Review of After Earth (2013) by Jack F — 11 Aug 2015

Like "The Lone Ranger" and "John Carter," M. Night Shyamalan's "After Earth" has developed quite a reputation since its release. This is the infamous turd that broke Will Smith's impressive streak at the box office, the kind of film that would eventually be shown as an example of the dangers of nepotism in Hollywood. However, like those two previous entries, I have to say that, although I am once again late to the party, I didn't find it as detestable as it was made out to be. It's by no means what I would call a "good" movie; it's really just painfully mediocre, the kind of movie that's a bit dull and instantly forgettable (or at least it would be if it didn't have its scathing reputation).

Probably the best word I would use to describe "After Earth" is "misfire." There are ways this movie could've worked, but I think they just mishandled it. Clearly, it was meant to be a vehicle for Jaden Smith, the formerly cute--remember him in "The Pursuit of Happyness?"--offspring of Will. This was likely meant to signal the younger Smith's arrival as a major movie star, the showcase to prove he was ready to follow in his dad's footprints and start anchoring blockbuster hits. And with his pops at his side in a co-starring role (almost as if he was passing along the torch), and who also came up with the story and served as a producer, how could this not be a success?

Well, there are a few flaws here, with the central one being the focus on Smith, Jr. To be fair, Jaden is not atrocious; he's simply unrefined, lacking the necessary chops to carry a movie such as this. His previous experience is limited, and it shows. It's one thing to be the cute, precocious kid in "The Pursuit of Happyness" or an ordinary, likable pre-teen in the remake of "The Karate Kid." It's quite another to be the dramatic lead in a sci-fi-based adventure story. He spends much of the movie with a pained, constipated-looking expression on his face; it's as if Shyamalan told him the character is constantly haunted by a past traumatic event (which is true), and he's desperately trying to convey that. But it's too transparent. A more experienced actor would likely have taken a more subtle approach, and it would've been more effective.

Another problem is the presence of Papa Will. People who went to the theater expecting to see Will Smith in a sci-fi action/adventure, a la "Independence Day" or "I Am Legend," would have probably been agitated that he spends the vast majority of the film sitting on the sidelines. This is an actor with charisma to burn, and it was definitely a misfire to have him portray a surly, hardnosed character whose screen time consists mainly of him barking orders through a radio.

The story is yet another precautionary tale about how, in the future, humanity ends up essentially destroying Earth, or at least making it uninhabitable for human life. As such, mankind now resides on a distant world known as Nova Prime, which is policed by the intergalactic soldiers known as the Rangers. Cypher Raige (Big Smith) is a high-ranking, highly respected general in the Corps, and his teenage son, Kitai (Little Smith) is a cadet in training. But Kitai has some issues, namely the aforementioned past traumatic event, and this is keeping him from overcoming his fear, and thusly becoming a Ranger himself.

While on a space voyage, their ship is caught in an asteroid shower and breaks apart in mid-air, crash landing on the planet formerly known as Earth. The Raiges are the only survivors, but Cyper is badly dinged up with two broken legs. Therefore, it's up to Kitai to trek across the hostile terrain and retrieve the emergency radio beacon from the tail portion of the ship, located many kilometers away from their crash site. But with mankind's desertion, Earth has been reclaimed by the animal kingdom, and Kitai has to face not only the earthly denizens, but also a nasty alien monster who hunts by literally smelling fear.

It's a simple story, but it's not without its charms. It has the sense of intrigue and adventure necessary for a film such as this. I enjoyed the lush, jungle landscapes, and there's a sequence involving a waterfall that looks especially beautiful. But there's also some pretty lousy-looking CGI, particularly when Kitai finds himself having to fend off a pack of lion-like cats. And I'm uncertain as to why the Raiges (as well as the rest of the human characters) speak with such distracting, unintelligible accents (another misfire).

But the biggest issue is that the audience just doesn't care about the main protagonist; if we're going to spend a lot of time with a character as he faces obstacle after obstacle in an adverse environment in order to save his father, it would really help if we had some kind of investment in him. But Kitai is bland and whiny; it doesn't surprise me to learn that audience members were actually rooting for the alien during the film's climax.

It's tempting to throw this all on Jaden Smith, but Shyamalan and co-writer Gary Whitta haven't given him all that much to work with either, saddling him with a backstory rife with clichés. And handing such a hackneyed character to an inexperienced actor could only yield messy results. Papa Will should also share some of the blame, as he clearly had a hand in the development of the film and likely believed Jaden was ready for such a role. I'm not going to condemn him for making a movie with his son--or even FOR his son, as it were-as this is a very common practice in Hollywood, but somewhere along the line, he should've realized that Jaden was not quite yet ready to take the reins.

Additionally, even with a better leading man, I'm not convinced "After Earth" could be totally salvaged. As I mentioned at the start of this review, it's kind of an exercise in banality; there's nothing that really stands out about it. This sort of subject matter has been handled much better in the past, particularly in Pixar's "Wall-E," a completely different kind of movie that has similar themes, and is far superior. Watch that instead.