Would someone please stop M. Night Shyamalan?

After bursting onto the scene in 1999 with “The Sixth Sense,” the writer/director has steadily proved that film is the exception to the rule with a string of head-scratching projects that have grown more and more pretentious (although I will admit “Signs” was a positive and I actually like “The Village”).

Now comes his latest, “The Last Airbender,” which is based on a popular Nickelodeon series. This proves to be his worst film yet, a ridiculously talkie excursion that takes itself way too seriously, resulting in a dull action film that completely sucks the life out of a potentially fun franchise.

Congratulations, Shyamalan, you now have the front-runner for worst film of 2010.

The story centers on the battle for supremacy between four kingdoms - Water, Air, Earth and Fire - when Aang (Noah Ringer), a youngster destined to be the peaceful link between the kingdoms, mysteriously disappears.

Aang is found by a pair of children from the Water world named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) and is quickly asked to restore balance to the world. Aang is forced to master all the elements, so he can face the leader of the Fire kingdom and put an end to his tyrannical reign.

In the hands of the right filmmaker, this could have been a fun little action film. Unfortunately, Shyamalan is not the right filmmaker; thus, the audience is drowned in a sea of endless dialogue that explains the rather silly plot in dead serious fashion, making all the hokiness seem even more trivial.

The action is intermittent at best, with Shyamalan more concerned with establishing the plot than giving audiences what they want to see - people fighting. And even when the action sequences come, they are choreographed in such a silly manner that they actually detract from the occasional cool visual.

The dialogue would work if the cast was up to the challenge, but that’s not the case. Only Dev Patel - as the son of the Fire king - has any sense of screen presence. Peltz is awful in every way imaginable, making Megan Fox look like Meryl Streep. Ringer and Rathbone aren’t much better, completing what could be the worst child actor trifecta in recent memory.

I’ve been indifferent for the most part about 3-D, but even that effect is minimal here (probably because “Airbender” was converted to 3-D during post production).

If all that isn’t bad enough, the film sets the stage for a sequel. With an opening weekend of more than $50 million, a sequel seems likely, as does the possibility of future Shyamalan projects. I don’t know which is more depressing.

DVD dandy of the week

This week’s dandy is Swedish sensation “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (B), the opening chapter of the popular Stieg Larsson novels, and a compelling and complex thriller.

“Tattoo” tells the story of Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a disgraced financial journalist asked to investigate the disappearance of a young Harriet Vanger 40 years earlier.

Blomkvist teams up with a young, tattooed computer hacker named Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace). Together the duo unravel a dark and appalling Vanger family history, learning that some secrets are so dangerous people are willing to kill to protect them.

On the surface, this is a pretty compelling little mystery that unfolds in convincing and unexpected fashion. But the film goes deeper, exploring everything from violence against women to the seedy side of investigative journalism, making it much more than your average thriller.

The acting is first rate, especially Rapace, who is absolutely captivating as the title character.

This is the first of three films based on Larsson’s books - all of which have already been released in Sweden. Part two, “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” arrives in limited release this week, with “The Girl Who Kicks the Hornets’ Nest” coming later this year.

If “Dragon Tattoo” is any indication, audiences have a lot to look forward to over the next few months.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is rated R for disturbing content including rape, grisly images, sexual material, nudity and language, and is now available on DVD.

- To get sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton’s up-to-the minute thoughts on all things movies, visit his blog at mcompton.wordpress.com or his Twitter page at twitter.com/mcompton428. You can also e-mail him at mcompton@bgdailynews.com.