After Earth

Rating - 7/10

The good:
-The setting.
-The art style.
-Genuinely suspenseful.
-Cinematography.

The bad:
-Majority of the acting.
-Poor or odd directorial choices.

After Earth follows Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his father Cypher (Will Smith) after they crash land on a now inhospitable Earth, in a mission to send off a distress signal.

Story wise the focus is on Kitai, as his father is incapacitated in the crash and now assists him via radio. Both actors do a great job in their respective roles; Will Smith is great as the uptight military father, which is vastly different from his usual persona, but at the same time works in a good way. The character is supposed to be a man who can suppress his fear and as a result his emotions. There are breaks of emotion where needed for the character, like when he is relived to see his son alive for example. Jaden flip flopped at times between great and insufferable in his acting, but to his credit I get the sense that this was down to direction, like he's constrained by it. And like I said, he does have some genuinely good moments.
The rest of the cast however was awful. There was a real feeling that everyone was trying their hardest not to act! It worked for Cypher because his character was an uptight, emotionally repressed soldier, and Kitai seemed to be emulating him. But for everyone else it just came across as awkward and stilted. Thankfully the focus of the majority of the film was on the father and son, and the film benefited greatly when they became the only two prominent characters. If they built up this new culture as one that repressed their fears and emotions, that could work, but they never do so it just comes across as bad acting. The only other actor who impressed me was Zoe Isabella Kravitz as Cyphers late daughter, who appeared in flashbacks and visions.

The coolest thing about this film was the world; showing little details about how everything worked and the technology used. The philosophy behind the warrior culture of the Rangers, the films version of a colonial military was interesting and I would actually like to have learnt more about it.
The main enemy of the film was the planet itself, which proved to be a harsh and unforgiving setting for the rookie protagonist, as he struggled against the elements themselves. There is another villain; a beast called an Ursa, which tracks it's prey by smelling their fear. The reason that Cypher is seen as a hero in this universe is because he can suppress his fear and fight these monsters invisibly, which is how Kitai ultimately over comes his enemy. The monster itself was kept hidden until the very end, following the rule of Jaws by keeping your monster hidden and making the hunt more tense and suspenseful.

The Direction here is very polarised in my opinion. Cinematography wise I couldn't tell is it was being pretentious or brilliant (probably both). It made a lot of shots that another director would probably have avoided or wouldn't have even thought of. It felt like the director was trying a little too hard to impress, but at the same time I guess it's better than not trying at all. Some of the shot were just fantastic, like it was taken straight out of an artists sketch book. I'd actually like to get my hands on some of the concept art for this.
On the other hand some of the choices just came across as weird  For one there's a focus on the book Mobey Dick, which you would think come across in the hunt for the Ursa. However neither Cypher nor Kitai seemed to be obsessed with find ing the beast so any similarities you could draw fall flat. Another scene that went no where was where a now paraplegic soldier forces himself to stand in order to salute Cypher for saving him. Just just came out of left field and just feels so cliche in it's execution. Later Cypher does the same to his son at the end, which could have worked, but I was reminded of the earlier scene and it totally sucked me out of the moment. If this early scene was removed then it might have worked, but otherwise it's just distracting.

In conclusion, I enjoyed After Earth following a rocky beginning. I found myself getting lost in the world and the set pieces, that the often broken acting became a very minor footnote in my experience. M Night Shyamalan has been on a bit of a downward slope with his recent directorial ventures, but this movie reminded me that he can make enjoyable movies.
I understand that the film has critically panned by critics, but I honestly enjoyed it.

On a cliff note regarding claims of Scientology propaganda.
I don't see it nor do I care.