After Earth should come with a disclaimer that runs in the opening credits instead of the film’s conclusion. While the film’s content makes this obvious, sensitive viewers should be reassured that “No CGI monsters were harmed in the making of this film.”
Set on an uninhabitable Earth that is dominated by critters that now see humans, despite their technology, as tasty prey, After Earth is loaded with angry baboons, giant buzzards and a blind, flesh-eating monster called an “ursa.” The latter doesn’t look much like a bear, but then again filmmakers who are willing to settle for sub-par computer-generated critters probably aren’t going to think of creative names for them.
The filmmaker in question this time is M. Night Shyamalan, who squandered the promise he demonstrated in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable on forced plot twists and ideas that simply weren’t ready to shoot.
It was hard to be scared of the homicidal plants in The Happening, and Lady in the Water proved that genuinely thoughtful directors don’t cast themselves as allegedly visionary writers whose work will change the world. Yes, there are a lot of egotistical people out there, but Shyamalan stroked his own ego so hard on that one, it seemed to bleed it dry.
The script, credited to Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli), star Will Smith and Shyamalan, doesn’t feel all that new. In fact, if you find yourself completing lines before the actors do, send your scripts to Sony and the credited producers (there are eight of them, including Shyamalan, Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Smith himself). There just might be room for you in our new cinema of the obvious. Sigh.
Anyway, humans have left Earth and resettled elsewhere but young cadet Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) is frustrated because he can’t live up to his father, Gen. Cypher Raige’s (Will Smith), formidable reputation. Not only has Dad fearlessly led troops back to Earth to fight ursas, but he’s pretty much the top general in the intergalactic military.
Junior gets a chance to prove himself when a mission that’s simply supposed to help the two bond (“He doesn’t need a general; he needs a father,” mother admonishes) winds up being life-threatening for both of them.
While father and son demonstrated solid chemistry onscreen in The Pursuit of Happyness, the Smiths spend little of the film interacting or even acting. The dialogue is so stilted that neither can create much of a character out of spouting pseudo-scientific malarkey.
Despite having A-list talent involved, After Earth never really builds any tension or excitement because the people involved look so bored, and the sets and special effects look so cheap and shoddy. A barrier between the crashed ship and the elements looks suspiciously like a shower curtain.
Even great science fiction films sometimes have special effects that look, oh, symbolic at times. But if the humans can’t make up the difference with their own performances, what chances do the CGI critters have?
After Earth 68 Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoe Kravitz, Glenn Morshower
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: PG-13, for sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images
Running time: 100 minutes
MovieStyle, Pages 37 on 05/31/2013