After Earth

AFTER EARTH

Director : M. Night Shyamalan

Year : 2013

Genre : Science Fiction

Rating : ***1/2

Once a creator of interesting and thought provoking material, M. Night Shyalaman has now become an icon of bad filmmaking. Despite a strong debut with the chilling 'The Sixth Sense', Shyamalan has continued to make laughably awful movies which spit in the face of the word cinema. From 'Signs' to 'The Happening', 'The Village' to 'The Last Airbender', his films constantly appear on the lists of the worst films ever made and is a constant source of mockery and a target for venomous reviews. Unfortunately his latest film 'After Earth' has met similar critical derision and will inevitably make an appearance on many bottom 10's of 2013. However, I will hold my hand up and say that despite it's problems in both narrative and character development, I really liked 'After Earth'. Starring Will and Jaden Smith and featuring pretty impressive special effects, the film is a science fiction epic that explores the need and dependence in a father figure, the apparent character flaws that come with a strict regimental upbringing and the search for inner acceptance and our ultimate destiny.

Set 1,000 years after humans have left Earth due to catastrophic events, mankind has made a new home on Nova Prime. On the planet, 13 year old Kitai is anxiously waiting for the arrival of General Cypher Range; his strict estranged father who insists on a disciplined routine revolving around respect, patriotism and becoming an adult. To spend more time with his son, Cypher decides to take Kitai out into space to explore new worlds with a large group of other soldiers. But when a destructive asteroid storm destroys the tail of the spacecraft and the kills the entirety of crew on board, it crashes into the inhospitable and dangerous Earth. As he lies dying in the cockpit of the ship, Chypher tells Kitai that he must venture alone into the unpredictable and violent terrain to retrieve a homing beacon which has landed dozens of kilometres away. Equipped with oxygen packs and a lethal spear-like weapon, Kitai must fight and defend himself from the various beasts which now stalk the land.

Unlike many of Shyamalan's recent films, 'After Earth' is directed pretty well. Shot wonderfully and creating locations which are simultaneously other - worldly and familiar, he envokes the ghosts of many of the greatest science fiction films ever made. With the help of impressive CGI and stunt work, Shyamalan is able to generate huge, sweeping locations as well as fast paced chase scenes. However, the narrative is stuck in the mud of a generic quest story, in which a young protagonist must venture across a wide distance while encountering various dangers and challenges. Done to death now, the quest film has run it's course and it is a shame to see Shyamalan refuse to let it go. We can plot the entire story within 15 minutes of the film starting and when the audience is second guessing the director and script, something is definitely awry. Despite this, he still manages to create a film which is entertaining, thrilling and in some parts, touching.

Many of the complaints made against 'After Earth' have been concerning the acting skills of it's young star Jaden Smith, whom many have compared to a cardboard box with a face. While he may not have the acting chops of his father, Jaden Smith clearly has the passion and dedication to become a first class actor just like his Dad and on the basis of his his performances in 'The Pursuit Of Nappyness' (spelling mistake intentional) 'The Karate Kid' and now this, we can see the makings of a good, solid teenage movie star. Bringing a vulnerability and child like apprehension to Kitai, Jaden Smith manages to make his character more sympathetic and believable than many of the other teenage characters we see in big budgeted blockbusters. While I like Jaden Smith, I have never been a fan of his father. Continuously playing the wise cracking, sassy, attitude filled character, Will Smith has never failed to annoy and anger me. So seeing him play a much more quiet, reserved and tense character was a real joy to me. Intimidating and slightly infuriating at times, his character in 'After Earth' is both real and human to me. It's just odd that his best performance is featured in a film set a millennium from now. As a pair, both Will and Jaden Smith work very well together and the different dynamics in their relationship and the dichotomies of their personalities make for interesting dialogue and heart rending scenes of deep emotion.

 

While some of the CGI creatures fail to convince, much of the green screen and computer generated effects are rather well done. Reminding me of the beginning scenes of Ridley Scott's much maligned but brilliant 'Prometheus', 'After Earth' really tries hard to be the next seminal science fiction film. However, while the movie boasts an impressive cast and an even bigger budget, it fails to deliver in tension or rewarding climaxes. This is due to the aforementioned generic plot devices and the rather clichéd script written by Garry Whitta and Shyamalan himself.

I am not going to be one of these critics who immediately slams an M. Night Shyamalan and to me, 'After Earth' is his best film in over a decade. Engrossing, fun and featuring good performances, the film is a visually stunning, well acted science fiction film that I believe will gather a cult following in years to come. Hopefully this movie marks a return to form for M. Night Shyamalan, who enthralled us all with the Academy Award nominated 'The Sixth Sense' and maybe his days as the laughing stock of Hollywood will soon be over. Yes the film is highly flawed and will probably fail to break even at the office, but for me, 'After Earth' is a well paced, thoughtful and well put together vision that manages to be a touching moral tale disguised as a romping science fiction epic blockbuster.