After Earth

Cast of Characters:

Kitai Raige - Jaden Smith

Cypher Raige - Will Smith

Director - M. Night Shyamalan

Screenplay - M. Night Shyamalan & Gary Whitta

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images

      Academy Award nominee Will Smith and his son Jaden star together in the sci-fi action/adventure film After Earth, based on an original story idea from Will Smith. Is this another Smith summer blockbuster hit, or should you give this one a pass?

      In 2025, mankind has been forced to abandon Earth following a number of cataclysmic events and relocate to a planet called Nova Prime outside the Milky Way Solar System. Fast forward nearly a thousand years later. The humans have been attacked by another predator race known as Ursas that have already been inhabiting the planet. They hunt by smelling fear, but the humans look to their stern and fearless general Cypher Raige (Will Smith) to fight back against the Ursas. Cypher's ability to fight without fear is known to the humans as "ghosting".

      Meanwhile, Cypher's son Kitai (Jaden Smith) is an ambitious, young space cadet trying to work up the ranks within the system. His somewhat rebellious attitude though keeps him from climbing the ladder. Seeing a lack of discipline in his son, Cypher takes Kitai on a mission to relocate an Ursa. While on their mission, the ship is damaged in an asteroid field and is forced to crash land in a nearby planet. Both Cypher and Kitai are the only confirmed survivors. The cage containing the Ursa is missing as well, meaning one of three possibilities: best case scenario, the Ursa died in the crash, the Ursa survived but was badly injured from the crash, or worst case scenario, the Ursa survived the crash and has escaped. Cypher reveals to Kitai that the planet they are on is Earth, which is filled with animals that have evolved over the years into human hunting predators. They need to reach the other half of the ship which is a distance away to retrieve a beacon that will send a distress signal back to their home planet. Having broken both his legs from the crash, Cypher is unable to go, meaning it is up to Kitai to risk the dangers he may face in order to retrieve the beacon.

      The biggest surprise of this film was when I noticed the directing and screenwriting credits for the first time - M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan was at one time one of the biggest A-list filmmakers out there, but his past three to four films have been both financial and critical failures. My guess is the studio heads - knowing Shyamalan's name might detract viewers - kept any credit referring to him as minimal as possible when advertising the film. While this is not the failure that he's been known to make as of recently, this is far from a hit either. For starters, Will Smith is obviously a huge box-office draw, and he gives another solid performance that we'd expect from him, but this is not Will's film. This is Jaden's movie, and quite frankly, I'm still not convinced Jaden is capable of pulling off a lead performance yet. I wasn't convinced by his performance in the bland remake of The Karate Kid, and I ain't buying it here. Most of the time, he just stands there and mopes his way through each scene. Here's the overall problem with the film though. The visuals are average. That wouldn't be a problem if there was an intriguing story to bolster the film, but the story concept is relatively minimal. Father and son crash land on earth. They have to retrieve the emergency beacon or they die. End of story. There's nothing wrong with minimal concepts, and in Shyamalan's case as of lately that would be to his benefit; however, you'd also expect with a simplistic storyline there would be first rate visuals and effects to balance it all out. For the most part the visuals are nothing special and the creature effects are at best meh.

      Let me be clear. M. Night Shyamalan is a talented filmmaker. You don't string together four consecutive great films (The Sixth Sense, the underrated Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village) and call it a fluke. That's like the New York Islanders winning four consecutive Stanley Cup Titles from 1980-83 and someone going, "Well, they got lucky." Obviously, with flops like Lady in the Water, The Happening, and The Last Airbender, it was wise for Shyamalan to bounce back by playing it safe and not having complete creative control. There's no obligatory twist at the end, and although he did write the script (this is his first movie with a co-writer), all complexity that he's normally known for is gone. In fact, I think the studio heads, fearing the average moviegoer would see his name and bolt for the doors, went in the complete polar opposite direction by having him direct with his hands tied behind his back. Other than a few signature film shots that conjure up vintage Shyamalan, his unique visual style is MIA. While not the bounce back Shyamalan needs, this is not a complete disaster. I can justify a slight recommendation by waiting 'til it's out on DVD and seeing it then. I give After Earth a C (★★½).