film, most notably the personalities of the characters. Where the television cartoon had wonderful character, in this movie they might as well have all been zombies. Horrible acting, overworked dialog and for a movie that was supposedly 3-D, only about 5% of it was visibly so. I had to keep taking off my glasses to see the diffference and honestly it was hard to tell then too... This was the first book in four if they follow the animated program. I won't bother with the other 3 films. I wish now I spent the money to check out 'The Karate Kid' instead.… Expand

Agree with you
JohnM.
Jul 2, 2010
The effects and action scenes where well done, but the dialogue suffers as it feels like it was zooming through the avatar universe.

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.

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

I viewed this film with all expectations wiped from my mind, knowing that the animation is so successful and the majority that had already seen the film spoke poisonously of it. Regarding that, I didn't think it was as bad as everybody seems to have expressed. As a movie, it wasn't at the highest quality, with cringe-worthy acting at times, cheap-looking computer effects and heavy, excitable bending movements. However, apart from that, it wasn't bad at all (or at least, would be extremely impressive if it were a university project or television drama). I enjoyed seeing the characters in a different medium and saw it merely as a bit of light entertainment; and with no pressurizing expectations, that to me wasn't a problem. The story was fast-paced, a bit blunt and at times confusing, but apart from that I found some of the changes from the original interesting and liked seeing the flash-backs in to characters' pasts. I also liked the small changes, such as Yue's change of hair colour as she was converted spiritually, Azula's peevish and more-like-her-age appearance and the different but balanced pair that was Iroh and Zuko, who I found showed better acting skill than most of the cast. Sokka was okay too, but I think Iroh won the prize for best actor among the others, who mostly looked as if they could have come from an ameture but very successful drama group. M. Night Shalalalaman had a big challenge to write, produce and direct a 1 1/2 hour movie and fit 20 episodes-worth into it. The outcome was successful and I really enjoyed viewing The Last Airbender, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the crew had worked on the likes of Power Rangers in the past as well. It had potential to be better if the director hadn't taken on so much responsibility individually, but even if it could have been better, what is there is good enough for me!… Expand

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.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Yes I liked it and I'd like too see the second book but it could have been better.... ...… Expand

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

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!… Collapse

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 intelligent 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

ok so it might not be as good as some of his films.although there are many plot holes and it started a bit slow it did have its good moments. the story line is much different from the original animated series, but with limited screen time it would be hard to fit in all of the details and in many ways the story line was much more believable.

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

I went to see this movie with my friends and it was completely different than any of our expectations. The character's dialog was really wierd and the only good part of the movie were the effects. The story was very boring and was not worth the $12