After Earth is another in a line of flops from director M. Night Shyamalan and a rare misstep from superstar Will Smith. It's a dull Sci-Fi film whose occasional action scenes can't make up for the awkward dialogue, lack of emotional resonance and inane plot holes.
The plot of the film is about as deep as a bad video game and often feels like one. Will Smith and his son Jaden, who was obviously hired because he is Will Smith's son, and not because of his acting ability, star as father son far in the future, 1000 years after humanity has abandoned the Earth. But wouldn't you know it, the spaceship that they're on crash lands on the Earth and is torn in half on entry into the atmosphere. Fortunately, and you might even say, coincidentally, Will and Jaden are the only two survivors. Unfortunately, despite all of the advanced technology that is still functioning on-board the crashed ship, only two devices can send a distress signal and the one at hand is broken, while the other one is located in the tail section some 100 kilometers away. Since Will's legs are broken, it's up to Jaden to make the journey to retrieve the device while Will stays in the ship monitoring him.
Once Jaden sets out on his journey the video game feel really kicks in to gear. He has to manage his inventory and traverse several levels until he battles the final Boss monster. If you ever watched someone else play a video game, you have some idea of the level of entertainment here. The script tries to add dynamic depth by creating some emotional conflict between father and son and by including some flashbacks wherein Jaden's older sister is killed, but neither the script nor the acting is good to enough to make you care about any of it.
When a movie is entertaining enough, plot holes can be overlooked or forgiven, but with little else to hold your attention, it's very easy to focus on them while watching this one. The biggest hole involves the main antagonist, which is an alien that apparently can only sense by smelling fear. If you feel no fear then it can't see you. Huh? Well, how does it see inanimate objects then? It must have some kind of sonar or radar to be able to walk around without stumbling into things, but for humanity it has a blind spot unless you're scared. Even accepting that such an improbable alien existed and that apparently it's able to travel through space on its own somehow, there are still problems. Instead of trying to come up with some way to alter the smell of our pheromones, or wearing spacesuits that would mask the scent, a silly philosophy is come up with (which some pundits have declared is a not so subtle reference to Scientology) wherein soldiers learn how to feel no fear. Another plot hole is the way the planet supposedly freezes every night to the point where Jaden will die from the cold unless he finds the few warm spots scattered throughout the planet. Just why this coldness happens is never explained and despite it, the planet is covered with vegetation and wildlife that never seem bothered by the cold at all. Surely the few warm pockets would be packed with wild animals every night.
There is the occasional action scene that momentarily generates some interest, but they never last for long. There's a visually nice one where Jaden glides down the side of a cliff while chased by a large bird. The whole scene is ruined later though when the bird saves Jaden's life at the cost of its own in the movie's most groan inducing scene, although the final, “Stand me up.” moment comes in a close second.
The acting is disappointing as well. Will Smith has made his career by being charming with a smile and twinkle of his eye. He's in full on serious mode, rarely displaying the slightest emotion. Jaden does get to show emotion, but the script is so weak and his acting abilities so thin that they never amount to anything.
Smith has generated enough goodwill over the years to cover this film, but surely it will be even harder for Shyamalan to get another one financed.
