In just a couple of days, Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender will hit the streaming platform and fans of the animated series are more excited than ever. However, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has been dragged into a bit of a mess amidst the excitement surrounding the upcoming Netflix series.
If you can remember, M. Night Shyamalan came out with a live-action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender back in 2010. Unfortunately, the film did not work in his favor and several publications went as far as to say that it was one of the worst films ever made. Now, it looks like M. Night Shyamalan is once again being forced to relive the disaster thanks to the brutally candid opinions from the cast of Netflix’s series.
Netflix Cast Gets Honest about M. Night Shyamalan’s Movie
Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender stars Kiawentiio Tarbell, Dallas James Liu, Gordon Cormier, and many more and will be hitting the streaming platform before you can say “Flameo, hotman!”
The cast was all dressed up as they attended the show’s Los Angeles premiere Thursday where they shared their honest opinion about M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender (2010) with The Hollywood Reporter. Tarbell, who plays the fan-favorite Katara in the live-action series didn’t hold back as she stated,
“I did watch it once and as a fan I think alongside all other fans I was disappointed. But I think it’s a good way to see what we don’t want to do. This cartoon has this amazing storyline, we tried to give it the live-action it deserves.”
Iroh actor, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee also gave his two cents as he stated that the 2010 film was “painful” for him as a fan, especially because of the casting of white actors for characters that were originally Asian. Lee said,
“I did watch it, you know? It’s been dragged through the mud a lot, and I get it, as a fan I understand it. The casting is something that didn’t sit well with me either and it was painful, in that sense. Not that the actors were bad, I’m not saying that. Nobody sets off to do a bad adaptation, nobody sets off to offend an entire fan base, but I think decisions were made that didn’t quite sit well.”
Further, Lee promised that the upcoming series ensured that it took good care of diversity and inclusivity, casting roles to perfection. On the other hand, Daniel Dae Kim who plays Fire Lord Ozai in the series stated that he believes that the Netflix adaptation is coming at the best time possible as there is a “time and a place for every kind of iteration of show.” However, he also stated that he has “a lot of respect for M. Night Shyamalan’ who hired some great talent for his film.
The Reception of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender
When the film was released in theatres back in 2010, fans were quite excited to see their favorite benders coming to life. In fact, The Last Airbender managed to reel in $319 million at the box office. Unfortunately, while the film performed alright in the theatres, it was probably due to the already established fanbase of the animated series.
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Last Airbender received a score of 5% on the Tomatometer and a 30% audience score. According to the critical consensus, the film was criticized for having “Squandered” the source material. Critics even deemed Shyamalan’s directing as “detached” and “joyless.”
In fact, the reception was so horrible that the creators had to scrap their original idea of turning the film into a trilogy. Needless to say, fans of Avatar had high hopes for the live-action adaption and the film failed to deliver. We are only hoping the Netflix adaptation faces a much better fate than it.
Avatar: The Last Airbender will be available to stream on Netflix on February 22. Meanwhile, you can watch Shyamalan’s version on Paramount+.
