Get rid of the voice-over!
The whole movie is one boring, lengthy group recital.
Before anything really happened, before anybody really did something, there were people saying we did this, we did that, we would do this, we would do that. And when Shyamalan still couldn’t fit the storytelling part into actor’s lines no matter how ridiculously he stretched them, he would throw in a voice-over to spoil all the fun and surprises that came from actually watching a story developing. Audience were told everything beforehand, then all you can do is just sitting through.
Isn’t it common sense that most of the thrill coming from summer thrillers roots in not knowing what will happen next and that blood-congealing realization of what has already happened? Shouldn’t Shyamalan, of all people, know better than to simply give the story to us? We still remember by the end of The Sixth Sense, how he gradually let the cold truth sink in. Without a word, we all knew, and yet none of us had the courage to say it out loud, to register it. Like the character, we audience were left speechless and quivering.
So what’s with the crystal clear vocal narration of every details in the plot? Let us imagine The Last Airbender without the voice-over. Instead of Katara telling us her brother became “really good friends” with the princess, we would see how Sokka’s eyes caught the princess’s when they first met, how he volunteered to be her guard, what a beautiful and shy smile she gave to him. Heck, even the cheesy chat about grandma would be kinda cute if we didn’t already knew they “became really good friends”. Waiting for it to happen just rendered this relationship more of a cliche, the movie more of a drag, and the audience less sympathic towards these two tragic lovers.
I’m not saying it would do magic, The Last Airbender is a lost cause. But still, take out the voice-over, leave a little bit of fun for the audience, please.
