Movie Review: After Earth

I have been waiting a long time to see M. Night Shyamalan direct a competent big budget summer movie. In a way, After Earth is that film. There's just one problem: After Earth isn't really his film. Will Smith penned the story that the script is based on specifically as a vehicle for himself and his son Jaden, he chose the writer and the director.

There are a few serious missteps that keep me from recommending this film outright. For one, Will Smith's portrayal of Cypher Raige (seriously...) is so cold and distant for the majority of the film that he garners little to no empathy from the viewer. I get what he was trying to do, playing the career special forces soldier who spends so much time away from his family that he is unable to switch off the soldier in his downtime, but I would have liked to see an actor of Smith's caliber transcend that stereotype and mold a more complex character.

Jaden Smith is still not a strong enough actor to carry a film of this caliber, especially when his character spends much of the time as the sole character on screen. He spends much of the time either mimicking the serious glare of his father, or pantomiming panic so over-dramatically that it borders on absurdity. I don't want to get too down on him, though, he's only 14, and with the right roles, could mature into a fine actor.

The movie isn't all bad, though, and surprisingly, the best part for me was the direction and the special effects. The narrative is very straightforward, the creatures and landscapes well crafted and believable. This is not a poorly directed trainwreck, a la The Last Airbender. The action scenes are tight and focused, with no jerky camera movements or hard cuts at inopportune times. I enjoyed the cinematography immensely; the abandoned, human-adverse Earth is gorgeous and deadly.

I can't tell you to go spend $20 on a ticket and refreshments to see this in the theater unless you are a Will Smith fanatic or a Shyamalan loyalist, especially as there are so many first rate films like Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, and Fast And Furious 6 still out there. However, if you should have a lazy day, and have seen all the stronger films out there, After Earth is by no means the worst use of your time. It's just the weakest link in a very strong summer movie season. I give it 2 1/2 humble buttons.