New Reviews: The Last Airbender & Winter's Bone

Hot Air

Few filmmakers have the immediate potential to drum up so much hatred and disgust like M. Night Shyamalan. Recently, a downward spiral in his career has led many to believe that he's a one-trick pony, whose only good movie was The Sixth Sense over a decade ago. I seem to be one of the few that actually liked Signs, but I admit that I have been no fan at all of his recent work. It almost looked like this would be an opportunity to clear his name, but the general consensus seems against it; according to Rotten Tomatoes, it's one of the worst-reviewed movies of the year. While I don't think the film is atrociously bad like many others have been saying, it is no less yet another fail for this once hailed filmmaker.

Based on the popular Nickelodeon anime series, this is set in a more mythical land, a far departure from Shyamalan's Philadelphia inspired settings. In this world, there exists groups of powerful people called Benders, who have the power to control the elements fire, earth, water and air. Aang (Noah Ringer) is an avatar, a reincarnated being who is capable of controlling all. But that kind of power is seen as a threat against the Fire Nation, bent on world domination. The banished son of the Fire lords is Dev Patel, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, and he wants to capture Aang to restore his own honor. In order to train, Aang is accompanied by his companions Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) and water-bender Katara (Nicola Peltz) to a watery city where the climatic final battle is held.

I've always believed, and still do to this day, that Shyamalan's greatest asset is his layout for visual storytelling. There are moments in the film where he delivers well in playing with the frame. One particular scene in which there's a prisoner rebellion in a camp between the fire and earth-benders. The scene is well conceived and quite engaging. There's much of that feeling felt throughout most of the action sequences. When it is necessary to let the frame play out the storytelling, Shyamalan is able to work his magic. Even an underappreciated film like Signs was best in its most quieter moments.

However, as accomplished a visual storyteller Shyamalan is, this film, as many others of his, is buried beneath a poor script riddled with sloppy storytelling. The main fault is that it all feels rushed from the very beginning, and the whole thing is too concerned with getting to the next plot point (or film for that matter, this is one in a series) rather than stay on the moment to revel in the story and characters. There's a comparison to be made with Lord of the Rings, what with its ambitious scope and multiple chapters. But Jackson realized that each film was but a window into an entire story, leaving each movie a stand alone piece to develop his own universe organically. Shyamalan's script is obsessed with getting to the next step, never leaving us with an emotional bond with these characters, and it's all an empty hollowness by the end.

Most of the cast is pretty uninspired. As Aang, Ringer is only engaging when he's in action mode. He delivers some well conceived stunts, but he's very lacking in emotional depth for this character. Sokka and Katara feel like side-characters in their own movie, never given the opportunity to develop leaving the actors flat. While Peltz doesn't actively harm the film, Rathbone is just downright horrible in his delivery, and it's painful to watch him. Patel just gives standard angst, and isn't really felt enough as a villain. Honestly, the most successful people are the hidden background players, barely visible. Shaun Toub plays Patel's uncle, and he feels quite sincere and full of complexity. There's also some nice, hammy work from the usually funny Aasif Mandvi, from "The Daily Show", but he's lost in a messy sea of weakly motivated villains.

One other issue that has come up is the idea of "race bending." Many believed that the original animated series had lead characters of Asian decent, and the casting of the film showed what many believed to be a white-washing affect in play. Shyamalan has defended the film as very racially diverse, and that much is true. The different nations are represented to be different ethnicities. The problem is that most of the non-white roles are designated to groups of people who are either the aggressors or the oppressed. It is the distinctly white people who are the leads and heroes of the film, making this a curious case that Shyamalan should have paid a tad more attention to. This would have been an issue even without the source material.

Perhaps some people will find this entertaining, but for me, wanting so desperately for Shyamalan to prove that he's a gifted filmmaker, this actually has some mixed results. Don't get me wrong, the film is a mess of poor storytelling, cardboard acting, conflicting messages, an odd pace and even a surprisingly murky look, despite being shot by Lord of the Rings cinematographer Andrew Lesnie (and that was without the needless 3D). Still, there's potential the film shows, and he uses some of it to the advantage of visual storytelling, helped greatly by James Newton Howard's score. It's far from perfect, but I'll take this over The Lady in the Water and The Happening anyday. Perhaps part two will be better, but only if Shyamalan takes the time to stop and smell the roses.

C

Bone Chilling

Some films don't need much to aspire to greatness (The Last Airbender could learn a thing or two). Realistically, if you have well-rounded and fascinating characters and a compelling story, then you've got most of the ingredients to have a film that is enjoyable and, often times, an incredible journey to partake in. A lot of these films tend to be on the smaller scale like this one, and like many others, it's another one that takes on a journey to mine some fascinating territory.

The protagonist is Ree Dolly, played by relative newcommer Jennifer Lawrence. Ree is pretty much the sole caregiver to her younger brother and sister in the isolated Missouri backlands, as her mother is nearly catatonic and her father has had a run-in with the law dealing with meth labs. Her father's actions get into some serious trouble: he's put his house and farm up for his bond, but skips town before his trial. With their property in turmoil, Ree goes out searching for her lost father.

Any reason to see this film lies in Lawrence's performance. It's really astounding how she is able to carry so many emotions, all in an incredibly subtle way. She feels incredibly real and genuine, and I buy her intensity and enthusiasm to be the film's greatest asset. It's fascinating to watch her in this film, hopefully garnering that much deserved Oscar buzz. The supporting players, while perhaps not as showy as Lawrence, offer a great deal in characterizing the setting. Her uncle, Teardrop, is played by John Hawkes, and he is able to be quite chilling in the beginning and then handle his character arc quite well as the film goes on. There are numerous supporting players that give life to this depressingly bleak place.

Director Debra Granik has a great sense of place. She employs some beautifully bleak cinematography to immediately drop us a little-explored world. She lets the tension play out in a genuine way the feels incredibly real, and the same goes to how the relationships between the characters are crafted throughout the film. It's all quite engaging in the first half. I have to admit that the whole thing starts to drag on by the midpoint, and it really starts to feel like the simplistic plot is starting to get in the way of an interesting character study. Fortunately there are some moments salvaged in the end by some nice execution, as well as that fantastic first half.

There's some pacing problems here and there, and not every frame is engaging, but I honestly have to say that a great deal of this film is quite engaging. Anchored by an incredible performance from Jennifer Lawrence, and a well crafted scenery from its director, the film pulls you into this journey that finds itself very fascinating. It's nice to see a film that realizes what it needs in order to be successful. You don't need to blow your budget on the special effects; if you can do it on the pure talent, then that's money well spent.

B+