Written by Tyrone BruinsmaHonorable Mentions: -Animal Kingdom [Dir. David Michod] -The A-Team [Dir. Joe Carnahan] -Bangkok Knockout [Dir. Panna Rittikrai] -Batman: Under the Red Hood [Dir. Brandon Vietti] -A Cat in Paris [Dir. Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol] -Centurion [Dir. Neil Marshall] -The Dead [Dir. Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford] -The Disappearance of Alice Creed [Dir. J Blakeson] -Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark [Dir. Troy Nixey] -Easy A [Dir. Will Gluck] -F (Expelled) [Dir. Johannes Roberts] -Fair Game [Dir. Doug Liman] -Gandu [Dir. Qaushiq Mukherjee] -Green Zone [Dir. Paul Greengrass] -Heartless [Dir. Philip Ridley] -How to Train Your Dragon [Dir. Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois] -I Spit on Your Grave [Dir. Steven R. Monroe] -The Last Exorcism [Dir. Daniel Stamm] -Machete [Dir. Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis] -Mega Piranha [Dir. Eric Forsberg] -Monsters [Dir. Gareth Edwards] -My Soul to Take [Dir. Wes Craven] -Predators [Dir. Nimrod Antal] -Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [Dir. Mike Newell] -Rampage [Dir. Uwe Boll] -Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale [Dir. Jalmari Helander] -Redline [Dir. Takeshi Koike] -Rubber [Dir. Quentin Dupieux] -Salt [Dir. Phillip Noyce] -Saw 3D [Dir. Kevin Greutert] -Senna [Dir. Asif Kapadia] -A Serbian Film [Dir. Srđan Spasojević] -Shanghai [Dir. Mikael Håfström] -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes [Dir. Rachel Lee Goldenberg] -Somewhere [Dir. Sophia Coppola] -Stake Land [Dir. Jim Mickle] -Super [Dir. James Gunn] -The Tempest [Dir. Julie Taymor] -Toy Story 3 [Dir. Lee Unkrich] -Tron Legacy [Dir. Joseph Kosinski] -Unstoppable [Dir. Tony Scott] -Valhalla Rising [Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn] -Who Killed Captain Alex [Dir. Nabwana I.G.G.] 20. Legend of the Guardians: The Owl of Ga’Hoole [Dir. Zack Snyder]Snyder's first (and technically so far, only) film aimed at children-The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a genuinely excellent film. The movie looks gorgeous, easily standing as one of the best animated films of all time thanks to cinematic lighting and pristine CGI. The voice cast is solid, with the story simple enough for anyone to follow-but containing hidden depths. Similar to Watchmen and his DC work, the film attempts to deconstruct the legacy of heroes in a way that feels genuine rather than cynical. It's absolutely worth watching if you skipped this one, along with another amazing looking animated film from the year called Redline. 19. Scott Pilgrim V.S The World [Dir. Edgar Wright]Based off the popular comic of the same name: Scott Pilgrim V.S The World is both a visually amazing, well-crafted action comedy and honest portrayal of less than good characters in the modern dating world. Edgar Wright has been hit or miss with me, but I deeply respect his abilities as a director and absolutely love Hot Fuzz, this and Last Night in Soho. This has a supremely game cast with everyone in tune with the story and style and it's just a shame that this didn't get more mainstream attention when it came out. 18. Chloe [Dir. Atom Egoyan]This is one of the few erotic thrillers that I'd say truly has an emotional core. The sexual energy in the film is palpable for sure, but the core emotional dynamic between its main characters is what works so well where others fail. The story of a stagnant marriage leading to sexual deception and exploration is genuinely engaging and never pornographic. Julianne Moore is great as a vulnerable wife, Neeson is solid as her husband clearly interested in younger girls and Amanda Seyfried is explosive as the working girl in between. It's a must see by the ever-underappreciated Atom Egoyan. 17. Daybreakers [Dir. Spierig Brothers]This Australian made vampire movie is one of the best uses of the classic monsters in years. Creating a sci-fi world where vampires have overtaken humanity to the point there's a shortage of blood, it's a reminder of the thematic values these creatures can play in stories. It's also a well realized universe, scary, gory and action packed with the amazing cast fully committed to taking this seriously. I think any vampire film lover should pick this up. And while the directors had a good follow in Predestination, their later efforts Jigsaw and Winchester were massively disappointing. 