After Earth Review

The second of many science fiction movies making their debut this year, ‘’After Earth’’ brings the father son duo Will and Jaden Smith back together for a science fiction flick taking place on an Earth disfigured by 1000 years of evolution and alien intervention. Regretfully the film stands as the black sheep of the sci-fi 2013 films; a disappointment on so many levels.

‘’After Earth’’ takes place 1000 years in the future with humans having settled on the planet Nova Prime after an attack from the S’krell alien race (Not that we learn anything else about them). The main plotline follows the developing bond between Kitai (Jaden) and his father Cypher (Will) who crash land on Earth after their ship is struck by an asteroid storm. It is soon revealed that Earth was quarantined as according to Cypher ‘’everything has evolved to kill humans’’ and Kitai must embark alone to find the emergency beacon needed to call for rescue. The premise of After Earth had a fair amount of potential for some tense and frenetic moments but these are mostly squandered at every turn by an unshakeable senselessness that plagues the narrative. If everything on Earth has evolved to kill humans why is Kitai often not under threat? Why does Kitai sleep outside one night when his father clearly stressed that he avoids the radical temperature shifts? Why does Kitai head towards a volcanic mountain range when its ashes have been interfering with the beacon’s signal? These questions among others will stick out far more than the film’s one tense moment involving a chase through the inside of a mountain. The movie also shamelessly borrows from 1987’s Predator in the final confrontation as the S’Krell Ursa creature closes in on Kitai; but even this is made redundant as the Ursa, for some unknown reason loses sight of Kitai completely at the last moment. The plot of After Earth as a whole is shallow and trudges along without making much coherent sense.

The previous collaboration between Will Smith and his son (The Pursuit of Happyness) turned out quite well so surely after seven years some improvement would come shining through; quite the opposite in fact as the relationship between Kitai and Cypher stands as one of the most underdeveloped and lacklustre in any science fiction movie to date. First of all the two are separated for the vast majority of the action, restricting their interactions to telecommunication, given that Kitai and Cypher are the only proper characters in the film they never get a chance to properly bond or develop. Emotions have been woefully suppressed in ‘’After Earth’’ be it Will Smith doing little more than sitting around in the ship’s wreckage, spouting clichéd militaristic dialogue or Jaden failing to provide a strong and developed lead; even moments such as Kitai’s defiance of his father that showed glimmers of hope are dashed by wonky accents that seem unsure whether to speak in American or British dialect throughout the film. The underdeveloped performances go by as a missed opportunity, given the charisma Will Smith in particular has shown throughout his career.

Science fiction movies are often seen to create detailed and immersive worlds but the vision of the future produced by After Earth cannot hold up in the slightest. The colony of Nova Prime and the S’Krell alien race are given far too little time to develop other than a brief narration from Kitai and as for Earth and the creatures that inhabit it; they’re fundamentally unimaginative. Most of the creatures aside from the Ursa that appears towards the end of the flick are simply enlarged versions of animals we are already accustomed to, be it carnivorous baboons or a giant eagle. The endless forests, rivers and lakes among other environments quickly blend together, not distinguishing themselves from Earth in the present. The action sequences are mostly well shot but unfortunately fail to build enough tension to justify the film’s focus into themes of fear and bravery; they are often poorly placed against soulless flashback sequences as well, damaging the film’s pacing. Some of the environmental vistas and creature effects are slightly enhanced by the 4K resolution used in several parts of the film but otherwise the technical and artistic aspects of ‘’After Earth’’ are average and generic at best.

‘’After Earth’’ ends up being a poor show all around; M Night Shyamalan has once again failed to redeem himself in the movie industry by producing a film that lacks imagination, wastes celebrity talent and endlessly contradicts itself.

Rating: 1/5 Stars