Movie Review: After Earth (2013)
Will Smith, a Summer movie veteran, is back with another a new sci-fi movie entitled After Earth. Unfortunately for us, this movie comes with Jaden Smith. I admire that Will was trying to create a pass the torch moment with his son, but attempting this in a Summer movie is a gamble that went bust.
The movie takes place in a future where nobody has lived on planet Earth for 1,000 years because of how unstable and dangerous its climate had become. Space cadet Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) tells his disconnected dad General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), who happens to be a legendary space soldier, that he was not promoted to Ranger in one of the most awkward family dinners in movie history. In an attempt to make up for lost time, General Raige takes his son with him to go on some random mission to some random planet in a ship that happens to house a pod with a deadly alien creature inside.
But, of course, their ship doesn’t make it to its destination. It takes damage from a meteor shower, forcing a crash-landing into the now-unlivable Earth. The young Kitai conveniently recovers from the crash unharmed while the his dad has two broken legs, the rest of the crew are dead and the alien pod is nowhere to be found. To save himself and his dad, Jaden has to recover a rescue beacon that was separated from the ship, while fending super-evolved creatures who are hungry for some Smith à la carte.
The very green Jaden Smith finds himself in a similar situation as his dad was in I am Legend, where he has to act with virtually nobody to feed off of for most of the movie. It takes a certain kind of a performer to do such a thing in a movie, and, sadly, Jaden isn’t that performer. Fortunately, Will is there to help the movie along by barking orders for his son to follow or ignore. Will does okay playing somebody critically injured, but this does not make up for the underdeveloped lead.
The plot of the movie is more suited for a TV pilot that may or may not land a deal. It offers no surprises for the audiences. And the visual effects are mediocre at best, with Jaden’s color-changing suit included. There is not a single action sequence that is worth mentioning. With all the power names in the end credits, including Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and M. Night Shyamalan, its shocking to see how this Summer movie became so uneventful.
After Earth is a movie that is forever scarred with a cookie-cutter story, and lead teen actor who was not ready to lead. Better luck next Summer.
Check out our other review for After Earth:
Michelle Ealey’s Review