Review of After Earth (2013) by Scott H — 22 Jan 2014

Contains spoilers.

I had a good time watching this film, I don't know what all the criticism was about we must be watching different films. It is interesting to see how Jaden Smith is a coming of age actor that parallels a story in which his character is essentially coming of age.

You gotta love what actors do. Acting is a sensory art. I appreciate moments, where Jaden Smiths character 'Kitai' has to take a knee, to plant himself in the here and now, feel your breathing. This is all very important for acting and to see such a simple acting drill being employed by a cadet soldier character is an interesting story device. To offer a criticism, there is a section at the start where Jaden is running with a group of soldiers. He breaks rank and runs for base but it doesn't quite work, its a bit quirky, not quite sure if its a long distance run or a sprint. Look at athletes, their long gate; the way their shoulders pull back; the way your chest expands to pull in vast amounts of air into your lungs. He is however not just a young actor but a young person. Kids are often funny to look at, particularly when they do sports, just arms and legs. Im sure that's why parents turn up to their childrens football game, not to encourage or support the child, but to get some self esteem boost watching their children torture themselves trying to catch, run tackle etc. Alas I digress, research is important and often comes up when you least expect or like.

Will Smiths character is the ultimate soldier, fearless, respected and a tough father. Its a struggle between two worlds. Indeed there is something in that performance. Every movement is purpose, every sound is purpose, its researched and methodical. At the denouement, the winding up of loose ends, Jaden Smiths character has been through the journey, come through the climax killing the beast, before completing the mission sending a signal to the rescue ship to save his father and himself. he walks up the corrido of the rescue ship not knowing if his father is alive or dead. He passes a guard who is watching a replay of Jaden killing the beast, you know he is thinking 'right on, respect man'. Its a slow moment, Will smith pushes the medics aside, he's alive. He then salutes his son, a sign that he is finally a man or similar title. Its a wow moment, I reach for the tissues because I am a sook, my 7 year old daughter is crying and yes I know she shouldn't be watching but unlike Will Smith I am a crappy father. I guess the point is you don't get that moment without the father being tough, seemingly unloving, that is an immense barrier for character to resolve compared to the simple matter of killing some beast.

M.Knight always has something deep to say. Its difficult to keep reading that every movie since 6th sense has been a flop, its a silly proposition. Yes the 6th sense has the big mufassa twist when we discover bruce was dead all along and we get that tingle. To keep looking for the exactly the same moments in each film you miss the meaning in his other films.

The moment I like in this film is where Will Smiths character explains how he can stay tough and relives that moment when he felt no fear. He describes the proposition of no fear as an insanity. One of the big story ideas is how the characters deal with fear. They have an enemy that is blind but can find people through the smell of fear. The creature sets up fear traps, such as leaving a pile of baboon limbs, the same baboons shot earlier chasing Jadens character in a menacing manner, or pinning dead bodies to trees. Yes there is a leap of faith in that how can a blind creature find dead bodies that don't excrete fear, so lets move on. Taking a step back you see the humans left earth 1000 years ago because of various natural disasters, rioting, climate change etc. You see the humans living in a new world, they live in eco friendly apartments. A question arises why didn't the humans stop what they were doing to save the earth? When you look at current debates and how they are arrested by fear tactics eg climate change; health care; welfare etc you name it the big questions, the big bold action is always arrested by our fear to take action. This is a good sci fi, to take the issues we face in our society and put them into a completely imaginary world in which we can deal with these issues.