Oh... you read about it...

Oops, I thought you were making your own assessment of the film.

Well, then perhaps you might like to read some more. Here's an interview with noted Scientology critic Dave Touretzky, a research professor at Carnegie Mellon University:

Of course I read it, Bradboy. I don't necesarily agree on every single point, but the emotion part rings true very much and your post "discrediting" the theory, doesn't address that at all.

After Earth

It wasn’t a wholly bad film, just mostly a bad film, and most of it was so uninteresting and serious that I am having a hard time remembering anything I liked. Let’s start with the CGI; well, it was amateurish – I felt like I was watching a Uwe Boll movie at times. Then there’s the story, which was ok – I can get onboard with a survival story in a foreign wilderness where a father guides his son to eventual fearlessness, but this movie was so preachy and cold that I wasn’t interested in the journey for the most part. There were a few times when I got in to it, but they were short-lived. There were a few poignant lines of dialogue (mainly the ‘fear is a choice’ speech) that piqued my interest, though.

The biggest surprise, and therefore the twist of this M. Night Shyamalan movie, was that there was no twist. It was so awfully generic for an M. Night movie, that it was a shock there was no “surprise” twist. This isn’t a positive thing, however. This movie needed something like a shock twist to conjure some buzz and excitement from the crowd.

Now let’s move onto the performances; I don’t understand why someone would think that a fearless ranger needs to be utterly cold and have no personality, but Will Smith seems to think that – my God, what a boring-ass character. I was annoyed at the end that he didn’t die. I’m pretty sure that being fearless is not mutually exclusive with being happy/energetic/excited/kind etc., especially when in the home environment. It was a weird relationship that Smith had with … everyone. Onto Smith Jr., well, the poor guy cannot act. His cringe worthy “I’m not a coward” line was testament to that. Pushy parents are really annoying in show business – it means we get fed crap. The idea that Jaden would have an adventure on Earth would have been cool if he wasn’t asleep/unconscious for most of the movie. It seemed every 5 minutes that he was either knocked out or asleep. Most of the time he was on Earth, he must have been just resting there.

What did I like? I liked the suits, the overall premise was one I could have liked if the rest of the movie was half-way interesting, the way the movie started abruptly, the way the creatures could “literally” smell fear, and the suspense of revealing the big creature – all of that was good. The reveal of the big creature, and the way it played with the flashbacks however, was not great (just the lead up was). The reveal didn’t actually reveal anything we didn’t already know.

The entire ending was one of the biggest anti-climaxes in history. It was really lame, and corny as hell how he overcame that big creature thing when just a few minutes earlier he was fucking petrified of it. His father, at least it was sort of implied in the movie, had a psychic connection with him or something, and, ugh, that whole scene was just poor. There were no cool action scenes throughout the movie, even though they had the opportunity for a few, and most of the action happened with a damn bird. The action, when it happened, was up-close and not well filmed. This movie was just an excuse to push Little Willie into mega-stardom, but sorry Big Willie, it’s not going to happen. Your little runt needs to show talent before anyone will employ him without your guiding hand.

The last two M. Night movies have been stinkers. I don’t think I will watch another. I don’t think I’ll ever have to make that decision, though, as M. Night will struggle to find a respectable studio that will fund another of his movies.

D+

I actually kinda liked this movie. My expectations were really low, but still. Jaden was fine, Will was good in the supporting role. The thought the effects were quite good. It not a great movie, but I was into it from beginning to end. The biggest problem was that it was entirely too predictable. There are two other stories eluded to in this movie that could have made two much better movies.

The exodus from earth.

The attack on the new world by the Ursa.

Still, I don't think it's deserving of it's 11% RT score.

B

What a bizarre film. Heavily weighed down by extreme nepotism and delusions of grandeur, After Earth is neither a triumph nor a disaster. There are so many little things wrong with this movie, but at the end of the day, it's the fact that this serves as the most expensive "Take Your Kid to Work Day" of all time that makes it so dreadful to watch. Will Smith sacrifices himself in every way to showcase a son that could not be less interested in proud poppa's profession. But if I could compliment the would-be star, he's definitely not the worst of the Smiths in After Earth. Will's turn as the macho father is definitely a low point in his otherwise-solid career. One would assume he dialed down his natural charm and ability so that Jaden would shine. It would have worked if it wasn't for that kid's general indifference to the entire experience.

For every minor achievement of the film (there are a bunch of great ideas and moments that would have made a solid blockbuster if not for the Smiths), overall, it is an arrogant film. It's weird assigning a human quality to a piece of art (I know, that's stretching it), but it's true. After Earth is pure arrogance. The Smiths (Will and Jada) believe the world needs Jaden as its next star. Smith, screenwriter Gary Whitta and M. Night Shyamalan believe this massive sci-fi production will become an instant classic thanks to its very universal relationship between a gruff dad and a maturing child desperate for approval. Except that it plays out amidst a mind-boggling paradox: it should be about father and son, except it's impossible to relate to the story since it takes place in a far-off future. On top of that, it's about a father and son, played by a father and son, except it's impossible to relate because not everyone's dad is one of the most well-known people on the planet.

So in the end, it's just a big budget blunder. Every minor strength is countered by a massive weakness. In more capable hands (in front of the camera, as M. Night is a capable filmmaker still), this could have worked. But it's far too distracting watching what is one of the most expensive vanity projects ever, especially given its eventual failure at the box office.

D+