AFTER EARTH – The Review

At the beginning of the 2013 Summer film season comes M. Night Shyamalan’s coming-of-age movie, AFTER EARTH.

The movie begins more than one thousand years in the future long after people are forced to abandon the only home they had ever known. Upon leaving Earth in 10 arks, calendars were changed from AD to AE, reflecting the new life “After Earth.”

Humans relocated to Nova Prime where they faced an invasion from the Skrel and the genetically engineered weapon – The Ursa.  These beasties can sense humans’ fear and use that to track and kill their prey.

Just as it seemed nothing could stop the Ursa, Ranger Cypher Raige (Will Smith) inadvertently uncovers their weakness: without fear, humans are invisible to the Ursa. In an unprecedented show of self-control and discipline, Raige eliminated his fear and defeated the Ursa. This act of restraint became known as “Ghosting,” and lifted Raige to new heights of fame.

Jump to the present. Cypher returns home from another long deployment to learn that his son Kitai (Jaden Smith) longs to be just like him, but like many teenagers, his intense desire to be like his legendary general father has him doing a few dumb things and he fails his first try at becoming a Ranger.  Plus Kitai also feels some guilt by not being able to save his sister, Senshi (Zoë Isabella Kravitz), years earlier from an Ursa attack which ultimately killed her.

In an attempt to repair the rift between father and son, Kitai’s mother, Faia,(Sophie Okonedo) suggests that Cypher take him on a trip and spend some time together. In the hull is an Ursa being transported from Nova Prime.  However their ship, The Hesper, is damaged during an asteroid storm in space, crashes and splits into two pieces on Earth. In the aftermath, Cypher is gravely wounded and Kitai is now forced to navigate alone on the brutal, forbidden planet full of highly evolved animals.

Kitai must find the wreckage of the tail section and locate the emergency beacon. In this life-and-death expedition, Kitai needs to send a signal for a rescue ship in order to save his father, all before he meets up with the escaped Ursa.

M. Night Shyamalan is back on track with AFTER EARTH and the director does what he does best in all his movies. He gives the audience something new and different. Shyamalan lets the audience experience the journey with Kitai and his fear of the unknown. He builds the tension by not letting us see the creature throughout the sci-fi drama.

AFTER EARTH is totally out of character for a-lister Will Smith and it’s nothing we’ve seen him in before. His role as a father watching his child venture out into the “world” is something every parent struggles with. Nevermind the Smiths are real-life Dad and son and Jaden Smith brings a lot of physicality and maturity to the role.

AFTER EARTH is the first movie to be shot with the Sony F65 4K digital camera, a state-of-the-art motion picture camera. DP Peter Suschitzky’s lush scenes in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in northern California and of Costa Rica near the Arenal Volcano give the film a very eerie look of an Earth left by humans. Production designer Tom Sanders effectively places the audience onto a long abandoned planet, while utlilizing a distinct look to the humans’ new home of Nova Prime.

Visual Effects Supervisor Jonathan Rothbart is responsible for creating the Ranger’s weapon of choice, the cutlass. This cool staff is comprised of two blades that protrude in a number of different configurations on command. He also gives the viewer a harrowing crash scene of the sleek space ship, The Hesper. A mention has to go to costume designer Amy Westcott’s futuristic and organic life suits and uniforms. It’s a beautiful film to watch.

A personal favorite, composer James Newton Howard’s score gives AFTER EARTH its rich, powerful impact. With an original story by Will Smith, Shyamalan returns to the familiar theme of the Parent – Child relationship. This easily could have been a mother-daughter Ranger team, but it was refreshing to see a movie that emphasizes the important role of Dads. With a calming, “take-a-knee” approach from Will Smith’s Cypher, we are witness to Jaden Smith’s Kitai crossing over from youth into the beginnings of adulthood.

Every parent will connect with this father attempting to bond, teach and protect his son.

In addition to Shyamalan having a screenplay credit, writer Gary Whitta’s solid script envelopes the theme that we send our kids out into the world every day and we’ve taught them all we can. After that, they’re on their own. This is what will resonate with many parents and is AFTER EARTH’s emotional core.

It’s my favorite film of the summer and AFTER EARTH is totally entertaining.

4 stars

The film opens Friday, May 31st in theaters.

AFTER EARTH has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for SCI-FI ACTION VIOLENCE AND SOME DISTURBING IMAGES.