I like to make comparisons because I'm lazy. So here goes: M. Night Shyamalan is the Quentin Tarantino of fantasy.
Consider this imaginary conversation that never was:
Studio brass: "Night, I wanna cash in on the latest fad."
Night: "You're going to make a 3D movie?"
Brass: "Yeah, and guess who's gonna get to write and direct it."
Night: "Me?"
Brass: "Damn right you. Only one catch."
Night: "I don't get to cast Mel?"
Brass: "Damn right you don't, though I was going to say: go nuts."
Night: "The catch is that I've got go nuts? But I always go nuts."
Brass: "Exactly."
And so came to being The Last Airbender 3D, which tells the story of how Aang (a precocious Noah Ringer), a runaway Avatar who has the potential to bend to his will all four elements – Earth, Water, Air, Fire – though he has thus far only mastered Air, ends up in a Waterbender tribe where he meets Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) and his sister Katara (Nicola Peltz), the tribe's last waterbender, before he gets caught by Prince Zuko (an intense Dev Patel) of the warmongering Firebender nation (which considers Aang to be a strategic threat); escapes; learns Water; and eventually accepts his destiny.
I know, right? But if you have your doubts, and mine popped up several times early on during the movie, just remember this: you're in the good hands of Night.
That ought to be enough assurance.
(Running time: 103 minutes)
