M. Night Shyamalan would have done things differently with The Last Airbender if it was entirely under his control. Released in 2005, the American animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender became a huge hit, with fans showering the series with love and appreciation. From then on, the demand for the show went on increasing, and adaptations of it came into existence.
There have been numerous instances when the screen adaptation has failed to hit the same mark as the original work (case in point: 2019’s Cats). The Last Airbender is no exception. The 2010 family-action movie, The Last Airbender was a complete disaster. However, it is really unfortunate that Shyamalan had to take all the blame.
M. Night Shyamalan’s Filmmaking Process Didn’t Align with the Overall Intent Behind The Last Airbender
Directed by American director and screenwriter Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan, commonly known as M. Night Shyamalan, the 2010 live-adaptation movie The Last Airbender didn’t do justice to the original series. The movie ended up with a significantly low audience and critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The director of the 2010 movie recently revealed an important detail regarding the movie which suggests that he might not be the one behind its failure. He expressed his disappointment in the fact that he could not make the movie in the way he truly intended to.
In an interview with Screen Rant, the director said:
“I made a genuine effort to join the system, but I learned that the special thing that makes me happy was hard to do within that system.”
Shyamalan also didn’t want to do any big-budget sequel after the failure of the 2010 movie. If the response to the movie had been any better, he might have considered doing it. Given the circumstances, it’s no surprise that it has been 14 years since the movie’s release and there’s still no news of The Last Airbender 2.
Can Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender Series Do Justice to the Fame of the Original Show?
In February 2024, Netflix released the first season of the live-action series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The first two episodes were directed by Michael Goi, the next two were done by Jabbar Raisani, the fifth and sixth episodes were directed by Roseanne Liang, and the last two by Jet Wilkinson.
Although the 2010 adaptation was a major failure, this live-action series has done better as can be observed from the critics and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Part of the reason why the show succeeded was that it did not deviate too much from the source material, unlike The Last Airbender.
Further, Avatar‘s storyline is better expressed in the form of a series rather than a movie. The vital combination of long-term storytelling along with live-action elements makes the Netflix series a perfect rectification of past mistakes.
The Last Airbender (2010) is available for streaming on Apple TV+.
