After a month reviewing horror films it is nice to stretch
my mental legs and watch a film in one of my other favorite genres: sci
fi. I had purchased After Earth shortly after its release on DVD and have been staring
at the box ever since. Traditionally I
prefer to watch my sci fi on the big screen first due to the awesome special
effects but somehow this one slipped past me.
After Earth is a
science fiction adventure film based on a story by Will Smith and produced by
his company. The movie was directed by
M. Night Shyamalan who also co-wrote the screenplay with Gary Whitta. Will Smith stars with his son Jaden Smith.
Ok. Now that I have
the obligatory who-did-what out of the way…on to the nitty gritty.
The back story: At some time in our future, the earth is
devastated to the point where it is uninhabitable for humans. After finding and settling on a new planet,
humans are faced with a new threat: creatures created by an alien race
specifically engineered to track down and kill humans are let loose on the
planet the humans have colonized. The
creatures’ method of tracking humans is to zero in on their fear. The ability to become “invisible” to the
creatures is to conquer fear and is called “ghosting.”
*Phew!* That sounds like half the movie right? Seriously there are no spoilers in that quick
description because you learn it within the first ten minutes of the film. The bulk of the movie centers around the
relationship of father and son and their survival after they crash land back on
earth 1000 years after humankind has left.
Will Smith stars as General Cypher Raige, a Ranger with the
renowned talent of “ghosting.” He is
pure military and looking to retire soon.
Jaden Smith stars as Kitai Raige, Cypher’s son who is trying desperately
to become a Ranger like his father yet failing to advance with his training and
earn the title. After a short visit
home, Cypher decides to take Kitai on his last voyage as a Ranger before
retirement. While travelling in space,
their ship is pummeled by an asteroid field causing them to crash land. Cypher is wounded and immobile and their
emergency beacon is broken. Kitai must
journey several days on his own to signal for help.
I absolutely loved this movie. I thought it was beautifully filmed and the
relationship between father and son as they learned how to work together was
very well done. My only negative
reaction was that it was too sad in parts.
After watching this movie, I of course turned to my favorite
app GetGlue to read other reactions and I was amazed at all of the negative comments. All I kept thinking as I read one after
another was “did they watch the same movie as me?” This is not a science fiction thriller, or
action or horror film. This is a drama
about a father and son set in a futuristic time in a world foreign to
them. End of story.
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