After Earth is a disappointing effort

A long time ago, M. Night Shyamalan was a groundbreaking up-and-coming director. A long time ago Will Smith was the Fresh Prince. A long time ago Jaden Smith was a twinkle in his parent’s eyes. And a long time ago, I was fortunate enough not to have ever heard of a film they worked on together.

Some people are going to have liked After Earth; it’s going to have its fair share of positive reviews around the web. This, however, is not going to be one. I found After Earth to be a chore to watch from the disjointed, several-day encompassing opening scene to the obvious ending.

Father and son Will and Jaden Smith play father and son Cypher and Kitai Raige. Pops is a General of the Ranger Corps, a legendary warrior whose renown casts a mighty large shadow for his son, in training to follow in his footsteps. The burdens placed on being such a hero – and a shared family tragedy – have strained the father/son dynamic between our two leads. When a mission takes a disastrous turn, the pair is required to rely on each other in ways they had never expected.

There was a lot I didn’t like about the flick, but I almost hate to admit what bothered the most because it is actually relatively minor. Everyone in the film has this weird accent; I can’t even place it, but whatever they were aiming for, it was incredibly uneven. Everything starts with a quick voice-over introduction by Kitai, and it’s downhill from there. One of my favorite character actors, Glenn Morshower, follows up immediately, confirming that I would spend the balance of the film wondering why it was bothering so much.

Unfortunately, I had a great deal of time to spend with that thought. After Earth has a linear plot that is easily apparent to anyone watching within the first fifteen minutes of the flick. There are several action-packed set pieces, but the pacing at which they appear leaves the audience with long stretches of watching the younger Smith run across an admittedly beautiful landscape.

That’s the one thing I will give the flick: it is absolutely beautiful. The landscapes of both Earth and Nova Prime are stunning. The practical sets are woven wonderfully into the digital backgrounds. The science fiction technology of 1,000 years in the future is also awesome, though their capabilities are conveniently neutered when it fits the needs of the plot.

Despite the fall that Shyamalan has taken in the eyes of many movie goers, I’m much more willing to forgive flicks like The Last Airbender and The Happening because he’s still the guy that wrote and directed Signs, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense and The Village (Yes, I liked The Village … what of it?). But when the best I can come up with is, “I really liked the bit with the bird,” then maybe it’s time to succumb to the peer pressure.

But seriously … the bit with the bird? Good stuff.