Nepotism has always been part of the Hollywood firmament, but sinks to a new low with Will Smith's vanity vehicle for his 15-year-old son Jaden. Beginning on a planet called Nova Prime, After Earth is a survival adventure featuring a confused, fearful cadet named Kitai (Jaden), who accompanies his heroic United Ranger Commander father, Cypher Raige (Will), on a spaceship mission that crashes on a post-apocalyptic Earth—now a savage, primeval wilderness. Since Cypher's legs are badly broken, it's up to Kitai to make a dangerous, four-day trek to find and ignite an emergency beacon. Not only is the Earth's atmosphere toxic but a ferocious creature called an Ursa—which was onboard—has escaped and is hunting Kitai, who is haunted by visions of a childhood incident in which an Ursa killed his sister (Zoë Kravitz). Since the Ursa is blind, it senses prey through the pheromones that humans release when afraid. Wounded warrior Cypher has mastered a fear-suppressing technique called “ghosting,” which his son must now learn. It's hard to believe that after his stunning The Sixth Sense debut in 1999, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has floundered with Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender and now this debacle, which is full of generic details derivative of far better sci-fi, and suffers from a father/son relationship plot that is blandly predictable. Not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “A Father's Legacy” featurette with costars Will and Jaden Smith (9 min.), a “1,000 Years in 300 Seconds” behind-the-scenes location montage (5 min.), “The Nature of the Future” footage (5 min.), the “XPrize After Earth Challenge” winning contest video with an intro by Jaden Smith (3 min.), trailers, and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are a “Building a World” making-of featurette (12 min.), storyboards and animatics segments (9 min.), a “Pre-Visualizing the Future” featurette (6 min.), an alternate opening (2 min.), and a bonus DVD copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)
After Earth
Sony, 100 min., PG-13, DVD: $30.99, DVD/Blu-ray Combo: $35.99, Oct. 8 Volume 28, Issue 4
After Earth
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