One Sentence: I don’t know what is worse, Shyamalan with a twist, or Shyamalan without a twist.
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: 31-May-2013
Nudity: None
I was about to write a hopeful first line, something like, I like Will Smith, I always have and I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt. Then I was going to write a bit more about the hopes of this movie, but it has drained me. Just looking at that poster and reminding me of last night has worn me down, to a point where I don’t want to try to hype this one up in any way, not even a little bit. I have a general strength when it comes to bad movies, you really have to do a lot wrong for me to really dislike your movie. Even the live action Last Airbender movie I didn’t think it deserved all the hate it received. After Earth does.
Jaden Smith should not be in movies, should not be the focus of movies and should not try to act and be angry and sad in movies. I am sorry Will, but he isn’t good, and he was one of the main reasons why this movie was so bad. The knowledge of the director and choices he made for you and not trying to get something better out of Jaden were the other problems. When you put a kid front and center and give him those lines and that power, it better be good, and it was so not good. It was really really bad.
The choices by Shyamalan were the biggest issues. Not minimizing Jaden’s performances into a range he could handle. Going with the choice for Will Smith to be robotic for the whole movie. A weird father/son dynamic that hardly made sense and required a huge jump in dialog to get filled in. This plus some weird plot holes about Earth and these creatures, left a lot hanging and not working together at all.
It is with a heavy heart and a set of typing fingers that I give to you my first one star movie of 2013. After Earth. Please do not ever see this movie for any reason ever.