16. Buried [Dir. Rodrigo Cortés]Buried is a genuinely excellent little film that one can appreciate as an arthouse thriller, Hitchcockian suspense ride, exploitation B-movie or darkly comedic film about the modern-day problems of phone calls. Ryan Reynolds plays a trucker buried in a coffin in the middle east and is forced to call people to figure out how to survive and get out. It's nail biting, thrilling, well made and immensely watchable. Despite some great voice work, Ryan Reynolds is the solo star of the film and proves he's genuinely great in horror/thriller stories like The Amityville Horror remake or 2017's Life. 15. Piranha 3D [Dir. Alexandre Aja]A remake of the 1976 Roger Corman/Joe Dante Jaw rip-off (that was actually pretty good), Piranha 3D is an extremely entertaining and well-made schlocky creature feature. While certain people have dismissed this film as "stupid", it's nowhere near as bad as the sequel two years later. Directed by horror master Alexandre Aja who had previously made the awesome High Tension and Hills Have Eyes remake, the film is a gory and debauched ride from start to finish. Written better than it needed to be, committed to proper and unrestrained nudity: it's just too much fun. Can we get more monster movies like this please? 14. The Town (Extended Cut) [Dir. Ben Affleck]After directing the solid crime thriller Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck stepped up his directorial work with this crime thriller The Town. Following a professional Boston bank heist crew as one (played by Ben Affleck) begins to fall in love with someone he robbed-things quickly escalate. Affleck is great as the morally murky lead, Jeremy Renner plays a great psycho, Jon Hamm is an excellent FBI foil and by Rachel McAdams and Blake Lively are excellent leading ladies. But Affleck's directorial skill in working with actors, building tension, showing the grimy Boston environment and showcasing shootouts are the highlights of this film. The final shootout of this film belongs right up there with Michael Mann's hit and this movie is a must-see. 13. 127 Hours [Dir. Danny Boyle]Inspired by one of those great "real life stories", Danny Boyle's 127 Hours is a grueling, human and marvelously created thriller. While he's become persona non-grata in the past year, James Franco could still deliver amazing performances like this real-life thriller seeker caught between a rock and a hard place. Franco as the central lead drives home the narrative as a character driven drama, whilst Danny Boyle's visual creativity is on full display. It still holds up and comes highly recommended. 12. True Grit [Dir. Coen Brothers]This remake of a classic John Wayne film is proof you can remake films well, you just need the right filmmakers. The Coen Brothers crafted a very well made, sincere feeling and emotionally resonant classic western. Every performer in here was perfect, with Haille Steinfeld being the pure stand out. The writing, production values, score and atmosphere are excellent, with the few shootouts being immensely well done. It's somewhat forgotten in the pantheon of 21st Century westerns, but it's damn good. 11. The Ghost Writer [Dir. Roman Polanski]With acknowledgements to Roman Polanski's criminal history, it can't be denied he can create a great film when he feels like it. Following his failed attempt of the Robert Harris novel Pompeii, Polanski instead adapted Harri's novel The Ghost into The Ghost Writer-effectively making a 21st Century take on Chinatown with heavier political themes imbedded. Ewan MacGregor and Pierce Brosnan are magnetic in their performances amongst a really good cast. The cinematography, production design, music and narrative are excellent-with the film serving as the better version of similar political thrillers like Fair Game and Green Zone the same year. 10. Splice [Dir. Vincenzo Natali]From the director of Cube and Cypher comes one of the best sci-fi horror films of the 21st Century. A modern take on the Frankenstein mad science story, it envisions a couple who've made an entirely new genetic entity and intend to raise it. Splice manages to be everything from an actually smart warning about science, a character play between its human (and non-human) leads and a sickly nasty horror tale. It's honestly a refreshing film to watch even today as nothing else has managed to nail its near perfect execution. It can proudly be called one of the best horror films of 2010. 9. Tangled [Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard]After a long production process, Disney revised take on Rapunzel yielded easily their best film since Mulan. The new story created is wonderful world with defined characters, the entire voice cast is perfect, the songs are all memorable and it feels truly reminiscent of the Disney Renaissance. And while Frozen was the bigger hit, I think this remained the best animated Disney film until Encanto and the best-looking Disney film until Raya and the Last Dragon. Tangled still holds up, can appease anyone and is genuinely great. 