Since I began my cinema arrangement with one of my work colleagues, I've seen some films that I probably wouldn't have seen without her. Films that have been her choice, such as G.I. Joe: Retaliation. I'll say no more on that! After Earth was one such film. I'm not a huge Will Smith fan, and while Jaden impressed me more than I thought he would in the Karate Kid remake, it's not enough to make me want to see everything he's going to do from here-on out.
But as I said, this wasn't my choice of film. I merely narrowed down the options because I wanted to see something I hadn't already seen, which meant it was this, or Epic. And as Epic is an animated film, it wasn't really showing at a suitable time. So After Earth it was to be.
The film shows us the story of father and son Cypher and Kitai (Will and Jaden Smith respectively). Kitai has just been told that his hard work to become a Ranger like his father have not paid off. His squad leader thinks he's reckless and he needs more training. So his father takes him with him on leave. A chance for the two to get to know each other better as Cypher has been absent for much of his son's childhood. Unfortunately for them, the transport carrying them - and a dangerous creature called the Ursa - crashes on earth. But this earth is different from the one you and I know. This is a savage land, one that would chew up and spit out any unsuspecting humans that might land here. Even more unfortunate is the situation Cypher and Kitai find themselves in. Cypher has two broken legs and the homing beacon that will allow them to call for help is in the tail end of the ship that has broken off in the crash. All hope of survival sits on Kitai's shoulders. He must navigate a foreign and dangerous land, and also avoid the escaped and hungry Ursas, in order to save his father and in turn, himself.
We were warned beforehand that After Earth was a terrible film, and in many respects I think that served the film well as we had lower than low expectations and actually quite enjoyed it.
I wouldn't buy it, but it had it's merits and was enjoyable enough. The acting however, from father and son, is pretty atrocious. I don't think I've ever seen a more wooden performance from Will Smith. It seems the intention was for him to appear hardened by his career in the military, to show how distanced he was from his son, but it just felt like he was reading from an auto cue the whole time. Jaden was slightly more believable but still not great. But then with wooden Will as his role model what can you expect?
Overall, considering this is a M.Night Shyamalan film (which have gotten progressively worse over the years), and considering the quite bad acting, you do still care about these characters, and you do want them to get out of the situation they've found themselves in. Both myself and my companion found ourselves tearing up at a particularly emotional moment involving an eagle. I won't say anymore but I wanted to put across that there is emotional depth. Just not always by the humans.
If there's nothing else on you could do a lot worse (*cough* Man Of Steel *cough*). But keep your expectations low if you want to be pleasantly surprised. 5 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 19th June 2013
UK Release Date - 7th June 2013
Cast Overview:
Will Smith ~ Cypher Raige
Jaden Smith ~ Kitai Raige
Sophie Okonedo ~ Faia Raige
Zoe Kravitz ~ Senshi Raige
Director ~ M.Night Shyamalan
Writer(s) ~ Gary Whitta (Screenplay), M.Night Shyamalan (Screenplay) and Will Smith (Story)
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