Movie Review #67: After Earth (2013)

Yes this doesn't fit in with the halloween theme but there weren't any horror movies at Redbox that peaked my interest so this will have to do for now.

In After Earth, Will Smith and his son in real life Jaden Smith and their ship crashes on a now abandoned earth. When Will Smith gets injured, it is up to Jaden Smith to trek through the wild to find a distress beacon to call for help.

Will Smith plays a legendary military general named Cypher Rage (yes that is his real name) who has undergone a process called "ghosting". That means that he can no longer feel any fear. This makes him very cold and distant with his son Kitai Rage played by Jaden Smith. And yes that is his real name.

What is good about this movie: It has its elements of originality. The technology and weaponry that they use in the film are actually pretty cool. The main weapon used is a double edged metal blade that looks like a medieval version of Darth Maul's lightsaber and that is really cool. The premise is also original and some of the creatures they encounter have their elements of originality. And this could have been a much better film if it were in the hands of a different writer, director and had two different lead actors.

I like Will Smith. He's an incredibly likable guy, but in this he had all of his charisma sucked out of him. His character is so boringI'm not even sure if he cracked a smile in the entire movie. They also pull a complete bait and switch advertising Will Smith as the lead because for the entire movie he doesn't leave the ship and the film focuses on Jaden Smith. Yet Jaden Smith isn't any more interesting to watch than Will Smith is! He either comes off as too whiny or too angry. But one thing he always come off as: A bad actor. Okay, he might not be that bad of an actor but I don't think that he has enough acting chops to carry an entire 90 minute movie. He needs to start out small and when he has gotten better then he should move on to roles like this.

Aside from the sub-par acting, the film also suffers from sub-par directing. If this was in the hands of someone like Duncan Jones, Joe Johnston or Joseph Kosinski it would have been much better. Even if you don't like the directors I listed, you have to admit that their directorial style would have been a much better fit for the film than Shyamalan. M. Night's directing style is dialogue and story based that doesn't require many special effects if any. He needs to go back to making films like Unbreakable or The Village that don't rely on visuals but story and suspense unlike After Earth that had decent visuals but no suspense whatsoever. The closest thing to suspense we get is a scene where Jaden Smith is flying in a flying squirrel suit and is being chased by a giant bird. That scene was actually pretty cool.

Final Report: After Earth has an original story and some neat elements, but its boring pace, sub-par acting, underwhelming action and evident lack of fun or joy makes this a one of my least favorite movies of the year. I just hope M. Night Shyamalan goes on to making movies that he used to make.