The Last Airbender

Eleven years after director M. Night Shyamalan somehow successfully convinced the world he didn't steal his oh-so-clever twist for breakout film The Sixth Sense from an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? entitled "Tale of the Dream Girl," the infamous director has gone back to capitalizing on Nickelodeon shows by directing this year's theatrical dud The Last Airbender, a film based upon the popular cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. As far as visual aesthetics go, M. Night proves that he's competent enough to direct a CGI-infused family film, as there are many visually stimulating moments while watching Aang (newcomer Noah Ringer) battle the Fire Nation to end the ancient feud between the four nations: Air, Water, Earth and Fire. The DVD also benefits from showcasing its original 2D format, as the striking cinematography is far more apparent without the gimmicky 3D post-conversion used in the theatrical version. Unfortunately, Shyamalan's obsessive need to write everything he directs proves to be fairly detrimental, with the majority of the dialogue and acting downright wince-inducing, painful to experience as an audience member. Viewers who were once flabbergasted by Zooey Deschanel's performance in The Happening will be just as taken aback by Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel's goofy portrayal of the villainous Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. It's actually quite difficult to watch these once up-and-coming actors taint their filmographies by giving it their all in a movie that is as deep as a Captain Planet episode. Although as far as family films go, The Last Airbender is pretty harmless, and the lush, bright colours displayed onscreen on a regular basis should be enough to entertain most children, or possibly lull them to sleep, making this the perfect distraction for parents. The DVD also includes a slightly more interesting behind-the-scenes feature about the origins of the Avatar, an embarrassing gag reel and deleted scenes nobody needs to see.