After Earth

After Earth should be retitled After Birth, because that is exactly how sloppy and dirty this pathetic excuse for a film is. Gross analogy, I know, but trust me, a delivery room after a woman has given birth is a better produced show then this. I honestly don't even know where to start. The film decided to market itself as a Will Smith film, which was the only way to get people to go because of how silly its plot is. Even the Will Smith fans were let down because all he does is sit in a chair the whole time and speak to his son in an over-serious and unintentionally hilarious monotonous voice. He easily gives his worst performance to date, but it is not quite the worst acting in the film. Jaden Smith gives a Razzie worthy performance as an underdeveloped character with a useless upsetting past and an ear-cringing accent. He whines and makes the most stupid mistakes a film character has ever made in the history, provided by the horrendous Shamylan-Esq screenplay where you can't tell if its supposed to be funny or not. "He let me borrow the book Moby Dick, he even let me hold it.""Hold what?" "The book...dad" Word for word. This comes off as a terrible joke some sixth grader tries to make, and there are many nonsense lines like this crammed into the ridiculous plot with gaping and obvious plot holes. Why is he making a fire when he's right above a geothermic vent? Why in the heck did the bird who just tried to eat him save his life? Why is that oxygen mask working when its not even attached to anything? Why did Jaden need to get higher on the volcano to send out the transmission when he was just getting closer to the "radioactive cloud"(dafuq)? A ton of these mistakes are so obviously scattered throughout the terrible script. It really just makes it funny. If you enjoy being entertained by stupid movies, I definitely recommend you check this out because it is so bad its funny.

GRADE: D- (The only reason I'm not giving this piece of crap an F is because it's still not as bad as Last Airbender, so you need to give Shamylan some credit)

What is going on with M. Night Shyamalan lately? I used to like him in earlier films like Unbreakable and Signs, but he hasn't made the critics and audiences gifted as it would probably if his directing career is in serious jeopardy. One of the biggest and toughest question is that simple: Why is M. Night Shyamalan directing in a new post-apocalyptic adventure starring Will and Jaden Smith? Did he ever asked to direct After Earth or did Sony wanted to choose any director that Smith had previously worked for instead of Shyamalan? For those who don't know, this is the first lowest-rated movie for Will Smith since 1999's disappointing mess "Wild Wild West," one for Jaden since "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and another bomb for Shyamalan.

After Earth feels like a re-cut of "Battlefield Earth" (Ya know, the Travolta movie we don't even care anymore) and sometimes half-"I Am Legend" and half-"Hunger Games." But to me, maybe it's the whole Scientology thing that starts to ruin the whole story.

The story is ridiculous, poorly acted (Smith sounded like James Earl Jones), mediocre sci-fi elements. How can this movie be much worse? I wished the late Roger Ebert was here giving a harsh review on "After Earth." Bottom Line: It's not going to be a big summer success, but it's another letdown for fans of Will Smith. I'll just pass on the movie instead of renting it on DVD.

