After Earth

Will Smith was once the king of summer blockbusters.  For a number of years you could always count on him starring in one of the most exciting films of the summer movie season.  His career hasn’t tanked or anything, he just hasn’t been as busy lately.  Since 2007’s I Am Legend he really hasn’t been involved in any traditional blockbuster type of material, and he’s even had multi-year gaps with no releases.  So when trailers for After Earth first started showing, the notion that Will Smith might once again be king of the summer was a very satisfying notion.

Set in the distant future, humanity has long since abandoned earth to find a better life elsewhere in the galaxy.  Along the way there have been various wars with hostile alien species.  Will Smith plays the role of a high ranking military officer protecting humanity from the current hostile alien race.  The film was directed by M. Night Shyamalan and also stars Jaden Smith . . . and when I stay also stars, I really mean he plays the only significant role in the film.

Herein lies the film’s must substantial problem:  Will Smith gets significant screen time in all the film’s trailers, but ends up playing a very minor role in the film.  After Earth is about Jaden Smith and his character, plain and simple.  This is not a Will Smith movie.  This is a Jaden Smith movie which his father has a small role in ostensibly to draw more crowds.

Unfortunately, Jaden Smith still seems to be rather annoying.  It’s a little interesting because he seems just as annoying in real life as in all his films.  His career is not going to ever take off if he can’t get out of the arrogant, self-indulgent brat stage.

However, Jaden doesn’t deserve all the blame.  This film is a definite negative strike against M. Night Shyamalan’s career.  After Earth needed to be intense and gritty with a survivalist type of feel.  There are many things to be afraid of on Earth but all the dangerous encounters lack any of those qualities.  In addition, the climax encounter (which is obviously setup from the very beginning of the film) is against an alien species which was contained on their ship before it crashed.  So the film’s entire premise of crashing on an uninhabited and hostile Earth concludes with a battle against a giant alien.  Overall, After Earth is hard to recommend.