Depois da Terra

What is going on with M. Night Shyamalan lately? I used to like him in earlier films like Unbreakable and Signs, but he hasn't made the critics and audiences gifted as it would probably if his directing career is in serious jeopardy. One of the biggest and toughest question is that simple: Why is M. Night Shyamalan directing in a new post-apocalyptic adventure starring Will and Jaden Smith? Did he ever asked to direct After Earth or did Sony wanted to choose any director that Smith had previously worked for instead of Shyamalan? For those who don't know, this is the first lowest-rated movie for Will Smith since 1999's disappointing mess "Wild Wild West," one for Jaden since "The Day the Earth Stood Still," and another bomb for Shyamalan.

After Earth feels like a re-cut of "Battlefield Earth" (Ya know, the Travolta movie we don't even care anymore) and sometimes half-"I Am Legend" and half-"Hunger Games." But to me, maybe it's the whole Scientology thing that starts to ruin the whole story.

The story is ridiculous, poorly acted (Smith sounded like James Earl Jones), mediocre sci-fi elements. How can this movie be much worse? I wished the late Roger Ebert was here giving a harsh review on "After Earth." Bottom Line: It's not going to be a big summer success, but it's another letdown for fans of Will Smith. I'll just pass on the movie instead of renting it on DVD.

** 1/2 out of 5 stars

After Earth should be retitled After Birth, because that is exactly how sloppy and dirty this pathetic excuse for a film is. Gross analogy, I know, but trust me, a delivery room after a woman has given birth is a better produced show then this. I honestly don't even know where to start. The film decided to market itself as a Will Smith film, which was the only way to get people to go because of how silly its plot is. Even the Will Smith fans were let down because all he does is sit in a chair the whole time and speak to his son in an over-serious and unintentionally hilarious monotonous voice. He easily gives his worst performance to date, but it is not quite the worst acting in the film. Jaden Smith gives a Razzie worthy performance as an underdeveloped character with a useless upsetting past and an ear-cringing accent. He whines and makes the most stupid mistakes a film character has ever made in the history, provided by the horrendous Shamylan-Esq screenplay where you can't tell if its supposed to be funny or not. "He let me borrow the book Moby Dick, he even let me hold it.""Hold what?" "The book...dad" Word for word. This comes off as a terrible joke some sixth grader tries to make, and there are many nonsense lines like this crammed into the ridiculous plot with gaping and obvious plot holes. Why is he making a fire when he's right above a geothermic vent? Why in the heck did the bird who just tried to eat him save his life? Why is that oxygen mask working when its not even attached to anything? Why did Jaden need to get higher on the volcano to send out the transmission when he was just getting closer to the "radioactive cloud"(dafuq)? A ton of these mistakes are so obviously scattered throughout the terrible script. It really just makes it funny. If you enjoy being entertained by stupid movies, I definitely recommend you check this out because it is so bad its funny.

GRADE: D- (The only reason I'm not giving this piece of crap an F is because it's still not as bad as Last Airbender, so you need to give Shamylan some credit)

After Earth (2013)

* (out of 4)

M. Night Shyamalan's big-budget vanity project for father and son team Will and Jaden Smith turns out to be much worse than the trailer. In the film, the father and son crash land on the planet Earth a thousand years after the people were forced to leave it. With daddy's legs broke, the young kid must go out into the scary landscape to retrieve an item that will allow them to make contact with their own world. AFTER EARTH is without question one of the worst sci-fi summer blockbusters ever made. Part of the blame can go towards the director but his handful of haters can't put everything on him. The incredibly bad screenplay also deserves a lot of the blame but so do the Smith boys. I seem to say this after each of his films but it's clear young Jaden has yet to take an acting class and just keeps getting passes because of his dad. I'm sorry but he's just not got a talented bone in his body and he certainly can't show any type of emotion, which is something the story here called for. The fact that he can't act to save his life really kills every emotion that the film goes for and it turns these scenes into something rather laughable. Mr. Will Smith doesn't come in any better. Although I liked his more quiet, laid back style, it just doesn't work considering the screenplay has him sitting around simply talking to the kid. Where Will deserves a lot of blame is getting his son these type of roles, which he can't do and which will eventually make him one of the most laughable actors in Hollywood history. The first couple films he did were just embarrassing but no one has given him the word that he can't act and apparently no one has seen fit to get him into classes so it's really just getting worse. Still, Shyamalan didn't improve the film any as there's really no drama, no suspense and no tension. It also doesn't help that the screenplay is full of cliché moments as well as being 100% predictable. I will say that some of the visuals were good but certainly not good enough to sit through this thing.

This film is about a space craft that crash-landed on a dangerous planet called Earth, and the only two survivors have to struggle to stay alive.

The first few minutes of "After Earth" already look not so promising, and it only goes downhill from there. Acting is consistently bad by Jaden Smith, he is so annoying as a teenager who constantly freaks out. Will Smith is supposed to be a fearless commander, but his supposed bravery makes him so wooden as if he was a wax statue.

The plot is simply ridiculous. There are so many plot holes that are so obvious, that they simply should not happen. For example, if Will Smith is such a great commander, how could he not command people to wear seat belts when they were about to hit a meteor shower. And the masks are not even connected to anything!? The whole story, from the macro level to the micro level is very poorly written and makes no sense. The supposed emotional climax is so weak, that I wonder if that scene is really supposed to make me feel proud of what is shown on the screen.

"After Earth" is a terrible mess. This time, believe the critics.

The classic Hollywood problem: a colossal budget for the special effects and the actors, with a crap script: it's rough and confusing, with some bewildering and moronic scenes. This movie is obviously a pop corn movie, but a bad one. On the other hand, I do not understand the unjustified avalanche of hatred against Jaden Smith, even if he is very far from Daniel Day Lewis, Cary Grant or Charles Chaplin, he is reasonably credible. Unlike the screenwriters!