** 1/2 out of 5 stars

This film is not recommended. Father doesn't always know best, the latest result being After Earth, a vanity project that Will Smith has concocted for his son, Jaden. This wobbly sci-fi tale of survival will certainly test both Mr. and Mr. Smith's star power. Director M. Night Shyamalan, the man who continually keeps falling from grace, one film after the next, is still tumbling further from his talented beginnings, although here the director crashes and burns. This is not to say that After Earth is hopelessly clichéd, it's just hopeless. Shymalan's well- made film has some striking imagery, mostly of panoramic vistas, but his ill-conceived screenplay (co-written with Gary Whitta) keeps this exercise in filmmaking rather earthbound. Adding to that, his main star and one of the film's producers, Papa Smith, pushes nepotism to its limits with this unoriginal dreck. (He is also given story credit for this silliness.) It's not just that this film has no Will power, it just has too much of it, both on screen and off. Will Smith plays the fearless Cypher Raige, a no-nonsense military commando sent on a mission with his newt of a son, Kitai, played by Jaden Smith. Cypher is disappointed with his son's lack of achievement as a cadet and their relationship is a bit strained, just like the acting. The Smiths obviously look the part and act the part with the same stilted delivery. Like father, like son. Unfortunately (for us), they crash land on the apocalyptic Planet Earth. Cypher is injured with two broken legs, but pain is not an option. However a better script would have helped matters. Kitai must now go into rescue mode, wearing his amazing technicolor space suit, fighting beasts and creatures along the way to becoming a man. On his journey of self-awareness, Kitai contends with imminent peril: giant baboons, poisonous leeches, carnivorous tigers, and such. He needs to deal with the fluctuating below-freezing temperatures and an active volcano too. Life is hard. Kitai even battles a monster called the Ursa, a predator that hunts by sensing fear. (If the creature could instead sense the smorgasbord of bad acting on its plate, the Ursa would never go hungry again.) The elder Smith underacts and speaks in annoying solemn platitudes while the younger Smith overacts in a squeaky nasal voice that only a teenager can tolerate. The art direction is mind-numbing. The futuristic sets are bargain basement knockoffs of Disney World's Tomorrowland, circa 1960...very unimaginative with an overabundance of Rubbermaid-influenced interiors and enough flowing linen sheets to make one think that Bed, Bath, and Beyond had given the filmmakers a cut-rate deal for some product endorsements. All of the special effects are barely adequate and not the least bit compelling. After Earth has a strange lethargic listlessness throughout its short length. The film never builds any real tension or suspense. It's just so dull and unrelenting in its stupidity. After Earth is the type of film that gives the sci-fi genre a bad name. Shyamalan and the Smiths might want to use other aliases after creating this debacle. Let's hope they refine their own survival skills when making another film. After Earth is strictly Ursa Minor. So dear moviegoers, heed the film's tag-line: "Danger is real, Fear is a choice". You have been sufficiently warned about the real dangers in viewing After Earth...Fear not, it's still in your control. GRADE: C-

After Earth is a Sci Fi survival story of a boy named, "Kitai Raige" (Jaden Smith) who crash landed on a planet along with his father "Cypher Raige" (Will Smith), and have to survive various kinds of dangers that Earth greets the crash landers with.

I have to admit that the trailer when I saw it months ago, did get me excited. But fortunately I saw today that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and all my hopes were out. It was this low expectation that made the movie worth a watch.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Mr. Night, but he have a knack of making movies too boring sometimes. But fortunately his last movie "The Last Airbender" wasn't his last movie as a director. So when I say After Earth wasn't a total disappointment, I mean it.

Story wise movie doesn't give much to offer. Except the basic premise of survival and some flashbacks there isn't much to say. Visual effects were also just acceptable. Certainly not that what is expected of this age. The pace of movie was rather acceptable, and father son combo was the selling point.

But what I think lacked much in After Earth, was the fact that Earth didn't seem much dangerous to me. Mr. Night failed to get more dangers for the actor to fight against. And it felt like movie was cut short due to budget constraints at a later stage of production. This is why the time is took to built the pace seemed long, but the actual time devoted to Earth felt short and rushed.

Talking about performance of Jaden, real son of Will Smith, I have to say he needs much to learn. He is shown to be a boy who gets scared easily. But is later shown to gather courage to do what he sought out to. Its not like this is his fist cameo with Will Smith. He first worked with his father in "The Pursuit of Happiness". But unlike that film After Earth wasn't a Will Smith movie. After Earth can be said as Jaden's role as a first billed star cast.

One thing I liked about this movie was the Soundtrack. It felt immersive enough. After all the music was created by James Newton, the man behind soundtrack of Batman Begins, along with Hans Zimmer.

Overall, movie didn't feel something to drool over. But is worth a watch. Maybe when it comes out on DVD, or TV. But I liked it. It's not a lot of times when you get to see a father and son movie that are father and son in real life.

Review URL: vineetkumar.me/2013/06/after-earth/

The classic Hollywood problem: a colossal budget for the special effects and the actors, with a crap script: it's rough and confusing, with some bewildering and moronic scenes. This movie is obviously a pop corn movie, but a bad one. On the other hand, I do not understand the unjustified avalanche of hatred against Jaden Smith, even if he is very far from Daniel Day Lewis, Cary Grant or Charles Chaplin, he is reasonably credible. Unlike the screenwriters!