After Earth
After Earth is too limited and muted to fully-incorporate the larger world and concepts it presents, resulting in a pretty standard character story that only offers brief moments of excitement.
M. Night Shyamalan ’s latest film , After Earth , succeed the story of father and son Cypher and Kitai Raige , played by real - life father and Logos Will and Jaden Smith , severally . On a workaday trip through space , Raige ’s transport is damaged , eradicate his crew , as well as stranding him and Kitai on Earth - one thousand years after humanity was forced to empty the planet .
The only other subsister of the crash is a pitiless and unrelenting fauna , an Ursa , contrive by hostile alien lifeforms to hunt down world - by smell out reverence - induced pheromone . Cypher , a fearless Ranger Corps warrior capable of " ghosting " ( permit him to move undetected by Ursas ) , is mortally wounded in the crash ; as a result , it falls to Kitai to set out into Earth ’s wilderness , featuring highly - acquire ( and extremely dangerous ) animal life , fluid environmental conditions , toxic air - not to mention the freed Ursa - to locate a distraint pharos capable of summoning rescue .
Unlike prior Shyamalan films , Columbia Pictures has been subtle about the well - screw music director ’s involvement withAfter Earth- and for good reason . After a string of underwhelming movies , Shyamalan ’s name carry expectation and baggage that could unhinge from the onscreenAfter Earthaction and dramatic event . For that grounds , fans who are hung - up on anterior Shyamalan dashing hopes , and are hoping to see the director return to hisSixth SenseandUnbreakableglory daylight , will likely be equally disappointed byAfter Earth . However , that does n’t stand for the film is an straight-out failure - despite some big - handed thematic elements , awkward story beat , and a few stilted performances , After Earthis at times surprisingly engaging with a fertile sci - fi setup and several entrance eccentric moments .
The initialAfter Earthstory was conceptualise by Smith and develop by Shyamalan along with Gary Whitta ( The Book of Eli ) and the result is a hearty ( albeit fragile ) narration that ’s aided by slick succeeding tech and an challenging peek at humans ’s place in the larger universe . Though , once the Raiges land on Earth , the scale of measurement of the motion-picture show specialize significantly , pore on the life sentence - or - expiry race to make contact with delivery , give up some of the more interesting science - fiction in favor of averythorough examination of Kitai ’s concern and personal struggles .
Despite the straightforward coming of old age story , the actualAfter Earthexperience is a collide with - or - fille jumble of patch - holes , poorly developed tangents , interesting world - construction , hale story events , cool ( though brief ) action band - piece , and several on - the - nose aroused beats . For some viewers , the story will mark enough boxwood to be a worthwhile adventure - drama , but plenteousness of moviegoers will easy be distracted by the plastic film ’s numerous narrative defect .
Despite the inclusion of lover - favorite Will Smith , this is Kitai ’s floor ( and Jaden Smith ’s moving-picture show ) , pushing the Padre - pattern out of the action spotlight into a subdued support role - left as small more than an onlooker as his boy faces one dangerous situation after another . For that reason , the plot point could be a disappointment to viewers hoping to see Smith take middle leg , combat evolved Earth animals and alien creatures . Still , his incapacitation has been an essential aspect of theAfter Earthstory from day one - give that the story has always centre on a reluctant Logos who must overcome his fears to make unnecessary his father .
Fortunately , Jaden ( The Karate Kid ) is competent in the character of Kitai - in spite of some unenviable voice - over exposition and a few scenes where it ’s reset the new actor is still retrieve his footing . Considering that much of the flick follows Kitai alone in the wild , battling CGI fauna , and talking to an off - camera Cypher through a video CRT screen in his suit , Jaden handles the challenges well - enough to see to it that fundamental action mechanism scenes are exciting and emotional moments have some purgative proceeds .
Smith , on the other paw locks aside his whit and magic spell , dusting off his grimSeven PoundsandI Am Legenddemeanor , to work the fearless ( and on the face of it emotionless ) Cypher . The performance is fitting for the film ’s subject matter and human beings but , coupled with his muted part , the lack of magnetism and trademark one - liners is sure to be a sticking full stop for sports fan that were ask to see a newfangled " Will Smith movie . " alternatively , like Jaden , Will has to sell the performance in solo scene instead of sharing exchange with another performer - further complicate by the vault of being stuck in one place for most of the runtime . Ultimately , a few of Will ’s scene are forced and melodramatic , but overall , the lineament ( and the role player ) show worthwhile contributions to the largerAfter Earthstory - elevating what could have been a bland exposition political machine or sound display panel for Kitai into a empathetic and effective addition .
Even though Will handed leading - man tariff to immature and nimbler Jaden this round , adrenaline junkies will likely be underwhelmed by the amount of enceinte - scale of measurement action inAfter Earth . There are a number of cool CGI sequences and authentically tense encounters but most of the Kitai versus nature fight are very abbreviated , relying heavy on one or two slow - movement shots to trade each succession . Similarly , the camera piece of work in a few of the more high - vigour scenes is too frantic to fully value the real threats that Kitai meet - particularly since , despite Cypher ’s numerous admonition , the film never really depicts an interesting representative of how the Earth creature have develop . Unless by " evolved " Shyamalan just means " big " and " angrier . "
Will Smith and Jaden Smith in ‘After Earth’
After Earthis not toy in 3D but the film is shield in IMAX theater of operations . woefully , there ’s very little reason to pay the upcharge this cycle . WhereasOblivionmade smart use of its post - apocalyptic worldly concern setting , which was further enhanced by IMAX audio and cover size , theAfter Earthvisuals are much more restrained - with only a few shots that stand to benefit from a bounty presentation .
Overall , After Earthis an exceedingly odd moving picture that is bogged down by a number of blow , but for motion-picture fan who are intrigued by the initial premise and are n’t expecting a return to form for Shyamalan , it ’s not the cast-off disaster that sure viewers might claim . There are some genuinely engaging component and the larger narrative universe is ripe for exploration - with some really interesting sci - fi idea that could make for even better adventures down the line . unluckily , After Earthis too circumscribed and muted to fully - integrate the big world and concepts it presents , resulting in a pretty received theatrical role story that only offers brief moments of inflammation as well as father and son drama .
If you ’re still on the fence aboutAfter Earth , gibe out the trailer below :
Jaden Smith as Kitai Raige in ‘After Earth’
-
[ poll id=“616 " ]
Will Smith as Cypher Raige in ‘After Earth’
After Earthruns 100 second and is Rated PG-13 for sci - fi action fierceness and some disturbing images . Now playing in regular and IMAX theaters .
Let us be intimate what you call back of the film in the scuttlebutt section below . If you ’ve get word the movie and need to discourse details about the film without worrying about spoiling it for those who have n’t see it , please head over to ourAfter EarthSpoilers Discussion .
For an in - depth discussion of the pic by the Screen Rant editors find out out ourAfter Earthepisodeof theSR Underground podcast .
In M. Night Shyamalan ’s After Earth , one - thousand eld following mankind ’s forced evacuation of Earth , Kitai Raige and his alienated Fatherhood , Cypher , crash on nowhere else but Earth . With Cypher seriously spite , Kitai must embark on his own , weather a futuristic Earth containing extremely evolved animal mintage and a pitiless alien life to try help and happen a fashion home .
