Film Review: After Earth

This film is destined to be hated. Director M. Night Shyamalan, once revered for his work on The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, hasn't had a good reception with his last few films (especially The Last Airbender). Chances are that people will watch this film with the expectation that there will be something to hate, because of all the weaknesses the man exhibited before.

After Earth is not a return to form. In fact, it's not Shyamalan's form at all: it's the Smith clan at work, not only as the stars, but also sharing the writing and production credits. The big appeal to this film will be in seeing a literal father and son team on a big-screen sci-fi adventure. Even though Shyamalan's hands are in the script and direction, I believe the film's qualities as a sci-fi adventure outshine its weaknesses.

To be fair, the film has a few weaknesses, which I'm sure regular Shyamalan haters will harp on. Acting and writing may be suspect, given the actors' weird accents and the script's penchant for exposition and monologues (and yet, certain things are left vague). Some of the sets look cheap (the crashed spaceship and its payload look like they're made of packing material). CGI is in abundance here. The biggest complaint I've seen, however, is that the film is a bore, totally ineffective in engrossing the audience and making them care for the characters or the dangers they face.

I think that's the chief factor here: if you're not pulled in by this film's concepts and worlds, and if you have a bias against this director, then you will hate this film.

As for myself, I've never hated Shyamalan's work as fervently as other viewers, and I am a sucker for all things sci-fi. So this film was right up my alley. I really enjoyed the film's high-concept premise, and I grew to appreciate the story and characters as they unfolded. I really enjoyed the visual spectacle at times. There is a bit of drag in the film's opening act, but once the ship crashes and the struggle for survival begins, I was pretty well-engrossed. I felt the film established plenty of peril and suspense as it pitted the main characters against a whole world of wicked animals in a hostile environment.

As you can surmise, the movie is primarily a man-vs-nature struggle. On top of that, it's also a pretty apt coming-of-age story, using raw survivalism as a catalyst for showing the protagonist's progression from a frightened and scarred boy into an actual "ranger." Overcoming fear becomes a thematic motivation for all the characters involved, contributing to the survivalist struggle and the character growth.  With its use of flashbacks and emotional tension between the characters, the film establishes a lot to the characters. If there's anything I would complain about, it's that certain scenes could have used more explanation (especially in understanding how and why the Earth became hostile toward humans, a point that many will find stupid anyway), and the pathos of the characters is somewhat marred by their stiffness. It also occurred to me that this story is pretty much the same as Red Planet, swapping out Mars with Earth, and swapping the robot AMEE with a predatory monster.

As a film, After Earth looks slick, with good and stylish photography. A few scenes are a bit jerky, and there are a few parts where it's hard to tell what's going on, but most of it boasts excellent imagery. Editing is even and good, save for one scene that's rapid-fire. Will Smith plays his role really stiff throughout the film, in keeping with his character, but it's his son Jaden that steals the spotlight throughout, and shows apt emotion and range throughout. Other characters are pretty cheesy. Writing for this picture is generally not bad, but a few lines are silly, and some dialogue is bloated. Production design is generally interesting, but some of the sets for the spaceship are weird and flaky. Otherwise, the props, costumes, and special effects are solid. Music is not bad either.

I didn't see much wrong with After Earth, and I'm getting the impression that people are hating on this film just because it's got Shyamalan's name plastered all over it. I give the film the high points because I was engrossed by it, I felt it's not bad sci-fi, and a lot of the things that bother other people don't bother me that much. Regardless, I can only recommend this as a rental for anybody who's interested.

4/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Pretty Good | Film: Pretty Good)