--- title: "The Last Airbender: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-last-airbender/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-last-airbender" critics_score: 18 critics_reviews: 11 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Last Airbender (2010): what the critics said Critics' score 18 from 11 reviews: 0 positive, 0 mixed, 11 negative. The consensus on The Last Airbender is uniformly negative: all eleven reviews find the adaptation wanting. Most critics describe stiff performances, clumsy dialogue and storytelling that struggles to give the action purpose or momentum. The reviews repeatedly fault Shyamalan’s solemn handling of material they feel needs more humour and energy. The converted 3D draws particular criticism for muddying the images and weakening already ineffective action. Praise is scarce, with no performance or technical department earning broad approval. The differences concern how much can be salvaged. Empire praises the visual effects and world-building, rejecting the harshest assessments while still finding the film clunky and poorly paced. The Los Angeles Times allows that young children may enjoy it, and Den of Geek singles out Dev Patel as the strongest performer. Collider places particular emphasis on racism and disrespect towards the source material. These exceptions produce little spread in the verdicts: even the more forgiving reviews remain firmly negative. ## Empire — Ian Nathan Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). The critic finds the film far from the catastrophe some claimed but still disappointingly clunky and botched. He singles out the strong visual effects and world-building for praise while complaining about the childish script, poor pacing, and lack of conviction in the storytelling. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/last-airbender-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 2010. The film is a disappointment aimed squarely at a very young audience, with unsophisticated dialogue, functional but unremarkable effects, and a story that retains some philosophical elements from the source but feels limited. It may appeal to kids despite critical issues, though the whitewashing and 3-D conversion add to its troubles. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-01-la-et-air-bender-20100701-story.html) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 30 June 2010. The adaptation feels like the last Airbender movie audiences will ever see, undermined by miscasting, uneven acting, and a disastrous last-minute 3D conversion that flattens the action. Shyamalan's ultra-serious approach and awkward handling of the material result in cartoony nonsense rather than epic spectacle. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2010/film/reviews/the-last-airbender-1117943102/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 30 June 2010. The critic calls the film a leaden, joyless ride and a major misfire from Shyamalan. The director's overly serious style smothers the lighter kids' material, resulting in a dreary CG-heavy adventure rather than an exciting one. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/the-last-airbender/5015545.article) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 30 June 2010. The critic finds the film a lifeless, work-for-hire adaptation that lacks any of Shyamalan's usual style or skill at spectacle. It suffers from poor rhythm, wooden performances, and ineffective action sequences ruined by clumsy CGI and post-converted 3D. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-last-airbender/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 12 August 2010. The film is mind-bendingly boring with no narrative drive or stakes. Bradshaw singles out the film's title and dialogue for repeated unintentional vulgar humour around the word 'bender'. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/aug/12/the-last-airbender) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 2010. The film is a catastrophe in execution, with muddy 3-D, muddled storytelling, graceless effects, and clumsy performances that make the already silly premise unbearable. The director's strengths are wasted on a format and adaptation that fail to deliver any visual grace or intrigue. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/movies/01last.html) ## Time Out — Nigel Floyd Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2010. The critic finds the po-faced fantasy epic boring and stupefying, with vacuous spectacle, clunking dialogue and fuzzy 3D. It is portrayed as portentous but never profound, laughable but not funny, and action-packed without being exciting. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-last-airbender-2) ## Den of Geek — Ryan Lambie Rating 1 out of 5. 2 August 2010. The critic finds the film a tiresome misfire with a disjointed script, charisma-free cast of child actors, and ineffective CGI action sequences undermined by poor direction and a messy late-added 3D conversion. Dev Patel stands out as the best performer, but the movie is dismissed as another in Shyamalan's recent string of failures. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-last-airbender-review-2/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating F. 1 July 2010. The critic despises the film for its racism, disrespect to the source material, poor performances, effects, and script, calling it the worst movie of 2010. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-last-airbender-review/) ## /Film — Devindra Hardawar Rating 4 out of 10. 2 July 2010. The critic finds the film a singularly misguided adaptation that strips the source material of its emotion, wit, and ferocity, delivering instead a rushed, dialogue-heavy CGI spectacle that fails as both a Shyamalan movie and an Avatar story. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/509929/the-last-airbender-review-the-last-straw-for-this-shyamalan-fan/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-last-airbender.md