Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan initially carved out a reputation for creating Oscar contenders with big endings. In the space of two years, he released The Sixth Sense and its superior cousin Unbreakable. However, in between Signs and The Last Airbender, something changed in his overall approach. We no longer carry the expectation of looking forward to a plot twist which could affect our response to earlier story movements.

In The Last Airbender, we bear witness to a cavalcade of choreographed clichés, derived from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon among others. The camera tends to alternate between uncomfortable close-ups and hazy landscape views. Like Lady in the Water, this film has been dumbed down for a young audience. I believe that youngsters could be offended by the manner in which Shyamalan's screenplay treats their intelligence with disdain.

In terms of plot, there are various nations which draw their life-force and strength from the four elements: air, earth, fire and ice. There's something about an equilibrium which must be restored lest the mighty forces of evil triumph. However, rather than being in the presence of individuals tasked with undergoing a greater spiritual transformation, Shyamalan throws in endless conversations where the only function identifies plot points and not character.

We spend some time with several seemingly important characters, yet we never really get to know them. Dev Patel has a gaumless façade completely immune to any emotional clarity. Noah Ringer, who plays the Avatar, likes to grimace or frown like a student receiving his first report card from school. I kept expecting bolts of lightning to shoot from his eyes, not that it would have helped his acting.

Finding any relief in James Newton Howard's soundtrack proves a fruitless excursion. Even though there's some well-developed thematic material here, it becomes increasingly difficult to associate any of these musical ideas with their corresponding imagery.

Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, an Oscar winner for the first Lord of the Rings installment, has the thankless job of finding poetry where none existed before. His task appears doubly hard because the cast members are not suited to the narrative. Cliff Curtis shows up sporadically in quick bursts of film, and yet his incomparable presence actually unbalances the work of his co-stars. Don't get me wrong, he's an accomplished artist. However, I find it difficult to say the same thing about the people around him. 

(Released by Paramount Pictures and rated “PG” for fantasy action violence.)