At 5 percent approval on the film review site Rotten Tomatoes, M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie The Last Airbender is in the running for the title of worst-reviewed movie ever.
How did this happen? Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense were excellent by any standard. You could also make a strong case for The Village, although it turned some people off. But is there any other example of a director going from among the very best to among the very worst? Does this happen in any walk of life?
Lady in the Water was severely flawed. I watched the first 10 minutes of The Happening and then sadly turned off the DVD because it was so horrible — only to be told by reliable sources that the first 10 minutes were by far the best part of the movie. The movie’s ending was blatantly telegraphed in those first 10 minutes, which speaks volumes about how far Shyamalan, the master of the dramatic twist, had fallen.
And now this. Of the reviews I’ve seen, The Onion’s AV Club’s is the best:
Where to start with this one? How about this: If any movie ever warranted a class-action lawsuit against the filmmakers, it’s The Last Airbender.
But many of the other reviews from the Rotten Tomatoes Page tell the same story:
The Last Airbender lays there, stillborn, potential squandered… a sad indicator of just how completely Shyamalan has thrown away his own gifts, the last stop on what has been a very disappointing career arc.
Ouch.
Nothing short of an incomprehensible fiasco. If one must go see it, avoid the 3-D version like the bubonic plague.
There’s no other way to say this: M. Night Shyamalan has completely lost it.
The addition of the 3-D is obviously an afterthought, and in most scenes it’s pretty bad. Almost as bad as the writing and the acting. Almost.