8. Shutter Island [Dir. Martin Scorsese]Martin Scorsese doing a classic psychological thriller plot in asylum is guaranteed to be good. But what sneaks up on you is the clever details in the filmmaking and the emotional weight the film eventually carries. Leonardo Dicaprio leads an all-star cast at the top of their game while Scorsese performs the filmmaking magic he's known for. Sure, if you've seen certain films or played certain games-you'll guess the twist. But the emotional journey of our character is what makes it so much richer here. 7. Trollhunter [Dir. André Øvredal]Before he made The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Andre Overdal broke out with this scary and hilarious monster found footage film. Utilizing Norwegian mythology, culture and locations into a digestible film format-the film surpasses many Hollywood contemporaries. It has scares a plenty, epic scale action, genuine humor, great effects and a biting commentary while making the best Troll oriented film ever made. If you're a horror fans, you need to see this. And if you don't like horror or found footage...you still need to see this. 6. Black Swan [Dir. Darren Aronofsky]Following up from The Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky made this truly chilling psychological film that won Natalie Portman a deserved Oscar. The film about a ballet dancer trying to be the lead in a production of Swan Lake and going through various traumas (some new and old) is one of the most engrossing stories of 2010. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis are genuinely great with the entire cast being excellent too. Aronofsky's seemingly simple direction allows for trickery and manipulation that deeply disturbs the audience. This $13 Million dollar, highly disturbing film was a critical darling and earned $330 Million at the box office-proving these stories can be successful and should be told. 5. The Social Network [Dir. David Fincher]A film about Facebook sounded like the most unnecessary project to the layman, but in reality-it's one of the best dramas of the 21st century. This story about the creation of one of the most successful social media platforms is really a story about truly terrible, yet ambitious people becoming more terrible and ambitious. David Fincher uses quietly powerful filmmaking to tell this story with simple camerawork and undetectable CGI. Every single cast member is on point, with one of Fincher's underappreciated talents of letting great actors do their work. Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is great, the story is engrossing and it's a must watch for any lover of cinema. 4. Halo Legends [Dir. Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou]I'm a Halo fan. And while we've yet to have a fully realized live action Halo film, this anime anthology is one of my favorite pieces of media in the franchise. The shorts in this film provide an excellent variety in providing narrative context for the series, emotional depths, brilliant action, gorgeous animation and even one humorous segment right out of Dragonball Z. If you're not familiar with the series, you might be raising your eyebrows in confusion: but there's so much in this film that I enjoyed, and I'll happily wear my fanboy tag on my sleeve. Now...can we please get a big budget live action film series of the original Bungie games? I've waited enough. 3. Inception [Dir. Christopher Nolan]Making a follow up to The Dark Knight must've seemed like an impossible task to audiences. How does one top the seminal film of the 2000's? Well, if you're Christopher Nolan, you make another massive hit that remains one of the best original films to date. Inception is a sci-fi action heist film with amazing set pieces, an awesome cast, unique visuals, an iconic score and excellent direction. Playing with dreams, reality and emotional weight to essentially tell a story about how Nolan engages audiences and reflects his personal mission. Inception stands among the likes of The Matrix, Star Wars and Blade Runner as sci-fi stories that instantly connected with audiences and stay there for a reason. If you've not seen Inception, go fix that. 2. Enter the Void [Dir. Gaspar Noe]Gaspar Noe is a controversial filmmaker to say the least between films like I Stand Alone, Irreversible, Love and Climax: but I think Enter the Void is the true culmination of his skills as a visual storyteller. Told from the POV of a French drug dealer in Tokyo, we see the night this young man is shot dead by police as his soul travels across the city and his past to see its effects. It's a visual marvel (though can be too extreme for some) as it starts with one of the craziest opening credit sequences ever made. Its arthouse execution lets us experience humanity, drug use, violence, sex and possible re-incarnation if can believe. It's one of those films you will love or truly hate and it's one of my favourite films of all time. 1. I Saw the Devil [Dir. Kim Jee-woon]I Saw the Devil is one of the darkest, most disturbing horror/neo noir stories and a masterpiece that should be seen by those who can stomach it. The story of a Korean cop whose pregnant wife is sadistically murdered by a serial killer, with the grief causing that cop to become a sadistic and vengeful entity is one of the best stories in the genre. It's a dark story full or truly unnerving moments with two lead actors giving it their all, impeccable direction and an emotional through line we dread the outcome of. Will this be too much for some people? Yes. But will you forget the masterpiece of horrifying filmmaking it is? Never. I Saw the Devil is one of the best Korean films alongside Oldboy, Parasite and The Handmaiden: a must watch for all lovers of cinema and the best film of 2010.
