M. Night Shyamalan’s latest offering, a big screen adaptation of the popular kiddie show The Last Airbender, is being torn apart by critics.
The San Francisco Chronicle called it a "A dull, boring, poorly acted, limply written and thoroughly unappealing fantasy, featuring bland characters locked in a struggle of no interest," while the legendary Roger Ebert chimed in branding it "an agonizing experience in every category." The film opens opposite the third instalment of The Twilight Saga, Eclipse, which has already broken box-office records.
Shyamalan really broke onto the scene with The Sixth Sense, one of the most financially profitable films of all time, and a critical darling that picked up Oscar nods. He followed it up with the brilliant Unbreakable, then the smash hit Signs, before letting things slide with the mediocre The Village, the equally slaughtered Lady in the Water, and finally, the downright atrocious The Happening. To say he has lost his way is an understatement. He didn't become a bad director overnight, though; it just looks like his ego outgrew his talent.
