5. Avatar: The Last Airbender
Once upon a time there was a hugely inventive, visually stunning and multi-award winning animated series broadcast exclusively on Nickelodeon. Over the course of three seasons (split into the Books Water, Earth and Fire, respectively) it told the tale of twelve-year-old Aang, the boy tasked with uniting the four nations that controlled the world's elements. Those who could manipulate their element, each using a distinctive style of martial arts, were known as 'benders'. But only one person could control all four elements at any given time, and they were referred to as the 'Avatar'. There may have been quite a lot of exposition thrown at you in the opening episode but you could never accuse the show of being patronising. It had the flair of an American cartoon but the feel of anime. Not only was it syndicated to over one hundred countries but it enjoyed a worldwide reputation as simply being one of the few, true things that lived peacefully outside of Hollywood's grasp. And then along came M. Night Shyamalan. As soon as his name was attached to the project, you could hear the sweet sound of critics sharpening their knives. The show's fans were likewise gearing themselves up for disappointment, with British audiences in particular wondering just how the show's repeated use of the word 'bender' would play in their local multiplex. Ultimately, the film was a $150 million mess. At ninety minutes, it barely had time to condense the entire first series on which it was based, and so any gaps were plugged with an incongruous speech or two. The characters were bland and humourless, the fight sequences were all a blur and the use of 3D was just plain confusing. The film won five Razzies, including Worst Picture, and Shyamalan's hopes of making a movie for each of the series evaporated into thin air.