Earlier this year I put together of my most anticipated movies of 2013. Some of these movies made it on because they just looked awesome, and others were there because they looked like they could redefine a genre. After Earth managed to make it onto the list because it looked like it might save M. Night Shyamalan’s career. Even though he delivered well in the director’s chair, the film just couldn't come together enough to make me forgive him for films like The Happening and The Last Airbender.
In After Earth, M. Night Shyamalan delves into the world of science fiction like never before. Before, he had Unbreakable which was less about the science fiction and more about the characters. He had The Happening which was just...wow. But with After Earth he was actually making a legitimate sci-fi movie. After Earth takes place in a future where we have ravaged the Earth to a point where we can no longer live there. We move to Nova Prime, where we encounter a violent race of aliens called Ursas. The Ursas are blind, but can smell fear, and with the way they look they (almost) always induce fear. The real story behind After Earth, though, is about a father son relationship and how they deal with being abandoned on the Class-1 quarantine planet, Earth.
With a solid set-up, I was actually intrigued by this movie. It was steeped in science fiction goodness, but was missing solid characters that I actually cared about. While Cipher Rage (Will Smith) was a complete badass, he wasn't fleshed out enough to be a great character. We got to see an interesting relationship with how he interacted with his son at the very beginning of the film, but it was lost after they were stranded on Earth. Instead, we got poorly written dialogue interspersed in between lots of action.
I think my biggest gripe with this film was the acting. More specifically, with Jaden Smith’s acting. That kid is terrible. Whenever he delivers a line of dialogue, I become more and more convinced that he is incapable of emoting. His acting is bland and lifeless. His character of Kitai Rage should have had way more emotion and a way bigger character arc, but with such a poor actor in the role, none of that came out. All of the pieces were there, with some great flashback sequences and some setup in the exposition, but it just didn’t come together.
Other than the terrible dialogue and Jaden Smith, the film wasn't too bad. M. Night did a great job with world building and his direction was pretty impressive. I have to admit, that man knows his way around a camera and how to properly compose a shot. He beautifully showcased this future Earth in such a way that I was fascinated by what I saw. I really think his biggest problem is that he is a terrible screenwriter, and should leave it to the professionals. A perfect example of this is Devil. He came up with the story, and then someone else wrote it for the screen...and it actually came out pretty well. Put M. Night behind the camera, but don’t let him write.
------------------------------------------------
While this movie wasn't atrocious, it also wasn't particularly good. While Will Smith was solid (as usual), his son, Jaden Smith, was truly horrendous and should never act again. The story was actually pretty interesting, but the dialogue was tortuously bland. Overall, not a great movie, but not Shyamalan’s worst.
Writing: 4/10
Directing: 6.5/10
Acting: 4/10
Pacing: 4.5/10
Rewatchability: 4/10
Score: 4.6/10