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Written by Tyrone BruinsmaDishonorable Mentions: -And Soon the Darkness [Dir. Marcos Efron] -The Book of Eli [Dir. The Hughes Brothers] -Brazen Bull [Dir. Douglas Elford-Argent] -Burning Bright [Dir. Carlos Brooks] -Charlie St. Cloud [Dir. Burr Steers] -Cop Out [Dir. Kevin Smith] -Date Night [Dir. Shawn Levy] -Deadland [Dir. Damon O'Steen] -Diary of a Wimpy Kid [Dir. Thor Freudenthal] -Dinner for Schmucks [Dir. Jay Roach] -8213: Gacy House [Dir. Anthony Fankhauser] -From Paris With Love [Dir. Pierre Morel] -Furry Vengeance [Dir. Roger Kumble] -Groupie [Dir. Mark L. Lester] -Gulliver's Travels [Dir. Rob Letterman] -Hybrid 3D (Super Hybrid) [Dir. Eric Valette] -The Human Centipede [Dir. Tom Six] -Hunt to Kill [Dir. Keoni Waxman] -Iron Man 2 [Dir. Jon Favreau] -Jackboots on Whitehall [Dir. McHenry Brothers] -Jonah Hex [Dir. Jimmy Hayward] -The King’s Speech [Dir. Tom Hooper] -Legion [Dir. Scott Stewart] -Let Me In [Dir. Matt Reeves] -Little Fockers [Dir. Paul Weitz] -The Losers [Dir. Sylvain White] -Marmaduke [Dir. Tom Dey] -Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus [Dir. Christopher Douglas-Olen Ray] -Mr Nobody [Dir. Jaco Van Dormael] -Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief [Dir. Chris Colombus] -Psych 9 [Dir. Andrew Shortell] -Remember Me [Dir. Allen Coulter] -Road Train (Road Kill) [Dir Dean Francis] -Robin Hood [Dir. Ridley Scott] -Season of the Witch [Dir. Dominic Sena] -Sex and the City 2 [Dir. Michael Patrick King] -Shadowland [Dir. Wyatt Weed] -Sharktopus [Dir. Declan O'Brien] -The Sorcerer's Apprentice [Dir. Jon Turteltaub] -The Spy Next Door [Dir. Brian Levant] -Tiny Furniture [Dir. Lena Dunham] -Titanic II [Dir. Shane Van Dyke] -Tomorrow, When the War Began [Dir. Stuart Beattie] -Tooth Fairy [Dir. Michael Lembeck] -The Tortured [Dir. Robert Lieberman] -22 Bullets [Dir. Richard Berry] -Twilight: Eclipse [Dir. David Slade] -Vampires Suck [Dir. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer] -Vanishing on 8th Street [Dir. Brad Anderson] -The Ward [Dir. John Carpenter] -The Warrior’s Way [Dir. Sngmoo Lee] -The Wolfman [Dir. Joe Johnston] 10. A Nightmare on Elm Street [Dir. Samuel Bayer]I know many horror buffs regarded Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes horror remakes with utter contempt, but I genuinely think their Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th remakes were good. But their remake of Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street was genuinely their worst film until Ouija. A Nightmare on Elm Street takes itself far too seriously, while being unable to commit to the genuine darkness of Freddy’s character. It lacks a lot of fun, creativity or thematic voices that came from the series’ initial run. I will say Jackie Earl Haley does a decent job with making the iconic Freddy Kruger his own, but the rest of the film lacks a voice. The film’s first act is a waste, the scares are obvious and there’s nothing here you can’t get better from another film in the series. 9. The Tourist [Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck]From the director of The Lives of Others, two of Hollywood’s then biggest names and a Hitchcockian premise comes a wasted film. What should be a big budget, modern update of North by Northwest instead comes a rather lazy action/thriller/comedy/romance that disappoints to no end. Despite the immense talent in front of and behind the camera, the story intended to be told is a poor showing with my willing suspension of disbelief unable to buy the final plot reveal. It seems to not actually understand what makes the Hitchcockian thriller work. And despite Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp being strong individual actors, neither have good chemistry and only one small bit actually feels well made. It’s not an exciting action film, thrilling suspense work, engaging romance or funny comedy. It’s just kind of bad, no matter how many times I’ve tried to enjoy it. 8. Alice in Wonderland [Dir. Tim Burton]Tim Burton doing Alice in Wonderland should've been a creative slam dunk. Unfortunately, it was a remake of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton has never done a good remake. While the film certainly has visual spectacle, it’s a very colorless and dull spectacle considering the director. The cast ranges from bored to annoying, with only Helena Bonham Carter’s Queen of Hearts being consistent with the world. The biggest issue with the film is trying to make the world follow logic, with a prophecy and rules in some attempt to be a fantasy epic. That’s completely against the spirit of Alice in Wonderland as a cultural artifact, it’s meant to be pure nonsense. Then again, the book is highly believed to have been Lewis Carrol’s attempt to groom a child so I’m glad no one’s following the author’s intent. But regardless, Alice in Wonderland is a bad film, a bad remake and one of Tim Burton’s worst films despite being his most financially successful. 