After Earth

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
 After Earth
Released 5/31/13, now in theaters

Father-son duo, Will and Jaden Smith, team up in the latest mindbender from director,  M. Night Shyamalan, After Earth.  Both W. Smith and Shyamalan could both use a hit (it's been awhile).  Could this latest post-apocalyptic journey what the doctor ordered?

In the future, humanity leaves Earth due to an environmental cataclysm.  It colonizes a new planet that is named Nova Prime.

Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith)  is the son of legendary General, Cypher Raige (Will Smith).  Raige gained prominence when an alien race attempted to conquer humanity on Nova Prime.  The aliens unleashed horrific beasts known as Ursas upon the planet.  They were attracted to pheromones secreted in times of fear, literally feeding on human fear.  Cypher learned that Ursas became blind to humans if one did not give in to it.  He taught this skill to the warrior peacekeeping force known as the Rangers leading to the eventual defeat of the invaders. 

Kitai has tried to get on the fast track to becoming a Ranger himself, partly to gain his father's respect and partly over guilt that his sister died defending him from an Ursa.  When his candidacy is rejected by the Academy, his mother convinces Cypher to do some father-son bonding by taking Katai on the elder Raige's next mission to train a group of new Rangers off planet. 

The mission becomes one of survival when the Raige's spacecraft is forced to crash land on the last place in the universe humans should be.  Earth.  The landing kills the entire crew except for Kitai and Cypher who is badly injured.  Of the two homing beacons on the craft, one his broken in the crash.  The other is about four days' journey away from the Raige's crash site in what was once the tail end of the ship.  With Cypher incapacitated, it becomes Katai's mission to retrieve the last working beacon to send a distress signal back home requesting a rescue.  Not only does Kitai have to face his fear and avoid the dangerous wildlife on the planet, but he also must try to avoid an Ursa (used for Ranger training) that escaped from its holding pod during the crash landing.

After watching this film, there were some things that struck me as odd.  First, what was with the faux British accents everyone seemed to have?  Understandably, some of these actors may have been British, but the main stars are not.  It probably wouldn't have bothered me as much if Will Smith didn't sound like Prince Charles one minute and the Fresh Prince the next.  Will, I love 'ya, but accents aren't for you.

Now, on to issue #2.  Don't be fooled by the commercials and trailers that claim you will learn the reason "Why we left!"  The narration tells us that in the first three minutes.  There is no big Shyamalan reveal here if you are looking for one.

Issue #3.  The statement that's made by Cypher that "everything on this planet has evolved to kill humans", struck a wrong chord with me.  Aren't angry baboons, feral cats, and large birds of prey dangerous to humans now?  Let me think on that while I feed my pet tiger raw meat by hand.

Finally, let's look at the tech that is used.  In the future, it seems humanity is capable of colonizing other planets and using warp drives.  Very Star Trekky.  Yet, when the ship crash lands on Earth, don't you think the Raiges would have a Wall-E or R2-D2 that would be more equipped to traverse the dangerous wilderness and retrieve the lost homing beacon?  How about the probes that were released to find the missing beacon having some retrieval capabilities?  Anything would have been better than sending your son to his almost certain, violent death. 

With this said, I found After Earth to be relatively engaging and somewhat suspenseful.  Shyamalan does succeed in creating a sense of danger for Kitai.  Sometimes it feels as if the forests themselves will reach out and take him.  You can feel why he is afraid.  Who wouldn't be when thrust into a seeming no win situation?

I think there are many who are predisposed to dislike any and all of Shyamalan's work.  I'll admit he's given the masses a few good reasons to doubt him.  However, After Earth, is not one of his disasters.  Despite its shortcomings, it's a decent sci-fi action movie if you look at it through that lens.  It's no Unbreakable or Sixth Sense, but it's no The Village either.  That alone is a point in its favor.

You will or have likely read a ton of negativity toward this film.  As I will suggest to anyone, don't take a critic's word for it wholeheartedly.  Don't even take my word for it.  Just watch with an open mind. 

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

*** stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.