We had ourselves psyched up for the After Earth DVD to veer more on the side of epic failure, but it actually turned out to be an entertaining sci-fi action flick. It’s the first Will Smith movie that he’s done with his son, Jaden, so expectations were sort of pitched on the lower end of the spectrum, and while it’s definitely got its detractions, it’s not the dross that it could have been.
The movie is set in the distant future long after Earth has been abandoned due to environmental failure, with the remaining evacuees living on a planet called Nova Prime. Will Smith (Men In Black 3) plays Cypher Raige, a hard-bitten general whose discovery of the ability to suppress his fears, “Ghosting”, to become invisible to an invading alien race’s monster attack force leads to the salvation of the colony.
However, the real story is about a trip he makes with his son Kitai on a training mission with one of the monster ursas that goes terribly wrong as they’re passing through an asteroid field. When the ship is forced to crash land on the abandoned and dangerous Earth, killing the entire crew except the father and son and leaving General Raige with two severely broken legs, Kitai becomes their only hope for survival.
With the Ursa on the loose, the dangerous atmosphere, creatures of the planet and Kitai’s inability to keep his fear in check, it’s a race against time to get to the second crash site to retrieve a distress beacon.
While there’s a lot of action and intensity built into the story, the plot isn’t entirely without its flaws. The fact that the best weapon an advanced alien race can muster is a killer creature that hunts by detecting your fear seems a little fabricated, which it is really. There’s also a certain level of connivance in the shaping of the crash to just so happen to leave the father and son duo stranded on earth, but with Cypher unable to move, although in all fairness stranger things have happened at sea.
The oddest part of the plot is that the General blames his son for not getting out of a protective bubble when his sister was attacked and killed by an Ursa at their home on Nova Prime when he was just a young kid. It just seems a bit ludicrous that he isn’t just pleased he didn’t lose his son too. If he had left the protective bubble he would have been torn apart like a soft bread roll, so it makes little sense for his otherwise intelligent father to have such a random take on the incident.
Jaden Smith is pretty good in general throughout the film, pulling off the role of the moody, rebellious teen well enough. He’s at the heart of all the action too, which is definitely one of the main redeeming factors of the movie. Whether he’s running from crazed monkeys in the forest, climbing a massive cliff face or sky riding, he makes all look believable enough to work.
Will’s role is much more sedentary as he’s pretty much incapacitated from the crash onwards. In addition to the character flaw we mentioned already the only other real transgression is the over-baked saluting scenes, but these are probably more scripting and directing issues than having much to do with his performance as such. He’s convincing as the grim faced military father that starts to see the inner strength of his son, and his wincing at the pain of having two broken legs is fairly believable.
If we were apportioning blame for any of the down-sides to the DVD we’d have to say that director and co-writer, M. Night Shyamalan should get the majority of the flack. However, he should also get credit for the action packed positives too.
While we can’t necessarily say that the After Earth DVD is a “must add to the collection” release, unless you’re a massive Smiths (not the band), Shyamalan or alien monster movie fan, it is an entertaining film to watch at least once for any sci-fi lovers out there. It’s got a lot going on in terms of action, a good level of tension and some cool visuals.
After Earth DVD review: 3.4/5
