They starred in “The Pursuit of Happyness.” Now, father-and-son Will and Jaden Smith are going to the future in “After Earth.” Sci-fi lover J.P. Langston gives us thoughts on the film.
PHOTO BY: Frank Masi, SMPSP. © 2013 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
“AFTER EARTH”
Columbia Pictures
MPAA Rating: This film is rated PG-13 for “sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images.”
Run Time: 100 minutes
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Story by: Will Smith
Screenplay by: Gary Whitta and M. Night Shyamalan
Produced by: Caleeb Pinkett, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, James Lassiter, M. Night Shyamalan
Executive Producer: E. Bennett Walsh
Cast: Jaden Smith and Will Smith
Studio Synopsis:
A crash landing leaves teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his legendary father Cypher (Will Smith) stranded on Earth, 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humanity’s escape. With Cypher critically injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help, facing uncharted terrain, evolved animal species that now rule the planet, and an unstoppable alien creature that escaped during the crash. Father and son must learn to work together and trust one another if they want any chance of returning home.
J.P.’s Take:
Director M. Night Shyamalan strikes a sentimental chord with “After Earth.” Here is another story — near and dear to Will Smith’s heart — created with an intriguing dramatic sci-fi twist.
“After Earth” takes place 1000 years into the future, where our world has been rendered uninhabitable due to a catastrophic disaster. As Earth became a distant memory, the planet was left to evolve in primal ways, including wild creatures devolving back into the ferocious beasts they once were. Humans have now found a new home: settling on planet Nova Prime in a near by galaxy, where they have vowed to create a more peaceful nation.
Thus, the Ranger Corp was founded under command of the stout General Cypher Raige (Smith). Initially “After Earth” tells the tale of legendary Military Ranger Raige, who bares the stealthy ability of “ghosting,” which allows him to slay creatures called Ursas without being seen. Apparently this also enables him to shut out fear. This is a strategy Cypher wishes to teach his son ranger-cadet Kitai Raige (Will Smith’s real-life son Jaden). Midway through, the plot alights on the young cadet whom has proven unsuccessful in his training to become full ranger.
Cypher, influenced by his wife Faia (Sophie Okonedo) who senses that their son is in need of a father’s love and guidance, takes Kitai out for his first mission. The two of them, with crew in tow, take flight into space on a ship resembling a mechanical sting ray. During their trek, they encounter a meteor shower, which damages the Raige’s craft forcing them to crash land on — where else — Earth. Cypher and Kitai appear to be the only survivors aboard, however Cypher is badly injured and cannot go for help. He has no choice but to send the young one out into the cruel world in order to save them both. There is also an underlying story involving the loss of Cypher and Faia’s daughter Senshi (Zoë Isabella Kravitz), which helps to connect some of the puzzles pieces.
In my opinion, I felt the dialogue between the main characters was inspiring, if a bit peculiar due to the accents they are speaking in. But, I loved the moment after the crash where Kitai ventures out onto unfamiliar territory for the first time. Although the young man is frightened, Cypher doesn’t bark orders at him, instead he sends him out with words of encouragement. The message expressed by Cypher would ring clear with any father to his son, as he tells Kitai “Take a knee…be present in this very moment.” Or “Look around you, what do you see hear and feel?” He’s inviting him to evaluate his situation before taking his mission head on, instilling in him the importance of the mission and not to allow fear to influence his decisions. It goes on from there expressing more about conquering fears and being strong, etc. I believe viewers will latch onto sentimental moments like that. It was also fun to watch as young Smith traverse rocky cliff sides, battle sharp fanged creatures, and defy the laws of nature. He looks quite athletic in doing so. His determination was written on his face, as well as in his actions. I also feel it provides a vehicle for Jaden to prove himself as a worthy young actor, in light of his father’s fame. Will Smith seems to take a co-staring role in the second half of the film, as there are not many scenes with him in control.
Smith conceived this science fiction vision after watching an episode of the television series called “I Shouldn’t Be Alive,” where a father and son were stranded in a mountainous region after a car crash. In a genre mainly focused on advanced technologies or highly intelligent beings set out to destroy humankind, “After Earth” offers an engaging premise on family values. The result is an organic, yet simplistic tale of a father and son’s struggle for survival in the harsh environment of a newly reclaimed Earth. The screenplay by M. Knight Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable”) and Gary Whitta (“The Book of Eli”) concoct a scenario which pits Jaden Smith’s character against the backdrop of a sprawling jungle; symbolizing the trials and tribulations a young man would face without his father’s guidance. As a whole, “After Earth” is an allegory for the role of the father figure — a subject the former “Fresh Prince” knows all too well being a father himself — and recalling the absentee father who wasn’t there to guide him.
As one of the producers, Will Smith is one of the co-founders of the production company, Overbrook. With his 15-year old son in a starring role, “After Earth” is also a family affair with Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith and brother-in-law Caleeb Pinkett (Jada’s brother) as other producers of the film, along with Overbrook’s John Lassiter and Ken Stovitz.
Tippett Studios executes wonderful CGI work, complete with fully realized scenery and vicious prehistoric looking beasts. There are scenes where young Smith’s character has to battle an Ursa, a creature which looks as though it were created out of left over alien parts. The active volcano in the background towards the end is nicely rendered as well.
Overall, I consider “After Earth” a rites of passage type film, with a light hearted father’s day tribute. It pulls no real surprises, but that’s OK because the ending is a happy one … if a bit ho-hum. The story may not make a huge impact on viewers at first, but give it a chance, it offers a different point of view as to where sci-fi movies could be heading these days.