The Last Airbender: The New Shyamalan?

Okay, so here’s the deal: M. Night Shyamalan is a name that polarizes many film fans. There are those who continue to love The Sixth Sense – which, let’s be honest, we all loved the first time around – and then the haters who now think that the twist ending was a cop-out. There are those, like me, who think Unbreakable is one of those great underrated superhero fables. And then there are those who lump it right in with his Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water and The Happening as a meandering, muddled mess.

That doesn’t mean people ever stopped seeing his films, though. The Happening did boffo business. Hollywood may not love the guy – but there’s no way they don’t love his bottom line.

Well, listen up: Shyamalan may have gone off the deep end as of late with his scripts, but the guy’s always been brilliant with his ability to create indelible images. If you’ve ever seen one of his films, you never forget the moments: That terrified look in Haley Joel Osment’s eyes, the opening train sequence in Unbreakable with the camera shifting back and forth, the home invasion of Signs, those creepy hooded dudes in The Village.

This is the reason that people – us included – are excited to see what he does with The Last Airbender, bringing his distinctive think-big style to a story that he didn’t write. And I think after people see the ferocious TV spot slated to run during this weekend’s Super Bowl – which you can see below – there are going to be a whole lot of other Shyamalan haters curious to see if maybe the old man has a few new tricks up his sleeve.

And just think: No twist ending this time!

Are you willing to give Shyamalan another chance?

crispy

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Shyamalamadingdong did write the script to The Last Airbender. I suppose you could argue that since it’s an adaptation, he couldn’t possibly screw it up. I have no doubt he can.

They’d have to pay me to watch another Shyamalan movie… particularly after the intelligent design propaganda of The Happening. BTW, The Happening only made about $65 million in the US… I wouldn’t exactly call that boffo.
jordanwhitedesign

Never mind the rampant white washing going on…

To find out more go to Racebending.com

P.S. Rumors is that the script and acting is terrible too.
erikonil

Considering that he did write the script for this film and seeing the direction away from the source that he’s taking I don’t feel impressed. It’s going to be pretty, no doubt. But the fact that he has three white heroes dressed up in Asian/Inuit clothing saving the poor Asian people from the evil dark skinned tyrants.

Changing some of the few characters of colour who are the main heroes in a widely watched and highly regarded show to the Hollywood standard of white is just unbelievable and I say this as a white person. I find it insulting both to fans and to movie goers in general.

He seems so eager to make his Star Wars that he’s ignoring the substance and base of the original series.
Steven James Snyder

Of course, I just meant that he’s adapting something for once, rather than drafting a script out of thin air. He’s working with someone else’s concept – that’s how I should have phrased it.

That said, all of your points are interesting. erikonil, it does indeed seem as if he’s been trying to make the BIG movie for a while now. LADY IN THE WATER was so sweeping at points that it was obvious he was taking his victory lap before he was ever connecting the bat with the ball. His characters are just limp.

That said, I have to admit: Still a little excited about this one. Could be intriguing. I’m daring to have some hope –

jordanwhitedesign, where are you seeing these rumors? I haven’t heard anything at all -