7. The Expendables [Dir. Sylvester Stallone]This supposed throwback to classic 80s action films is anything but, instead displaying all the worst aspects of contemporary action movies. Sylvester Stallone took the style he used on his 2008 Rambo film and completely butchered it with a shaky cam, rapidly edited mess that gave me a headache. The premise suits an 80s action film, but takes itself way too goddamn seriously and is reminiscent of the worse 80s movie plots. The cast may be trying their best, but it’s a poor excuse for modern or old school action filmmaking. If you took the plot of this film, the tone and gore from Expendables 2 and the filmmaking equality of Expendables 3-we’d have a good movie. This one just sucks. 6. Devil [Dir. John Erick Dowdle]While not directed by M. Night Shyamalan, it carries all his bad hallmarks. Good premise ruined by bizarre tone, easy to guess reveal hidden by cheap twist, bad acting, bad writing and nothing much to offer. What's disappointing is that director John Erick Dowdle made the amazingly horrifying found footage horror film the Poughkeepsie Tapes and this was a continual decline in his work after Quarantine. While he mildly recovered with As Above So Below in 2014, Devil is his worst film wherein the title spoils the movie. 5. Nutcracker 3D [Dir. Andrei Konchalovsky]I feel like most people’s cinematic experience with The Nutcracker is that Barbie version. But it’s amazing that in the 2010’s-we had two massively budget CGI spectacle attempts of the classic story and both suck. Disney’s Nutcracker and the Four Realms from 2018 at least had Keira Knightley auditioning to be a glam queen idol, this Russian produced 3D attempt has…a lot of nonsense. The passion project of Andrei Konchalovsky (one of the 4 directors behind Tango and Cash), the film attempts to make a fantasy epic out of the story and fails spectacularly. This film adds poorly planned lyrics to the iconic music, Albert Einstein and Sigmund Frued, Nazi rats with terrifying CGI faces, a robot shark that gets electrocuted, a terrifying CGI version of the titular Nutcracker voiced by Moaning Mertl and a black boy’s head being pulled off and tossed around by the Nazi rats. I did not make any of that up. This film is like someone smashed Return to Oz, The Pianist and The Golden Compass into a single film. It’s tonally confused, visually ugly despite the insane $90 Million budget and is an absolute mess from every standpoint. It’s almost so bizarre that one might be compelled to see it, but I assure you that it’s not. None of the performances, attempt at spectacle or bizarre tonal shifts can make this a “so bad it’s good” must see. An ambitious film that failed in the ugliest, yet spectacular way possible. 4. Grown Ups [Dir. Grown Ups]While not Adam Sandler's most offensive or insulting work, Grown Ups feels the most like Sandler and his friends got together for a weekend and just recorded it. Would be fine as a YouTube vlog, not a $75 Million dollar movie that makes $272 Million at the box office. The humor is dry, lazy and juvenile; with the acting and filmmaking doing nothing special either. Doesn't help that the likes of Rob Schneider and Chris Rock decided to lose their credibility by becoming an alt-right spokesperson and supporter of transphobic comedian Dave Chappelle respectively. It's not funny, interesting or well made. Skip. 3. Tekken [Dir. Dwight H. Little]I knew this film was going to be bad within the first 30 seconds. Why? Because the boring prologue montage attempting to explain the generic sci-fi dystopia used footage from Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla, Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down and the first xXx film. Using other, better, bigger budget films to supplement your own film that early on isn’t a good sign. And the rest of the film itself is little more than a trash remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Running Man along with every other cyberpunk film. Tekken is one of the most beloved fighting games, but this film poorly utilizes its characters for a needlessly dark and cliche story. None of the actors can save the film, the action scenes are all lifeless, and my favorite character Yoshimitsu gets a terrible costume, lazy fight scene and is then just forgotten about. Katsuhiro Harada, the director of the game series hated and rightfully so. What’s sad is that the film had some decent talent behind the camera with Wrong Turn screenwriter Alan B. McElroy and Anacondas 2 director Dwight H Little both the creative leads. Unfortunately, either budget or lack of ambition (or good ideas) lead to this being easily one of the worst live action video game movies. 