The Last Airbender Movie Scene That Made No Sense To Avatar Fans

Few would disagree at this point that "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is among Nickelodeon's greatest animated offerings, and it earned that mantle for a few reasons. For one, it welcomes audiences into a fascinating land where humans can harness the power of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air. Speaking of those that occupy this world, many are incredibly entertaining to watch and find themselves embarking on thrilling journeys of action, adventure, and self-discovery. Not to mention, it's all wrapped in a colorful, expressive art style that really brings the series together.

If only the live-action movie adaptation had even a fraction of that charm.

Released in 2010, "The Last Airbender" arrived in cinemas courtesy of famed director M. Night Shyamalan and served as something of a reimagining of the Nickelodeon favorite. Starring the likes of Noah Ringer and Dev Patel, who portrayed the Avatar himself, Aang, and Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, respectively, the film took heavy inspiration from the first season of the animated source material. However, unlike the show, "The Last Airbender" failed to hit the right notes with fans and has become recognized as one of Shyamalan's worst projects — one that most moviegoers would be happy to forget.

Despite its poor reputation, discussions surrounding "The Last Airbender" pop up online from time to time, though they're rarely positive. This fan discussion, which highlighted something about the movie that made no sense, proved no different.

Over the years, fans have voiced countless complaints about "The Last Airbender," and it's not hard to see why. From its whitewashed cast to the lack of humor in its script — a staple of the cartoon –, the film presents a fundamental misunderstanding of the characters and world it's attempting to adapt. That's perhaps no better exemplified than when "The Last Airbender" put the spotlight on Earthbenders in a sequence that those familiar with their animated counterparts can only describe as head-scratching.

As pointed out by Redditor RickySmith2005, "The Last Airbender" makes it seem as though it takes a group of Earthbenders performing a ritualistic dance to lift a relatively small rock — something the likes of Toph Beifong (Jessie Flower) could've done quickly and more efficiently on the TV show. Among the many comments jokingly stating that there's no live-action "Avatar" movie at all, several voiced their disappointment in the scene, citing how underwhelming it was to see what the film had reduced Earthbenders to.

At the same time, not all "Last Airbender" viewers are so quick to give this moment flak. Penney Sound on YouTube went ahead and broke the scene down, explaining that the dancing group was responsible for the creation of a rock wall seconds earlier and that a single Earthbender tossed the smaller projectile rock on their own. This analysis may be right, but with the way this scene played out, it's easy to see where the confusion came from in the first place. At any rate, we can only hope that Netflix's "Avatar" interpretation handles details like this much better.