Post by anastasia on Jun 7, 2013 6:05:13 GMT 7
After Earth - Review (Releasing 6/6/13)
AFTER EARTH: THE PURSUIT OF BLANDNESS
Reviewed By: Dragon
Title: After Earth
Director:M. Night Shyamalan
Screenplay: Gary Whitta & M. Night Shyamalan
Story: Will Smith
Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz
Running Time: 100 mins
Certified: PG-13
Rentak Sejuta Rating: 2/5 Stars
This is probably the hardest of reviews to write, especially since I am quite forgiving when it comes to fictional movies. In fact I am quite willing to suspend belief over pure entertainment value. Unfortunately After Earth gives me no such option, nor does it even scrape through on entertainment value, not even at any level. This is one movie from A-Lister Will Smith, I much sooner forget, and pretend that it was never ever made. It’s an unfortunate but expensive family project (that involves Will & son Jaden in acting roles, and wife Jada Pinkett as producer) that seems to have gone terribly wrong, compounded by the miserable fact that, the once darling of the industry, director M. Night Shyamalan, has forgotten his signature cinematic craft that earned him legions of fans with such mind bending hits as Unbreakable & Sixth Sense. All he and his wards could achieve in After Earth is absolute and total blandness.
The science fiction offering which is set 1000 years after earth has been abandoned by humankind sees Cypher Raige (Will Smith) as the head of a military unit called the Ranger Corps, who are tasked to kill Ursas, a beastly alien creature that is blind but can smell and pounce on fear. The Rangers are supposedly fearless warriors who use a “high tech” stabbing and slashing weapon to dispose off Ursas, with a dead pan Will Smith being the grandmaster of fear management. His young son Kitai (Jaden Smith) hopes to emulate his dad and wants to be part of the killing crew, but finds it impossible to master the art of not showing fear, after losing his sister Senshi (Zoe Kravitz) to an Ursa, at a very young age.
The plot finds Cypher who is planning his retirement, taking on one last assignment with Kitai in tow, in the hopes of bonding with his son. The spacecraft they are travelling in gets damaged in an asteroid field and crashes on a renewed Earth. Only Kitai and an injured Cypher survive. Kitai is forced to brave the perils of facing uncharted terrain and evolved animal species, to find an emergency beacon, while avoiding an escaped Ursa that was being transported with them, and eventually mastering his fear.
Instead of getting a cutting edge thriller, After Earth ends up being bland and stunted, despite being visually impressive. Jaden’s hapless acting and lack of charisma doesn't help and very soon you would be rooting for the Ursa to gobble him up (and his dad, and M. Night Shyamalan too). Way too many flaws plague the movie – for starters, as a high tech civilisation, they only have stabbing weapons and not some kind of Ursa blaster. I guess if they had that, then the holes in the plot may have gotten bigger. Do I really have to go on? The good news for the Smiths, is, things can only go up from here on, right? Go watch the movie, if you must.
Watch The Trailer
For More Information:
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesMalaysia
AFTER EARTH: THE PURSUIT OF BLANDNESS
Reviewed By: Dragon
Title: After Earth
Director:M. Night Shyamalan
Screenplay: Gary Whitta & M. Night Shyamalan
Story: Will Smith
Cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz
Running Time: 100 mins
Certified: PG-13
Rentak Sejuta Rating: 2/5 Stars
This is probably the hardest of reviews to write, especially since I am quite forgiving when it comes to fictional movies. In fact I am quite willing to suspend belief over pure entertainment value. Unfortunately After Earth gives me no such option, nor does it even scrape through on entertainment value, not even at any level. This is one movie from A-Lister Will Smith, I much sooner forget, and pretend that it was never ever made. It’s an unfortunate but expensive family project (that involves Will & son Jaden in acting roles, and wife Jada Pinkett as producer) that seems to have gone terribly wrong, compounded by the miserable fact that, the once darling of the industry, director M. Night Shyamalan, has forgotten his signature cinematic craft that earned him legions of fans with such mind bending hits as Unbreakable & Sixth Sense. All he and his wards could achieve in After Earth is absolute and total blandness.
The science fiction offering which is set 1000 years after earth has been abandoned by humankind sees Cypher Raige (Will Smith) as the head of a military unit called the Ranger Corps, who are tasked to kill Ursas, a beastly alien creature that is blind but can smell and pounce on fear. The Rangers are supposedly fearless warriors who use a “high tech” stabbing and slashing weapon to dispose off Ursas, with a dead pan Will Smith being the grandmaster of fear management. His young son Kitai (Jaden Smith) hopes to emulate his dad and wants to be part of the killing crew, but finds it impossible to master the art of not showing fear, after losing his sister Senshi (Zoe Kravitz) to an Ursa, at a very young age.
The plot finds Cypher who is planning his retirement, taking on one last assignment with Kitai in tow, in the hopes of bonding with his son. The spacecraft they are travelling in gets damaged in an asteroid field and crashes on a renewed Earth. Only Kitai and an injured Cypher survive. Kitai is forced to brave the perils of facing uncharted terrain and evolved animal species, to find an emergency beacon, while avoiding an escaped Ursa that was being transported with them, and eventually mastering his fear.
Instead of getting a cutting edge thriller, After Earth ends up being bland and stunted, despite being visually impressive. Jaden’s hapless acting and lack of charisma doesn't help and very soon you would be rooting for the Ursa to gobble him up (and his dad, and M. Night Shyamalan too). Way too many flaws plague the movie – for starters, as a high tech civilisation, they only have stabbing weapons and not some kind of Ursa blaster. I guess if they had that, then the holes in the plot may have gotten bigger. Do I really have to go on? The good news for the Smiths, is, things can only go up from here on, right? Go watch the movie, if you must.
Watch The Trailer
For More Information:
www.facebook.com/SonyPicturesMalaysia