2. Birdemic: Shock and Terror [Dir. James Nguyen] This is one of the legendary “So Bad It’s Good” movies alongside The Room and Troll 2. Birdemic is a $10’000 “romantic thriller” that the delusional director James Nguyen thought looked like a $100 million picture. Instead, it was a slow moving, cheap looking unintentional comedy. Moments like endless driving, poor audio dubbing, coat hangers used to fight terrible CGI birds, constant environment message mongering and plenty of other scenes have become the stuff of internet memes. Despite being hilariously bad to develop a fanbase, the movie is still the atrocious work of a delusional wannabe filmmaker. The production values, terrible dialogue, awful editing and alien approach to humanity still make this a bad movie. And what’s unfortunate is James embraced the terribleness and made an intentionally bad sequel that’s even worse than this. There’s failing up, failing for the rest of your life and then just setting yourself on fire. I weirdly respect James, but…not that much. 1. The Last Airbender [Dir. M. Night Shyamalan]This still remains one of the worst blockbuster films of all time. Anytime someone tries to insist the latest DC, Marvel or Star Wars movie is the “worst thing ever” in order to scam clickbait views from an uncritical audience-I feel like pointing out this abomination. If The Last Airbender were an original film, it would still be a horribly constructed, poorly cast, terribly written and incredibly lackluster action film. It’s made worse by the fact that it’s an adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which is not only one of the best animated shows of all time, but one of the best pieces of fiction ever made.
I genuinely don’t know who at Paramount saw Lady in the Water and The Happening, and then thought M. Night Shyamalan should direct their new attempt at a blockbuster franchise. There would’ve been at least 30 different directors they could’ve contacted who would’ve made a better film. Shyamalan’s “Tell Don’t Show” screenwriting was at its worst here, having characters pointlessly explain things that only serve to be poorly read by much of the cast. The more experienced actors come off better, but the miscast younger stars cannot make it work at all. And I say miscast because while the film follows the source material by making the different tribes different ethnic backgrounds, the main heroes are all white. It just comes off as the usual lazy Hollywood casting choices we’re still trying to get rid of. The action scenes are incredibly bad, with Shyamalan’s long takes doing very little to keep a sense of pace or tension and the bad CGI doesn’t help. Part of the problem is they turned the show’s superpowered martial arts into dancing. It looks incredibly silly and weak, coming off as another poor decision in what was already a functional concept. The structural editing isn’t much better, with the film randomly cutting to the next scene before character actions finish. The film is only 100 minutes long but feels like an eternity. There’s lots of little nitpicky stuff I could point out like cutting a lot of season 1’s best moments, the comedy being worse than the shows, the penis haircut, many logical errors, incorrect pronunciations, un-intimidating villains or making the climactic showdown really boring compared to the series. But they all stem from the same point, changing what didn’t need to be changed from a great story. You could certainly adapt the world of Avatar into a contained piece of cinema, but Shyamalan was clearly not the person who should’ve been hired as he was on a downturn and blockbuster filmmaking is not his forte. I make no joke when I say Michael Bay probably would’ve made a better film. And what’s sad is that there are some things in here. Dev Patel as Zuko is clearly trying his best and I think he’s one of the better actors in the film. Composer James Newton Howard does a decent job as his track record includes The Dark Knight, King Kong and Treasure Planet. The late Andrew Lesnie, cinematographer for all of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth films does create some lovely establishing wide shots. But Shyamalan’s use of close-up angles doesn’t help him. And we all remember that awesome teaser trailer that was never in the film itself, being one instance where a trailer is truly superior to the entire film. A failure of adaptation, failure of blockbuster filming and failure of storytelling: The Last Airbender is one of the worst 21st blockbuster films alongside 2017’s The Mummy, Battlefield Earth, Catwoman and Battleship. So much potential, all for naught. I hope the Netflix series is alright. |
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