In 2010, fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender walked into theaters hoping beyond hope that M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of the series would do well. Sadly, moviegoers were disappointed. The film was universally panned by critics and fans who felt pretty much everything with the project was sinful, and now one of its stars is taking time to criticize The Last Airbender.
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In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dev Patel revisited The Last Airbender with chagrin. The actor, who got his start in Slumdog Millionaire, said his work on the blockbuster fundamentally altered his view of Hollywood.
“I don’t know what I would like to play, but I know what I’m afraid of playing: those big studio movies. After Slumdog, I did a film that was not well received at all. The budget of Slumdog was like the budget of the craft services of this movie,” he said.
“I completely felt overwhelmed by the experience. I felt like I wasn’t being heard. That was really scary for me, and that’s really when I learned the power of no, the idea of saying no. Listen to that instinct you get when you read those words for the first time.”
Patel didn’t hold back when he talked about his portrayal of Prince Zuko. The actor said he “saw a stranger on the screen that I couldn’t relate to.”
Yikes!
When it comes to The Last Airbender, Patel is not the only one who feel embarrassed by the project. Creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante Dimartino refuse to acknowledge it on principle, but Shyamalan actually feels good about the film.
Last year, Shyamalan spoke with IGN about the movie and stressed that he made it with kids in mind. “You could make it one of two ways: you could make it for that same audience, which is what I did, for nine and 10-year-olds, or you could do the Transformers version and have Megan Fox.”
“Well, I’m going to make a movie about a kids show that my 10-year-old is watching and not make it for her. I make it for my guy friends. That felt like a betrayal of the innocence of the piece. In retrospect, is it too young to go out, it’s like what your intention is versus what they want it to be.”
The director even insisted that plenty of people do like The Last Airbender even if it was not totally canon compliant.
So, what do you think? Do you agree with Patel or Shyamalan when it comes to The Last Airbender?
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