Shyamalan's career started with such promise, but he hasn't been good in a long time. It didn't look futuristic to me and that detracted from the substance of the story.Īfter Earth is an unremarkable film from a director that has lost his way. I think the idea was to make everything have a bony, ridged look, like vertebrae and membrane. I particularly did not like the ships or weapons. Sanders and Shyamalan needed more creativity here. It's rare that I call out a film for poor production design, but Thomas E. After Earth was filmed in Costa Rica and it looks like they are in Costa Rica. The creatures are unrealistic CGI and the settings are forest. I was hoping to be astounded with new content as I watched the film, but this is not the case. The trailers for After Earth did not excite me because the effects weren't interesting. The production design and special effects in this film are not up to par with modern big-budget standards. It's as if they also know there's no real threat so why get worked up. I wouldn't say the acting is poor, just blasé. The Smith's look like they're going through the motions. There wasn't a second of this film that I thought Kitai was in any real danger. My problem is that the screenplay by Gary Whitta and Shyamalan leaves zero doubt to the outcome. Surviving a desperate situation and becoming a man in the process. The film attempts a sort of father and son bonding theme. Everything else takes place on Earth, where Cypher is stuck in the crashed ship and Kitai is bumbling about in the wild. I can't even remember if they mention what the alien species is actually called. We only see fleeting passages of the aliens and Ursa fighting. Unfortunately, this exposition is done in a five minute montage in the beginning of the story. He must survive the creatures of Earth, and an Ursa that was with them on the ship for training purposes.Īfter Earth begins with a glimmer of interest when the alien war and Ursa concept is introduced. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must venture into the wild to find a beacon that will rescue them.
They crash land on Earth, where the ship splits in two. Cypher and Kitai attempt to bond on a space voyage that goes horribly wrong. Burdened by a past tragedy, Kitai longs to be accepted to the academy and become a ranger like his father. His son, Kitai (Jaden Smith), lives in his father's shadow. He's mastered a technique called 'ghosting', where he emits no fear pheromones and can destroy Ursa with impunity. Insert Will Smith as Cypher Raige, the Prime Commander of the Rangers. So in order to be a bad-ass Ursa killer, you must be without fear. It hunts by detecting pheromones man secretes when afraid.
They release a crab-like, genetically engineered beast called Ursa to wipe out the humans. We settle on a distant planet called Nova Prime, where another alien race has also laid claim.
Set a thousand years in the future, humanity has abandoned Earth due to over population and pollution. Will Smith has owned summer box offices in the past, but I'd be very surprised if After Earth delivers the 'Big Willy' numbers.
Couple that with a lackluster plot and you have a blip on the blockbuster radar. In a summer where Star Trek Into Darkness and Iron Man 3 push the envelope of special effects, After Earth falls woefully short as a visual spectacle. It is an underwhelming exercise in science fiction that barely registers as entertainment. The best compliment I can give After Earth is that it isn't god awful like the recent batch of M. After Earth is an underwhelming exercise in science fiction that barely registers as entertainment.
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