I think it is official now. If there is a movie maker who is slower than a snail it has to be M Night Shyamalan. With After Earth, Shyamalan has cleared any other challenge that one could have thrown his way. He has made a slow Science Fiction movie. I am sure the snails would love him for it – finally something that matches their pace!!!!
Kitai (Jaden Smith) is the black sheep in the eyes of his father – General Cypher (Will Smith) after his sister Senshi (Zoë Kravitz) is killed by an Ursa – an alien creature thatwe earthlings need to be grossly afraid of. All of us except those who are experienced with the fine art of Ghosting.
What is Ghosting you may be tempted to ask. It involves getting yourself to a level where the Ursa cannot feel you. An Ursa feeds on fear. Those adept at this skill know not what fear is. Cypher is a master at the art and that has taken him to the position that he now holds in the forces that aim to keep the human race alive.
Are you still with me? If yes, lets move to the next step. Cypher and Kitai share a relationship like any father and son in a strictly regimented family from the forces. In an attempt to be a father to his son (rather than the Commanding Officer that he is), Cypher takes Kitai along with him on his next and final mission.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention this. All of this is happening a few gazillion years into the future where Earth has become unlivable and humans have moved to a different system. The earth in fact has turned its back on humans so much that everything in anti human. And where does the aircraft carrying our heroes crash? No points for guessing.
To Shyamalan’s credit, there is a lot of attention to detail in creating a version of earth that has conditions that could kill the hardest of humans. He does get the audience a bit towards the edge with some sequences. Such as the one where Kitai finally faces an Ursa or when Kitai decides to take the sky route to the bottom of a waterfall.
The effects are also quite good. I am not sure if this released in 3D. If yes, and if the hall playing it has current technology, this would be a visual treat for sure. But unfortunately that is all you can look forward to with After Earth. The pace will kill you. It is like an art movie of the Sci Fi sub genre.
Even with actors of the capability of Will Smith, the movie takes forever to reach its final destination. The sequences are vastly predictable and of course there is nothing surprising at the end of it all. In all, this one can be given a miss because the story doesn’t quite have the meat it needs. 5 on 10 purely because of the effects.
Watch the trailer onhttp://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2277418521/?ref_=tt_ov_vi
No comments:
Post a Comment